At the Airport

I live far enough from school that it's usually cheaper to fly home than to drive. This means I do quite a bit of flying - I've actually tripled my flight time in the past year. I'm chilling in the airport right now, killing time before my flight boards, and, not gonna lie, I'm happily reminiscing about this weekend exactly one year ago, which was significant for a few reasons:

1) the first time I went back home after moving to school
2) the first time I flew again in six years
3) the first time I flew by myself

Even as an "adult," facing the airport by myself the first time was pretty terrifying. Fortunately, RDU is really small compared to Hartsfield-Jackson, so the terror was short-lived. The airport and I now have a solid relationship.

I actually love to fly.

The whole experience is awesome. Maybe I'll get to a point where I get sick of it, but I sure hope not. I don't mind waking up early if I'm headed to the airport. I love the hustle and bustle as everyone's on a different route to a business trip or vacation or home for a holiday or returning from a trip. I also like how directly it contrasts with the passengers (like myself, currently) who are sitting outside their gate for around an hour waiting for something to happen. It's just a cool experience. Just sitting in the airport.

Flying itself is amazing too. Coasting onto the runway, hearing the engines start up with that high-pitched whine that totally makes me feel like I'm on the Millennium Falcon. The pull on your stomach and the pop in your ears when you take off and adjust to the altitude change. Watching the cars and houses and streets get so small.

But the best is sitting by the windows and flying on a cloudy day. You enter into the clouds and are completely surrounded by white, and then you just pop out the top and you're above the whole word. Literally.

It's awesome.

And now it's time to board =^)