- 12 October 2009
- 4:16pm
- Filed under
Shared Experiences, Thorn Tree, Traveller Tips
Love travelling, hate flying?
venessapaechLonely Planet author
Dying to travel, but afraid of flying? It’s a pretty awkward conundrum, and one faced by community member AndrewGD.
Rather than letting his fear keep him grounded, Andrew turned to fellow travellers for alternative ideas, but he admits to being envious of travellers in the past who had no choice but the overland slog.
If you’re in a similar boat, our Women Travellers forum has some more tips to take the edge off a nerve-racking flight, and the Round the World crew offer their thoughts about an Australia to Europe haul without taking to the skies.
There’s some great resources out there that cater to this problem, including the wonderful Seat61, where you’ll learn everything you ever wanted to know about train and ferry travel, and Lonely Planet’s own Flightless, which follows a group of travellers as they take on a world without wings.
Can you recommend any other tips for Andrew and his fellow groundlings? Do you struggle with a fear that gets in the way of your travel desires?
[Photo: William Shatner as a tormented flyer in a classic episode of The Twilight Zone]
Bus travel in China , in particular Sichuan has cured me of my fear of flying (I used to have to take Valium to get on a plane). It’s all relative!
I went through hypnosis and it changed my life. I flew 30+ times this year. Before hypnosis, I wouldn’t drive past an airport if I could avoid it.
I loathe flying and this summer took a freighter from Genova in Italy to Halifax in Canada. 10 days – probably the 10 happiest days of my life. Arranged thru NSB in Bremen.
Only two other passengers and a huge welcome from officers and crew. Perfect trip. And got to Genova from UK by train – thanks Seat61 as always. pfranp
I’m getting to despise air travel (although very short trips are okay) and have been thinking about boarding a cruise ship in San Diego and getting off in off in Panama or wherever. Recent prices are very tempting even though I can’t imagine enjoying a cruise. Might surprise myself.
Take free legal drugs off doc,wake up when u get there!!make sure u dont miss connection.
I am currently making a round-the-world trip without getting on a single plane. 45 or so countries. 6 continents. Read about it at http://www.mobilelawyer.blogspot.com
I’m currently on my own flightless adventure, and although I have no fear of flying, there have been times when it has been almost peverse not to fly (cheaper, quicker and more convenient).
Some places you just can’t get to either. For example, when I missed my ferry from Sakhalin in Russia to Japan, I couldn’t go on a cargo ship due to laws in Japan preventing the practice (so I was told), and had to wait 2 weeks for the next ferry.
Other times, the possibilities have been there, but you either have to have huge amount of patience and time, excellent native language skills (or a local willing to help you), or just happen to bump into the right person at the right time to make things happen
Having said that, I met one fellow traveller who had a lifelong fear of flying. He made up his mind to go to North Korea and flew out to China, knowing that he had a train ticket for the return journey back via the trans-siberian, allowing him to go without making things too time/money expensive (for those that have a job), so it can be done
My brother in law cannot fly without drinking. He almost took a job but there was too much air travel.
I could talk about statistics of flying and try to convince you that it is safe.
I could tell you that from what I know there are 3 back up control systems on planes.
In the end I think it comes down to what you believe about your life and were you will spend eternity if you die.
You should go to your doctor and ask him to prescribe a tranquilizer. This will help to calm the nerves. You should take it at least 20 minutes before you take off so then once take off comes, you will be calm. Also, take some Gravol and that will help you to sleep. Another suggestion, make sure to have gum or a nasal spray for your ears so then they don’t close up because that can be painful.
http://acaiforcemaxreview.weebly.com
Flying is one of the safest ways to travel – much safer than driving, so forget about being afraid of flying unless you are also afraid of driving.
I HATE flying (have had some traumatic flights in the past) but love traveling too much to not fly. I’ve gotten some short lasting anti-anxiety meds from my MD and this has definitely helped me fly more comfortably. They don’t necessarily knock me out but they do take that anxious edge off. I also have a playlist of relaxing music that helps me and I stay away from caffeine when I fly. Just got back from a trip to Europe (had several flights within Europe) and managed to stay away from the meds, but the anxiety was still somewhat there. I travelled solo to Europe and so not having someone I knew, actually made me feel more pressured to keep myself composed.
Whilst I thought I hated flying in the past, an overnight ship trip was more than enough to put me in the right headspace to welcome back flying…
I find it helps if you have all your bits and pieces fully organised so you have nothing to stress about – stuff like your passport valid for a decent amount of time, exciting books to read and just little things like having some travacalm on hand and making sure your travel insurance is no worries, budgets and itineraries are no worries.
I got my travel insurance through here -
http://www.1300insurance.com.au/travel
Also on a (nearly) flightless adventure.
Going by motorbike instead.
Its much more fun because the bits inbetween the places become a lot more important. They are the best bits. Its all on here in case anyone is interested:
http://globegallivanting.blogspot.com
Cheers, best of luck to all flightless wanderers, Nicky
Sign in or register to add your comment