Friday, April 24, 2009

Fear of Flying?


I fly a lot. More than the average person that doesn't need to fly for business. And I am amazed at how many people are afraid to fly. I end up running into one on almost every leg of every trip these days.

On my way home from Las Vegas in Feburary, there was a girl that was crying and freaking out as we took off. Her friend was trying to calm her. I also tried to help out as I have done so much flying. She was fine after take off and didn't flinch during landing.

The way I look at is the stats. Chances are I will be hit by a car then be in an airplane accident. That is good enough for me.
Besides that I know that what is at the other end, whether it be a new destination to explore, or home, that it is worth it to fly. I used to be a nervous flyer.
Now I really enjoy it. I enjoy take off, landing, and everything in between - with one condition - I have an aisle seat. I still like the freedom to get up and down! (and flying business class whenever I can also makes it fun!)

I just found this awesome article from Tip Diva about how to make flying better. I think she has some great ideas. I always say that the more information you have the less you can make up.

Fear is just:
False
Expectations
Appearing
Real

Thank you to @whereivebeen from http://www.whereivebeen.com/ for bringing this article to my attention on Twitter

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am terrified of flying. I'm okay once we take off (unless we hit major turbulence) and I love landing (yay! ground!) but take-off terrifies because I know odds are, if something goes wrong, that's when it will happen.

I know the stats and I get why planes fly but once in a plane I lose rational thought. And the idea that I'm more likely to die in a car crash is not soothing because in a car crash it will most likely be quick - my big fear with a plane crash is that I'll have a few minutes to ponder my impending demise before we hit ground.

My husband recently bought me a flying lesson - yes I actually flew a tiny little cessna and it was great. I don't think it cured me (I'll still probably load up on some xanax for my next fligth) but I think it may have helped.

Melanie Fine said...

Wow a flying lesson! That must have been fun - even if you have a fear of flying!

Well as long as you still travel and don't let your fear stop you!