aurora30
01-06-2005, 01:22 PM
Well the trip is already over, two weeks went by really fast.
My husband and I left LAX on the 18th of december on a direct flight with Swiss Airlines to Zurich. A week prior, my anxiety was at its all time high. I was wondering how on earth I would be able to sit on a plane for 11 hours. My husband felt even worse than me, he had serious doubts about going at the last minute. ( I found that having to confront a fear puts you completely out of your comfort zone)
After checking our luggage at LAX, we went to the bar to have a drink and hang out. The time came to go through the security checks, and to finally get on the plane. It was a brand new A-340 gorgeous plane, and I was flying with my "Swiss-homies" :)
Upon boarding the plane I asked to meet the pilot, but without success, for security reasons, they don't let you do that on international flights.
The take-off was really great all of that power, it was a cool feeling ( I never thought I would say that) I was nervous, but I took a 1mg of xanax, it really worked for me and my husband. Once we reached our cruising altitude of 35000 feet, we were served dinner, I actually was hungry. we had pasta, which was pretty good for airline food. Since the plane was new, it had a really cool entertainement system, you couls play games, such as blackjack, who wants to be a millionnaire etc... and it had movies, radio stations and my favorite; two live cams, one from the pilot's view and one from underneath the plane. At any time you could check out the view. The first hours went by quickly, but the last 4-5 hours were long. I thought that I would feel "enclosed" and that I would panic, and I actually thought about "could I panic now? could I bring on that feeling of loosing control? the truth is, for me at least, i never felt that I could "loose" it , I think it is our minds trying to "play-fear- games". I was pleasantly surprised,and proud of myself and my husband. we had very light turbulences maybe 3 or 4 times. The seatbelt sign came on, but it never was unconfortable, it felt like a bumpy road. once we approached zurich, the live-cam kicked in and we saw the runway getting closer and closer, that was really cool, it felt like playing a video game.
i'm happy to say that the flight was calm, and pleasant. I was a little nervous a couple of times when the light turbulences started, but it was amazing the see how we can adapt to an environment, i was able to fall asleep a couple of times.
It was so good to see my family and friends, almost all my family was at the airport waiting for us. It was two great weeks filled with good food, family and friends. I realized how much I had missed over the years because of my FOF. Now I know that I can deal with flying, my goal one day is to say "I love flying". captain Ray's book and you all have helped my fear to a degree I can't explain, I thank you all.
The flight back was the same as the one going. The route was different, i guess bad weather was over the east coast, so instead of flying across the US we went over canada and came down over Wash. state. THe ride had a little more bumps, but nothing unconfortable.
It was hard leaving my family and friends, but now I know that it is only a plane-ride away, and that it is safe to fly. If I could take on this journey anyone can do it. Thanks to you all for the support! I feel empowered, and iI know I'm not completely cured of my fof, but I have made progress and I am proud. We should all be proud to be willing to face our FOF... kudos to you all.
Aurora:)
:thumbsup
My husband and I left LAX on the 18th of december on a direct flight with Swiss Airlines to Zurich. A week prior, my anxiety was at its all time high. I was wondering how on earth I would be able to sit on a plane for 11 hours. My husband felt even worse than me, he had serious doubts about going at the last minute. ( I found that having to confront a fear puts you completely out of your comfort zone)
After checking our luggage at LAX, we went to the bar to have a drink and hang out. The time came to go through the security checks, and to finally get on the plane. It was a brand new A-340 gorgeous plane, and I was flying with my "Swiss-homies" :)
Upon boarding the plane I asked to meet the pilot, but without success, for security reasons, they don't let you do that on international flights.
The take-off was really great all of that power, it was a cool feeling ( I never thought I would say that) I was nervous, but I took a 1mg of xanax, it really worked for me and my husband. Once we reached our cruising altitude of 35000 feet, we were served dinner, I actually was hungry. we had pasta, which was pretty good for airline food. Since the plane was new, it had a really cool entertainement system, you couls play games, such as blackjack, who wants to be a millionnaire etc... and it had movies, radio stations and my favorite; two live cams, one from the pilot's view and one from underneath the plane. At any time you could check out the view. The first hours went by quickly, but the last 4-5 hours were long. I thought that I would feel "enclosed" and that I would panic, and I actually thought about "could I panic now? could I bring on that feeling of loosing control? the truth is, for me at least, i never felt that I could "loose" it , I think it is our minds trying to "play-fear- games". I was pleasantly surprised,and proud of myself and my husband. we had very light turbulences maybe 3 or 4 times. The seatbelt sign came on, but it never was unconfortable, it felt like a bumpy road. once we approached zurich, the live-cam kicked in and we saw the runway getting closer and closer, that was really cool, it felt like playing a video game.
i'm happy to say that the flight was calm, and pleasant. I was a little nervous a couple of times when the light turbulences started, but it was amazing the see how we can adapt to an environment, i was able to fall asleep a couple of times.
It was so good to see my family and friends, almost all my family was at the airport waiting for us. It was two great weeks filled with good food, family and friends. I realized how much I had missed over the years because of my FOF. Now I know that I can deal with flying, my goal one day is to say "I love flying". captain Ray's book and you all have helped my fear to a degree I can't explain, I thank you all.
The flight back was the same as the one going. The route was different, i guess bad weather was over the east coast, so instead of flying across the US we went over canada and came down over Wash. state. THe ride had a little more bumps, but nothing unconfortable.
It was hard leaving my family and friends, but now I know that it is only a plane-ride away, and that it is safe to fly. If I could take on this journey anyone can do it. Thanks to you all for the support! I feel empowered, and iI know I'm not completely cured of my fof, but I have made progress and I am proud. We should all be proud to be willing to face our FOF... kudos to you all.
Aurora:)
:thumbsup