My heart skipped a beat as I stepped into the airport. I felt lost, nervous, and whatnot. Sure, I was excited, but anxiety grew on me with each step I took. I was sure that there was no going back now from the airport. My father took the visitor pass to enter till I took my boarding pass. I took a deep breath as I entered the area to get the boarding pass. I was traveling alone to Biratnagar for the first time. They requested my father to fill out a form to assure my safety reaching the destination where my mother was waiting to receive me at arrival. My father explained to me what to do at each step and gave me lots of advice. My father had to leave the boarding pass area as he was not allowed to go further with the visitor pass that he got at the airport. After assuring that I had an assistant he left.
After his departure, my sense of fear was heightened and I lost my confidence and as mentioned above, it was the first time I had flown alone, and after a long time too. These factors added complexity to my situation, but I knew I was safe especially because most of my friends fly alone during long vacations to their hometown. An assistant assisted me. He guided me through the security checks and showed me a waiting area where I had to wait until boarding started. I waited patiently but due to air traffic the waiting area was so crowded, and many flights were delayed. Similarly, my flight was also delayed by one hour. I thought to myself why people prefer planes compared to bus rides. What am I supposed to do to pass the time? Will the plane be late due to air traffic? Many questions were there but I knew that not all of them could be answered and I was okay with that. Soon I started talking to some people to pass the time and asked them the reason they were traveling.
It was fun to learn about people’s various aspects of traveling by air as some said it was easier, some said it was faster and some said it was to gain the experience of flying. It was a long wait but the people there were nice and kind, so the time flew by quickly. I was already imagining the fun moments that I would have there and started creating a list to complete on my trip. Soon our boarding started, and a bus would drop us near the airplane. Next to me on the bus was a lady who was kind, she let me call my father to inform him that I was about to board. Soon the bus dropped us off near the plane. After some time, the plane took off. The flight attendant announced that it would take us 35 minutes to reach Biratnagar airport. I thought 35 minutes is quite a long time to be in the air. I saw beautiful views of mountains and the land beneath me. I took a deep breath of relief and enjoyed the scenery. It was my first time traveling to Biratnagar.
I had heard about the Jute Mills, and I was extremely excited to go there and enjoy the beauty of Biratnagar city. I was sure that I would make some friends on my trip. Thinking about every detail made me more excited to travel. However, I made sure I was patient, and the excitement was still there. Soon I started to get a little scared as I am afraid of heights and looking at the ground below me made it feel like a roller coaster ride, scary but fun. I wondered about the weather there as I knew it was very hot and I usually don’t like hot weather but no matter the climate I was sure that my trip would be fun. Soon the plane landed, and the flight attendant let me get out first and made sure that they would hand over me to my mother safely at the arrival. At my arrival when I saw my mother I was happy and excited that I completed the journey on the plane alone. The staff asked my mother to sign a document as proof of receiving me. I was nervous but it was a flight that I would remember and cherish that memory.
(Ipkshita is a seventh grader studying in Bhudhanilkantha School.)
(Nepalkhabar encourages students to send in their articles on any issues of their interest. The article should be around 500 to 700 words in English and sent via [email protected]. We will select, edit and duly publish them in our blog section.)
