Parent's flight

[CAflyer]

I am not even flying and I am getting fearful :) It's been awhile since I have taken my flight back in May and I think my good feelings about flying are wearing off a bit :) ( I know I should go take a flight somewhere but I don't have the $$ right now) My parents are going to Hawaii in a few weeks and I am worried for them. My dad loves to fly but my mom is a scardy cat like me. I know from being on here those are unnecessary thoughts and worries but I thought I would write it out to get it off my mind. The crash over the weekend of the Lear Jet just brought up some fears again. I know it wasn't a commercial plane but everytime there is a crash of any sort I think " They thought everything would be ok and it turned out horribly wrong!" Like i said, from being on here I know all the facts and that I am being stupid but I just need to get it out of my head. I had a dream the other night that I was on some vacation and I had to get back on the plane to get home and I refused and I was making a big deal to not get on the plane.

[Kimmar]

Your feelings are completely normal, and that's why so many people recommend regular flying (at least 3 times a year, I'd say) so that you can have success after success and not think that first good flight was just a fluke...

The other thing, about the Lear jet crash, (or any crash) is that your feelings, again are normal, but your *response* to the feelings is not.

I see a car crash on TV and I might think, "Oh, that's too bad, and I should be more careful, because that can happen to anyone" and then I jump in my car and run to the store. I'm a bit more careful for a couple of days, (depending on how bad the crash was that I saw) but then it wears off and I go about my business....

Same thing with flights. Yes, it's scary, and yes something went terribly wrong. However, it can't be allowed to keep you from flying because your fear is irrational, and based on *feelings* not on facts. Fact is some planes do crash, the another fact is most do not, and you are safer in them than anywhere else.

[CAflyer]

yep I know. I just gotta get it out. Thanks for the words of encouragement, that's why I stick around here all the time :)

[Kimmar]

yep I know. I just gotta get it out. Thanks for the words of encouragement, that's why I stick around here all the time :)

Me too! :D

[MathFox]

CAflyer: Did you give your mother the URL for takingflight.us? :duck:

[CAflyer]

I have not but I told her how much it works. I think she is not as scared this time because my dad will be with her. She has had to take my grandmother back east a few times in the last year and they always fly southwest. She said she hates taking off and landing but my 85 year old grandmother loves it and wants to look out the window the whole time. See maybe when we are kids we love to fly, we get older and get scared and then when we are old people we like to fly again :)
My parents are taking United to Hawaii. they should have gone in June but ATA quit and they had to rebook everything!
I think my next possible flights aren't until next year. I might be going to Seattle or Vegas for a Bachelorette party and maybe a trip to Cabo again and maybe one to Ft. Lauderdale. All places that are fun to fly to. I need a good destination to fly to:)
Prices are so high right now, it's hard to just take practice flights unless you have a whole trip planed that you can pay for.

[navel_gazer]

I worry about my family flying too--more so when they come out to visit me. But luckily for me, all of them are non-fearful flyers. My mom still thinks that it is magical (despite the security checkpoints, no less!).
I've been trying to use them as a model for my own feelings about planes. Or to prove that whether we worry obsessively or not, we're still safe.

I'd try to focus on looking forward to hearing about their flight and Hawaii trip, and then you'll be rewarded with more encouraging stories of flights (esp. because you can't take your own practice flights now, I hear you on that!).