Chain Effect

Take off

Wednesday Night, Frankfurt

Click.

Sounded the latch plate as soon as it was connected to the buckle, concluding the penultimate item on my mental boarding list.

In what has become a second nature routine to me, I looked for my seat for the flight, stowed my luggage in the overhead compartment and my backpack under the seat, sat down, fastened my seatbelt and placed my phone on the tray table.

While I waited for the other passengers to settle down, I turned my head to the small airplane window to admire the firefly dance show that the flashing lights on the runway reminded me of. Instead, I saw the reflection of my freshly cut taper 4C hair, smiled and raised my left hand and traced the fade. When the intercom turned on, I dropped my hand, straightened up and partially listened to the stewardess's voice.

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen, my name is Samia Orgun. I am the lead flight attendant on this flight and on behalf of MundoAirlines, I am pleased to welcome you aboard Boing 123, flight 321 from Frankfurt to Las Vegas..."

Urgh, this 11 hours journey has not even started yet and I'm already exhausted!
I guess a 4-hour trip followed by an 11-hour trip was not as good an idea as it initially seemed.

Although I love traveling, I've realized early on that I also hate it, if that makes sense.
The photos, cuisine, sights, the cultural experiences, the memories and all the other glamorous things everyone talks about are worth it and amazing. But when your life consist of traveling, you quickly learn that there's another side to the coin!

The paperwork, buying tickets, organizing and handling luggage (pre and post boarding), navigating airports, stopovers, arranging accommodation and transportation, budgeting, etc. These are the details that we all know exist but are generally not really talked about.

"We ask for your attention while important safety information is being reviewed..."

I heard the stewardess continue before zoning out once again.

The amount of travels I've done in the last 20 years, the times I've heard the lines and the safety procedures, made me practically part of the crew at this point. And why so many trips? Well, there are three main reasons.

The first reason was my mother's  protracted illness, which forced me to leave my home country shortly after my fifth birthday, along with my mother, father and grandfather, and travel to Norway to try out experimental treatments.

Due to the sudden illness, my mother was so restricted that I had to be raised mainly by my father and grandfather and occasionally depended on the presence of my mother's childhood friend, Aunt Ena, who traveled from Croatia to Norway whenever she could.

The second reason happened when I was 13, right after my mother died. According to her will, the majority of her savings were to be used to do what I wanted (with my father's consent).

Because I was one of those who started school at the age of five, and because I was using school as a copying mechanism at the time and also wanted to be away from her physical memories, I asked to be sent to a German boarding school to attend high school with the money she left me.

Needless to say, due to my male-dominated life, the fact that I was advanced one year in school and the constant back and forth between Germany-Norway and Croatia, I had a hard time making friends. But that changed in tenth grade at boarding school when I met my best friends Hefra and Lea through Derick, my first high school friend and the groom himself.

The third and final reason came at the age of 20, when my father received an unmissable job offer in the USA. From then on, my regular travel cycle was created: Germany (school)-Norway (before USA to visit my father, Pawpaw Roy and later some family friends)-Croatia (Aunt Ena) and for the last 6 years USA.

"...Please turn off all personal electronic devices, including laptops and phones, and store them until departure. Smoking is prohibited for the duration of the trip..."

I reached for my phone on the tray table and saw three text messages, which I answered immediately. One from my father telling me he loved me and wishing me a safe trip, another from Hefra with the details of the person who would be picking me up at the airport, and the last one from Aunt Ena asking me to call her as soon as the plane landed. I relaxed as the plane began to move, my phone in flight mode and my mental boarding list finally completed.

"... ready to take off. Thank you for choosing MundoAirlines and I wish us all a safe flight".

After the stewardess had finished her speech, I plugged my headphones into the screen and selected the playlist with relaxing sounds.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, thinking of only one thing: I am ready for Las Vegas and the emotions of this wedding weekend.

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🪶A/N (27/02/2023)🪶

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