Journals The Tattoo Travel

The long flight: getting there isn’t half the fun


HONOLULU, Hawaii, U.S.A. — “Come on Kathryn, you can’t watch TV until you’re done packing,” my mom yelled.
“Where are we going now?” I asked. My family is always going somewhere, so it’s hard for me to keep track.
“Hawaii. Remember?”
No.
“Yes.”
After packing and getting everyone to the airport, we were finally ready to get on the plane.
“Mom, I forgot to ask you, how long is the flight?”
“Twelve hours.”
My jaw dropped. Is a 12-hour flight worth going to Hawaii?
I stepped on the plane, afraid of the looming hours of boredom that awaited me in the air.
“Welcome aboard!” the flight attendants said, forced smiles pasted across their faces.
I found my seat and squeezed in.
My brother was sitting next to me.
“Want to play cards?” he asked.
“Sure,” I replied. I put down my tray table and he put down his and we started to play blackjack. We must have hit the table too hardbecause the man in front of us said, “Hey, I’m trying to have a nice flight here, and I can’t have it with you two banging against the tables!”
“Sorry,” I said.
My brother and I rolled our eyes and started to play again. Then the same guy stood up and said, “This isn’t going to work out if you two keep doing this!”
“Sorry,” I said again.
I whispered to my brother that we should stop playing. I was so mad at the guy in front of us because we were barely touching the table the second time and he still got mad at us!
This was going to be a long flight.
As the plane took off, I watched the houses and the cars get smaller and smaller as we went higher.
They looked like a little kid’s toys.
I looked in front of me and saw a TV in every seat.
Everyone was asleep on the plane except our family. I wondered how they fell asleep so fast.
No one can go to sleep that fast on an airplane!
I tried sleeping. Nope, I couldn’t do it – the seat was too small. I just sat there staring at the black TV screen until we were allowed to turn on electronics.
Finally, after watching five movies and listening to my iPod for three hours, we were almost there.
My ears were popping like crazy so I grabbed a piece of gum and started to chew. Unfortunately the gum didn’t help, so I just waited patiently until we landed.
As we taxied to our gate, I saw palm trees.
I love palm trees.
When we got off the plane, my cousins were there waiting. I was so excited to see them and to be in Hawaii.
We all ran for the car. Driving through beautiful Hawaii on the way to my cousins’ house, we all started singing “Dirty Little Secret” in the car.
I knew then that the long flight was definitely worth it.

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