Just before I turned 17 my parents decided to up and move our family from Northern California to Northern Idaho.
Yah. It was pretty major.
It meant we would go from being Californians to Idahoans. And nothing against Idaho, or Idahoans, I am many things, but I am NOT an Idahoan.
It also meant that I would spend my Senior year of High School in Idaho instead of with the people I'd grown up with in Cali.
I was not a happy camper (as you can imagine).
But some good things happened as a result of the move, I will grudgingly admit.
The good things began with one, small event that I thought very little of at the time, but now that I reflect on it, it was slightly important.
When my family went up to Idaho look for houses, I point blank refused to go with them. (I think I hoped my protest would somehow stop the insanity and we could stay in California.) So my Mom bought plane tickets for the rest of the family to fly up and I planned to stay home.
Eventually I came around (figured out there was no way out of the move) and decided I would be better off having a say in where we lived in the frozen North. So Mom bought me a plane ticket, only the flight the family was on was sold out, so I was booked onto a separate flight. And what's more, my flight departed from SFO (San Francisco) and my family was flying out of OAK (Oakland -- about twenty minutes from SFO).
I had flown tons of times before and even with my younger sibs as unaccompanied minors (you know, where kids are checked in with the airline and given an escort), but I had never flown solo.
But with all of the stress of the move, I don't think I even realized that I was about to venture into the unknown. I knew how to check in, clear security, find my gate, board... I was already a seasoned veteran of flying by the age of 16, so when my parents pulled the car up to the drop-off zone outside of the SFO terminal, I said a brisk goodbye (still being ticked off at the move and all), jumped out of the car and met up with my parents three hours later at GEG (Spokane airport). No biggie.
When I got there my Mom was CLEARLY relieved. Apparently after I got out of the car and they drove away she freaked out (and this was pre-cell phone, well, at least pre-days-when-cell-phones-are-as-common-as-tic tacs and every kid in the country has one).
As Mom tells it:
"We were driving away and I realized that I'd just dropped my SIXTEEN year old daughter off on the curb in San Francisco!!!!"
And I thought: "Meh. No biggie."
And it really wasn't.
But it was. It was an affirmation that I was a competent, independent human being. & It was a taste of the freedom that would come... eventually.
What was your first solo travel experience like?
Yah. It was pretty major.
It meant we would go from being Californians to Idahoans. And nothing against Idaho, or Idahoans, I am many things, but I am NOT an Idahoan.
It also meant that I would spend my Senior year of High School in Idaho instead of with the people I'd grown up with in Cali.
I was not a happy camper (as you can imagine).
But some good things happened as a result of the move, I will grudgingly admit.
The good things began with one, small event that I thought very little of at the time, but now that I reflect on it, it was slightly important.
When my family went up to Idaho look for houses, I point blank refused to go with them. (I think I hoped my protest would somehow stop the insanity and we could stay in California.) So my Mom bought plane tickets for the rest of the family to fly up and I planned to stay home.
Eventually I came around (figured out there was no way out of the move) and decided I would be better off having a say in where we lived in the frozen North. So Mom bought me a plane ticket, only the flight the family was on was sold out, so I was booked onto a separate flight. And what's more, my flight departed from SFO (San Francisco) and my family was flying out of OAK (Oakland -- about twenty minutes from SFO).
I had flown tons of times before and even with my younger sibs as unaccompanied minors (you know, where kids are checked in with the airline and given an escort), but I had never flown solo.
But with all of the stress of the move, I don't think I even realized that I was about to venture into the unknown. I knew how to check in, clear security, find my gate, board... I was already a seasoned veteran of flying by the age of 16, so when my parents pulled the car up to the drop-off zone outside of the SFO terminal, I said a brisk goodbye (still being ticked off at the move and all), jumped out of the car and met up with my parents three hours later at GEG (Spokane airport). No biggie.
When I got there my Mom was CLEARLY relieved. Apparently after I got out of the car and they drove away she freaked out (and this was pre-cell phone, well, at least pre-days-when-cell-phones-are-as-common-as-tic tacs and every kid in the country has one).
As Mom tells it:
"We were driving away and I realized that I'd just dropped my SIXTEEN year old daughter off on the curb in San Francisco!!!!"
And I thought: "Meh. No biggie."
And it really wasn't.
But it was. It was an affirmation that I was a competent, independent human being. & It was a taste of the freedom that would come... eventually.
What was your first solo travel experience like?
Photo from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jvnunag/2971390494/
I remember this day, vividly! As a mother it is the day you work and pray for...the launching of a competent, confident human being, but when if actually happens...it's a day your mind takes a pictures of and you always remember! Bittersweet in taste but sprinkled with great joy!
ReplyDeleteAmusingly, this is nearly identical to my first solo experience, too! 16, family moving from Texas to CdA, and a neighbor dropped me off at the airport to meet my family who was already in Idaho. And while I grew up in Idaho, I was NOT happy about going back. Unfortunately, we sat on the plane for 2 hours before being de-boarded and asked to find another flight. I sat in the airport for 10 hours before getting a flight for the next day. Ugh.
ReplyDelete