Manners And The Modern Traveler .....

Hi there beautiful people, welcome to lazy, hazy, wondering if it’s going to be a little crazy August - the heart of travel high season, where seemingly, you have every likelihood during the course of your day, to find yourself surrounded by people with suitcases, backpacks and dare I say it their children.

I’m a solo traveler for several reasons. First I like it that way, I really like it that way. I don’t like having to check in with or wait on others, in order to start my day, go somewhere and making me late for breakfast.

The 1 and only girls' trip I went on, put paid to any notions of shared vacations for life, due to one of our group being an over-organizing nut, who literally had every minute of the day scheduled with some sort of activity - for destination sites to restaurants

No, that level of structured travel is just not for me. I like to move and travel the beat of my own drum and the idea of following a schedule makes me feel a little unwell.

Most of all, I like how flexible I can be when it comes to random things like seat allocation ( how many latte breaks I want t and on some days, whether I can even be bothered to talk to anybody.

I frequent probably the smallest coffee shop in my district and when a family of 4 or more comes into it, it is effectively under siege I have no problem with that, but when the family first arrives there is usually a debate about the seating and whether they can make it work or not.

Once they decide to stay, they instantly seem to revel in blocking both entryways - usually with a pushchair or buggy, their bags or luggage and then take their sweet time before finally moving on.

When you transfer that same behavior and energy to travel, you cannot be surprised if not everyone agrees that the group comes first. In the news recently, there have been two instances, where solo travelers have been approached by airlines to give up premium seats in business or first-class, so that families can sit together.

Just because you are a big group, don’t assume everyone will bow down to you. Both solo travelers purchased trips, and most of all so they were not inconvenienced. I don’t play and I will dig my heels in to get the seat I paid for.

Due to my recent health issues, my previous addiction to being that 'always accommodating passenger' are now officially over. This diva needs her space and sleep during short and long haul flights, so she can arrive alert and pain-free to her location. Those requirements are what I base my seat choice on, NOT whether Tommy can sit beside his sister or not. It's not my fault it hasn't happened.

I have on occasion rocked up to my seat and found some random person has decided to go ahead and take what they sitting in it, who then tries to sweet talk or intimidate me into changing seats. My response is to hail the nearest flight attendant and let them deal with it.

Most of the time it’s a little piece of aviation fun and on the rare occasions where some one's been nasty - a person once called me a bitch in their - thinking I wouldn’t know what they were saying. Unfortunately for them I did, responded in their language to say so. Ultimate aviation mic :0)

So let's go back to our initial solo traveler v family group scenario. The blame for any seating issues does and always will lay with the airline. The buck stops firmly with them, and no amount of shady on-the-spot guilt tactics, is a sneaky, off-key half-assed way to reach a solution.

The truth is, if a family/big group wants to sit together, they should pay for it, ideally booking as early as possible instead of turning up on the day and expecting things to be magically fixed on the spot for them.

In my very own ideal world of travel, all passengers would be considerate of one and other and be mindful of their actions during, travel creating a friendly, pleasant atmosphere that everyone could enjoy.

I know you may call me a dreamer, but I'm not the only one, am I ?

Talk to you soon,

Lara x