Cabin Fever

This afternoon I was overcome with a bout of Cabin Fever. I shouldn't be surprised - I haven't been out of the building since Monday afternoon, unless you count walking from one back door to the other yesterday evening when Mom was locking up the building. I occasionally like to join her and we can catch up while I trail around after her.

Monday afternoon we got out just long enough to pick up some postage stamps and an ice cream cone. Tuesday was dark and rainy, and I was fine with staying in. Hubby had to get out for a dental appointment. Yesterday was pretty quiet and I felt no urge or need to get out. I did trail Mom while she locked up last night, because I thought perhaps I really should get outside the apartment at some point. I'd picked up our mail in the morning, but that was the extent of venturing out.

This morning was dark and rainy again. And poor hubby had to get out for another early morning appointment - this time his semi-annual checkup with the V.A. Mobile Unit. He was gone longer than I expected. They were pretty busy out there. He came home all in one piece, just in time to help me get the second load of laundry out of the dryer.

Earlier this afternoon, I hit that point that I just needed to see some different scenery. Hubby had seen all he wanted to for this day, so I went to the local store and shopped around. Mostly I was just killing time, but as always I zeroed in on the clearance rack. And I found a couple of tops marked down to $5.99 each that will work with just about anything.......and especially the black maxi skirt I got a few days ago. I'm starting to look at things with the thought of traveling and comfort on the plane.......if I could just go in my jammies, I probably would!

I always get somewhat conflicted when I think about flying and what to wear.......you want to be comfortable on the long flights, but you also need to be wearing something that allows you to move quickly when you have to change planes on a tight time schedule. Then I think about wearing something that's easy for going through security.......and then my head starts to spin trying to correlate all that.

If you want to be comfortable on the plane, you start thinking about loose clothing, nothing with a tight waistline or fabric that doesn't move with you. It can be chilly on the plane sometimes, so want to dress appropriately for that - then again, I've been stuck on a tarmac with the air on the plane not working.

If you have to change planes on a tight schedule, then you need to be able to move fast. And that makes my mind wander toward comfy workout pants or jeans and walking shoes. Absolutely perfect......for changing planes. Not for being comfortable on the plane OR for going through security.

When you go through security, you have to take your shoes off and send them through the x-ray machine with your carry-on baggage and purse. If you're like me and don't have all your original working parts, you then brace yourself for setting off the machine and being pulled aside for the more in-depth security screen. By the time you're through with that and cleared for departure, you have one of two scenarios:  either your stuff is all piled up on the floor near where your in-depth security screen happened and you have to gather it all up as quickly as you can and get out of everyone's way, or your poor spouse is loaded down with both his own stuff and yours, not able to move or get his own shoes back on. Either way, this scenario calls for shoes you can slip into easily....in the summertime, that would be sandals or flip-flops.

So you see my dilemma:  how do I dress for flying? If I weren't dragging a small carry-on bag with three to four days' worth of clothes, plus everything else I need for the trip, I could just bring extra changes of clothes and change for the situation. Picture it (as Sophia Patrillo used to say):  enter the airport wearing something comfortable and sandals.....go through security and find a rest room to change anything that needs to be switched out before you get on the plane.

The next step wouldn't be quite at easy - Between 30 and 45 minutes before landing, you would need to go into the facilities on the plane and somehow figure out how to change from your comfy flying clothes to your "moving fast clothes" and your walking shoes. I'm not sure that's even logistically possible, but maybe if you're short and very flexible you could pull it off. :)

Once you've done the plane-to-plane dash, there would need to be a change back into the comfy flying clothes. Where you do that depends on how fast you've moved during the plane change........hopefully there would be enough time left to duck in the rest room and change before getting on the plane. Otherwise, you would need to do the reverse of the plane facilities yoga moves once the plane is back in the air!

Thinking about all that gives me pause - by that time, I would be more than ready for the drink cart to come down the aisle! So since I can't carry all these extra clothes for the different parts of the trip - and since I definitely wouldn't be able to change clothes in the plane bathroom! - I will need to find some workable compromise for my travel wardrobe. Wish me luck.