Why Fly

Travel was something that I hated growing up, every time we had to fly to the Caribbean I was nervous about crashing, turbulence, hurricanes and specifically hated waiting all those hours in airports. When I was in high school, I got bamboozled into taking a trip to visit my family in the Caribbean WITHOUT my mom. This trip like many others would be visiting family and friends of my parents, relaxing and going to the beach. Yes I also hated the beach, think black girl with curls in the early 2000’s and the trauma of hair washing because of salt and sand. None of that seemed appealing while my friends were living it up in NYC for the summer. Little did I know this trip would spark a love of travel and organization that follows me even today.

On this trip, I was the person in charge of filling out all of the customs forms, holding the plane tickets, and all of the very important stuff. While there were a million and one hiccups(lost luggage, delayed flights and no cell service to name a few) it was an experience that taught me to think on my feet, pay attention in airports and you can never prepare for everything.

While on this trip I was allowed to plan some excursions for the family, and thankfully my mom let me get a perm a few years prior so I knew how to manage my hair at the beach. We had the very best time, went to the beach almost every day and I learned more about my dad than ever before. Shortly after this trip I decided I wanted to spend as much time as possible exploring the world. I loved traveling alone and having that waiting moment as my own sort of meditation. The more I traveled domestically and internationally alone, the more I learned to prepare for every and any situation. Now you know why I fly.