I’ve been MIA from here, I know, but for a good reason! Josh and I went to Washington, DC for five days. It was my first ever flight and the furthest I’ve been from home. This trip has been planned since the beginning of this year, so there was a lot of anticipation as it got closer.

We were there from Monday to Friday, so each day will be its own post since we did so much. It’s easier to break it up that way, both for me writing it and you guys reading it.

Monday, June 5

Once we had booked our flights back in January, I volunteered my parents to drive us to the airport since we live about 20 minutes away. They’d pick us up, too, once we got back on Friday. Our flight out was at 12:22 p.m., so we wanted to get to the airport for 10:00 a.m. My parents got us around 9:30 a.m. and dropped us off close to 10:00 a.m.

There was no turning back at that point for me.

I was nervous about the flight because it was my first one, and I honestly believe humans aren’t meant to be off the ground. We chose DC as my first flight since it’s so short, just in case I absolutely hated it. I got Xanax from my doctor beforehand for the flight, so I knew I’d take that shortly before we boarded to help calm me down.

It also helps that Josh has flown a bunch before. I told him I was just going to follow him through the airport and he would tell me what to do. Thankfully, checking in at the airline—we flew on American—and then going through TSA security was quick and easy.

When I was packing, I was nervous TSA would judge me for what I was bringing, and Josh was like, “They’ve probably seen everything.” I found this website super helpful when I was packing both my carry-on and checked bag.

We sat around for a bit since we had extra time, and I pondered a new career as a suitcase truck driver. Not sure what the actual title is, but I think I’d want to drive the luggage carts around between the planes. I wouldn’t be able to actually lift the suitcases—I have no upper body strength—but I’d like to drive the cart around.

Around 11:30 a.m., we got something for lunch and sat at our gate. This is when I really started to get nervous. We also didn’t realize that the plane folks would be taking our carry-on roller suitcases since they wouldn’t fit in the overhead compartments. I had packed mine thinking I’d have access to it during the flight, but it would be underneath with the checked bags.

I freaked out a bit and quickly grabbed what I thought I’d need before we handed in our rollers, which included taking part of the Xanax. I bought a fanny pack/belt bag from Amazon for the trip, so I filled that up and used it as my personal item. My mom had made me a little worry worm out of yarn that I held onto for most of the flight and stretched out quite a bit. We also paid extra for priority boarding to help me feel less anxious.

When Josh booked the flights, I told him I didn’t care if it cost more, we were going to sit together. Our plane wasn’t the big plane I thought it’d be; it had two seats in each row on each side of the aisle and probably like 25ish rows. So there were maybe less than 100 people on the flight. We quickly took this picture before we took off since that flight actually left a few minutes early.

I was fine when the plane was backing up and driving to the runway. It was the take-off that really freaked me out. I don’t like fast things or roller coasters, so I wasn’t prepared for how fast the plane would be going to get off the ground. One of my hands was grabbing Josh’s arm and the other was grabbing the arm rest. Once the plane leveled out, I calmed down a bit. I watched the other people on the plane during the take-off and they were reading or talking, so it made me feel a little better that they were calm.

My stomach felt a bit nauseous, so when the flight attendant came around, I took the pretzels and got a Sprite. I promised my mom I’d look out the window once we were up in the air. We were in the row in front of the wing, so it was actually pretty cool to see it and look down at the ground.

Then we were descending to land. The flight was just about an hour; it’s like once we got up we were going back down. I didn’t know what to expect for the landing, but I felt fine. You feel when the wheels hit the ground, like the up and down part, and then there’s the aggressive braking to stop the plane. But that didn’t bother me.

While the plane was attaching to the jet bridge/tunnel, Josh made sure I was okay, and I was. A little shaken up but overall I felt okay. When we walked off the plane, one of the flight attendants and one of the pilots were up front, and I thanked them. We meant to tell one of the flight attendants it was my first flight when we got on, but they boarded us pretty quickly.

We had to wait in the jet bridge/tunnel for them to unload our carry-on bags. It took a few minutes but we didn’t mind since we had no where to go; it’s not like we had to catch a connecting flight.

We were staying at the Hilton Arlington National Landing in Crystal City, and one of the reasons why Josh booked that hotel was because they had a shuttle to and from Reagan. Not sure of how often the shuttle would come through the pick-up area, we actually tried just getting an Uber but were denied because of our luggage. It actually worked out, though, because then the Hilton shuttle came through and we were able to take that to the hotel about five minutes away.

They’re in the process of renovating the hotel, so there was a lot of construction going on outside while we were there. It wasn’t super disruptive, but we could always tell where the hotel was when we were walking back from the metro because of the orange signs and tarps.

Our room was just a basic room with a king bed. We didn’t need anything fancy since we’d be out for most of the days. There was a small bathroom attached to the room that I didn’t get a picture of, but it wasn’t anything special; it just had the basics.

Our plan for the night was to go to dinner and then walk at a park, so we had time to kill. I ended up napping on the bed while we watched TV. I think I was tired from having to get up early and then the whole flight thing.

I got a strawberry mojito and Josh got a lager; then we split fried pickles (probably #2 on our all-time favorite fried pickle list), and for our meals, I got a BLTA on ciabatta and Josh got a turkey club. Everything was really good, and it gave us some time to just relax and get ready for the upcoming week.

After dinner, we walked about 20 minutes to Long Bridge Park. When we were planning the trip, we wanted to do something after dinner that night but didn’t want to go into the city. I found this park that was still on the west side of the river and wasn’t super far from the restaurant or our hotel.

We walked up and down the path there, and on the left, we could see the Pentagon, and on the right was Reagan, so a handful of planes went overhead while we were there. I think we left there before 8:00 p.m. since we had a 20 minute walk back to the hotel, and we both wanted to shower.

Total step count: 13,078

Total miles count: 5.27