Dear Fearful Flyer,
This letter is meant to be opened when you are on your plane. No sooner. Ok, fine, you can read it now, but its most effective if you bring it on the plane. It’s a letter carefully crafted to help you successfully get through your flight, without hyper-ventilating and passing out.
Before you start freaking out, I need to remind you of a few things.
You are strong.
I want you to think about something you did that was physically challenging. Maybe you ran long distance, maybe you delivered a baby, maybe you lost 5 lbs or finally got your pull up (my goal right now).
Do you remember doing that thing? Do you remember how you said it was all mental? Well, guess what? Flying is all mental too. (There is technically some science involved, but I don’t understand it, so let’s just skip that).
And I, (a near expert at overcoming the fear of flying) have made you a list of things to do to overcome your fear.
Yes, you’re already welcome.
So here are my tips to alleviate fears. They are tried and true:
- Upon take-off and landing keep an eye out the window for any other planes that may be coming too close. Technically there are a team of air traffic control people doing this, HOWEVER, I do not think it hurts to help them out. I always imagine if I do spot a plane a little to close to comfort on takeoff, I’d ring my flight attendant bell, and ask them to kindly tell the pilot of the plane coming at us at 500 mph. Whew! I saved the day and the whole flight. It’s a great feeling.
- Always look around for people who may be freaking out more than you are. Ok, I know we’re all in the same boat here, but it always makes me feel better if I’m handling my flight fear better than my neighbor. I mean, maybe I should teach classes on this stuff?
- Always look around for people who clearly have no fear of flying at all. These are easy to spot, because they’re already asleep and have drool coming down their chin before we’ve even left the ground. I only say to keep an eye out for these people, because they’re good people to hate on. Surely, you can find something about them, that you’re better at. Clearly its not flying. So what? There are other life skills that lead to more successful outcomes than being able to fly without sensing eminent panic. Also, I hate them.
- Remember, the end goal. To get where you are trying to go, which traditionally would take days/weeks? To get to and nobody has time for that. Thank goodness for this plane that is going to get you there in a matter of hours!
- While I’m not a big fan of taking meds to fly (although I place no judgment on anyone who does), I am a giant fan of drinking red wine on the plane. All the wine. Except not too much wine, because wine will dehydrate you even more than flying will, so it’s a double whammy. Also no one wants to have to squeeze into the doll house sized bathroom on the plane, so yeah, watch it with the wine.
- While we’re on medical advice…or at least in that general category, if you’re on a long flight, make sure to move around so you don’t end up with a blood clot. The last thing you need is to survive this flight only to sustain a stroke. My friend recommends doing a lot of feet pumps and for real, get up and walk around!
- When all else fails…involve your neighboring passengers. Make sure they know your emergency contact numbers in case you do hyperventilate and pass out. If you hit turbulence, its even ok to grab their hand, even if they look at you funny. Please, you’ll never see them again. Unless you do…then that’s embarrassing.
Ok I hope this list helps! Its all I got. This and prayer.
Best of luck, let me know how it goes.
Cheers