Free



Many people don’t know that I have an older brother because he’s 29 and doesn’t live at home or visit much. Well, here he is. Where are we? A prairie? A hiking trail? Believe it or not, but we’re actually hundreds of feet above the ground in the rooftop gardens of Facebook’s Menlo Park offices. It took us about half an hour to hike from one end of the long strip of buildings to the other.

While this trip was super fun because I got to tour his office, eat amazing food, and see the ocean and mountains in California, it was also really stressful. I had never traveled completely by myself before. I think my heart rate was around 170 before boarding the plane. TSA also didn’t help with my anxiety since they gave my dad a full pat down (he came to the gate with me because my mom wanted to make sure I didn’t get stranded in Chicago if something happened to my flight).

Even though I remained a nervous wreck on the plane, I was still excited. Being away from home for a week let me escape the constant stress and pressure that I am usually under. Sleeping on the couch may not have been optimal, but just being able to be out somewhere almost by myself made everything worth it. Independence is a very important feeling for me. I find it very hard to get anything done when people are always supervising me and nagging me about things that I know I have to do. Being free from everything even just temporarily allowed me to make some pretty good memories.

Right after he picked me up from the airport, we went to a nearby Japan town and bought groceries at a small store kind of like Green Onion so that we could eat dinner. I remember my brother buying Fire Emblem: Three Houses and we stayed up past midnight playing it together. He also took me to see the ocean, but I didn’t bring sandals or anything so we ended up getting sand in our shoes. We walked around Redwood City because I had never seen where he lived. There was a small ramen shop that was so good that there was a group of girls outside chanting and waiting for it to open when we got there. Overall, this was probably one of the most important and fun experiences to me! 

(sorry for kind of ugly formatting, might have to just fix it in the html later)

Comments

  1. ChristinaSeptember 6, 2019 at 10:54 AM

    I'm really happy that you had fun during your trip to California. It's so important to feel safe and relaxed, because we all need to reset sometimes. I also feel that your excitement to finally get your sense of "freedom" shows that we're growing. I know we're both planning on heading to college, so it's good that you seem ready to become independent.

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  2. aminaSeptember 6, 2019 at 11:13 AM

    This trip sounds like it was really fun. I personally have never traveled alone so I would probably be pretty anxious about it too! It's great that you got to have that independence and freedom from all the usual stressors. I think we all need some space to relax from time to time :)

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  3. Katie COctober 7, 2019 at 9:45 AM

    I can definitely relate to this. Freedom and independence are kind of scary at first but ultimately great feelings, especially at this age, when we're about to leave home but still pretty reliant on our caregivers for shelter/food/money. Also, your relationship with your brother sounds really nice and wholesome, and the trip sounded really fun.

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  4. Olivia TaylorOctober 18, 2019 at 11:59 AM

    This sounds like a really fun trip! I've also gone to visit my older sister in college and it can be a lot of fun since it feels like you are a college student for a couple days. I'm glad you got to enjoy Chicago.

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