The Journey Home

In just about two weeks, us students will have all packed up our dorm rooms and left campus for summer vacation. It’s both an extremely exciting and exhausting time! Packing up all of your belongings into storage and suitcases takes a lot of laborious work and planning. Then there is finals season on top of that. Students are having to manage these two major tasks at once. However, I can imagine it is all going to be worth it when we are able to begin the journey back home for three wonderful summer months. The trip starts at Appleton International Airport, preparing to check in for the flight and get through security to make it to the gate. Then you get into that tiny airplane, it takes off and you can officially say goodbye to another academic year. For some, this flight might be taking you directly to your final destination. For others, like myself, it takes us to our first of two transit airports, Chicago O’Hare International Airport. This airport is just massive, and moving from the domestic terminal to the international terminal is a trek. 

I consider it my exercise for the following month. Not to mention a second round of security and check-in. Now you can finally head to the gate and mentally prepare yourself for the longest flight of the whole journey. Neck pillows come out, multiple playlists are ready to go, headphones are plugged in. Boarding is called, and you head onto the plane and get settled. Off we go again! You are in the air for anywhere between 12 and 15 hours, depending on where your next destination is. Transit number two is either in Tokyo, Japan or Dubai, UAE. After finally landing, you get to stretch your legs again and go through a final security check before moving to the final gate. This is the best part of the journey: the last flight that is going to take you home! You’re so excited to board, you get to the front of the line and move through the plane with such energy, even though you feel completely drained. There is a smile on your face for the whole flight, especially during take off. Six hours pass by like the snap of a finger, and you’ve touched down.