One former Chicago O’Hare International Airport security worker got to experience takeoff – literally and emotionally – thanks to Hulu’s new series How to Die Alone.
The Onyx Collective release gave lucky fan Lauren Harris her first flight ever earlier this month. She attended the tastemaker screening of How to Die Alone‘s first two episodes. The new flyer also met the series creator and star, actress Natasha Rothwell. In the show, viewers meet Mel, a struggling JFK airport employee who survives a near-death experience and subsequently makes it her mission to live life to the fullest – and on her own terms.
The How to Die Alone social team contacted Lauren after she commented on an Instagram post sharing the show’s trailer. While not quite Mel’s story, she’d previously worked at an airport despite having ironically never flown.
Lauren spoke exclusively with Travel Noire about the amazing experience of flying for the first time, visiting New York City, and meeting Rothwell. The newly minted air traveler was understandably “excited and nervous” before her first takeoff. She added that she also felt “independence, inner peace, and freedom.”
Lauren vulnerably also recalled the emotional elements of the experience. She said, “I actually cried because I couldn’t believe I was flying alone.”
“I was a person that was very afraid of planes after 9/11 and swore I would never fly. I was only 11 when that tragedy occurred but now I’m 34, and my first flight was amazing,” she continued. “Meeting Ms. Rothwell was a real delight, a treat, one that was unexpected. Her presence embodies the ‘woman-king’ that I’m on the path of becoming.”
Outside of previously working at an airport and having never flown, Lauren shared another way she identified with Rothwell’s character. She said, “In the first few episodes, Mel doesn’t really have the support system that she thought she had. Just like Mel, I’ve had to pick myself up on days when I couldn’t see the light and be my own support. And that’s hard until you start to manifest.”
Now, Lauren has travel and transit planned for the future. While she didn’t disclose where she’s going, she’s confident and self-assured that she can go anywhere. “I think my fear of heights and flights has been broken now. I want to actually take flight and experience the world,” she stated.
See the featurette on Lauren’s NYC experience below and watch the two-episode finale of How to Die Alone now on Hulu.
