Hi everyone,
Sorry in advance for the long post. This past Saturday I did something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time. I flew enfemme from San Diego to Washington, DC. I know there have been threads on this in the past, and a lot of folks would wonder what would happen if they did it. In short, nothing happens. I’ll tell you about my complete trip.
I was very nervous of course and debated whether I should do it or not. I was visiting San Diego and getting ready to go home. The night before I packed and laid out my outfit for the trip. In the morning, I quickly showered, dressed, and did my hair and makeup. I had been out the evening before, so my nails were already done. I should note that I am comfortable going out as a woman and generally pass without incident. Also, I earlier this year I began laser hair removal for my beard. As a result, my face is rather smooth now. It’s definitely an advantage because I don’t need to use a heavy beard cover and my makeup lasts much longer with fewer touch-ups. For the record, I wore an orange tiered skirt, white tank-top, green cardigan, and open toed wedge shoes.
After dressing, I loaded up the car and checked out of the hotel. I arrived at the airport and parked the rental car close to the terminal. Since I had a couple of suitcases, I wanted to first check them in before returning the rental car. Also, I figured if there would be any problems, I could still get back to the car and somehow change. I arrived at the ticket counter to check in, and handed the woman my male ID. She checked me in without batting an eye. So far so good. But now my bag and all my male stuff was checked in, so if I were to have a problem with security I would potentially be stuck.
I returned the rental car and took the shuttle back to the terminal. Everything was going smooth though the biggest challenge was still to come – TSA. Fortunately, there was a very short line for security which helped keep me calm. I went right up to the TSA gentleman and presented him with my boarding card and male ID. He did a quick double-take when he looked at the ID and then me. He looked at me for a couple of seconds, and then he just waved me through. No problems whatsoever. All he did was to check that I was in fact the person in the ID. While his expression showed that he was a little surprised by my appearance, he clearly didn’t care once he was satisfied that I was who I claimed to be. All he did was take a good look at the picture and me which is what they do whenever I fly.
Once I was inside the gate area, I had time to kill. I ate, went to the ladies room, and then boarded my flight to Phoenix (the first leg). No problems at all. In Phoenix, I trudged across the airport to make my connection. I stopped in the ladies room again to check on my appearance and touch up my makeup. I then boarded my flight home. By the way, I had a couple of heavy carry on bags as I was traveling for work. It was nice to have men help me with them – chivalry is not dead.
On the flight home, I chatted with the woman sitting next to me. I don’t think she ever read me. If she did, she certainly never betrayed her knowledge. Once in DC, her husband removed my bag from the overhead bin, and a gentleman again helped me remove my luggage from the carousel. I then hopped into a taxi and arrived home.
It was a long day, and but I had done it. It was a fabulous experience without any problems. It’s something I’ll definitely do again. So for you girls who may be worried, all I can say is be yourself and not to worry. Just go for it if that is what you want to do it.
