I have to confess that I am the passenger princess in this relationship. From our very first trip together, Alex has done 95% of the planning. To be fair, the first three trips were planned before I existed in her life. So it was a simple matter of her adding me on to plans that were already made. Of course it would make sense that she would handle that. Sometimes the patterns of a new relationship takes hold and develops a momentum of its own. This is not always a bad thing, though it can be. But it is a real thing and it happened with us and travelling.
I am thankful for this. I get all of the pleasure of traveling with hardly any of the hassle. Like none of the hassle. I feel guilty, but all I need to do is make sure I navigate the airport, be supportive during the hard parts of travel, and answer the questions when asked during the planning stage. Alex is kind of awesome and I am fully included in the decision making process. These aren’t her trips, she makes sure they are our trips. She likes the planning. The problem solving. The research. Planning a trip is second nature to her.
There is a spectrum of Passenger Princesses and I have to admit that I am way out there. I’m not a 1 or 2 where I could jump in at any point, but lets my partner person take point. I am like an 8-9 where I am sure I could handling changing a reservation if needed, but I have never done it. What’s JetBlue’s phone number? *shrug* Where is our Marriot Rewards Number? Somewhere? Maybe? I do know where my passport is and how to make sure I get on the right flight on time. So I am not a 10. But the hard logistics of all? Nope. It’s like someone asking you to do the dishes and your response is, “Honey, where’s the dishwasher?” Sitcom dad, I am at the sitcom dad side of the spectrum.
How do I dig myself out of this hole? I roll with it. I am honest about it. I appreciate what she does. I enjoy our trips. And I contribute to her blog.
And that is the key to being a passenger princess, appreciate it all. All the effort, all the emotional labor, and all the thought that goes into it. You participate where needed. That includes during the trip and during the hard parts of the travels. The scales may never balance, but what matters is the journey, the adventure, the memories, and being together. You support their travel hobby by being a person that is enjoyable to travel with.