PERSONAL ESSAY
What Will Flight Feel Like Now?
Thoughts on my first plane trip since “Before”
I had never been on a plane until college. My friends are always surprised to learn that. (I had also never been to a concert nor had I eaten sushi, but those are stories for another time.) As a kid, we only really ever went on vacation to Florida, and we drove. Nothing says “family fun” like 24 hours in a Pontiac packed with three kids, 12 suitcases, bag lunches, and a cooler full of Capri Sun. Those trips were special, but they were long. The first time I did the trip by plane, a quick two hours, I fell in love — with the romantically busy airport, the paper boarding pass and ticket folder in my hand, and the very idea that I could get on an aircraft in New York City and get off a world away.
In my 20s, plane travel became an escape. I traveled to Europe and to California, across the U.S., and around the world. A passport was a major milestone in my life. That little blue book meant I was finally an adult. I started my airplane adventures in the late 90s, when flights on JetBlue were $99 (ha!), seats were slightly wider, and accumulated miles actually meant something. Then, a full, hot meal and fully checked bags were integral parts of the experience, not up-charge add-ons. Those surely weren’t the glamorous flights of the 1950s —…
