I Walked Off the Plane at LAX

A Week of Perspective and Growth

Vacation

This week, my husband and I went away, without the children, for the first time since our honeymoon! In full transparency, we did sneak in a two-day trip to a cabin in the Adirondacks right after COVID (Saturday to Sunday), but this trip was different. Six whole days — Tuesday to Monday. Half of it was in “vacation mode,” and the other half was centered on “work.”

The flight to California was actually not bad. It was the first time I had ever flown beyond Nebraska, and I was glued to the window. Passing over Las Vegas was astonishing — it looked like a strip of lights just plopped in the middle of nothing. I honestly don’t understand why so many people make it their destination to “live their best life.” From up above, it seemed out of place.

Then came the Southwest Plateau. I couldn’t stop staring. It felt like the plane was barely hovering over the ridges, canyons, and folds in the earth. Everything looked so sharp and close that I swore I could see someone standing down there. What I didn’t realize at first was that the plateau itself sits 5,000–7,000 feet above sea level. So even though our plane was at cruising altitude, the ground was thousands of feet closer than it would be anywhere else. Add in the desert’s crisp, dry air and the tilted perspective out my little oval window, and the view looked less like flying on Earth and more like orbiting another planet. For a moment, it really did feel like space.

When we landed, we grabbed a shuttle to pick up our rental car. Fun fact — Bill Nye the Science Guy was on our bus! We asked for a photo, but he brushed us off with, “You gotta flash it now,” and kept walking. Apparently, he was in LA for his Hollywood star. Not exactly a magical encounter, but still a fun “only in LA” moment.

We headed straight to the Santa Monica Pier. For years, I’ve had two things on my bucket list: lay on the sand without interruption listening to the sea, and put my feet in the Pacific Ocean. Both checked off in one afternoon. Bonus: we had the most amazing burgers and grape soda floats (“Purple Cows”) — highly recommend.

Next up was Disneyland. What should have been a 42-minute drive took us three hours thanks to rush hour traffic that lasts from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. on five-lane highways. It was miserable. And not going to lie — what I saw of LA was not what I expected. Trash everywhere. Graffiti everywhere. People sleeping under viaducts, in grassy medians, on sidewalks. It was eye-opening, sobering, and nothing like the glossy picture you get from the movies.

Disneyland itself? Pure fun. We stayed half a mile away at Home2Suites. At one point we got stuck trying to figure out how to get back to our hotel without walking on a thruway — cue a mini panic attack. Finally, someone told us to walk through Downtown Disney (free of charge). That detour turned into an unexpected evening, chatting with other travelers over dinner before heading back.

The parks themselves were a blast. Highlights: Jordan finally built his lightsaber at Savi’s Workshop (a serious high), he also won Main Street Trivia (another high), we scored lightning lanes (life-changing), and we had dinner at the Blue Bayou — literally inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, surrounded by the sounds and ambiance of the attraction itself. Magical. On the flip side, Tiana’s log ride completely drenched me, overstimulated my sensory system, and forced me to buy a new outfit just to survive the day (a definite low). Still, the highs outweighed the lows.

Work

The second half of the trip was all about the University of Southern California’s ReproRehab kickoff.

I was accepted as a Fellow in the Reproducible Rehabilitation (ReproRehab) Program through USC. The program is designed to build a sustainable national workforce of rehabilitation researchers with data science skills in the next five years. The idea is simple but powerful: data science — coding, data management, reproducibility practices — can elevate the quality and transparency of rehab research. But for many of us in the field, that’s not something we were trained in.

I actually learned about this program because one of my PhD directors recommended I apply. He knew I was passionate about structural morphometry and neurological disorders, and he mentioned that the lead of the program was also an occupational therapist with a deep interest in neuroscience. That immediately caught my attention — I had never met anyone outside of my PhD advisor who shared that same blend of rehab and neuroscience curiosity.

That person is Dr. Sook-Lei Liew, Associate Professor at USC, director of the Neural Plasticity and Neurorehabilitation Lab, co-founder of the SMART-VR Center, and Chair of the ENIGMA Stroke Recovery Working Group. Reading her bio was inspiring enough, but actually meeting her — and being in a room full of people who cared about the exact intersection I care about — was on another level.

It’s not easy feeling like an island when you’re trying to push yourself into a field that doesn’t have a clear path. Sitting in that kickoff, I felt like maybe this was one of the missing ingredients I’ve been searching for — a piece of the puzzle that could help me become who I feel called to be.

Beyond Occupation

This week reminded me that life has layers — work, vacation, stress, joy, learning, and rest — and they often coexist in messy, overlapping ways. My husband and I had not traveled without the kids since our honeymoon, and while part of the trip was pure vacation and the other part was professional, both pieces gave me something I needed. On the beach, I remembered what it felt like to be still, present, and human. At USC, I remembered what it felt like to belong in a room of people who see the world the way I do. Together, these experiences reminded me that meaning isn’t found in our employment or weekly goals, it is found in the spaces beyond occupation — where identity, purpose, and faith intersect in ways that cannot be measured by productivity alone.