August 3, 2010: on this day I, a curious 11 year old who had never left the United States, boarded my Cathay Pacific flight from New York to Hong Kong. I had been waiting for this day to come since I found out about the trip 3 weeks before. My dad frequently traveled there for business and I had seen his pictures and videos of Hong Kong and had wanted to travel like him. Here was my opportunity. My dad had already flown down earlier on Sunday, so it was just my mom and I. I awoke from my restless night to my mom gently shaking me, and telling me to get ready. I was excited, eager, curious and worried all at once. My 11 year-old mind was buzzing. Me and mom had packed the night before and were all ready to go as soon as we were up. We jumped
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The plane began to taxi and prepare for take-off. However, mom began attempting to turn on the TV and could not get it to work. We called the flight attendant over and asked about it, resulting in us being moved from our marvelous seats to our some much less amazing ones. The new seats were in the middle of the middle row with people on both sides of us. Luckily, I was too busy thinking about Hong Kong and its treasures to care, I was on a plane to Hong Kong and that was all that mattered. The plane had finished taxing and had received the go-ahead for take-off. The pilot announced over the speaker, “We are now preparing for take-off for a direct flight to Hong Kong where the local time is 11:40 p.m.. Please fasten your seatbelts and put the seat-back trays in their locked position and prepare for take-off.” It was really happening, I was flying to Hong Kong! A normal person would sleep on the 16 hour flight from New York to Hong Kong, but I was far to fidgety to sleep. I stayed awake the entire flight from take-off to landing. We arrived at the Hong Kong International Airport ahead of schedule at 4:30 p.m., as we had a good tailwind nearly the entire flight, cutting the ride to 14 hours. Hong …show more content…
This first trip out of the country was my first but certainly not last. In the following years, I traveled to Italy, Mexico, England, Vietnam, and the Dominican Republic. My trip to Hong Kong sparked a love of traveling and exploring that has become embedded in my person. I would love to recount the memories and pictures of these other memories, each of which have their own “signature fragrance” they have forever left me with, to remember them by, but I have reached the end of this memory. The fantasy of an 11 year-old boy who was forever changed by a single trip out of the
The plane began to taxi and prepare for take-off. However, mom began attempting to turn on the TV and could not get it to work. We called the flight attendant over and asked about it, resulting in us being moved from our marvelous seats to our some much less amazing ones. The new seats were in the middle of the middle row with people on both sides of us. Luckily, I was too busy thinking about Hong Kong and its treasures to care, I was on a plane to Hong Kong and that was all that mattered. The plane had finished taxing and had received the go-ahead for take-off. The pilot announced over the speaker, “We are now preparing for take-off for a direct flight to Hong Kong where the local time is 11:40 p.m.. Please fasten your seatbelts and put the seat-back trays in their locked position and prepare for take-off.” It was really happening, I was flying to Hong Kong! A normal person would sleep on the 16 hour flight from New York to Hong Kong, but I was far to fidgety to sleep. I stayed awake the entire flight from take-off to landing. We arrived at the Hong Kong International Airport ahead of schedule at 4:30 p.m., as we had a good tailwind nearly the entire flight, cutting the ride to 14 hours. Hong …show more content…
This first trip out of the country was my first but certainly not last. In the following years, I traveled to Italy, Mexico, England, Vietnam, and the Dominican Republic. My trip to Hong Kong sparked a love of traveling and exploring that has become embedded in my person. I would love to recount the memories and pictures of these other memories, each of which have their own “signature fragrance” they have forever left me with, to remember them by, but I have reached the end of this memory. The fantasy of an 11 year-old boy who was forever changed by a single trip out of the