The Trip to Type-A Parent Conference #typeacon

This will more than likely be the first of many blog posts about my conference. Be prepared for updates all week long because I have so much to say about so many different parts of the conference! Have fun reading!

A while back Type-A Parent held a contest where one lucky person and a friend would win three nights at the Renaissance Hotel along with a pass for Business & conference for Type-A Parent Conference. Of course, this is a blog conference I had heard fantastic feedback about. Out of all the conferences I have had feedback for there have been only a couple that actually were told to be a more friendly, intimate setting; Type-A Parent Conference was one of those friendly conferences I had heard about and I knew I just had to go to this. I tweeted about three times per day which meant three entries per day for myself and @mommadjane. The day the contest winner was announced I wasn’t near a computer to hear the winner. I was around dealing with the kids doing the Mom thing when @mommadjane called me and said we had won the contest. Funny thing is, she had no clue that she had just won with me the three nights at hotel and the pass to attend business and conference for Type-A Con! When I visited the site again and contest information I found out that I had actually WON and was going to be rooming with my long time friend @mommadjane. I cried, seriously … cried!

Here I was a winner of this contest and now all I had to do was purchase a ticket to fly on a plane there and come up with one night hotel stay because I needed to arrive the day before the conference started which meant four nights, not just three as won during the contest. As a person who has always had a fear of flying, I was a tad bit nervous about flying alone. @mommadjane lives in Texas so there was no way she could fly with me. I put some tweets out and posted around looking for a way to find a flying buddy and tweeted about my fear of flying. At one point @mommycosm tweeted me back and we decided we would fly together. @mommycosm is a NH blogger and we could fly together, even though we really don’t know much about each other.

I have never flown, never traveled outside of the New England area or anything. This trip was going to be full of firsts; first conference, first flight, first elevator with more than two floors, first escalator and so much more. I was excited, nervous and starting to feel a bit panicked about getting on a plane and flying. A few days before my flight I felt a calm come over me and I was almost at ease over the idea of flying. On the ride to the airport in Boston, MA I felt my mind getting nervous about the conference and being away from my family for so long. Nervous about how @mommycosm and I would get along, nervous about the idea that my room mate @mommadjane wouldn’t arrive until late Wednesday night when I would arrive close to 1pm. Nervous, excited and anxious to get this conference trip moving yet pause it all at the same time.

The first flight out of Boston, MA into Atlanta, GA wasn’t bad at all. I even sat next to the window and stared out at the clouds and when the clouds were not in the way I stared out at the landscape from the plane window. I enjoyed the view very much and since we were near the wing of the plane I was also able to watch how they work! What an experience. Not once did I feel panic, not once did I feel like I couldn’t breath. I was happy and felt so proud that I wasn’t even scared riding on this big plane in the sky.

Once we hit Atlanta, GA I had to get off of the plane with @mommycosm and head to another departure area to get onto a smaller plan to ride about one hour to Asheville, NC. The smaller plane was a bit more challenging for me. The size of seats were smaller, the plane hit every air pocket possible and I felt every single move. I wasn’t so sure I could ride another minute on this plane and then the pilot announced we were about to arrive in Asheville!

Excited that I had made the flight on two planes with no issues I could now focus on the fact that I was about to meet Kelby (@typeamom) for the first time ever! I love Kelby, she has always been an amazing supportive person online and I knew I had to meet her! I also had quite a long list of blog buddies and fave bloggers that I had to meet also while at the Type-A Parent Conference and I WAS READY! @mommycosm and I had to hire a driver from the Asheville airport to the hotel but it was affordable at about $40 for the trip. We also made sure to schedule them to come back on Sunday to pick us up for our flight back to NH.

We made it to the hotel and I was ready to check in and get to my room. I tell you walking into a hotel room made me feel more like an adult. Sometimes I am so silly that I forget I am an adult now and can do whatever I want! This was my time to do whatever I wanted and not have to worry about any other person, like my three kids. Although I missed my children dearly while gone I am excited to say I didn’t have a panic attack on the two planes I had to fly on, I didn’t get sick sitting in the airplane bathroom and I was completely at ease up there in the air.

I must admit this has been a fantastic trip but I find I am ready to go back home. I really need to get home to my “babies” and bring them all of the goodies that I got for free as well as the souvenirs I purchased at the gift shop for them!

So …. have you ever stepped out of your “comfort zone” and jumped right into something like I did with the Type-A Parent Conference and flying?