This is it the day’s arrived, and now the moment, the moment where I’ve got to walk through into departures by myself, this time saying goodbye to mom is harder than ever. I’m excited but as I have one last hug and walk towards departure, I look back towards mom, who’s being much braver than me. I want to run back, say I’ve changed my mind, but something inside keeps me walking forwards with my cabin bag rolling behind me.
I’m heading to Orlando, via Newark Airport, I’ve never flown long-haul before and even though I’d traveled abroad for work before, I’d never truly been this much on my own.
The sky is thick with the deepest fog I’ve ever seen, staring out the windows onto the runways, you can’t even see the airplanes parked at the boarding gates. The delay’s start to roll in, the anxiety in my stomach continues to build. I try to shop, visiting Next in the terminal, I pick up a new swimsuit, this is going to be great, I reassure myself. I’m going to see Walt Disney World, I’m going to work on a cruise ship and visit amazing places. Shopping always makes me feel better, but as the hours stretch on, I really start to pray that they will just cancel my flight. Four hours, five hours, flight after flight is canceled except for mine, I keep phoning mom, her voice is comforting and she reassures me about the wonderful big adventure I’m going to have.
Then it finally happens my flight is called, there is only me and one other lady in a bay of three seats, I’ve got the window seat, not that there is anything to see, the fog has cleared only slightly as if the sky has turned into marshmallow fluff. The journey itself actually passes quickly, I’m so tired from my early wake-up, and the long arduous wait at the airport, I can’t help but doze. The older lady with me, is a Jewish New Yorker, she’s sort of like the characters I’ve seen in movies, but her stories about her family in the UK, and her voice is soothing; in the moments I’m not asleep.
The sky is clearer as we start to circle over New Jersey and Manhattan, I peer through the window, like a child eyeing a toy store, I can see the Statue of Liberty. The lady next to me, is charmed by my reaction,” have you ever been to New York?” She asks me, “ No,” I respond, “this is my first time in the States.”
Turbulence starts to rock the plane as it attempts to make it’s decent. I’ve never been scared of traveling on a plane, but this is the worst turbulence I’ve ever experienced, my ears ache, my stomach is doing flips and nausea racks through me. We finally land, and somehow I haven't been sick, the lady smiles at me, asks if I’m okay. I don’t think I am, but my journeys not over and now I have a missed connection flight to rearrange and another airport to wait in.
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