Flying With Family

Over the last few years I’ve been flying over 100,000 miles a year.  The vast majority of it is for work, but we’ve managed to squeeze in the occasional family trip.

Our daughter (5 years old now) has always been a terrific flier.  In the beginning, it was very tough for me to adjust.  It took a few trips, and Catherine fell into a great rhythm.  Since then, she’s been to California, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Grand Cayman, Canada, Florida, New York, Rome, Sicily and more via plane.

Logging over 100K miles a year really becomes a drag.  I used to love getting onto a plane every time I did it.  But, it started to represent time away from my family.  And, when my daughter became old enough to notice I was gone and express it, that was tougher still.

So, getting on a plane and watching my daughter enjoy the ride is awesome.  Experiencing the joy of flying through the eyes of a 5-year old is pretty darn cool.  She asks all the same questions I’m sure I asked my dad when I was a kid.  And, she enjoys every minute.  We recently took a ride on a Saab 340, which is probably my least favorite plane after the old Beechcraft Turboprops.  Catherine thought it was cool that her voice sounded funny because the plane was vibrating so much it modulated her speech.  Good times!

Our son had his first two plane rides this past month.  He’s only 10 months old, but as you can see from the picture below, he’s starting to enjoy it as well.  It’s pretty surprising how easy traveling with kids got after a bit of practice.