Fat Travel

Which is better--by Car or Plane?

In the past month, I have traveled from my small town in East Texas to both Florida (by car) and Colorado (by plane). Let me tell you—I greatly prefer car travel! Here’s why:

1. More spacious seating
   We drive a Dodge Grand Caravan and the passenger seat is vvvvvv comfy (my husband does all the driving, by his choice). I have a seatbelt extender (like this) and it works like a charm to give me several more inches of length to work with. The airplane seating situation is ridiculous. The puddle jumper I flew on, once in the main cabin and once in first class (cheap upgrade!), had about the same amount of space—very little for my large body. I prefer the window seat because there is more room to lean into at the window. On one leg of my trip, though, the gate attendant had mercy on me and sat me in a row where there was no one next to me. It was much more comfortable. Sometimes I’ve bought two tickets so I have that guaranteed space. But not this trip.

2. Accessible bathrooms
   Road trips are better for me because I can take more frequent bathroom breaks and every public place I go is required to have a handicap-accessible bathroom if they have bathrooms at all. The plane bathroom is a non-starter, so I have to hold it for the duration of my flight. Also, a couple of times in the airport, the handicap bathroom was out of order, so I had to squeeze into a regular stall with all my carry-on luggage.

3. Less expensive food options
   Airport food is just so expensive! And it tastes the same as regular food when you’re road-tripping. Because I’m in eating disorder recovery, I have to make sure I eat three meals and three snacks a day (and more if I’m hungry). I brought snacks with me on both trips, but for meals, I preferred the variety of choice available on the road trip. (Even though I had the best meal of my life in Colorado! It was at The Early Bird in Westminster, CO—called “Early Bird Rice and Quinoa Egg-Stir, and it was PHENOMENAL.)

4. Less judgment
   When I enter an airport, I feel the constant surveillance of my body, especially as people walk down the airplane aisle and wonder if I will be their seatmate. On a road trip, I’m much less concerned with how others perceive me.

On this trip, I chose not to fly Southwest (I flew American) because of the availability of flights. Recently, Southwest has made a lot of changes to their policies (no more bags fly free!), but us fat customers are curious what they are going to do with their “customer of size” policy—where they have previously given an extra seat without charge when you inquire for it at the ticket counter/gate. If you want to see them keep this practice, consider signing NAAFA’s petition about it here!

I’m thankful to have made both of these amazing trips! I am curious—what is your favorite kind of travel? Whether you’re in a large body or not, I’m curious to hear your pros and cons.