一直到二十三歲，我才第一次搭飛機。那年，我從台灣飛往美國洛杉磯去二姐家探望她們。三個星期後，再轉往俄亥俄州，開始為期兩年的研究所生活。

我想，我人生中的第一個大旅行，應該就是那趟前往洛杉磯的旅程。

小時候常聽爸爸說起搭飛機的事。他形容飛行途中，空中小姐會推著一個大托盤，上面擺滿各式各樣的糖果，乘客可以隨意拿，想吃多少就拿多少。那個畫面，在我心中留下了深刻的印象，也讓我對搭飛機充滿了嚮往。

真正搭上飛機的那一天，我搭的是新加坡航空。雖然沒有記憶中那盤糖果，但飛機上卻幾乎不停地供餐，有好幾次正餐，還有宵夜。對第一次搭飛機的我來說，每一個細節都新鮮又不可思議。

抵達洛杉磯後，我和在飛機上認識的鄰座朋友及其姑姑去了六旗樂園（Magic Mountain）。一星期後，大姐全家來跟我們相聚，二姐夫帶大家去了一趟拉斯維加斯，那是一個和我過去生活經驗完全不同的城市。那時他們正忙著經營一家早餐咖啡館，節奏非常緊湊，我便陪著二姐兩歲的女兒 Amy 玩耍，開學前，大姐全家去愛荷華州，我去俄亥俄州。各自展開留學生涯。

這趟旅程，是我第一次離家這麼遠，是我第一次搭飛機，也是我第一次真正走進另一個世界。它不只是一段橫越海洋的移動，更像是人生新階段的起點。因此，洛杉磯，成了我心中永遠的「第一個大旅行」。

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What was your first big trip?

 I didn’t take my first airplane flight until I was twenty-three. That year, I flew from Taiwan to Los Angeles to visit my second older sister and her family. Three weeks later, I continued on to Ohio, where I began a two-year graduate school program. Looking back, I think the journey to Los Angeles was truly my first big trip.

When I was a child, I often heard my father talk about flying. He would describe how, during the flight, the flight attendants pushed a large tray down the aisle, filled with all kinds of candy, and passengers could take as much as they wanted. That image stayed with me for years and filled me with longing for air travel.

On the day I finally boarded a plane, I flew with Singapore Airlines. There was no tray of candy like the one in my imagination, but meals were served almost nonstop—several full meals, plus a late-night snack. For someone flying for the first time, every detail felt new and almost unbelievable.

After arriving in Los Angeles, I went to Six Flags Magic Mountain with a seatmate I had met on the plane and her aunt. A week later, my oldest sister and her family came to join us, and my brother-in-law took everyone on a trip to Las Vegas—a city completely unlike anything I had known before. At the time, they were busy running a breakfast café, with a very fast-paced daily routine. I spent much of my time playing with my second sister’s two-year-old daughter, Amy. Before school started, my oldest sister’s family headed to Iowa, and I went on to Ohio, each of us beginning our own life as international students.

That journey was the first time I had ever traveled so far from home, the first time I had ever flown, and the first time I truly stepped into another world. It was more than a crossing of an ocean; it felt like the beginning of a new chapter in my life. And so, Los Angeles has forever remained, in my heart, my “first big journey.”。