A woman re-created an epic trip in her own home complete with a TSA agent and inflatable plane
- Dana Jondahl decided to re-create the experience of going on a trip for her 34th birthday when the coronavirus canceled her plans.
- Her video goes above and beyond, showing her checking in, waiting to board a flight, and getting a snack on a plane.
- She even learned the correct marshalling moves to direct planes in and out of their gates.
- The video has been viewed 656,000 times on Facebook at the time of writing.
The global coronavirus pandemic has put a screeching halt to travel, and people the world over miss it so much they're re-creating trips at home, whether that's pretending to be on a plane in laundry rooms, bringing the cruise experience to their living rooms, or using treadmills as luggage conveyor belts.
Dana Jondahl, 34, however, takes the cake when it comes to these re-creations: Jondahl managed to act out the entire air travel experience in a three-minute video for her 34th birthday after the pandemic canceled her plans.
The video shows her printing her boarding pass at a self-service kiosk, going through security, waiting to board a flight, and getting snacks from a flight attendant on a plane. In the video, she plays a traveler, a TSA agent, a flight attendant, and a marshaller.
Given Jondahl's background in experiential marketing, this incredibly detailed re-creation should come as no surprise, plus, she told Insider she loves to craft.
"My friends always laugh at me because I always go above and beyond," she said.
An avid traveler, Jondahl was bummed to miss her annual birthday trip, especially since she has plans to visit 50 countries and all 50 states before turning 50. Between that, and being off work until at least September due to the pandemic, she wanted to do something extra special and had time to kill.
She had originally planned to do a drive-in style movie in her backyard using a projector, which her family does often, but wanted to have something fun to sit in at least. When she found an 18-foot inflatable plane online she said "it escalated from there."
She said she started brainstorming what shots she wanted, and what she needed for the video once she came up with the idea of making it. She pulled the whole thing together in four days.
"Everyone assumed it took a really long time, but I just kind of get very in the zone and just started crafting like crazy," she said.
Some of the more involved props were the X-ray machine (a cardboard box she spray painted black and then decorated before pulling her bag through it on a string) and the metal detector (planks of wood she nailed together and wrapped in paper).
She pulled the TSA and flight attendant uniforms together with clothing she had at home, then printed images of badges and logos and pasted them onto cardboard.
In fact, her TSA uniform was so spot-on that a lot of people who commented on her Facebook video assumed she worked for the TSA, she said.
Jondahl really did her homework for the video. For the part of marshaller, she not only wore a reflective vest and covered a pool noodle in duct tape to create batons; she actually studied the correct movements online.
"The signaling I did are actually legit moves," she said, adding that she sent the video to her brother-in-law, a pilot, who confirmed that they were, indeed, correct.
The attention to detail was not lost on viewers. Since posting the video on Facebook, Jondahl has gotten 656,000 views at the time of writing.
"I shared it thinking a couple of friends would like it, and then it just started continually growing like 100,000 views almost every day for the first week," she said. "It was insane. I'm just blown away… it's been like 99% positive comments."
She adds that she's been touched by how many people could relate to the video, and missing travel. "It never crossed my mind that so many people were obsessed with traveling like I am," she said. "It just makes me happy that other people are enjoying it."
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