This piece is is about my journey from my boarding school, back home. Brace yourself for a ride (or shall I say, flight) through navigating the airport, withstanding baby screams, and surviving in flight food which defy the laws of taste.
I never thought I would have to travel alone, especially internationally. My journey this time would be from India to the U.S. To be quite frank, it was an experience I never wanted to have. However, it was an interesting one, albeit hectic and stressful.
Initially, when my parents brought up the prospect of having to travel alone, I thought it was a harmless joke. I really didn’t think much of it. When I was asked which flight I wanted to take and whether I wanted a layover in another country or not, I simply entertained the idea and went along. Little did I know that this information would be taken seriously by my parents. It was only later that I realized that I was actually traveling alone. That’s when the travel anxiety started to kick in. What if I got lost in the airport? What if the flight crashed? Would I even arrive at home in one piece?
The days leading up to my journey were filled with an endless craze of packing. I had to figure out which items to leave behind at school, which ones to bring back home, and which ones to donate, while simultaneously throwing things into boxes and suitcases. It felt as if every time my cupboard was remotely clear, new clothes and accessories kept appearing at the back. I kept pulling my clothes out and stuffing them in my suitcase, not paying any attention to the weight limits that I was clearly crossing. This turned out to be a decision that I would later regret.
My flight from Coimbatore to Mumbai was at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 14th. A cab would be arriving at 5:45 to pick me up from school and take me to the airport. These timings meant that I had to wake up at 4:45 in the morning in order to get ready and complete some last minute packing. Afterwards, I got in the taxi and headed to the airport. As soon as I arrived at the airport, the chaos began to ensue. First of all, I could not figure out how to drag my two suitcases, one of which was really big and heavy, with my hands while clutching my jacket. For some reason, I did not register the fact that trolleys were available specifically for this purpose. When I reached the check-in line, the woman behind the counter weighed my luggage. It was at this instant where my bad decisions came into the limelight. I was supposed to have one check-in baggage and one carry-on. However, my check-in luggage was nearly 4 kilograms overweight. I was told to sit there, right in the middle of the airport, and switch a few things over to the carry-on. I was then told to check in my carry-on baggage as well. And that’s not where the ordeal ended. Due to the fact that I’m a minor, I was told to wait before I filled out this “Young Passenger” form. I had to wait for nearly 45 minutes in a stuffy little room at the front of the airport before the form was handed over to me. After that ruckus, I proceeded to the gates, where I found one of my friends from school. I was fully aware that I would be able to meet her at the airport, but I still felt incredibly relieved upon seeing her. She was on the same flight as me to Mumbai and would be going from Mumbai to the U.K., like how I would be going from Mumbai to the U.S. We were planning to stick together until we reached the international terminal at the airport. Before boarding the flight, we enjoyed some breakfast together. When we got in line to board, the boarder realized that my friend had not filled out the young passenger form. It was at this point in my journey where she and I got split. She was made to stay back in order to fill out the form and was put on a later flight.
In the flight, I had a window seat. The middle seat next to me was empty, and a kind looking grandpa who ended up sleeping the whole flight sat in the aisle seat. I slept as well, in an effort to catch up with the sleep that I had sacrificed that morning. Food was offered to me, but the sight of it made my stomach broil. I decided that I would be fine surviving on the dosa I had for breakfast earlier.
When the flight had landed, at around 11:00, the flight attendants told me to stay behind because they had to escort me to my next gate in Mumbai. At some point, I was finally allowed to get off of the plane. I was taken to a place behind the check-in counters and made to sit behind it, with the people who worked there. I’m sure I looked like an absolute fool, considering the lost look I was sporting on my face. Initially, I found it rather cool to see how these people did their job and to see all the luggages going past me. As time went by, I started to wonder just how long I would have to be stuck here. I kept asking one of the ladies when I would be allowed to leave, because my flight was at 2:00 and I was hungry. I busied myself by reading and texting my friends, all while internally worrying that I had been forgotten and that I would miss my flight. After what seemed like ages, an escort finally arrived. She was really nice. She asked me about my school and what it was like there, etc. I was then taken to go eat at Burger King. When informed of this feat, my parents were not at all happy. I only had time to order my food, not to eat it. I had to stuff my burger in my already overstuffed, tiny backpack and make a run to the gate. There, there was an incredibly long line for security which almost seemed to wrap around the whole room. Without batting an eyelid, my escort took me to the very front of the line and made me put my things through security. At this point, I decided that maybe traveling alone wasn’t so bad. In fact, I quite liked this special treatment I was receiving. When I got to skip the line for boarding as well, I realized that I didn't just like, but rather, adored this treatment.
I was put on a window seat for this flight as well. Two grown men sitting on both the middle and aisle seats. The one in the middle was a nice man who was apparently a father. He said that he would try and find a seat for me in a spot where no one was beside me, so I would have more space. He even told the flight attendant that I should be moved, if a seat was available. I found this particular gesture of his to be very kind, and I thanked him. Approximately two minutes later, a flight attendant came up to me and informed me of another available seat, an aisle seat. The seat next to me was empty, and a lady was on the other side. This lady appeared to be traveling with her young children and her husband. Everything was going pretty well. Another family with another fairly young kid was seated on the other side of me. However, at that moment, I could not be particularly bothered by the fact that young kids were seated either side of me. The flight attendant had given me extra snacks, and I had already begun to scout movies and shows to watch during my upcoming 16 hour flight. Within around fifteen minutes,one of the kids had already begun to wail, but I decided to ignore this and continue watching my movie. No other such disturbances occurred for a while, to my delight. Just as I decided that I wanted to sleep, one of the kids of the woman on the other aisle seat came and sat right next to me. He was so unnecessarily loud and kept moving, jostling me around in my seat as well. I didn’t get any sleep until the exasperating little kid went back to where he was originally sitting. I am not aware if any other disturbances occurred as maybe I had slept too deeply to notice. As for the food, it was, once again, really bad. I just ate the desserts that came with the meal and left it at that. I wouldn’t say that I really liked this flight, but I guess it was a necessary experience all the same.
The food I received on the flight didn't look half as good, so don't be deceived.
When the flight landed, I felt an immense sense of relief. That flight turned out to be one of the most painstaking things I had ever gone through. Once again, I was asked to wait for someone to escort me off of the flight. When I got off the plane, I had to wait, again, for someone to take me through the immigration process. I had somehow managed to ignore all of nature’s calls throughout the entire flight, and I was dying to use the restroom. Upon asking the woman who was waiting with me for my escort to use the restroom, she said that it was too far away and that I had to wait for my escort. Funnily enough, I could literally see the restrooms from where I was standing and it really wasn’t that far away. In the end, no escort arrived and the lady who was waiting with me gave up and came with me instead. I got a mini heart attack after seeing the line for immigration. It almost seemed as if there were more people than there were stars in the night sky. To my utmost joy, my escort took me right up to the front of the line to finish immigration and get going. My next stop was the baggage claim. Usually, I have this strange luck at the luggage carousel where my luggage is often the last one to show up. However, this was not the case this time. Within half an hour, both my suitcases had arrived. It proved to be quite a task to get them off the carousel, as they were very heavy, but my escort helped me get them down. I loaded them onto a trolley and made my way to finally meet my parents. Surprise and anticipation pooled in my stomach as I pushed the trolley to go meet my father. These emotions were quickly replaced by my happiness and relief upon meeting him.
In conclusion, my experience of traveling alone was the perfect balance of good and bad. From wailing children, to being able to skip every single queue I was faced with, I can deduce that it was certainly a variety of incidents. Nevertheless, it was very intriguing. If given the opportunity, I would definitely be open to traveling like this again.
See you soon!
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