Spring Break. A week without preschool for my son. A week without time to study ground school or prep for flights, let alone any writing. It was capped off by my son breaking his arm and a trip to the E.R. I quickly saw that I could not "do it all." I didn't have the time or the bandwidth.
I spoke to my flight instructor about needing to "hold short" on more flying. I thought I could fit in online ground school as I continued with college classes I had already committed to. And I NEEDED to get working with my writing again, my potential income.
My instructor was saddened but understanding. We had three flights and about 5 hours of flight time under our belts in his taildragger, which I was just starting to control, on the ground anyway.
I was heartbroken but knew it was the right decision. I wrote him a few days later with the quote," Don't cry because it's over, laugh because it happened," and a question, "Could I come by and sit in the cockpit just to soak it in, and help combat withdrawl?" He said I was welcome any time.
I then spoke to a student pilot friend and got some feedback from Ladies In Flight Training on Facebook. All supported the idea of doing ground school separate from flying, keeping in mind the 1 year window to complete my PPL (private pilot license) after passing the written exam.
The decision not to fly was hard and followed by many tears. But it made sense. Pilots have to change their flight plans all the time, and I was no different. As the saying goes, your journey is your own.
(Originally published 4/4/2019 by author to her blog The Passage.)
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