My uniform is hanging untouched in the closet, my trolley is stowed away and my visa to China expires in three weeks. I have an almost empty roster for the rest of the month, and it does not look like things will be much different next month.
Fall is here and I have been on a long haul flight to Washington. The last time I was in Washington was four years ago, and that was when I found out I was having Marta, my youngest daughter. Even though I have been to Washington many times, I have mostly spent the layovers by the pool, relaxing and reading. Though I have decided that my layovers from now on will be all about exploring and writing so I put on my sandals and went for a walk down Connecticut Avenue. I ended up in front of the White House and what an amazing place it is. Just think about how many presidents that have been living there.
I am back from Chicago and my first long-haul flight for almost 4 years. I started my layover with a visit to Le Pain Quotidien, where I got their oatmeal to go. Then I went down to the beach at Lake Michigan and found a sunny spot to sit down and have my oatmeal breakfast. Oatmeal tastes better with a view like this, don’t you think?
After 3.5 years on the ground, keeping busy with a full-time job as a mother of three, it takes a while before the body gets used to working up in the air again. I had a rough start and did not take proper notice of the warning signs. Early check-ins, long flights and short layovers at airport hotels. Constant sleep deprivation and then back home, where three kids and a husband struggled with adjusting to the fact that the person who usually took care of everything from cleaning and laundry to grocery shopping, suddenly wasn’t there all the time.