Many kids are super afraid to get on planes. I used to be one of those kids.

When I was younger, I never traveled. My school was around the corner and besides that, my mother never really let me go anywhere. That was until I turned 10 when my mother suddenly decided she wanted to go to Florida. I was excited until I was told we were going to be taking a plane.

I had a huge fear of flying. I watched so many weird movies and read so many news stories about plane crashes that I scared myself before I even experienced it myself.

My mom told me I was going to be fine as long as I chewed some gum or wore headphones. You know, to avoid the infamous ear-popping when the plane takes off and lands. That’s the worst.

Despite my fear, I took the chance anyway. I mean, better late than never, right?

Well technically, I didn’t have much of a choice. I was nowhere near being an adult, so whatever my mother said, went.

We flew JetBlue and had to wait for over two hours in JFK, anticipating when they would board us so we could finally take our seats.

I had the window seat; the best seat in the house, if you ask me.

My sister sat next to me and my mom and brother sat in the aisle across from us.

I fastened my seat belt and did what my mother told me to do. Then I unwrapped a piece of mint-flavored gum, chewed it, and patiently waited for the plane to take off.

As I waited, I put my headphones in my ears and turned on my MP3 player (don’t judge, it was 2008).

I remember feeling the butterflies in my stomach as the plane got higher and higher in the air.

I closed my eyes so I couldn’t see how high we were through the little window next to me.

Once the plane was up in the sky, it no longer felt scary.

There was some turbulence but nothing too scary. When we landed it felt like a weight lifted off my shoulders. Everyone started clapping and I remember thinking to myself, do people do this every time a plane lands?

I had to take off my sweater the minute I stepped outside. Summer weather in Florida is way hotter than summer weather in New York.

It felt good to get over my fear. Now I’m willing to try new things and step out of my comfort zone.

Planes are better than cars in my opinion, it feels like you’re up there forever and I really do enjoy long rides.

If you were to ask me to do it again, I definitely would. From the knots in my stomach to the hairs standing up on my back, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.