Everyone knows that Coronavirus has canceled an outstanding number of vacations for everyone, and this holds no different for student Remy Merrill. Being a member of the MVHS Choir, Merrill planned on attending the Fine Arts Association’s New York Trip that would’ve taken place in March. However, her plans to go to the Big Apple were shot down by the now ever-present virus. This led to some complications though as her family had already scheduled their own adventure to California the week of spring break. Wanting to join up with her father, brother, grandparents, and cousins, she needed to find a last-minute flight to Palm Springs.

Since the entirety of Remy’s family was already in California, for the first and possibly last time in her life, she would board a plane alone. Of course, this was all fine and dandy until her connecting flight from Cedar Rapids to Minneapolis was delayed. “I was in a panic when I got off my delayed flight, and I knew something bad was going to happen,” Remy said. “When I realized I wasn’t going to make my connecting flight my heart dropped and I felt stranded.”

Remy arrived at her gate just in time to see the boarding end and the doors close, dashing any remaining hope that she had of making it. “I was balling,” Remy said. “Everyone is looking at me.” But she didn’t care. After getting it all out and being comforted by a random old lady who hugged her in the bathroom, she managed to find another flight to Palm Springs that would leave just nine hours from the one she missed.

Now a new problem arose: what is there to do in an airport to waste nine hours of time? The short answer is to walk and spend lots of money, so Remy did just that. She walked and walked, always having to carry the entirety of her luggage with her, through the stores and shops and hallways and bought an overpriced book and read it while eating an overpriced lunch. She also facetimed her friends back home, who laughed at her expense.

On top of the stress of missing a flight, having to figure her way through buying tickets, and navigating the hasslesome airport, Remy had to deal with the stress of the virus. Back in March, few followed proper regulations. No one wore masks, and all Remy had to cover her face was a bandana. “I remember sitting next to this lady and she was talking about testing positive,” Remy said. Remy got into the habit of washing her hands often and now no longer likes the smell of sanitizing sprays.

Even with all that mess behind her, arriving to meet her family wasn’t the end of Remy’s trouble. The return flight was entirely canceled and her family had to buy new tickets just to make it home. This led her to write a not-so-friendly review of Delta Airlines detailing her experiences. Despite all of the strife and turmoil, Remy won’t let it deter her from future travel, so long as she doesn’t take the journey alone.