It's Not That I Don't Like And Respect Huey's List...

[noflyingfan]

...but what are some things you REALLY do to keep yourself occupied when you fly?

:airplane

I like to take a magazine or book, something completely mindless, but I'm usually too freaked out to read it. Every time I sit back and relax, we hit a little turbulence, and I'm SURE we're going down. (I notice there is no emoticon for that!)

I'm afraid to listen to music, :headphones lest I miss an important announcement (you know, like MAYDAY! MAYDAY!) :shocked

I always get a ginger ale (superstition, plus it helps settle my nervous tummy). :barf And sometimes I'll take a snack like M&Ms. I like M&Ms.

Mostly I just sit and pray I see another day. :pray

[xiknal]

But some of us really do read Huey's list and laugh! It's a great resource, and humor is empowering! :lol

These days, I love to listen to music, and often do. On my most recent flights, I divided time between inflight notes for the Flight Reports forum and prep for a workshop I was teaching. I dozed a bit and gazed out the window a lot and paid casual attention to the movie without the audio.

Sometimes I read a novel, or flip through the inflight mags. But often I just grin out the window, indulging the geographer's paradise. I never get tired of it.

The things I like to do are founded on an ability not to be hypervigilant. I used to be very hypervigilant, and when I tried to read while awash in adrenaline, read the same line over and over without it registering. I used to think my full attention helped keep the plane aloft.

When I was actively working to change my feelings about flying, I used various counterphobic techniques to help take back control. I also made detailed notes, used an anxiety scale, wore a heart rate monitor. I am an unabashed data-sponge. Even though I still had significant anxiety on those early flights, I was keenly aware of being on the path beyond my fear, and that was thrilling.

Now I just fly, and let the experience be what it is. It is always interesting, often delightful, and sometimes I have little anxiety blips and try briefly to decipher what I've felt or heard, and then let it pass. I have had no bad rides on the big 'uns in more than two hundred since I got into recovery.

Barb :sunshine

[Passenger Mark]

I thought Huey's list IS what I am SUPPOSE to do on a plane!

You mean I have had it wrong on all my flights???

No wonder I got such strange looks on that Virgin Atlantic flight!

BTW... Speaking of Huey... If he will ever get his nose out of the books, :read maybe he will get back here and post some more!:type

[ChiefAtHeart]

I always take the most engrossing book I can find. I absolutely MUST read during takeoff to keep my mind off of it. That is why the tradition I had going for awhile on Southwest was annoying (no matter where I sat on several flights in a row, my reading light did not work). I read almost the whole time except for landing. I like landing. If it is not too bumpy, I look out the window and try to pick out landmarks.

Jen