Time to Fly
What, you didn't know trans women could fly? Read the comics, will ya? Freaking casuals.
But no, soon to be faithful readers, I speak of the wonders of commercial flight. Before I started my current career, I had done it a few times in my life. So infrequently, I scarcely gave it any thought. Since then, I've probably averaged doing it twice a month. Flying, that is. And baby, do I have thoughts!
A Dream of Flying
As I write this from 35,000 feet, I think about how flying has went from being this wondrous activity to confounding to routine to a chance to catch up on some reading (or writing). I remember when I first started travelling for work, I was enraptured with the wonder of it all. I would seek a window seat at all costs so I could stare out and watch the countryside roll by. That lasted a year or so. But you know, you can only see the Great Plains from above so many times before they ain't that great anymore. Soon I discovered a new joy - the ability to get up and pee without saying "Hey I'm really sorry about this to two other people." You know what else is great? Putting on my headphones, turning on the jams, reading comics on my phone and NOT speaking to anybody for the duration.
Now that said, am I a total curmudgeon? Yes, and it's the children who are wrong! But ok, there are times when the wonder of flight still strikes me. Most often when flying somewhere exotic. Over the Caribean, the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, Illinois! The miracle that we can get in a pressurized capsule and casually vault over the oceans and mountaintops and the length of Illinois! So every once in a while I see the joy in the eyes of somebody obviously doing it for the first time, and I get a little grin on their behalf.
Such Great Heights
Flying itself may have lost some luster, but honestly? Travel itself really hasn't. I get the same anxiety the night before of heading into the unknown, the same rush from throwing all my stuff in carry on bags and getting myself from place to place, my entire life for the next week on my back and rolling on little wheels. MCI to SFO to SEC to JFK. Catching that rental car shuttle with your bags hanging off you like an old soldier, wondering where you've found yourself this time.
I casually threw put a few airport codes to sound cool, but a few words about airports. The best ones are also the worst. Either they’re small and inconvenient or massive and overbearing. They're like amusement parks where everything is expensive and confusing and nothing is fun. Sometimes there’s some good food. Many a person had heard me bloviate about the wonder of Tortas Frontera in Chicago or Cousins BBQ in Dallas.
But do I ever get tired of walking down the massive Avenue of Flags at O'Hare or riding along the moving sidewalks in Atlanta with my ear buds in and the music thumping? No I do not. I get in the zone, I see every manner of humanity pass by. A technicolor wonderland. It's like life is my own personal music video.
The Road Warrior (and the Trans thing again)
I like to refer to those of us who live this life as road warriors.
No not that one!
YEAH girl, there it is.
City to city, life lived out of suitcases and bags, seeing our families in fits and snatches. Wondering if we'll make it to the next connection (I say as my current plane keeps taxiing, round and round). It's an adventure, a truly exciting adventure, no matter how exhausted I get, or how much i complain. And girl, do I ever complain. That’s my right as an American!
Doing it as a trans women (yep there it is) is making it interesting to be sure. I've legally changed my name but I don't have my new ID just yet. Let's just say the stares at my photo ID are getting longer and more confused. Once I get it switched I'm sure it'll get confusing for them in the other direction. I never get through the scanner anymore without getting patted down. YES officer, those are breasts. Well, kind of. The imager just doesn’t know what to make of us. Hey, its like the Uncanny Valley, except it's me getting through TSA! I expect it to get worse before it gets better. As soon as I get my new ID? Yeah I'm getting pre-check back.
Don't worry we'll all float on...
Maybe one day I'll get tired of this life. Tired of making new and interesting relationships for 5 days at a time. Tired of seeing new places. Tired of trying new things. Maybe I'll want to stay in the same place and not start getting an itch because I've been there too long. In the meantime, I'm going to keep moving, keep re-inventing myself. The life hadn't gotten stale, but the girl pretending to be the guy living it sure had. Got that? But Jenn? She's gonna be a different show every week. Keep moving, keep floating on. Keep dreaming of Flying.
Next time: The wonders of *checks notes* umm, Pueblo, Colorado! PRESS THE BUTTON!