One of my biggest aspirations is to travel to as many places as I can, even if it’s only a couple of states away. This past spring break I got the opportunity to fly to North Carolina to visit my lovely aunt, uncle, and fur cousins (my aunt and uncle’s dogs, Remus and Ruby). Although I was beyond ecstatic to visit, it was my first time flying on an airplane by myself so naturally, I was a bit hesitant.
With my nerves at an all-time high about flying solo, I got lucky that the universe sent me an angel of a girl (if you’re reading this, you have no idea how much I appreciate you) who unintentionally distracted me from my anxieties about flying while on the bus ride to the airport and who helped me get myself situated at the airport. Once inside the airport, I made my way to my gate to make sure it existed (it can’t just be me that does this) and got a quick snack before sitting by the gate to wait for my flight to be called.
As I was sitting at my gate, I looked around and saw several young women who looked to be about my age sitting near me and that gave me peace of mind that I wasn’t alone and that if they could fly alone, then I definitely could. Getting onto the plane was easy but unfortunately, I was met with my worst flying fear — turbulence. I tried gaslighting myself into thinking that I wasn’t actually in the sky but on a rollercoaster that was designed to shake and make it seem like you were going to fall out of the sky.
Music is my life and it honestly has helped me get through a lot of rough patches in my life, so as expected, I made a playlist that would help keep me calm if my anxiety spiked on the ride to North Carolina and per usual, it did help keep my mind off of the turbulence that I thought would send my deeply desired spring break down the drain. If anyone reading has flying anxieties like I do, the playlist I listened to is linked below.
Before I knew it, we had finally landed and I could officially begin to enjoy my spring break. Overall, my experience with flying alone for the first time wasn’t as terrible as I had made it up to be in my head. This past spring break was full of many firsts, my first flight alone, my first tattoo, and my first college spring break and I can’t wait to experience many more firsts.