10 Hours Later
January 27, 2023 Uncategorized 1 comment csaucier23
It all started on my trip to Florida. Our family every year takes a trip down to Florida. What we do down there varies, whether it be staying in a big house with friends and family, or going to a huge amusement park. This vacation really ties the family together and gives us lots of time to spend with each other, and when I mean a lot of time, I mean a lot of time. Our family always flies down to Florida. I hear my friends say “Yeah we always drive down, it takes a few days but the ride is kind of nice.” I’m thinking to myself, wow, your family must really spend a lot of time together. By taking a plane you are there in less than a day. unless you get faced with layovers. And that’s where my story starts.
I remember this day like it had just happened yesterday. We were on our way back from Florida and we had already been on one flight. We had a one-hour layover in Washington that almost helped us in a way. It gave us time to get from terminal b to terminal f. We had gotten off our flight and I remember I was sitting right next to my dad when he uttered the words “we now have a three-hour layover.” I was thinking to myself, what on earth are we going to do for three hours? we got off our flight and got to our terminal, got something to eat and that’s when our layover got changed from three to seven. We went to any shop that we could find, buying games to pass the time, and taking as many walks as we could. Finally, as we are playing a round of cards five hours in when we get the notification that our layover has been extended for another three hours. We were dreading this trip. at this point, all we wanted to do was get home, Get into our beds, see our dog, and just have a moment to breathe.
This moment in my life really taught me a valuable lesson at the end of the day. patience was key. As long as I was going to be sitting in that airport, I just had to keep waiting for the time that we would be able to board that plane. Distracting myself from the fact that we had a layover was something that really helped me to be patient and wait for that plane ride. Taking walks, using my phone, and playing games with my family are all distractions that in the end help. Not only did this trip teach me to be patient but it also gave me and my family the opportunity to bond and become closer to each other.
“#Gameidea: Scavenger #Poker. May only use cards found on the street. Aim to beat current best hand. Mine right now: Pair of Aces (1999-2017). #gamedesign #cardgames #playingcards #poker #gameidea #scavenger #foundobjects” by sampos is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Featured Image: “Aerial Photography from Airplane Window Flying Over Sea” by Captain Kimo is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
1 Comment
I understand the part about bonding closer to your family, with a layover for ten hours you can be with your family that whole time but I think towards the end you might get sick of each other. The first three-hour layover isn’t too bad, but ten hours is crazy. I wouldn’t know what to do either besides play games and go for walks. It makes me wonder how this layover took so long.
Traveling is not much fun to begin with, (at least the airport part) and for some people it makes them worry and feel unsafe about their surroundings, especially people who may conceal carry, they probably feel a lot more vulnerable at airports and planes. So for some people, a layover like this may be 10X more stressful.
It makes me wonder how did any other people spend their time on an extremely long layover like this? I’ve had small layovers but nothing of this size. What did you do to pass the time?