It would not be very 'Cristiano Ronaldo' to encounter the hectic scenes we mere mortals have to contend with while hatching our plans for a summer getaway. But in the ever-crowded Manchester departure lounge, there will be one rather notable absentee on Friday morning.
Of course, those alarming issues in economy class will be side-stepped by Erik ten Hag and his Ronaldo-less squad when they fly out to Australia - with stops in Thailand and Norway either side - yet the new manager has one early problem to solve to prevent his pre-season plans from going down under.
When the Dutchman was appointed to kick off a new era, a significant amount of focus was on that man Ronaldo and how the five-time Ballon d'Or winner might fit into his side and what he would give Ten Hag with his penchant for high-intensity. Concerns were alleviated in one simple word.
READ MORE: United reiterate Ronaldo stance
On his first outing in front of the world's media as United manager, Ten Hag was pressed on that very subject and his answer - "goals" - was coupled with a scoff as if to showcase his disbelief at the question. Ronaldo provided 24 examples to underline that faith last season as a nightmare unfolded around him.
Fast forward to the present and those barely believable scares have, generally, been replaced with revived dreams except for one unthinkable scenario. But will Ronaldo be sold amid reported interest from Chelsea?
When United sanctioned his return last summer, Ronaldo was never going to be the long-term solution. However, he was the talisman that United desperately needed in the interim.
Despite suggestions to the contrary, Ronaldo is not the problem at Old Trafford. However, while the team lack any natural replacement for him, should Ten Hag eventually have to cave in and allow the Portugal captain to leave, he might have been offered a blueprint to ease United through (yet more) stormy waters.
Whether it was this summer, next summer or the one after that, United would have had to summon up a response to Erling Haaland touching down in the Premier League with neighbours Manchester City and Liverpool winning the race for Darwin Nunez's signature. Naturally, that will be easier said than done.
However, during his three-game stint in the dugout, Michael Carrick showed United how they can potentially cope without Ronaldo should the homecoming be abruptly ended. It came, coincidentally, during the 1-1 draw vs Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Shock horror, Ronaldo was benched for that contest and, with Fred at the front of a four-man midfield diamond to spark up their press, United deployed Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford in attacking quarters. It struck a note with an otherwise misfiring group and Carrick's men were good value for their lead before Ronaldo was summoned.
It has to be said, their failure to hold onto that lead - through Sancho on the break - was not down to Ronaldo and more owing to a clumsy challenge from Aaron Wan-Bissaka; a man up for grabs this summer. Ultimately, though, it did do enough to prove they could still be a force without him, despite not winning a single Premier League game in which he did not start last season.
On paper, the prospect of United losing their figurehead and goalscorer having compiled their worst points tally in the Premier League era is more than enough to give supporters and management a sleepless night, let alone on the eve of such a gruelling cross-continent journey. But football is not played on that surface.
Ten Hag's philosophy has always been built around the collective and not individuals. Ronaldo remains a star of the footballing world and one of the best players in history - if not the greatest to ever lace up a pair of boots.
However, individual superstars do not fill up trophy cabinets, great teams do. The term 'interim' would almost have to be whispered in the Old Trafford corridors after these last few gut-wrenching seasons, but is this the stage when Ronaldo's status as an interim striker for United can be brought to an end?
Carrick and his tactical nous provided the first signal that it could, while Ten Hag will no doubt be able to fine-tune that game management to a whole new level altogether. Ultimately, though, one figure from the past has formed a pathway to emerge from the shadow of another and recapture those sorely missed former glories.
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