On Being 32 And Flying For The First Time
Last week I flew for the first time. Saying this usually elicits responses of "WHAT?! OH MY GOD?! AT YOUR AGE?! HOW?!" Um, well I'm sure a lot of people have never flown before. Some people can't afford it. Some people don't have the time to take off of work to go somewhere else. There are people who probably will never fly at all in their lives. Flying is a luxury many people aren't afforded. People like to tell me that I need to get out of Rhode Island. That I haven't been anywhere. Well, I've been to 30 states and to Canada but yeah ok, I've never been anywhere. Sorry it wasn't in the mode of transportation that you preferred.
I've had a lot of feelings about flying. I wasn't scared the plane was going to crash. I wasn't scared that it was going to get hijacked. I was more nervous about the discomfort (for those who don't know I don't drive for a multitude of reasons I won't get into because that's a whole other long ass story). But I was at a work meeting two weeks ago and it was decided we were going to North Carolina for a conference. Tickets were bought and just like that the countdown was on.
I'm not going to give you the play by play commentary of the experience but all in all, it was pretty great. The weather was great, the flight was smooth, nothing super uncomfortable happened. It was an under two hour flight so it was pretty much the best starter flight to have.
So how did I feel then? I felt like a little kid. Flying is pretty cool, guys. The way back home was a night flight and I sat by the window and stared out of it pretty much the whole time. All I could think about was Louis CK's bit on flying. "You're sitting in a chair in the sky! You're like a Greek myth right now!" I really enjoyed everything about it.
So how do I feel now? I feel extremely proud of myself. Flying was definitely a great unknown for me. I had no idea how I would react. I am very grateful for how smoothly everything went and for having Ashley there with me. I can't wait to do it again. Here's hoping that all future flights will be as easy breezy as this experience.
