I’ll never forget one of the most significant times that my daughter chose to live her life today, instead of waiting for one day. It was the first time she flew in an airplane – from Washington State all the way to Florida. For years we had been discussing the idea of flying and telling her what her first time flying may be like. We had different ideas about where we should go and talked about how long different flights would be. Even though she really wanted to visit places further away, she was terrified of the idea of flying! One of her biggest fears was that she or someone else would throw-up. Apparently she had watched a Barbie movie where someone threw-up on an airplane, and it was all downhill from there. So while it was her dream to go on a fun trip “one day” she didn’t know how to overcome one of her biggest fears.
I have always loved to travel!
When our kids were young, Daryll (my then husband) and I took them on as many local trips as possible. We drove to Leavenworth, Ocean Shores, Seattle, and Seaside, just to name a few. Once we even drove down to Las Vegas as a family. When Evangelina was two years old we went on our first cruise. The cruise embarked out of Long Beach, California, so we were able to drive there as well. This saved us a lot of money since my parents came with us, too. After our cruise we visited Disneyland and Universal Studios in California. It was a lot of fun! However, since Eva was so young, she barely remembers that trip, which makes her pretty sad. Thankfully I took lots of videos so she has been able to look back and reminisce. (Tip: If you’re interested, you can watch that video on our YouTube channel–it’s the first vlog style video I ever posted, and it’s very long!)
After their Dad and I separated, the girls and I talked about the idea of traveling a lot. We thought about going back to Disneyland, or maybe Disney World, or maybe even another cruise. The timing just never worked out – either I had to work, or I just couldn’t afford it financially. Something always seemed to get in the way. Until we were finally able to go on our second cruise in June 2024, along with my parents and my Nana.
Our second cruise was to Alaska and we embarked out of Seattle, WA.
It was a long-awaited adventure that we will absolutely never forget! The month before that, my older daughter Shianna got to travel to Greece and Italy with her college class, through an experience called Juniors Abroad. You could say that the excitement of travel, the taste of cruising, all of it was lingering in our hearts and minds over the summer. So when my parents told Eva and I that we could come with them on their cruise out of Florida in the fall – we were definitely interested!
I can remember sitting there on the couch and inviting Eva to come hear my crazy idea. I told her that Grammie and Poppie (my parents) were flying to Florida at the end of October, that they were spending a couple of days at their timeshare, then going on a 7 day Carnival Cruise on the Mardi Gras. I told her that we could go with them if she wanted to, and asked her what she thought. Yes. She said yes almost instantly. Are you sure? Because once I book the tickets, there’s no turning back! She barely blinked – she didn’t stop to think about all her fears around flying, she only thought about the end result: A cruise and a trip to Florida. That was it for her! In that instant she took her “one day” by the horns and chose to live her life today!
Now if only the story ended here.
I wish I could tell you that once the tickets were booked, Eva’s fears were gone and everything was fantastic from there – that would be great! But that’s not typically how life works. Making the decision to start can be one of the hardest parts! Especially when it’s something you are locked in on (like the cost of a flight and non-refundable cruise tickets). But I think the hardest part for most of us is the “in between” time – the time between taking the first step(s) and getting the ultimate return on your investment. Each step in between can be so difficult to take. Fear settles in: Did I make the right decision? Am I going to regret this? What if things don’t work out, or what if I just can’t do it? (Can you see the parallels I’m making here?)
Thankfully I found ways to turn Eva’s fears into excitement!
Over the next couple of months we had some fun distractions to help – like planning our outfits for the cruise. Did you know that Carnival Cruises have themed parties that you should plan for in advance? Not to mention formal nights where you can get all dressed up and feel like a movie star if you want to. We did research to find out which parties would be on our trip and got fun themed outfits for all of them – our favorite is the 80’s party for sure! We watched YouTube videos to help us plan – Like things to pack, and tours of the ship. We also poured over the different shore excursions and made plans for what we would do when we got off the ship.
I also bought special activities specifically for the airplane ride. Like new coloring books, markers, a card game, ear plugs and gum for take-off, and lots of fun snacks. Here’s a hot tip: make sure you buy your airplane snacks in advance if you can. Buying snacks in the airport can of course be wildly over-priced. But that’s not the only reason. Sometimes plans don’t turn out the way you want them to! We left our house in what should have been plenty of time to park at the park-in-ride, take a shuttle, get through airport security, browse the shops, and relax for our flight. However, circumstances prevented us from being early enough to even breathe! The shuttle was late and the weather was bad – let’s face it, it was Washington State at the deep end of Fall.
Since our flight was earlier than theirs, my Dad drove us as quickly as possible over to the airport. We jumped out of their truck and ran as fast as possible to security! We had just enough time to stop at a shop and buy a bottle of water (since that’s the one snack you can’t take through security) and got to our waiting area just in time to hear the first call for boarding! Phew! The one good thing about being there at the last minute was it left very little time for Evangelina to sit and worry about the flight. However, it didn’t stop the fears from choking her as we sat on board waiting for take off.
What was the best part of the journey?
Sure, hanging out in Florida was great – that cruise was memorable and one of my favorites! But my singular most favorite part happened in the middle of our first flight. Evangelina paused her movie, Despicable Me 3, to say, “I keep thinking we’re in our car! I look around and think, who are all these people and why are they in our car? Oh ya, we’re flying in an airplane!”
Why was that my favorite moment? Because it was the moment I knew she had completely overcome her fears. She was relaxed, eating her snacks, watching videos, and enjoying the ride. And when I asked her what she thought – she actually gave the flight a 5 star review! The only reason she didn’t want to switch flights was because she didn’t want to “re-situate” because she was already comfortable! Sure, the next few flights were still a little difficult at the start. Take-off is her least favorite part. But each time it’s only gotten easier.
What’s my key takeaway?
If this girl can do it – if she can overcome her fears, which seem to be much bigger than any of mine! Then so can I, and so can you! We can all do big things. We can all take a hold of our dreams and bring them to life. We just have to be willing to start today! To buy that ticket, book that trip, purchase a business license, take that college class. Whatever it is that’s standing in the way between you and your dreams, you just have to choose to get started.
Want to watch our video series from that trip?
Check-out the video from Eva’s first time flying by clicking here. You can find the whole series from that trip (what I’ve posted so far) by clicking here. I have more videos on the way! So make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel, “Living One Day Today” and click the notification bell. That way you’ll get notified when I post new videos to my channel! Thanks, I appreciate your support!