It’s official – romantic movie makes me cry on planes. Think The Blind Side or Corro da Te. There I am sobbing – hiding my tears as the steward and trolley pass by. Shamefully turning my head away from those sitting next to me – wiping my snotty nose on a cabin napkin.

It turns out there are scientific reasons – low humidity, lower oxygen levels, cabin pressure, travel stress. It’s a phenomenon – I am a member of the Mile Cry Club!

As a child I never cried. I was a boarder – I left my family for three months at a time to fly intercontinental for school. Initially I cried at the airport when I said goodbye but later only in my pillow. Most nights I couldn’t sleep, tracking wing tip beacons out of the school window wondering if they were coming from home.

Now I wonder if these tears are bottled up childhood goodbyes. Those cumulative arrivaderci’s stored internally make present day au revoir’s harder to handle.