AS PART of a family of six we didn’t fly a lot as a family when I was younger.
Plenty of trips in the car which involved separating my younger siblings for the sanity of the rest of us, but not a lot of flights.
Add the fact my mother has a massive fear of flying and you can understand why my parents chose to holiday within the state.
But now that half my adult life has been spent living in New South Wales, these interstate trips are a regular occurrence.
This time, my parents and husband went with me.
I could deal with the fact we were all flying together.
And driving together.
And sharing apartments together.
It was not so much the company that was the issue, but rather the size of my family.
Standing at almost six-foot, I am the shortest for four children.
My husband is taller as is my father.
So flying is always on the uncomfortable side given the lack of space on planes.
As we travelled last week I thought back to our big family holiday where we flew to the USA with five more freakishly tall family members.
Party of 11 we became known.
Disney World, Universal Studios, Six Flags; we did all the theme parks.
And we had enough to fill an entire ride.
We needed a mini bus to get around and a massive house to share to fit us all in.
But 11 giants on the one flight was particularly difficult.
One cousin even requested to sit away from us so that he had more room sitting alongside a smaller unknown traveller given we were all squished in together.
Yes I have heard all the positives to being tall.
‘Oh you can reach things on the top shelf’ people say.
Or ‘gee you can see the stage from here’ or ‘wow, no one can see the top of your head’.
Yep, all positives.
The biggest downer to being tall?
Travelling.
Here’s hoping airlines invest in adjustable seats.
