Glad I'm Not Traveling Now!

Christmas time when we lived in Boston always meant some sort of travel. We had off from work, the kids had off from school/daycare. The weather was crap. Having grandparents in Florida was a good thing! Being the not-so-good flier that I am, I always dreaded the flight (it's funny to me now how stressed I'd get about the 3-hour flight to Florida that seemed so long...now, that is NOTHING!)
I would pack my carry-on for the plane with enough provisions to last just in case the plane got hijacked or crashed on a desert island. Half the time I never even took anything other than snacks out of the bag, but whatever! I would plan my own outfit and shoes and the kids stuff to minimize the amount of time we'd have to spend in line at security taking off our jackets and shoes and whatever. I can feel my blood pressure rising just thinking about it!!
And the crowds and the inevitable weather-related delays. YUCK. And then the sheer joy of landing in beautiful sunny Ft. Lauderdale and knowing we had a whole week of no jackets and no snow in front of us!
Those days of a short trip down to Florida to escape the snowy mess seem to be a thing of the past, at least for now. First of all, it's way more than a short trip from here! Second of all, there is no snowy mess to escape from!
Surprisingly, I now find myself a much better and less scared traveler. Maybe it's because we've done the long-haul trans-Atlantic flight about 11 times (I just counted but I might be missing some) and I've just gotten used to it. Or maybe it's because I know how important it is to do these trips to go back and see family and friends so that outweighs my fears. I still don't enjoy the trip, but it's more a fear of how am I going to entertain the kids for a gazillion hours and less a fear of the plane crashing or being hijacked or other fun stuff like that.
Of course, when things like this happen, it reminds me that maybe some of those seemingly irrational fears are actually justified. Sadly, the main result is going to be more ridiculous rules and screenings that may or may not really be keeping air travelers any safer. It's going to mean longer lines and more delays at the airport. I'm just glad we are staying put for the next little while!