Flying after 20 Years!

[Rhoduh]

Hi, I posted this on another thread last week but got no response... I'm trying again!

Join Date: Apr 2007

First time here and I can soooo relate! I too am getting married - in May and my fiance and I are going to Italy on our honeymoon. I am terrified.

I haven't been on a plane for 20 years. I was fine flying when I was younger but had a "bad" flight in a storm where the plane was very turbulent and seemed to drop so much at times that my stomach was in my throat. I looked around at the other passengers and they all looked pretty nervous, including my parents.

Since then, I have been petrified and have avoided traveling by plane. I decided that when I got married it was time to stop limiting myself and see some of the things I have missed out on. I am THRILLED to be going to Europe for the first time but I am most afraid that the flight is so long and that I will have a huge panic attack and humiliate myself.

I have purchased two books on fear of flying which have been a bit helpful but there is no telling until I have the flight itself. I'm just wondering how other fearful flyers deal with these longer flights... it sounds like an eternity to me. Any advice would be appreciated.

Between wedding plans and the upcoming flights I am stressing!

Thanks,
Rho:eek:

[Barb-SAN]

Hi, I posted this on another thread last week but got no response... I'm trying again!
Rho:eek:

Yikes, so sorry that ALL of us here managed to miss your post! Welcome aboard! :welcome2:
I looked to see where your post was...and see it's at the end of Erika's thread about Hawaii. You should get more responses this way, with your own thread and introduction.

Please feel free to look around, read through some of the posts, check out the "sticky" threads at the top of each forum. Your situation has a familiar sound, I think, to many of us here who were grounded after a "bad" flight. There is certainly hope that you can develop confidence and comfort with flying if you are willing to put in the time and effort to overcome your fears.

My number one suggestion would be to learn some relaxation tools, and schedule a short, practice flight before the long one to Europe, and before the wedding. That will get you over the "grounded" hurdle at least. Packing a lot of high-stress events (even good stress like getting married) into a short time span makes getting over a phobia more challenging. Since your time until your trip so short, and you have a negative past experience to overcome, it might be more efficient to find a therapist specializing in treatment of phobias where you live, so you can work with someone in person. Then keep reading and posting here too, for some practical tips from folks in the same situation, some who are now flying comfortably again, and the resident pilots who offer a professional perspective.

As far as the longer flights...I think usually people calm down after awhile even if they are nervous when they board the plane. My flights to Detroit from San Diego are between 4 and 5 hrs., sometimes I'm able to nap a bit mid-flight. If the sky is clear, I usually amuse myself by looking out the window and trying to figure out landmarks below, taking photos for most of the flight, listening to music, reading, or talking to my seatmate.

Again, welcome!:)

[Rhoduh]

Sorry if I posted in the wrong place... I'm new to this! Thanks very much for the warm welcome and great advice. It does help to know that there are so many of us trying to recover from this fear and to hear from people who have had success.

Unfortunately, with the wedding so close I won't be able to have a practice flight. Literally every day of my life is booked solid with wedding to-do's. I have been working on the relaxation techniques for a couple of weeks now and try to do it at home, on the subway, whenever possible. I will also have my (by then) husband with me who is a very very calm person. Although, get this - he has NEVER flown in his life. Should be quite an adventure! :lol:

I will absolutely check out Captain Ray's book, do "Wings of Discovery" and download the stuff for my MP3. I feel very commited to doing anything I can to get through this... I feel as though the more I do to prepare, the less helpless I will feel in the face of my anxiety.

Where can I find the list of Deb's suggestions for what to bring on a flight?

Thank you all so much, this is really an amazing site!

-Ereisa :)

[noflyingfan]

From one bride to another, welcome! I meant to respond to your other post in my Hawaii thread, but I am rather scatterbrained these days, as you can imagine.

Anyway...I agree with Barb about the short practice flight. I took one last month (Chicago to Raleigh, NC), and it really helped me feel better about flying for my honeymoon.

I believe Deb's list is at the top of the General Discussions forum page, in a "stickied" thread.

One thing I can say for flying to a faraway place for me honeymoon -- I've been so busy putting together wedding stuff that I've barely thought about the trip at all, even the good stuff. I'll probably wake up next Tuesday going, "there was somewhere I was supposed to be today. Now, where was it? Oh yeah. Maui."

[noflyingfan]

Accidental double post.