Larkin's flights were easy and comfortable, but they were long because she had two different layovers (stops before arriving at your ultimate destination) along the way.
If you need to get across the Atlantic Ocean, it is pretty common and safe to travel by airplane. A trans-Atlantic flight (between North America and Europe) takes around 6-8 hours, depending where you take-off/land and which direction you're flying. You could still travel by boat to Europe, but that journey would be measured in days, not hours.
When you travel by airplane, you have to get to the airport at least two hours ahead of when the plane is schedule to leave, mostly to make sure you have enough time to check-in and don't miss the plane yourself. I always keep my fingers crossed that my flight isn't delayed (leaving late). For this journey to Italy from Boston, my flight was full. There were many other travelers arriving at the same time to board the airplane. I had to pass a pizza bar on my way to the departure gate for my flight, but it was okay: I could wait until I landed in Naples, Italy, and get a slice of pizza in the city where it was invented! (It was totally worth the wait.)
The first leg (section) of my trip was a flight between Boston and Paris, France, where I had two hours to wait until my next flight. To move from one gate (my arrival gate) to the next (my departure gate), I took a tram ride, hopped on a bus, and then walked down a very long hallway to a food court. By the time I had a refreshing matcha latte and found the gate for my onward flight to Naples, Italy, those two hours went very quickly.
