Ducks @ Oregon - University of Oregon

Drugs/Travel

Korrin B.

December 12, 2009 - 6:02 PM

We live in a drug-oriented society. Doctors are quick to prescribe pills and people are anxious to find a quick fix at the bar. People choose their drugs based on varying needs. Some choose drugs to alleviate pain. Others are users because the drug makes them feel alive or inspired. Drugs can help you relax or stop thinking for a moment. People use drugs out of peer pressure, from the pressure of the medical world, or from a self-pressure of being worried to be just oneself. Drugs definitely have their place within the history of humanity. However, I encourage the world to look outside the beer bottle, the prescription vile, the pipe, the coffee cup. I am a drug user. I am addicted. But I find all of these previously mentioned benefits from a single drug. Late last night, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and once again took off on a double shot of travel.

Yesterday was the beginning of my next adventure. I have fully accepted it by this point that this is just who I am. I am a traveler, a wanderer, off to see the world and create something out of it. It is what inspires me, relaxes me, makes me feel alive. I love every part of it, even the parts I pretend to hate. The last minute packing, the stress of simultaneously finishing school, the wondering if I'll make it through airport security without problems, the tender goodbyes that make you stop and pause and reflect on what really matters. This trip started out just like this and I wouldn't have changed it a bit.

My dad drove up from California to take me to the Portland airport and get a last visit in with me before I took off to Israel for the winter. Meanwhile, I ran the final laps of packing as quickly as I could, all the while watching the stormy sky taunt me. I asked the weather gods to please hold off on the forecasted ice storm until my flight had safely departed and was well on its way to New York. My dad arrived and suggested we get an early start for my red-eye flight because the temperatures would drop the later it got and we didn't want to run into road troubles. However, I had a couple of goodbyes left and some Chanukah candles to light, so I shuffled off and said I'd be quick. Goodbyes are so bittersweet. Some never quite sink in until you're well on your way. They're an ending, but also a beginning of something new and beautiful. How do we preserve the beauty of moments, so that they remain with us after the goodbye? I digress.

Post-goodbyes time was about 7:00pm. We had packed up the car and hit the road by 7:15pm. Theoretically this would put us in Portland at around 9:00pm. The scheduled departure time for my flight was 11:56pm, so there would be a good hour for us to enjoy some dinner and then check-in the recommended two hours in advance. In my previous post, I mentioned that I am learning how to let go of ideal situations and just see the beauty in what is presented before me. This schedule was ideal, so let it go.

As soon as my dad and I hit Interstate 5 North to Portland, we found ourselves trapped in back to back traffic and moving at a speed of 30 miles per hour if we were lucky, 20 miles per hour more likely. Assuming it was due to an accident, we hoped for the traffic to clear after a certain point. About an hour later, I saw a road sign reading, "Welcome to Linn County." In all of that time, we had just now left Lane County. We should've been in Salem by then. The issue was not an accident, but the extreme risk of an accident if you chose to drive any faster than about 35 miles per hour. Interstate 5 was a long, black sheet of ice. There were even a couple of times that we could feel our car slip above the ice and, seeing cars on the southbound side stopped and spun in the opposite direction they should be, kept us at a slow speed. I soon released my attachment to my flight and made peace with having to stay the night in Portland and hop another flight to New York in the morning.

We were finally leaving Salem at around 10:00pm, the time I had planned on checking into the airport. However, the road was now dry, the ice was gone. We were, for the first time since we had left Eugene, going 65 miles per hour in a 65 zone! We had survived the threshold. We could theoretically be to the airport by 11:00pm and if I ran, I could maybe make my flight. On this cold first night of Chanukah, I wished for a Chanukah miracle.

The rest was a blur. My dad pulled up to the departure curb outside of JetBlue airlines, I grabbed my stuff and ran through the double doors and up to the check in counter. I handed my passport to the man at the check in counter, smiled, and said, short of breath, "I can't believe I made it here." After parking the car, my dad came shuffling into the airport and met up with me. We walked over to security, hugged, and shared our final thoughts as I concurrently began to take off my shoes and separate my laptop from my carry on. It doesn't matter how many times I travel, I always end up a little verklempt giving my parents that final hug before I head through the security gates, occasionally glancing back to see if they're still watching me.

Once through the metal detectors, I hopped off, still trying to throw back on my belt as I hustled to my gate. I looked up and saw a sign reading "E3," let out a huge sigh, and embraced a gigantic smile. I boarded a plane full of two of my favorite groups of people - Portlanders and New Yorkers. I woke up to a blushing sun rising over a peaceful sea of clouds and hearing the captain say, "We will now begin our descent into JFK International Airport, on behalf of everyone here at JetBlue, I'd like to wish you a good morning and welcome to New York City." What a fabulous way to wake up (neck cramp aside).

Once I was on that plane, I had felt my fears, my nerves, my anxiety, my stress, my doubts, my loss, evaporate into the rising elevation. I knew that this was exactly where I was suppose to be, high on the ecstasy of travel. I have a couple of days to relax in Long Island now until I sip again from the sweet elixir and leave Monday to Israel. I have a feeling that Israel may be just what I need right now.