When I was studying abroad in London, my mom planned her first trip European trip to visit me. While I knew we would spend some time walking around my new home and taking the tube out of zone one, I wanted to take her to another city so she could experience more of the continent that started my wanderlust.
After researching different cities and looking up cheap tickets on RyanAir, I found a $5 dollar Round-Trip flight to Barcelona over Thanksgiving weekend. Always being one to love a great deal, I stopped looking for other flights, totally ignoring the fact that neither my mom nor I were excellent Spanish speakers and that I absolutely HATED RyanAir, and starting concentrating on Gaudi’s art, tapas and beaches.
While it wasn’t my first time flying on RyanAir, it was an unforgettable experience. Usually I’d complain about the ridiculous schedules, or flying out of an airport a hundred miles away from the city, or dozens of fees that pop up out of nowhere. But this flight wasn’t flawed in its excessive baggage fees. No- this time the problem was the actual flying part.
The flight was quite possibly the bumpiest, most turbulent flight of my life. I’m not talking about little bumps here or there. I’m talking drinks flown, lights go off, screaming, panicy people and absolutely no word from the flight attendants or pilots. This was two bumps away from being a full on LOST plane crash. Several times I even watched other passengers pick up the vomit bag and start praying to themselves, making me reconsider my not-so-strong- devotion to God.
While gripping my mom’s hand, I wished that we had just stayed in London, maybe taking the train out to Wales or Bath. A simple, quiet Thanksgiving- sure… but at least we’d still be alive.
I started thinking about all the things I still wanted to do and how I felt like my life, at the young and dramatic age of 19, hadn’t been exciting enough to die just yet.
Looking out the window, I realized we wouldn’t make it if the plane went down. There aren’t any instructions on how to change your seat floatation device into a parachute. Unfortunately. Why hasn’t anyone thought of that one yet?!
While I sat completely still, my mind was racing. How could I put my mom on this airplane? Why didn’t I just spend a little more money and go on a better airline? When is the pilot going to tell us what is happening?
After what seemed like forever, our plane finally leveled out- just in time to land. Other passengers were clapping, celebrating- but I was frozen. My heart still felt like it was going to jump out of me, and my hands were sweating. Even though my mom was calm- I knew she was scared too.
We finally landed in a town outside of Barcelona, took a two hour bus ride into the city and spent the better half of a day figuring out where to stay and organizing our trip at the visitors center. When we arrived at our hotel, we were truly exhausted- both physically and mentally.
But, as chessy as it sounds, we were alive and we had each other.
It was my first Thanksgiving away from home, and that year I wasn’t just thankful for my family, but for the opportunity to live.
Travel Tip: Sometimes, even if the flight goes well, traveling by airplane can be a nightmare. The last time Bob took a low cost airline, his rucksack was given a less-than-awesome hole, which could have dampened the travel. However, knowing that foreign travel insurance like the travel insurance we purchased would reimburse us made the awkward international translation gap abit easier to swallow.
photo via.
