Hear that big ol’ jet engine roar. I think that’s the line from a song.

I love it.

Not the song, but the sound of a jet engine.

As I was driving recently, I heard that rumbling roar from overhead. I didn’t even look for the plane, but I knew exactly what it was.

And it made me grin.

The thrill is gone

Here’s the thing: I’ve been on enough planes now that the thrill has worn off the actual travel part. I no longer want a window seat. I want to be on the aisle, closer to the front, if possible, so I can get off the plane more quickly when it lands. Of course, you pay more for those seats, and I’m not willing to pay a lot more. By the time we land, I’m ready to disembark.

The actual travel wears you out. It’s like long-distance driving. You aren’t doing anything, but after 12-plus hours in the car, you’re wiped out mentally and sometimes physically. The body isn’t meant to be stuck in one position for so long.

But after that travel, though, you arrive someplace new. Hopefully, it’s someplace better or more exciting or a new place to explore.

Jet engine roar

I didn’t actually fly in a plane until I was an adult. Let’s see, I would have been 31 when we went to Las Vegas. It took me another six years to go abroad. Guess I’m a late bloomer.

But one of my most vivid memories of that first plane ride was the sound of the engines and the feeling of speed. I still love that when I fly – the rush I get when the engines ramp up and the world rushes past the window, and you feel that lift, almost a bounce into the air. Then, it’s like magic, that this huge piece of heavy metal can get off the ground and fly for thousands of miles, with tiny humans safely encased.

When you get off the plane, you’re in a different world – quite often literally. Some of my favorite trips are when I leave the snow and cold and arrive in summer at my destination. Again, it’s like magic.

That’s what that sound means to me. The jet engine roar fills my ears with magic, the promise of a new adventure in a new place.

That makes me smile.

No, that makes me grin.

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Be a Better Writer Tip

Literally and figuratively. Do you know the difference?

This is one I think most people are more aware of now than when I started as a journalist. I used to see and hear people use it incorrectly more often. Now, it seems people put an emphasis on proper usage.

Literally means something really happens. Figuratively is a way of describing how something happens, but it’s not really what happened.

Here’s how AP Stylebook explains it:

Figuratively, Literally 

Figuratively means in an analogous sense, but not in the exact sense. He bled them white.

Literally means in an exact sense; do not use it figuratively.

Wrong: He literally bled them white. (Unless the blood was drained from their bodies.)