Paths and Roads – Live Laugh RV

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,