“Dad, do you have my passport?” “Mom, can you pass the snacks?” “We are sitting next to each other right?”
Although this might sound like a young, eager child exploring the airport for one of the first times, this is me; a 20-year-old, junior in college, who is about to travel without their parents for the first time. And let me specify, not only traveling on an airplane, but traveling internationally on an airplane—that means customs, having my passport ready at all times, and filling out those confusing forms on the plane before you land.
This realization didn’t hit me until a few weeks ago when I started to plan my Spring break plans to Florence, Italy with six of my roommates to visit our friend who is abroad. My parents had dropped off my passport and I saw it sitting there, unprotected, on my desk. Usually, it is locked in a safe in our house, or when we are traveling, in the safety of my dad’s cargo shorts pocket. So, seeing it in only my possession, my responsibility, my control, I began to get worried. What if I lose it? What can I bring across security again? Where do I even go when I arrive at the airport?
Don’t get me wrong, I consider myself a mature and independent person. But for some reason, sometimes taking on these adult responsibilities makes me a little uneasy–you should have seen me trying to apply for a credit card.
Not that traveling with my parents is a breeze: my dad’s infamous “airport walk” of practically running to the gate, making my mom wait in long Starbuck’s lines to get a coffee, my brothers irritating me out of boredom. However, there is something very comforting about having my parents an arm’s length away, carrying all my important documents, and taking care of me.
Nevertheless, just like most things in life, there comes a time when you have to start doing things on your own. I am not even alone, I have six friends with me, but traveling internationally without my parents is still a big step for me. I might be a little late to this milestone, but after traveling with my parents by my side for the past 20 years, this time without them will definitely be a new experience for me.
Passport, check. Vaccine card, check. Snacks, check. Hand sanitizer, check. Plane ticket, check. Mom and dad, not this time. But there is a first time for everything, right?
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