The first time I boarded a plane, entered an airport, or left the United States was in early March 2020, just weeks before the global economy shut down. my family went on a trip to nickelodeon resort Located in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. In retrospect, the timing feels unrealistic. That remains in my memory now as the last moment before everything changed.
Since I was 12 years old, the airport felt incredibly big. Everything from the security line to the speaker announcements felt overwhelming, but in an exciting way. The moment the plane took off from the ground is still one of my most vivid memories of the trip.
Landing in the Dominican Republic felt like arriving on a new planet. I remember that as soon as I stepped outside, warm, heavy air hit me and everything seemed bright and saturated. Even now, the details are mostly hazy, but the feeling of being far from home still lingers within me.
The resort itself wasn’t very crowded nickelodeon-It shared grounds with a more standard adult resort, so the theme was exactly what I had imagined. The only really themed area I remember was the water park with some cartoon touches. The rest of the place was quiet and felt very empty for a lively place.
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One day, as we were walking along the beach, a group of hawkers came walking by with monkeys on leashes. They tried to take my picture with a monkey on my shoulder and then insisted I have to pay. Sal’s name was Obama and they kept calling him racial slurs, which I didn’t understand at the time.
I’ve never had the unpleasant feeling of not understanding what’s going on, and this article includes pictures of me laughing with the monkeys. It shows how unaware I was of my surroundings. Looking back now, it’s one of my strange and interesting memories.
Another thing I remember is machete burgerit was a giant hamburger that the resort provided. It was bigger than my head and looked ridiculous in a way that only resorts can. Small details like that stuck with me more than typical vacation activities.
The rest of the trip blended into flashes of pools, beaches, and restaurants. Even though it’s hard to piece together the details now, I do remember that it was fun. at that time, COVID-19 (new coronavirus infection) was something adults were vaguely talking about on the news, but I couldn’t understand the immediate impact it would have.
Within weeks of returning home, schools closed, families canceled upcoming trips, and everything became uncertain. That Punta Cana trip ended up being the last “normal” vacation we took before the pandemic changed our lives. Therefore, it stands out more vividly than I expected.
As a current college freshman, this trip seems like a strange, frozen moment from my childhood. Even if I didn’t realize it at the time, it was my first time looking at life outside of what I knew. Since then, I’ve been on many planes for various reasons, but nothing has ever felt as good as my first flight.
I haven’t left the country again since then, but that trip planted the idea that I wanted to go. It reminded me that despite my fading memories, the world is bigger and more amazing than I understood when I was 12 years old. I would like to see more if I have the chance.
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