If you find flying scary but still want to see the world
This is the best thing you can do
‘Christusmezielen. Now I am really far from home. And I still have to make that whole journey back.’ That’s what I thought when I landed at the airport in Auckland, New Zealand.
I suffer quite a bit from fear of flying and so do many others. Certainly one in three Dutch people develops some form of fear of flying sooner or later, and certainly dozens of people decide at Schiphol not to take that flight because they are too stressed at the thought of having to go up in the air. Despite my fear, I have visited quite distant places in the world. That has a big advantage. As a psychologist and someone with experience, I have therefore over the years reluctantly gathered the ultimate tip. One that I actually came up with myself, but that works damn well when the sweat breaks out as the engines roar on the runway. Because yes, I recently decided to move to Hawaii for a bit. No idea where that is? Just a little above New Zealand. Six hours flying to Los Angeles and then another eleven to Amsterdam. Eleven thousand kilometers and a bit away from the familiar Mokumse Pijp. Joe. Let’s do it.
Do you know where the only real trick lies? Your own mindset. That’s why I always think just one thing when the plane takes off: ‘I determine my own emotions.‘ Look, I still want to lie on a white beach in Hawaii from time to time, and I also quite like weekends in Marbella or Ibiza. But yes, then you do have to step into such a flying tube. As soon as I sit in that airplane seat, I realize something crucial. Namely: you can do two things. You can either get incredibly worked up, cry, sweat, scream, and hyperventilate… or you stay calm, look at other people who are already half asleep before the thing is in the air, and read a book. Or play a silly game on your phone. Or watch an episode of Friends for the eight billionth time. You don’t have control over the journey itself; the pilot does that for you, but how you feel in that seat is the only thing you can determine yourself. You’re there anyway.
You can feel
A. miserable and
B. even more miserable. The choice is yours.
That’s why I always think very simply: ‘Okay, I’m going anyway, I can either cry and scream that I find it terrible, or I can stay calm and breathe and think of things like Hawaiian leis, pink cocktails and beach loungers with fluttering palm leaves as decor.’ Stressing or relaxing. I prefer to choose the latter. I can assure you: this works better than yet another plea about how the drive to the airport is more dangerous than the flight itself. Yawn. Heard that so many times. A car is just a bit less exciting than an Airbus 747 double-decker. No. Believe in your own mindset. You determine how you feel, always, everywhere, above the ocean or at home on the couch the night before your flight.
If I can go to New Zealand, you can too. Happy landings and above all… book that distant trip. The world is too beautiful to stay stuck in one place for too long.
- FACTS
Air traffic controllers who manage and monitor all flights may only work a maximum of two hours a day. - On average, a plane is struck by lightning twice a year.
- Oh, no, no panic: that can’t hurt.
- The dirtiest spot on board? Your foldable table. A breeding ground for bacteria. Enjoy your meal, travelbirds.
