Blog # 7 - International Air Travel Day

1)      My holiday is called international air travel day. It is a celebration of the invention of airplanes, and air travel in general. It celebrates the amazing things airplanes have enabled humans to do. It also celebrates the Wright brothers’ invention of the airplane, and their first successful flight on December 17, 1903. The Wright brothers, Orville (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948) and Wilbur (April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912), were two Americans credited with inventing and building the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, and powered plane. Sustaining heavier-than-air human flight in 1903. My holiday takes place on December 17, and celebrates the ways air travel has revolutionized humanity, and enabled us to do such incredible things.

2)      The idea for my holiday came from a realization of how useful and even essential air travel has become in society today. The airplane is a profound invention that has allowed us to travel and explore our world faster, and easier than ever before. The holiday will be a global holiday that is compulsory for all countries.

On the day of the holiday, May 17, all air travel worldwide will be stopped for 24 hours, in order for people to have a chance to realize how important airplanes are, and how much they need them. Each city worldwide will organize parades with inflatable airplane floats, kites, and a fly over by the air force, or Snowbirds during the parade. Everyone at these parades will only be able to purchase airplane food, and only able to drink out of the plastic cups used on airplanes.

The song “airplanes” by B.O.B. featuring Hailey Williams will be played all day, and will be the only song played during the duration of the parades. There will also be a short video clip shown of the Wright Brothers first flight. The international center of the holiday will be at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, where the Wright brothers conducted their first ever flights. The Wright Brothers originally selected Kitty Hawk as their test site because of its wind, sand, hilly terrain and remote location. There will be an international ceremony performed here, that will be globally televised in over 500 languages across the globe.

The makeup of the parades will differ from city to city. However, all parades will feature activities such as face painting, some free airplane food items, and music and dancing. Most cities will have various airplane models on display for people to view. The focus of every parade however has to be how airplanes have bettered people’s lives, as well as the evolution of the airplane over the years. The parades will last for about two hours, and will be feature fun filled activities everyone can enjoy.

The corporate aspect of this holiday will come in the regard that people will be able to purchase commemorative airplane souvenirs. Post cards, small metal airplane models, airplane posters, airplane themed pencils, and other accessories will be promoted around this holiday. This day also can be used as a way for corporate sponsors to unveil the newest technologies present in the airplane industry. People will have the opportunity to view inside portions of these new public and private planes as well. To ensure this holiday remains relevant and interesting, only the most unique and revolutionary airplane models will be displayed each year.

3)      My personal favourite holiday is Christmas. It has always been my favourite, since I love all the special, heartwarming traditions attached to it. It is a unique time of year. The number of specific holiday items related to it, such as Christmas songs, movies, decorations, and parades that take place surrounding it, make it unlike any other holiday. Christmas for me is a time to celebrate Jesus birth, but also to enjoy wholesome food, and family reunions, where people are able to catch up, and socialize. Christmas is originally a Biblically themed event, celebrating the time when Jesus came to earth as a baby. It is a time to praise God for His love in giving us His one and only son, as a sacrifice for our sin.

Christmas has definitely lost its original meaning, as it has had the focus shifted off God and His gift of His son Jesus, and on to the retail and commercial side of things. Christmas today is as much about buying things, spending money, and travelling as anything else. This is something that saddens me greatly, as I see that I am growing up in a generation of people who couldn’t care less about the real reason we have Christmas. Christ has almost completely been removed from the holiday, except for in Churches. This is a problem that has slowly been getting worse and worse with each coming year, and is one that can only be stopped by cutting down on the retail aspects of Christmas, and bringing out much more the real meaning of Christmas. I feel that people today often times don’t understand Christmas for anything besides an excuse to spend money on their loved ones. This is an issue that needs to be combatted by either cutting back on the commercial aspects of Christmas, or finding ways to expose people to what Christmas should look like, as it was originally intended.