It’s Plane Now – January 2009

No, I don’t mean “plain”.  I mean “plane”.

As some of you know, my husband and I travel a lot.  Between his work, my work, and our family and friends, we rack up some serious frequent flyer miles.  It takes a lot of schedule coordination but, when possible, if one of us goes somewhere “interesting” for work, the other tries to accompany.  Sometimes we even extend the trip a day or two to enjoy a mini (very mini) vacation.

This week, my husband is in Japan.  I was thinking about going with him but the airfare and flight availability decided that I would stay home.  He called me when he was changing planes in LA for one more domestic conversation.  “I wish you could have come with me.  It would be so much fun” he said.  I replied, “It would be nice but you know what part I miss the most?  The plane ride.”  He agreed!

I know—you think we’re totally nuts. I mean, the part that most people would dread the most is all those hours in the plane.  I admit that much of the joy of travel is a thing of the past and getting to your destination is the really exciting part but the time on the plane??

We talked about why we like to be on long plane rides together:  time to nap, read, listen to music, talk, do crossword puzzles together.  No errands to run, chores to do, phone calls to make, e-mails to respond to, no TV shows where we only talk during commercials.  Wouldn’t it be nice if we could have plane time at home?  Let’s see, what would it take? Turn off the TV, let voice mail pick up, turn off the computer,  leave errands and chores for another day.  Get out the books, music, and settle in.  This could work!  We could even put our carry on under the coffee table in front of us!  Okay, maybe that’s going too far but you get the idea.

How about you?  Do you have an oasis?  A place or time that you could recreate in your own home?  You only need to recognize when you need it and turn off the interruptions.  It’s so easy-it’s plane-ly clear.