Studying abroad brings about a lot of new experiences, as I have been writing about for the better part of this semester. This experience has been a crazy, wild ride of new and unfamiliar that has really fostered a great deal of growth and development that I would have never experienced otherwise. One of these new experiences has been making plans to travel alone for the first time in my life. This trip, to take place next weekend, is a weekend stay in Washington, D.C., where the Spring Seminar for the Killam Fellowships Program will take place.
I'll admit, this trip isn't exactly my first time traveling alone, considering the trip that I took to Ottawa in September (which you can read about here, if you haven't already), but I count that as part of my "study abroad" experience, considering it was the Fall Orientation for the Killam Fellowships Program. This trip to Washington, however, will have me facing a new beast that I have not faced before in my life as I remember it: flying.
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I have not been on an airplane since my early childhood when I was roughly a year and a half old. Being this early on in my life, I obviously have no memory of it, but I imagine that it was a bit easier than what I'll be facing next weekend. There are reasons that I haven't flown, and they are pretty obvious. For one thing, I've never traveled far enough to warrant taking a plane anywhere. My initial trip up to Wolfville was taken by car, traveling with my aunt and great aunt, and the return trip after the end of the semester will also be taken by car, this time (most likely) with my grandparents. Any distance (with the right company) is a distance that can be driven.
One of the biggest reasons that I don't fly is somewhat literal: I'm huge. It's no secret that I am a morbidly obese person, and that I always have been. Flying is not exactly a "fat-friendly" venture. When hearing flight stories that come from other fat people, they usually involve general discomfort and outright hostility from other passengers. Like most other people, I actively seek to avoid abuse of any kind, and knowing that I am likely to be subjected to verbal abuse and harassment because of my size gives me reason enough to avoid the venture. Although I've gone to the trouble of reserving seats that are currently nowhere near any other occupied seats, that might change by the time that I actually board. Hopefully, I've planned ahead enough that I will not encounter any problems, but only time will tell. Of course, it's practically guaranteed that I will be writing about my travel experiences, both positive and negative, after I return to Canada to finish out the semester.
Despite the fear that comes with facing a new experience such as this one, I feel an overwhelming sense of excitement as well. Maybe it's because getting on a plane and going somewhere new, all alone, seems to be one of the ultimate declarations of independence. Maybe it's a lingering sentiment that comes with returning to my home country- despite the complete mess that it is- if only for a few days. Whatever the case may be, I'm sure that it will be an experience that I won't forget for a long time to come.
