This past week, I was finally able to travel across the country to visit relatives for thanksgiving. It had been a long time coming, especially since I hadn't seen my grandmother in 5 years and she is of a quite advanced age.

Since it was also the first opportunity I had to fly while dressed, I took advantage of the occasion. I packed a dress, as well as my recently acquired B-breast forms and my hip pads. I would have liked to wear them on my way to my destination, but was afraid folks would feel my boobs when I hugged them upon arrival. Furthermore, while I considered wearing my hip pads on the way, I thought having them on while passing thru security might be a hassle, not to mention humiliating, so I just took everything in my carry on luggage, which weighed quite a bit thanks to the silicone parts. The pads and breast forms went thru the x-ray machine without a hitch, but they did search through the bag and confiscated my shaving cream.

The family visit was very pleasant and necessary, as was Thanksgiving dinner with the family. Today, I traveled back and put my plan into action.

After passing security with my hips and forms in my carry on bag, I went into the men's room and put on my forms and hips. I ended up not putting on the dress, so I stuck to the jeans and sweater and baseball cap I was already wearing. Putting the padding on my person made my bag considerably lighter.

Once I arrived at my boarding gate, I put on my large hoop clip-on earrings and that's how I boarded my return flight. I had a middle seat , but was seated between two women. The flight was quite pleasant, though, as I was in the first economy row right after first class, which happens to have more leg room than your average economy seat.

This was only the first leg of the trip, though, as I chose a flight with a 50-minute layover in Chicago to get some fresh Garrett's popcorn, since they don't have stores where I live. I also had to locate my gate, as it had been unassigned at the first stage of my trip and the Chicago airport is quite large.

Walking quickly, my head somewhat consumed with worry I might not make it to my flight on time, I overheard a male voice asking Are you using the boy's or the girl's restroom? I just kept walking, thinking the question was rather bizarre and directed at someone else, as I wasn't engaging anybody in conversation. It took a few seconds for me to realize that that question had been directed at me. I looked slightly over my shoulder and saw, among other people, some bubba-type fellow in a baseball hat. I thought he might have been the one who asked the question but wasn't 100% sure and although I had considered answering, my not knowing who asked it, coupled with the fact a good half minute had already passed and no further engagement was attempted led me to conclude the best thing I could do was pretend I did not hear.

I found my gate and the popcorn store nearby, so I ran my errand and proceeded to wait. However, as most of the seats at the gate were taken, I opted for an empty-ish bench on the main thoroughfare.

As people passed by me, I heard the usual chuckles and clearing of the throat we all know so well. I ignored them all and the fact I was wearing a mask helped to hide my facial expression.

As I entered the plane, the flight attendant at the door called me "sir". I ended up in an aisle seat in the penultimate row of the plane, next to two guys. Better than in the middle. We did not exchange a word. For the in-flight snack, I requested cookies and got two packs. As mybag was hard to reach, I stored the extra one in my bra.

By the way, I believe I saw another gender non-conforming person sitting in the middle of the opposite aisle, one row ahead of mine, but I did not engage her in conversation.

Before landing, I removed my clip-on earrings and used my heavy jacket to hide my boobs. It was quite the adventure and quite eye opening.

Next time I pass thru Chicago, I'll be even more enfemme. **** the nosy dipshits who can't mind their own business.

Thanks for reading.