Friday, 17 July 2009

  • Two Teenagers Headed West


    image source

    I was 19, and my brother was 13.  He was a big fan of a particular video game, and so my mom convinced me to go with him to Spokane, Washington, for their annual event.  (And, when I say convinced, I mean she paid for airfare and a hotel room.)

    Flying Southwest, we had to change planes in Oakland.  (They overbooked, but since we we were transferring, we got on the Oakland-Spokane flight.)

    Arrived at Spokane (first time in that airport), and got a rude awakening...none of the car rental places would rent me a car.  (Like I said, I was 19.)  How rude?!

    So, we called a cab, and made our way to the hotel. 

    I was awestruck by one thing...the mountains surrounding the city.  Not anything great, but, growing up in the Plains, there were no great hills on the horizon.

    We went to the company's headquarters, saw some of their plans for the next chapter in the video game's saga, some of the games they'd made back when I was knee-high to a grasshopper, and threw some frisbees around.  They knew my brother very well - he'd been chatting with a bunch of them.  I was just the tagalong older brother.  (To me, the event was interesting.  To him, it was a dream come true.)

    Some laser tag, some dinner with some of the people who my brother knew, and a restaurant called Red Robin...

    After several days, we flew back.  Again, changing planes, this time in Seattle.  Got pictures of the Pyramid in Las Vegas (from the runway). 

    Landed at Kansas City.  I'd survived.  And, I'd managed to not lose my brother on the way.

    When was your first trip alone without parents?

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Comments (7)

  • MangoWOW@xanga

    Me and my siblings went alone to Honduras when I was 14... I think? I was the oldest you could be before you no longer needed a flight attendant watching you.
    My first trip alone alone was when I went to Japan as an exchange student. If I remember correctly I was 15.

  • azashi@xanga

    grade 9. i went to japan to hike the nakasendo way...it was a school trip, but i knew a total of 6 people on the actual thing. of course, i made new friends :)

    and then somewhere, while we were in some isolated town, i got lost all alone at night. not the best feeling in the world. but i kept my head clear and found a police station. :) it was awesome.
  • landlockedeyes@xanga

    When I was five, coming up here to visit my grandparents.
  • PixelDOT@xanga

    I'm 20 and I've never been on a trip sans parents.

    I guess college, I'm at school 3 hours away from my home town, so I make the bus ride to and from campus alone, but that's not travel, it's just commute (although only a once or twice a year commute, thanks dorm!)
  • ashleyannaka@xanga

    First plane ride alone was when I was 17 and I flew to Charleston, South Carolina to meet my step-dad there for a family reunion (my mom and sister couldn't go, and my step-dad was already there). However, my mom dropped me off at the airport and took me as far as possible and my step-dad picked me up before I even was able to get my bags.


    First trip without my parents (like fully planned, I planned it, I paid for it, etc.) was when my college roommate and I, right after Freshman year drove ourselves to Florida (from Texas). It was good fun! :)


    First plane trip though, like where I did everything and even had a layover and customs to deal with was earlier this summer. I went to the Dominican Republic for an internship abroad. :)
  • musinuite@xanga

    When I was 18, my boyfriend and I went to Japan alone. :P It was my first plane trip, as well.
  • aiinos@xanga

    Going to California for summer camp =]

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