Three sisters who flew alone as children reveal how the experience still shapes the way they travel.
Issa Okamoto has been traveling since childhood, but not necessarily with his parents.
“Honestly, I look at my mom on the plane and I’m like, ‘What’s going on?'” the 22-year-old content creator and Oberlin College of Music student said on the phone with her sisters, her perfect travel companions.
When Issa was 4, Ameya 7, and Nadia 9, they moved to Oregon with their mother, while their father remained in New York. Over the next years, the trio moved back and forth between their parents, unaccompanied.
“We were traveling solo together for a while,” said Nadia, 28, a content creator and entrepreneur.
Nearly 20 years later, the Okamoto sisters still maintain their bond.
“We actually all live across the street,” said Ameya, 26, an artist and influencer.
They live in New York and still travel together, but no longer because they have to.
“It was really fun to see how the sisters travel and figure out how each of us travels,” Issa said.
Big sister
“The thing is, I was and still am the older sister who was always stressed out,” Nadia said.
As the eldest, she was given charge of their transcontinental flight.
“I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep on the plane if someone grabbed me, so I would stay up all night and either watch JetBlue Cartoon Network with them or they would go to sleep. I was always nervous so I forced myself to stay awake,” Nadia recalled with a laugh. “My mother says, “Don’t take her to anyone because she will be trafficked.”
“She did tell us that,” Ameya repeated.
Nadia says she still gets anxious when things don’t go well.
“I felt like I overslept and missed my flight by one flight, and the whole world was ending,” she said.
To stay on top of things, she meticulously updates her Google Calendar and schedules specific tasks, like preparing for a meeting or getting to the airport.
“I have everything on my calendar,” Nadia said. “If there are any adjustments, for example if your departure time to the airport is 30 minutes later than scheduled, we will adjust the calendar invitation.”
She loves itineraries and color coding.
“I also think Nadia likes to plan,” Issa added.
“She likes being in charge,” Ameya joked.
“Yeah,” Nadia laughed. “For me, there’s no such thing as over-planning. It just gives me more peace of mind.”
The middle child is
Ameya did not always appreciate Nadia’s decision.
As a child, the self-described typical middle child recalled thinking, “Well, I’m just a little bit younger.” But now she feels benefits, including not having to worry about anything while “blindly following” her sister.
Unlike Nadia, Ameya says she is always a good sleeper.
“I probably wouldn’t have been able to sleep so comfortably in public or on a plane if I didn’t know that I had a sister who made sure I was up on time, made sure my connections were made, and made sure I had my immigration forms filled out,” she said.
However, it is different when Ameya travels alone and with others.
“I actually think they’re very organized when they’re alone,” Nadia asserted.
“I always have my own schedule in my head,” Ameya says. “But the trick for me is the fact that I’m not married.”
Even if he misses a flight, he says it only happens once or twice, but as long as he gets on the next flight, he’ll be fine. “I go where I need to go, but in my own time and in my own way,” Ameya said, adding that when she is traveling with a group other than her sisters, she is able to take action and take the lead when needed.
Even when planning, Ameya prioritizes flexibility and the opportunity to “choose your own adventure.”
“My best travel experiences and my best travel stories are all about impulsiveness,” she said. “When you meet someone, your whole itinerary changes.”
youngest
Issa falls between the styles of her sisters.
“Honestly, I think it’s been a gift for me and I’ve been able to adapt,” she said. “Such movements take place in more areas of our lives than travel.”
“I don’t color code my calendar, but I use my Notes app and it’s like 4:30 here, 5:30 here, 6:30 here,” she added. “We have a rough outline like that, and we’re probably booking an Airbnb, but we’re not making dinner or reservations.”
Issa said her approach to travel evolved as she grew older and became more financially independent.
“When I first started making money on my own as a content creator, it was definitely at my financial limit,” she said of having to carefully plan and budget.
“Growing up, it was kind of a privilege to be able to miss a flight and then either catch the next one or figure it out once you’re there and book the nicest hotel that was closest and had the best reviews,” she said.
However, sisters may swap roles as they grow older.
“But I think it was a healing process for all of us now in our 20s to see Nadia every once in a while while we were traveling, for her to step back and let Ameya and I take over the plate,” Issa said, prompting Nadia’s immediate well-meaning protest.
“You want proof?” Issa added, producing a photo of Nadia falling asleep on the plane.
“Sometimes I take a nap on the plane,” Nadia admitted.
