Flying Home for Christmas

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Abstract

iraculously free. The elderly lady at the window seat is looking excitedly out the window, a Nokia phone in her hand. I haven’t slept in way too long and am still hungover from last night’s holiday party. There’s this excitement in the air. The knowledge of your loved ones at the other end of the flight. I close my eyes and try to tune out the noise.I have a love-hate relationship with travelling home for Christmas. I love it because I get to see my family and spend this magical time together. I hate the travel part — and that is very rare for me. Generally, I love to travel. However, travelling around Christmas is just stressful.The flights are insanely expensive, the queues are massive and snow often delays the journey for hours. I’ve had Christmas presents seized several times at security — fully my fault but still upsetting. I’m always grateful for the chance to come home for Christmas, however, this specific flight always is very high stakes. If anyth

Options

ing goes wrong, I’m missing Christmas after all.Some things that have helped me through those travel days are leaving plenty of time for everything as well as trying to schedule the flight a few days before Christmas. Planning ahead is key (which I am notoriously bad at). And once you’re at the airport, make sure to have a good pair of noise-cancelling headphones, a book and maybe get some of the last Christmas shopping done.There is something special about flights around Christmas. A common purpose, tying this group of strangers together for the duration of the flight. The magic of Christmas, some may call it.To get unlimited access to all stories on Medium, consider <a href="https://medium.com/@bellxks/membership">signing up to the membership</a>. If you sign up <a href="https://medium.com/@bellxks/membership">using my link</a>, it won’t cost you more but I’ll earn a small commission which supports my writing!</article></body>

The chaos and excitement of returning home for the holidays

I watch the family of 5 settle down in the row in front of me. Their youngest, who looks about 2, is screaming his lungs out. Mum is frantically trying to get her three children settled, while dad is doing his best at stuffing 5 overfilled bags into the overhead lockers. I take my headphones out of my bag and plug them into my phone. Mellow Christmas music starts playing. I look to the left — my middle seat is miraculously free. The elderly lady at the window seat is looking excitedly out the window, a Nokia phone in her hand. I haven’t slept in way too long and am still hungover from last night’s holiday party. There’s this excitement in the air. The knowledge of your loved ones at the other end of the flight. I close my eyes and try to tune out the noise.

I have a love-hate relationship with travelling home for Christmas. I love it because I get to see my family and spend this magical time together. I hate the travel part — and that is very rare for me. Generally, I love to travel. However, travelling around Christmas is just stressful.

The flights are insanely expensive, the queues are massive and snow often delays the journey for hours. I’ve had Christmas presents seized several times at security — fully my fault but still upsetting. I’m always grateful for the chance to come home for Christmas, however, this specific flight always is very high stakes. If anything goes wrong, I’m missing Christmas after all.

Some things that have helped me through those travel days are leaving plenty of time for everything as well as trying to schedule the flight a few days before Christmas. Planning ahead is key (which I am notoriously bad at). And once you’re at the airport, make sure to have a good pair of noise-cancelling headphones, a book and maybe get some of the last Christmas shopping done.

There is something special about flights around Christmas. A common purpose, tying this group of strangers together for the duration of the flight. The magic of Christmas, some may call it.

To get unlimited access to all stories on Medium, consider signing up to the membership. If you sign up using my link, it won’t cost you more but I’ll earn a small commission which supports my writing!