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The Moment I Realized My Wife Had Become a Seasoned Traveler

It’s not often you feel like a mentor to your spouse. But there I was, sitting at Austin-Bergstrom Airport during a weather delay, watching Sharon spout off aviation lingo like a travel pro. I couldn’t help but smile. I felt like a proud travel sherpa, watching my apprentice finally summit the mountain.

That might sound odd to say about a partner — especially when we’re both travel bloggers — but if you’ve read our site, you’ll know we describe ourselves as “an obsessive husband and his wife who really couldn’t care less.” And for a long time, that was true.

From ‘Tag-Along’ to Travel-Savvy

Sharon has always been a good sport about my obsession with points, miles, and flight tracking apps. She tolerates my obsessing about our itineraries, and she’s better at remembering our room number. She’s also the one who keeps track of the keys while I figure out which credit card to use for the stay. But over time, something changed.

While she still couldn’t care less about how many Delta SkyMiles we earned this year, she’s absorbed more travel know-how than either of us expected.

Enter our weather delay at AUS

We were sitting in the Austin airport, waiting for a Southwest flight from Miami, which once it arrived, would be the plane that would take us back home to Orlando. I was glued to FlightAware, nervously watching the plane’s track as it tried to dodge incoming storms. Sharon? She was watching the ever-darkening sky outside.

When the plane appeared to pass Austin and start circling, I muttered, “I hope it can at least land.”

Without missing a beat, Sharon said, “Tell me when they leave 36,000 feet.”

Not “Are we going to be delayed?” or “What’s happening?” — no, she wanted to know when the aircraft started its descent. And that she knew it would be flying at 36,000, that’s not just some random number.

I blinked, looked at FlightAware, and a few minutes later, sure enough, it started dropping… right before it was diverted to Dallas. Our flight was delayed by another two hours.

Recognizing the Signs

Even as I sulked about the delay, I had to admit it — she nailed it. That kind of observational timing isn’t something you pick up unless you’ve spent your fair share of time watching aircraft on hold, or have sat through a few “your crew timed out” announcements.

And sure enough, about 90 minutes later, when a fresh crew showed up and still didn’t have a plane, she leaned over and asked, “Should we ask if there’s a risk they’ll time out?”

At that moment, I realized: she’s not just along for the ride anymore.

Final Thought

Sharon may not chase status or memorize aircraft layouts for fun (that’s still my department) (Note from Sharon: Damn straight. I still think that’s dumb. Planes get you from Point A to Point B; that’s it), but she’s picked up more from our travels than either of us planned. And when she throws out phrases like “crew timing out” or “they’re still at cruising altitude,” I feel a strange mix of pride, surprise, and maybe even a little humility.

Turns out, travel knowledge — like turbulence — has a way of sneaking up on you.

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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary