Leave one's pad having to use the stairs? (4,3)
I believe the answer is:
lift off
'leave' is the definition.
(I know that lift off is a more specific form of the action depart)
'one's pad having to use the stairs?' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'to' is found in the answer.
'one' could be 'i' (Roman numeral) and 'i' is present in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for lift off that I've seen before include "make them use the stairs?" , "launch of spacecraft?" , "What astronauts have to" , "Leave ground" , "Why stairs are used" .)