Blogging, Photo challenge

The Paths We Choose

by Ingrid

I knew at a very young age that I enjoyed travel and wanted to travel regularly once I became an adult. When I was seven years old, our family of five returned to Germany for a three-week visit with relatives. It was during that eight-hour Lufthansa flight from Chicago to Frankfurt that I informed my parents that I was going to be a Stewardess when I grew up.

While serenading an airplane barf bag, my folks asked me, “Are you sure you want to be a Stewardess when you grow up”? In between episodes, I’d nod my head up and down while trying to utter a yes.

Fifteen years later, I found myself rushing down the aisle of a DC-9 aircraft to the rear lavatory. A few minutes later, before exiting the lav, I rinse my mouth, straighten the silk scarf tied around my neck, and make sure my hair isn’t out of place. Without missing a beat and smile on my face, I continue up and down the aisle along with another Flight Attendant preparing the aircraft for landing … all drinks and trash collected and seats and tray tables in an upright position.

Needless to say, just because my dream of becoming a Flight Attendant had come true didn’t mean my motion sickness went away. During those first few weeks on the job, I became well acquainted with the meaning of dry heaves. The quarterly weigh-ins were a breeze for me. Yes, in the 1980s, Flight Attendants had to maintain a certain weight, and every quarter we were required to meet with our supervisor to be weighed and have our uniform, nails, makeup, hair, and overall appearance inspected.

For this week’s Sunday Stills photo challenge, Terri asks us to share images of roads, paths, and streets. The paths we choose in life are many and can take us on adventures beyond our dreams.

Eventually, the rush to a restroom subsided and I eased into my dream job. This new job would open opportunities to travel the world but I needed to be free which meant breaking off an engagement. I hadn’t been happy in that relationship for quite some time but what needed to be done had been put on the back burner until I had regained my strength from all the motion sickness.

I wanted to be footloose and fancy-free. I wanted to enjoy my new travel career and this path in life appeared perfect, I was in the process of unraveling an unhappy relationship and the last thing I wanted was to jump right back into ANY relationship. Ah, sometimes the universe has other plans.

There’s something about a tall man in a navy blue uniform!

There was no denying the immediate chemistry felt when our eyes locked. Our paths had crossed at the perfect timing. Little did we realize back then the many roads and adventures that lay ahead.

We had chosen a path in life together. That doesn’t mean we never pulled in opposite directions. Lord knows, there were plenty of times we disagreed on which road to take …. figuratively and literally. But when all is said and done, it has been one heck of a ride.

Who knew, a former Pilot and Flight Attendant would eventually move into an RV full-time and refuse to set foot on an airplane ever again. Well, one should never say never, but there’s nothing like RV travel to really experience a landscape as well as life.

The roads and paths are many. Some are more enjoyable than others but all are worth exploring.

Happy Trails,

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page” – St. Augustine

102 thoughts on “The Paths We Choose”

  7. Wow Ingrid, your story is touching and looking your childhood, I can fairly say that you have achieved your dream and lived for it🔥🔥🔥💯

    That makes any person inspired and proud of your dream, that from a young age you wanted to be in the travel industry. Well done and I am sure you are proud of yourself🔥🙏

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    1. I’m very fortunate to have achieved many goals and lived an interesting life. I still have plenty of dreams and more adventure travels to accomplish. Now, to find the time and money to jump into those goals. 😁

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  12. We are just beginning to winter in warmer weather with our RV! Next step will be to sell our house and live in the Motorhome while we decide where we want to land in our retirement! Great post!

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    1. That’s exactly how we started off, part-time escape from the northern winters. We too were in search of where to land in our later years. Our kids ended up being the deciding factor once they both moved to Phoenix. Best wishes for a fun adventure.

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  13. A great story of travel, love, and dreams .. thanks for sharing your heart with us Ingrid. Happy that motion sickness did not bother you anymore.

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  15. This is such a wonderful story, Ingrid. I knew that you were a flight attendant, but I didn’t know that you had to overcome motion sickness! I admire your tenacity. Although I don’t suffer from motion sickness, I hate to fly. The last good flight I remember was in 1990 on Lufthansa, and there was plenty of leg room, good food, and no crazy people. That was a long time ago, LOL.

    I completely agree with you, RV travel is the best! We’re still trying to figure out if we’re going to get a smaller rig or if the Airbnb scene is going to work for us. We’re definitely not done traveling!

    Your photos are gorgeous…the dock is beautiful, but I think my favorite is your opening photo. It makes me want to walk down that path.

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    1. Thank you Laurel. We are still without a rig ourselves and toying with different possibilities. We know flying anywhere is out of the scenario 😁 We’re still trying to decide how much travel we really have an interest in. I’m intrigued by your Airbnb travels. Keep the tales coming.

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    1. Hi Nancy! Yeah, that motion sickness still rears its ugly head from time to time. That’s just one reason I tend to drive when we’re out exploring.

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  21. Sounds like your childhood dream was also a life lesson in perseverance! Hard to imagine that you had to weigh in regularly😬. Geesh! Your photos are gorgeous as always, I particularly love the one of the dock❤️

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    1. Awe, thank you Jim. Just like you married Barb because she owned a boat, Al married me because I owned a tent 🤣🤪🤣

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  24. I loved reading this account of how you pursued your childhood dream and where it led you. A friend of ours has just qualified as cabin crew for BA in a late career change. I’ll have to tell her about your experiences of being weighed etc. – I think she’ll be horrified at the thought!

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    1. Thank you Sarah. Times have certainly changed and the thought of weigh-ins or strict makeup use rules in any industry these days is unheard of. You’ll need to let me know how your friend responds and how she likes her new career.

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      1. She’s enjoying it so far, although she says she’s often on her own if there’s any exploring time during layovers as most of her colleagues are much younger and would rather just go out drinking!

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    1. I can be a persistent person especially if someone tells me I can’t. What I failed to mention were the numerous interviews with various carriers followed by rejection letters. I didn’t give up. Same held true later in life when I changed careers and became a licensed general contractor and ran a home building biz. That was my true calling and passion. I can’t tell you how many men told me I “couldn’t”. I showed them 🤣

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    1. The RV lifestyle was a wonderful adventure. Unfortunately, so much changed in 2020 that zapped a lot of fun out of it. I feel fortunate to have lived nomadically when we did and do hope to return to RVing part-time in the near future.

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  30. I am also a person who needs alone time and thankfully my husband doesn’t have a problem with that either. You work through some difficulties just getting that first dream job, didn’t you?😉

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    1. I’m fortunate to have enjoyed two diverse careers that I was passionate about (aside from motherhood) but that doesn’t mean it was easy. Enjoy your summer in the north.

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      1. I don’t think it’s ever easy but easy means different things to different people. We’ll have been married 40 years next year, so I understand. 🙂

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  31. Ingrid, I love the story of how you met! I believe things happen for a reason and you two were meant to be together. Congratulations on your 40 years together!

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    1. Al and I are still wondering where the years went. We met 43 years ago and married 40 next month 😱 I’m sure you guys can relate. I don’t think we could’ve imagined some of the twists and turns we’ve encountered throughout the years.

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  32. Ingrid,
    Great story! A flight attendant with motion sickness would make a good TV sitcom, but probably not much fun in real life. Great photos! Did I spot one from Lost Dutchman? It looked familiar. Have a lovely rest of your week and enjoy your Monday, Mimi. Joe

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    1. Hi Joe, you made me go look at my own photos to see where each was shot 🤣 The trail photo was taken last month at Estrella Mtn Reg Park in Goodyear.

      Yeah, my story could make a good sitcom but it was definitely not fun nor funny as I was encountering that motion sickness. Hope to never repeat that chapter in life again.

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  35. Love the pictures and your story. So happy you are back doing your blog and showing your photography. It’s all beautiful! Thank you!!

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  36. Ingrid, I enjoyed following your path as your story unfolded, but I have to say, I did scroll back and linger a while at that dock. That says ‘tranquility’ like no words can express. Beautiful representation of Terri’s challenge.

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    1. Thanks Suzanne. I’m with you and find that dock relaxing. The photo was taken a couple of summers ago next to my sister-in-laws lake front home in northern WI. Unfortunately, we no longer have a place in the north to spend our summers. SIL and husband moved here 2 months ago and now live just a mile up the road from us. We’ll miss our WI summers but love having family nearby.

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  38. You are such a fabulous storyteller, Ingrid! I knew you and Al met while flying but I hadn’t known you suffered from motion sickness while enjoying your career as a flight attendant. You sum it up so well how two airline career folks would prefer to travel by RV. Funny how those paths are chosen, my friend! Of course, your images are gorgeous but the one of the dock at sunrise(set) is exquisite! Hope your AZ warmth isn’t too overwhelming yet!

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    1. Thank you Terri. Becoming a Flight Attendant was no easy feat for me and somewhat harder staying one for five years. But I persevered.
      We’ll miss our WI summer getaways and those dreamy docks (SIL sold and lives here now) but we’ll just have to find new ways to escape the heat. So far, weather is still lovely …. but not for long 🥴

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  39. Beautiful pics.

    I had horrible seasickness while we were sailing. I was often left completely debilitated. But sailing was so amazing I suffered through it. And luckily it wasn’t my job.

    Our last season sailing it seemed like I had overcome my seasickness. It was such an amazing experience. But then we broke the boat and we were done with sailing.

    Of course it all worked out because there are lots of ways to travel.

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    1. I love boating but much prefer lakes and rivers. I even encountered a bit of motion sickness on a large cruise ship and the waves were barely 4′ 😏 I’ve tried sailing on Lake Michigan and around the US Virgin Islands … no thank you! 🤣

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  40. I agree wholeheartedly! I’ve been a traveler all my life. And I pull the trailer 90% of the time because I don’t get motion sick when I drive. As soon as I try to focus on reading, etc the stomach gets queasy! I used to love to fly but rving is so much better. We haven’t been on a plane in 5 years. Even without the rv we drive everywhere we can. I get antsy after about 4-6 weeks at home and HAVE to go somewhere. Even if it’s just a drive into the mountains! As the grandkids get older we’ll take them with us! They love camping with us in the rv in the summer. Mom and Dad get the tent. We get all the boys! Haha. It’s a blast.

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    1. Hi Kathy. Al and I would split the driving with the RV but once we were at a location, I would drive 90% of the time. I’m the explorer in this family. We’re already talking about taking Lillian camping once she’s older. Not sure I’d want to tent it again which means we’ll need to find some little nimble rig. Right now, I’m ok staying home, which is a shocker to me and those around me.

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      1. Enjoy your time “in place”. Change is good. And the kids grow up so fast!! Babies one day, reading and doing math the next.

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  41. I’m so glad you are back to sharing with us, Ingrid! The photos you chose are perfect for your assignment.

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    1. Awe, thank you Karen. Since we aren’t traveling, I’m playing around with new blog post ideas. Terri’s photo challenges seem perfect for inspiration right now.

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  42. Nice selection of photos for the theme!

    I don’t have motion sickness in the air or on the sea, but I would be happy to never board a plane again. Airports and planes are not very pleasant places to be anymore and many destinations have become so crowded. So glad we did all our foreign travel many years ago.

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    1. I couldn’t agree with you more. Al and I often talk about how we were in the airline industry at the right time. I never had to worry about being assaulted by a passenger. It’s crazy out there these days not to mention how crowded everything has gotten.

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  43. I love this story Ingrid ! It is fascinating the outcomes of the paths we take and how this shapes us going forward.

    Give my best to Al.. we hope to see you two again this fall when we come through AZ!

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    1. Thanks Brenda. I’m loving your life on the water travel adventure and look forward to seeing you guys this fall. Keep us posted!

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    1. Hi Debbie. Yeah, I was happy my motion sickness subsided while flying. However, don’t put me on a sailboat … that’s another story 🤣

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  45. A beautiful story. We never know what life has in store for us. You picked some amazing photos to go with your love story – love for travel and for your pilot. 🙂 Being seasick didn’t make me give up my sailing lifestyle either.

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    1. Thank you Liesbet. Although flying became easier, I don’t think I’d ever overcome seasickness. I’ll stick to watching YouTubers sail while I remain on solid ground 🤪

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    1. Thank you John. We’ll be celebrating 40 years of marriage next month 😱 I wouldn’t necessarily say “so happy” 🤣but we’ve made it work.

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        1. I think it’s simply a matter of figuring out what works and what doesn’t. For some that means being single while for others they thrive in having a partner. I need my alone time, and I’m fortunate to have a partner who recognizes that and doesn’t take it personally.

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