I have been in and out of airports since I was about three months old, when I went with my parents to visit family in Ohio for the first time. Little did I know, eighteen years later I would go to the same airport and make that same flight – BY MYSELF. Terrifying, I know. I can hear my parent’s voices now. “You’ve been doing this since you were a baby, I think you can figure out your way around an airport!” and “You already go to college in Ohio you should probably know this—ha ha!” It’s different. Trying to maneuver around crowds of people while carrying 50 pounds of baggage and using your phone to see where your gate is located isn’t the easiest thing. There are a lot of things you have to do before you finally make it to the beautiful, glowing golden gates (also known as that place you sit before your flight takes off).

1. You have to get to the airport on time.*

*This really means at LEAST two hours before your flight takes off. So, if your flight from Washington D.C. to Dayton, Ohio is scheduled to leave at 12 p.m., that means you have to get to the D.C. airport at 10 a.m. And if you happen to live in Baltimore, that means you have to leave your house at about 8 a.m. So have fun waking up earlier than that!!

2. Get your boarding pass and photo ID out.

Before you can go through security, you need to show your boarding pass and photo ID to the guard. If you don’t have these, you can’t go anywhere besides back out the airport doors and into an Uber to take you home. And if you don’t have them out before you get to the front of the line, you’re going to be known as that guy. We all know that guy. Don’t be that guy.

3. Go through security.

“This is easy,” you think. Haha, no. First, you have to take off your shoes (AKA, you have to remember to wear socks because let’s be honest, who really knows the last time the airport floors were cleaned). Then, while holding your shoes in one hand, you have to take your laptop out of your bag and put it in a separate bin. Once you've done this, you need to put all your belongings on the conveyor belt and go through the metal detector. And you need to do all of this in about one minute so that the line doesn’t get too long!

4. Get yourself a snack.

Okay, you’ve made it this far! Alone! That’s a huge accomplishment. Go get yourself something. Airport food is the best food (not even a lie). They have so many options. Want a smoothie? Sure! McDonalds is there. Maybe even a Smoothie King, if you’re really lucky! Want some pizza? Get yourself some pizza! Want a piece of fruit? No one wants fruit don’t lie to yourself, even airports know that… that’s why you never see fruit stands at airports.

5. Find your gate.

Your boarding pass usually has your gate number on it, but if it doesn’t, DON’T FREAK OUT. There are electronic displays pretty much every time you turn a corner in an airport, and they tell you exactly where your gate is! (See, I told you not to freak out.) Once you figure out what gate you are supposed to be at, follow the signs to get there! This part is pretty easy.

5 ½. Get on the plane!!!!

You did it!!!! Now all you have to do is get on the plane. You can’t really mess this one up. Congratulations, you have officially gone through an airport alone!