get over my fear of flying

This year I took first airplane trip to see my father in Florida.

I have always had a fear of heights and airplanes. As a child I never had the urge to fly to exotic locations with my family even with the promise of Disney World. As a child I didn’t understand how planes work and I thought that if God wanted us to fly he would of given us wings.

Even in my fear I dreamed of flying, especially in my teenage years. I wanted to see the world and I knew realistically I would have to eventually fly.

I am 32 year old and this year I decided that I needed to get out of zone and try something new. I wanted to see my father and the easiest and fastest way from New York to Florida was a plane.

I decided that if I didn’t like the experience on the way down I would take a bus or train back home.

The trip out was scary at first because you sit out on the runway for a moment but when you take off and glide into the air it’s kind of cool. Once we leveled out it felt like being in a bus or train. I choose a aisle seat on the outbound because I was afraid if watched anything I would panic.

But let me tell you one thing: It was beautiful. I am a photographer and it took my breathe away. The clouds, the sky, and the view of the city above was better than I could of ever imagined. I ended up changing my return flight to a window seat.

Now I am not going to tell you that it’s not scary because it is in a sense. My thoughts are you can get comfortable with flying but will never lose the fear. I am cool with that. When we hit turbulence it disturbed me but only briefly. I closed my eyes and focused on trying to be calm.

The trip back home was more amazing that the outbound. I left in the late evening and there is nothing more beautiful than watching the sun set in Fort Lauderdale, Florida from in the sky. Everything seems calm and at peace. You feel as if nothing is wrong in the world. That the troubles from the ground looking up are petty. At least that’s how I felt.

My favorite part of the experience was take off. I thought that would be the part that would scare me the most. I thought it was the coolest thing ever.

In the end I will do it again. I decided that I would start with short trips like my trip to Florida. I want to go to Jamaica before the year ends for a three day trip.

Some things that helped me during my flight was a good book, some of my favorite music, writing my feelings out in a travel journal.

when will i, is the question

This is soooo annoying – I love travelling … but am REALLY scared of flying. It’s a pain in the ass.

I was always scared of flying (even at 2 yrs old) but it really developed when we had an emergancy landing in Hawaii when I was 7.

Although it doesn’t stop me from going places – the stress I have to go through is unbelievable … living in Australia doesn’t make it better.

The scariest thing is > I have been on the QF 30 Qantas plane from Hong Kong to Melbourne 3 times! It doesn’t reassure me.

After watching the movie “Final Destination” I was completely petrified of flying. My first and second flying experiences were terrible. The second flight I experienced my first full on panic atttack, hyperventilation and all. The best advice I have is to be prepared and keep yourself busy. If you get to the airport early enough you can get to where you need to be and just relax. What I like to do is get there about 2 hours early and get to my terminal, that way I’m not worrying about what I forgot or that I might miss my flight. Also when I’m on the plane I normally put on my Ipod and page through magazines. If you aren’t thinking about what could happen or the fact that you are so far off the ground it’s much easier to deal with.

I’ve been dealing with this all summer (traveling back and forth from America to Europe). Used to be I couldn’t think about planes without freaking.

Then medication came along and it was the BEST THING EVER because it showed me that I can fly without being terrified. Now that I know it’s possible that the panic cycle can be broken, it’s so much easier for me to deal with planes.

I can deal with a little fear, a little hand-holding, and a little Ativan, no problem; but a life spent held back and homebound because of pure fear is terrible. Eventually I’d like to fly without the minimal amount of medication I use, but I think that I’ll check this as done when I get home, which will hopefully be when I overcome flying as something crippling or problematic for my life.

I flew all the time growing up. I don’t know what happened. Sometimes I think it’s because as a kid I had no fear. As a teenager I was put on anti depressants and mood stabilizers. In my late teens I got off those medications and BAM!, there’s my fear of flying. I won’t even go see my mother in Wisconsin, because I’m so scared. I have to get over this! So annoying!

short flight on friday. Chisinau to Istanbul. On the other hand, family flying Detroit-Chicago-Paris-Istanbul. More worried for them!

.... but because it’s always reported in the news whenever one happens, it makes it seem like they’re more frequent than they really are. That’s really what scares us aerophobes. That and $400 plane tickets (plus $15 for luggage).

okay, I’ll post here to say this has gotten better. Given good conditions and me being in a relatively normal mental state, I would say that I can get through shorter flights now on a “slightly nervous” basis! Of course, for the overseas hauls, I still pop a few ativan and zone out, but I might do that anyway (evilgrin)...

...It’s got to go – if my destiny is to die in a burning plane then screw it – that’s what it is!