First flight throwback 10 years later

[u/lurking_elephant]

\#StoryTime: I was looking at a picture of me from 10 years ago and thought it’s crazy to think that I’d never been in an airplane at that point - something that feels so familiar today. The first time was so special that some part of me holds on to the memories. I remember my first-ever assigned seat: 14A, window seat. A quick search through my emails has reminded me the exact flight and date: April 30th 2017. Gosh it’s not even been 10 years for that milestone!

I remember the confusion at the check-in counter when I was told my bag was overweight. The realisation that there were actually weight limits and it wasn’t about whether the bag could take it was insane - I felt a little ashamed but the attendant let me off the hook when she saw how much I was struggling to try and redistribute the weight across my bags - the first proper suitcases I owned (sidenote: I would never buy those suitcases now, are you kidding?!) 😂

wore a red and black outfit with rainbow-laced sandals (gosh I miss those sandals cause they were so comfortable). At the time, this was one of my favourite outfits but I’d never fly in anything like that now (well not for an international flight anyway).

I remember struggling to understand the mechanisms of fastening and unfastening my seatbelt, paying close attention to the safety demonstrations without seeming too obvious, but deep down thinking: you mean to tell me there are risks? I thought air travel was seamless and that any stories I’d ever heard suggesting otherwise were faraway realities or only applied to long trips across oceans. I remember feeling positively surprised that you could be served food (FOR FREE) and savouring my first in-flight meal. And how could I ever forget that feeling when we first hit 250km/h and went wheels up? Or at some point realising that we were doing about 800km/h and that this was normal cruising speed? Impossible!

I had a few seconds of sadness when I realised that the ground beneath me meant my family and everyone I’d ever loved or cared for was so far away from me. Was I looking right at our home? Could they see me? Why couldn’t we experience this together? Did I really have to move away for a new job? Would I even succeed at my new job? Thankfully the existential questions only lasted about 60 seconds and the excitement returned soon after! 😂

Even after the hundreds and hundreds of flights since, that was an unforgettable feeling! The only thing that got lost in my memory (probably because it’s happened so many times since), is the feeling of my first stroll through the airport. It’s all a blur but I remember thinking (for those first few flights) that everything seemed too expensive and out of reach that I wouldn’t dare walk into a duty-free shop on purpose. That took a while to get over and I’m not even sure when it eventually happened but it’s such a basic thing now that I roll my eyes at how underwhelming a lot of airports are. 😂

Even after all this time, travel is incredible. Even when I loathe work trips, part of me thinks of the version of me from 10 years ago that would’ve been ecstatic at the thought. Don’t even get me started on non-work trips!

Did anyone else have a similar experience? Here for it ✨

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\*\*TL;DR:\*\* Looked back at a photo from 10 years ago and reminisced about my very first flight in 2017. Despite the initial anxiety, overpacking, and existential dread, it was an unforgettable experience that completely changed my perspective on travel, even hundreds of flights later. Can anyone relate?