New York, Salt Lake City, and Steamboat Springs. These three cities have brought great joy for me, but one has given me something I will never forget; the fear of flying.
Steamboat Springs, Colorado was where it all began. I was 8 years old and was going out West for the first time. I also was flying for the first time. As I entered the airport for the first time, I was overwhelmed with all of the people. From young to old and different nationalities, the airport was new in every area of my life. As nervous waiting turned into takeoff, everything about my first flight was awesome.
My first flight started off our trip with great joy. After days of skiing and experiencing everything Colorado has to offer, it was time to return. Loving every minute of my first flight I was happily awaiting the flight home. As waiting at our gate turned into boarding and takeoff, all was going as expected. Unfortunately, this did not last. After we acquired our cruising altitude, I experienced turbulence for the first time. This turbulence lasted for two hours straight. As an 8 year old who has never experienced this before, I was terrified. It also did not make matters better when a volleyball team on the plane screamed every time it felt like we dropped 200 feet. After what seemed like eternity, we finally landed, but my sanity in flying was left in Colorado.
Flying is something that I dread. The idea of flying makes my palms sweat and my chest get tight. Since that dreaded flight when I was 8, I have flown twice; New York and Salt Lake City. Both of these flights were smooth and nothing like that horrid flight I had previously experienced, but the fear I experienced during these flights was like none other. This past summer I went to Salt Lake City and I was curled in a ball in fetal position for three hours. For some reason I felt like this helped my nerves.
Flying in airplanes, even though a very safe adventure, still frightens me to this day, and it also frightens my grandmother, Mary Mitchell. My grandmother hates flying so much that she has not seen her sister for the past 20 years. Her sister lives in California and both of them fear getting in a plane to see each other. Because of this, I have never seen my great aunt. Even though flying is something I dread, it is the only thing that can take me to another state or continent in less than a few hours. So, even though flying is something I dread, I will continue to do it because there is much of the United States and Europe I have never seen. Oh, if only I could teleport.