I’m Completely Over My Fear Of Flying

Congrats on making progress over the fears. The tip about texting pic of boarding pass is a great idea! Really helpful for those last minute flight changes.

I must ask. In all honesty, did they threaten a lawsuit against you?

I've always told people that how hard you grip the armrest or how loud you scream will not slow the plane down as it crashes into the ground, so just enjoy the ride in!

I always try to leave my travel plans with someone in the event something goes terribly wrong. It all started after a similarly terrifying flight between Tokyo and Singapore. Although we didn't experience any rain it was low visibility and to this day I've never been on a plane with anywhere near the same level of turbulence. Scary.

I got rid of my fear of flying when I finally accepted that once the plane doors are shut/closed, my life really depended on the pilots and that all I can do is try my best to enjoy the flight.

Have you had any flight with strong turbulence after the RJ flight?

I had issues for a long time after losing a relative in a plane crash. The best treatment for me was to understand the anxiety process. A good book can help... Anxiety Disorders and Phobias: A Cognitive Perspective (Beck).

You're so cute (in a non-endearing way that is)

Glad you have made such good progress! 🙂

P.S. My mom had an old featurephone for a long time but was finally forced to upgrade for her prolonged stay overseas and now she's learned to send texts and emails from her iPhone which helped alot during her trip and my trip (iMessages especially are convenient because they only need wi-fi connection and don't have to pay roaming charges).

Good for you, Lucky. I think some people might be surprised how many people in the frequent flyer hobby have had this fear. It's kind of you to share this story.

@ Nic -- Nothing especially bad in the past 200K miles. Have definitely had some moderate turbulence, but nothing else eventful.

I applaud you for being heartfelt and open re: your fear. You may not know it, but there are likely quiet readers of your blog (they may never post comments) who took some comfort from your post.

Last year on an Air China flight between Xi'an and Beijing, we hit severe turbulence. Severe. Probably the closest thing to your RJ experience. Our kids (11&12 then)were treating it like a roller coaster, so we learned from them.

@ Willy and @ Joey: Precisely. Enjoy the ride and be happy in the moment, even if it might be your last. Lucky, you've accomplished what many people will never do and as long as you're happy in life, anxiety will never rule you.

Rather than sending a picture of every boarding pass have you thought of using a service like Tripit that can automatically share your travel plans with your selected friends and family? You can even have it automatically search your email inbox so the whole process is completely automated...

I've flown all of my life and have always had a certain amount of fear of flying. This is well known to two women who I traveled with for almost a year, but surprising to most people who know me and are aware of how much I travel. Most people assume that if you fly all the time, you couldn't possibly be afraid or you wouldn't. I am much more relaxed now than I ever have been, but I have my moments. I've been to over 80 countries and would never stop flying, but it always takes a bit of courage to get through it for me.

Glad you've made your peace.

So you're now ready to review the new upcoming RJ service to LAX and MIA then? 😉

Have you really flown 3+ million BIS miles? Assuming over 20 years, that's 150k miles/year, 12.5k miles/month. Did you really do one round-the-world trip every 45 days for the last 20 years???

I think your last two sentences summed it up. Enjoy life to the fullest and take advantage of opportunities when they become available. You never know when your number is up. I've known young people who were perpetually dreaming about their "trip of a lifetime" to some overseas destination, but work, kids, life, etc. got in their way and they never made a serious plan to get there (and so many people are unaware just how easy it can be accomplished with the right strategies). Then one day they die early due to an accident, cancer, or whatever. Sad. As they say, YOLO.

During a flight over the Andes (Cordoba, Argentina, to Santiago, Chile), the pilot advised everyone to expect turbulence in the next few minutes.

Boy, was he right! It was rock and roll and yaw and pitch, at a frequency of about 3+ Hz, for a couple of minutes. Astonishing!

The tension was semi-broken by a Texan? somewhere behind me who was yelling "Yee haw!"

That flight showed me what amazing stresses a commercial aircraft can withstand without damage.

http://www.theonion.com/video/faa-issues-holiday-reminder-that-planes-can-crash,34701

Ben(ie) - may I suggest the WhatsApp for texting your mom? It works with just WiFi and would be great with your travels for texting last minute changes.

Your mom is so great. I'm glad I got to meet her last year at the 4th of July potluck in Lutz. I can't believe at the time that I didn't put two and two together as to who you both were!

I understand this much: (1) Most of the danger is during take-off and landing, when the plane is close to the ground. (2) Once I am high enough, let's say >5K feet, I am basically safe. You can be scratched up from somebody's possessions flying around, but the turbulence is not going to crash the plane. The plane will recover from even ½ mile of fall in the air. Usually a 50-100 feet fluctuation up or down is what we'd be looking at. Put on your seat belt and watch a movie or go to sleep. 🙂

So happy for you, @lucky. And not only because the fear has melted away, but because you seem to have learnt something from it.

Congratulations,
S