On our holiday flight, Little Miss starting voicing her concerns about our joureny.  Saying out loud the questions to worry the nervous flier, what happens if we crash, how do planes crash, what if we’re over the sea?   Fortunately, I’m a confident traveller and her questions didn’t worry me.  I am of the opinion that if anything were to happen its unlikely that we would know and as I now would only fly with my family we would all be together which is of some comfort.  I answered Little Miss’ questions patiently and gave her lots of reassurance.  I told her I’d been on lots and lots of flights and never had a worry.  Her response was of course to ask even more questions, how many flights had I been on, where had I travelled to?  The question of the number of flights got me thinking and I started to tot up my flights, something which ended up being quite an interesting social history.  Little Miss is only eight yet has already been on eight flights, at her age I had not yet been on a plane and all my childhood flights total less than her score so far in her little life.  By my calculations I have done 64 flights but I’m sure I may have missed the odd journey.  I have gone as far west as the Caribbean and to the other side of the world, Australia twice, thanks to Mr S passion for cricket.

I find it unbelievable now but my first flight was as an unaccompanied minor aged about 9 with my brother to Scotland.  We were dropped off at Heathrow by my parents and collected at Edinburgh by my grandparents, my abiding memory of the flight is being forgotten by the BA chaperone on the plane.  I waited more than five years after this for my next flight, when after years of ferry and road trips around northern Europe my family finally discovered the sunny package holiday and we had three before adulthood.  Of all my flights the most popular destinations are Edinburgh and Paris.  Paris is much to do with my studies and Edinburgh because both Mr S and I had relatives in Scotland whom we liked to visit. My flights reflect different periods in my life, there are the city weekend breaks, hen dos and weddings, long haul flights to exotic destinations as a couple and now the family holidays.  Air travel is so much cheaper and accessible that flying is so much more routine.  I love to travel and am always planning new destinations, my dreams for the future are to visit America, I thought a trip to Disneyland/world in Florida or Orlando  (a bit more research needed) would be perfect to celebrate 10 years as a family in 2020 and my big dream trip is to fly into JFK and explore New York.  I love flying and the opportunities it allows to discover our world, despite Little Miss’ questions I will continue to enjoy every flight I take with a sense of wonder and excitement.