Up, up and away

I started traveling for business when I was 23 and went to LA for a home furnishings trade show. I’ve taken hundreds of trips since then and I always feel the same way the day of departure: Sad to leave home.

I’m not by nature a homebody. I love seeing new places and meeting new people. But when I think about leaving behind my kids, my husband, my family, my apartment and my beloved, pain-in-the neck Norfolk terrier, an inexplicable melancholy sets in.

I guess part of my sadness has to do with the possibility—albeit long shot—of the plane crashing, because I don’t feel quite as sad when I’m taking a train or a car. But there’s more to it than that. Home is security, coziness and love. Business trips are meetings, nights alone in business-y hotels, and canned wake-up calls.

As I write this, I’m on a flight to Ft. Lauderdale, FL, because I’m being interviewed tomorrow about FOF for a Lifetime TV show called The Balancing Act. After the taping, I’m spending the weekend on Miami Beach with my dear friends, Lois and Eliot. Lois and Eliot’s company handles the public relations for Fab Over Fifty and she’s invited lots of FOF women to a party on Friday night to introduce them to the website.

I plan to get tan (using sunscreen with a 30 SPF), relax (as much as my hyper-personality will let me) and hang out with Lo and El.

The melancholy has already lifted.  It always does.