H&M sweater
Paige jeans (c/o Shopbop)
Jonak mules (similar)
Louis Vuitton handbag
Anthropologie beret
Celine sunglasses
& Other Stories necklace (similar)
Wolf Circus necklace (similar)
Location: Arno river walk – Florence, Italy
I boarded my first flight before my second birthday. Despite all the hassles that come with airline travel – which seem to increase annually, somehow – I will always wake up excited on a day when I will be boarding a plane. Even though I have to shove all of my liquids into a single tiny ziploc bag. Even though I will have to take off half my clothes, not to mention my shoes, and put them all on again five minutes later, at the security gate. Yes, even though the seats on some planes are so tiny that they are uncomfortable even for me, at my relatively limited size. A plane ride, to me, means adventure and excitement.
… or at least, it always did. When you read this, I will be on my third work trip of the year. And my second in as many weeks. My work trips generally last between twenty-four and forty-eight hours. The destinations are invariably less than exciting – Don Mills, Regina, now Calgary. And even if they were places I wanted to visit, I would have little to no opportunity to see them in such a short time. Especially since I need to spend any time not in meetings on my laptop in a desperate attempt to keep up with emails. (It rarely works. But I still have to try.)
And while I don’t intend to complain – my work requires travel, and I knew what I signed up for when I took the job – my decades-long and always rapturous love affair with plane rides is at an end. For the first time in my life, I would be thrilled if I didn’t have to get on a plane again this year. (There is no guarantee I will be that lucky – most of my work trips are also booked last-minute.) In fact, I would be glad not to get on a plane until we leave for Paris next February.
It’s not unusual for the average person to express limited enthusiasm about plane trips. After all, getting on a plane requires going to the airport. And airports are just an endless series of interminable queues, a seemingly never-ending game of hurry-up-and-wait. Even I don’t love them. But I do love a good plane trip. Or I did, until recently. Right now, I am really ready for a break from packing and unpacking my suitcase repeatedly.
There’s no doubt an exciting destination would change how I feel about booking yet another airline ticket. Looking back on these photos, some of the last from our time in Florence, I know that I would be thrilled to get on a plane tomorrow if it meant going back to Italy, instead of back home. And not opening my laptop while I was there.
I suppose the reality is that, plane rides are like anything else – a means to an end, no more exciting than car rides apart from the fact that they take place above the clouds. But I hope that someday soon, I’ll be glad to be getting back on a plane again.
This sort of reminds me of how I felt a few years ago when I was still actively participating in the academic conference circuit and had a different conference every 2 months; hopping on and off planes for 2-3 whirlwind and very unrelaxing stints in a variety of hotel conference rooms. I sort of hated those trips, as much as going to the airport had always excited me before.
Courtney ~ Sartorial Sidelines
I’ve recently begun to find flying so tedious. The uncomfortable seating, the inability to eat, the boredom! Especially when you’re not going anywhere fun.
Lovely chatting with you yesterday!!!! And fingers crossed to seeing you in January. Yay, yay!! As for planes… yikes, I’m quite certain I’ve mentioned I’m terrified of flying and pretty much spend the majority of it breathing through anxiety. So as you can imagine, flying is not my favourite thing. But I’d certainly make an exception for something as fabulous as Paris. Also, crushing on your outfit hard!! xo
http://www.veronikanovotny.com (life + style blog)
For someone who travels as much as you, I’m surprised you don’t have the global entry pre-check. I think to not have to take off your shoes through security would be well worth the $100! Airports really are an endless game of hurry up and wait, and there always seems to be some sort of issue or delay. So when your destination is irrelevant, I can understand why getting on an airplane would be more grating than thrilling. At least the places you’ve been traveling for work haven’t been places you would want to be – my sister-in-law just went to England and Ireland on a work trip, she left monday, got home that friday, and didn’t see much other than the airport and the hotel. I think I would hate that far more – to be there and not get to experience it.