Love in the Transatlantic Sea

Hello, I'm Isla Noelle Navarro. I recently graduated with my degree in Computer Science. Well, by recently I mean it has been more than a year. But it still feels like it was just a few months ago. I worked right after graduation but was laid off about four months ago. The company was not doing so well and they were about to file for bankrupcy. They started laying off all the entry level positions they got; and I was one of them. I have been looking for a job since then but up until now, I still got nothing. To get my mind off these things, I booked a trip for myself. I want to refresh and do what they call a 'finding yourself' kind of trip. I'm what you call a hopeless romantic. I love reading romance, fiction, basically anything that has love in it. Even though I am a hopeless romantic, I am not currently looking for a boyfriend. I feel that my life is already full and maybe I am just not ready to get into a relationship. Maybe it's also because of my hopeless romanticness that my standard for a relationship is way too high. But hey, what can a gal do if that's what her heart and mind is telling her. Maybe not so much of my heart but one has to dream big in order to achieve a bigger goal. For now, my love for travelling is more than enough to match my desire to be in a relationship. And speaking of travelling; OH, I’m so excited for my trip. It’s been more than a year since I last traveled solo. With all this excitement, I finished packing and it’s still a month away. Okay, maybe more than a month. I hear my mom parking her car. She’s just finished work and it’s currently 7 pm. I wait for mom by the door to greet her. She walks in and I surprise her, more like startling her by just staying quiet and waiting till she notices me standing by the stairs. When she notices me she always makes a little jump and places her hand on her heart and tells me “oh my goodness, you scared me dear”. After doing that, I go down the stairs and start helping her bring her stuff up. I then tell her “Mom, I'm done packing my stuff”. She looked at me all perplexed then she laughed. I asked her “why are you laughing” and started giggling because I know she’s about to tease me for packing WAY TOO early. Then she says “nothing” while still laughing and snorting. It’s dinner time. We were eating silently and when we were almost done, we started talking about her day. After we finished eating, I cleaned the table and washed the dishes. Me and my mom always have a rule that whoever cooks, will not do the dishes. Since she cooked, I will do the rest. Five Weeks and 4 Days later… It’s finally the day of my trip. My excitement is through the roof but at the same time I feel nervous as well. I know I have travelled a lot but everytime I do, I still feel a tiny bit of nervousness. Especially since this is only my second time to travel solo and my first ever long solo trip. Like it sounds insane to me because cruising in the atlantic sea has only been my dream before but now. I am so close to making it happen. Now I’m at the airport, and the energy is electric. I check in my luggage, and my heart races as I walk through security. I spot the departure gate and feel that familiar mix of excitement and nerves. Once on the plane, I find my seat by the window, and I can’t help but grin as we taxi down the runway. The moment we lift off, I’m soaring into the sky, leaving all my worries behind. After what feels like a blink, we land. The thrill of stepping off the plane is unreal and it never gets old. I’m finally here! The air smells different, and I can’t wait to explore. I grab my bags and head to the hotel, my heart pounding with anticipation. The check-in process is smooth, and as I enter my room, I take a moment to soak it all in. This is it—my adventure has just begun! As I walk through the busy street of New York. I am reminded of my situation back home. Everyone seems to be so busy in their life and they have things that they want to do yet here I am just wasting my life away. It may seem like I am living the life that everyone wants, travelling with no work to worry about but it’s all so worrisome because in reality it seems like I have no future ahead of me. Right now, my life is like a broken compass, I don't know which direction to choose. I shook off my thoughts and I kept exploring New York city. I went to central park, rode a ferry to see the statue of liberty up close and tried their food trucks. I love to explore and I especially love it when I get to experience the city’s local foods and activities. As it was almost time for the sun to set, I head to the empire state building and I went up to the observatory to get a good view of the city. Seeing New York city from the empire state building is a must. I am planning to see the sunset there because you can never go wrong in a high building view of the sunset. I went inside the exhibit first to kill some time and when it’s sunset time, I went out to the deck again. I am walking around the deck to find the best spot to take photos. I find my spot near the corner and I take in the view--amazing is an understatement. It makes me feel so grateful and alive. After taking photos, I was going to leave straight to Time Square when I saw this group taking pictures like how my family does--by family and then a big group photo after. Just seeing a big family always puts a smile on my face because I have always dreamed of having a sibling or a big family. Being an only child can feel so lonely at times. I was about to leave when I saw a very super attractive guy. He’s not my typical type but he does look very charming. I thought to myself ‘what a shame they just got here now’. I just realized their group was struggling to find someone to take their group picture. Then he said “I’ll take it, I don’t like pictures anyways.” But then everyone was like “no, no we will ask someone”. Since, I wasn’t in a rush. I just offered to take their pictures. They were all thanking me and I just smiled and said “no problem”. I took the camera and phones from the guy. He smiled at me and man was that a good view maybe even better than the view behind him. I took their pictures and they liked how it turned out so they asked me if I could take some more. I agreed and after each take, I looked at the guy. When it was his family’s turn, it seemed that he’s also an only child. Their picture was the last taken. Then, we parted ways. I got one last look at the guy because I might never see him again. I thought to myself ‘at least I got myself a great bonus’. I shook my head and I laughed at my thoughts.