One small advantage

Being under five feet is not always the height of enjoyment. Standing in crowds becomes an awkward dance to find a window in a wall of backs,  clothes literally do not come in my size, and the upper shelves of the grocery store remain unexplored territory.

While I'm a little person trying to fit into a big world, there is one place that I am exactly the right size: the sky.

From what the family elders tell me, flying was once luxurious. From pillows to food to smiles, everything came included with your ticket to the clouds. The sky was the limit. Fast forward a few years and things certainly have changed. Replace dressed-up passengers with disgruntled crowds in stretch pants, swap free food for overpriced in-flight menus, and bring everyone just a little closer together with tight cabin seating.

Some airlines try and dress up their seats with headrests or faux-leather, but behind all that, the reality is a very small chair that serves as your room, bed, and sofa for the duration of the flight. And unlike many of the "normal sized" passengers, I was made for small seats.

Curled up and catching some ZZZZZs on a flight home from California to Calgary .

I've never been the most flexible person, but on airplanes I put my few years of gymnastic training and additional eight total yoga classes to work and contort into sleeping positions on par with Cirque du Soleil. It's cirque of the skies. My legs bend like wet noodles, folding and tucking into all corners of my designated area, my head manages to use anything from my knees to the back of the chair as a pillow, and my arms act as additional seat belts, holding everything in place for a comfortable journey anywhere from Calgary to Cologne.

So while some refer to me as vertically challenged, I like to think of myself as "travel sized."