I hate flying

[No spoken words]

Flying itself does not bother me. A book my Ipod, it's time well spent. However, airports themselves drive me berserk. Though, since moving to Chicago, I've discovered that O'Hare has flights to White Plains, the smallest airport I've ever dealt with...but it's amazing...check in/security takes 5 minutes total, it's amazing.

I've driven x-country twice, and loved it each time. I'd love to do it by train once, make that aspect of the trip an actual part of the journey, not just a means to an end.

 

[waynetravis]

Just a note for the folks that fear flying (on behalf of your fellow passengers): Do not wait until the door is closed and the plane has taxied out to decide you do not want to fly.

That's what my mum did!!!
Door shut and we taxied, the plane was on the runway, and then started to jet really fast and lift off the ground.

My mum was like: "TELL THE PILOT TO STOP I WANNA GET OFF!!!! "

After the plane levelled and the seatbelt blinker went off, the stewardess sat next to her and talked to her for about 10mins.
She was fine after that.
The flight back to England did'nt seem to bother her as much.

One part that really gave me a headache was when we was on the final approach to Dublin there was a huge ferry in the sea.
When the plane was turining, I looked out the window and the ferry looked like it was in air

My bro took some pics out the window, I'll post them later

 

[Babydoll]

I've seen so many women do that on flights, lol. It's mostly on the trans-Atlantic ones I've noticed...

 

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

I have. A couple years ago I went from California to New York by train. Seeing the country that way and being that cut off from everything was one of the most relaxing experiences I've ever had. I didn't have a cell phone at the time. No laptop, no newspapers, no tv. I spent the time writing and listening to music.

The train makes very few stops. It stops to pick people up but there's not enough time to get off. We had a stop in New Mexico where we could get off for about an hour. Then again in Chicago to change trains.

I love the train. It does cut into your vacation time, but if you can appreciate what a great experience it is to just slow down for a few days I think you would really like it. My biggest complaint would be the restrooms. They were filthy.

I find the train the opposite experience. Unless it's a fairly short trek, say Detroit to Chicago I can't deal and will just suck it up and just fly. I find the train to be uncomfortable, long, and annoying.

 

[corianderstem]

I thought about taking Amtrak from Seattle to Wisconsin last summer, after having a pleasant experience from Seattle to Vancouver.

Then I found out how freaking expensive it was to have a little room with a bed - it was something like $700 round trip. Outrageous.

I don't know if I could handle sitting upright or reclining a little on a multiple-day trip cross-country. I suppose it would be okay if no one were sitting next to me and I could lie down, but you can't guarantee you'll have an empty seat next to you.

I don't like flying - I get very anxious during takeoff and landing (although I'm getting better), and I find the whole airport experience more and more distasteful (security, delays, lines, prices, restrictions).

If I had my druthers (i.e., unlimited time and money), I'd road trip everywhere. I love it.

 

[Liesje]

Honestly, delays really don't bother me, but I've never flown anywhere where my time was so tightly booked that being a few hours behind ruined my trip. On our trip to Hawaii for our honeymoon/U2 show BOTH of our plans going there had malfunctions and had to be serviced, making both flights delayed. The first one had something wrong with the computer and the second one had a big leak in a water hose so the cargo area of the plane flooded. People were just standing around cursing at the air, totally freaking out. What did they want? To have their shit loaded onto a flooded plain and get all wet?!?! Sheesh. I guess with any long trip - road trip or plane - I add several extra hours and if we ARE there on time, then great, that's an added bonus!

I prefer road trips though b/c I love seeing all the towns and the mountains. I've done a 30 hour (each way) trip to Everglade City four times and an 18 hour road trip (each way) to gulf coast Alabama five times, among other long trips to various places.

 

[beegee]

I don't know if I could handle sitting upright or reclining a little on a multiple-day trip cross-country.

You don't have to stay in your seat the whole trip.

You can get up and walk from car to car to stretch your legs. There's a fancy dining car, a snack bar with booths so you can sit and play cards or read, and my favorite - a glass observation car with benches and chairs that face the window, which is where I spent most of my time.

 

[corianderstem]

I know that; I was thinking more about the overnight parts of the trip, where sleeping is involved. I can't sleep sitting up.

 

[beegee]

Sorry, I didn't know if the cross-country trains were different.

 

[arw]

I love to fly. I love going the airport and everything. The lines don't bother me, the wait doesn't bother me.....It's an adventure the minute I leave my house until the minute I return. When I leave, I know I'm off to go on a really great trip. Ipod's are are traveler's best friend. I love to go away even more in the past few years since I first got an Ipod. The screaming kids are about the only thing that bugs me but that happens everywhere. The only bad thing is you can't get away from them when you're in a tube with them for 3 hours.....again, Ipod

I've never understood the fear of flying because of the fear there's going to be a crash. How many plane crashes are there a year? I'm on the road about 2 hours a day right now driving to and from my school, which is about a half hour away. I go twice a day on one of the busiest freeways in the Twin Cities. I probably see one crash a day on the way to school both times.

 

[corianderstem]

Sorry, I didn't know if the cross-country trains were different.

I'd love to know. For cross-country trips, are the only options sleeping upright or getting a hugely expensive sleeper car? Having only taken a few-hour trip via train, I was really curious to take a longer trip, but at least based on what I saw on the Amtrak website, it didn't get my hopes up.

Too expensive or too uncomfortable.

 

[mysterious_jen]

the fear for me is less about crashing and more about the awful thought that there is nothing holding me up. every bump is and i dig my nails into the seat for the whole trip .


trains and train stations, very inspirational and intersting. love writing and drawing when im on a train.
my dad is a train driver so we were brought up around them and my parents still live accross from the train depot.

 

[beegee]

I'd love to know. For cross-country trips, are the only options sleeping upright or getting a hugely expensive sleeper car? Having only taken a few-hour trip via train, I was really curious to take a longer trip, but at least based on what I saw on the Amtrak website, it didn't get my hopes up.

Too expensive or too uncomfortable.

It really can be uncomfortable when it comes to sleeping. The sleeper cars are expensive and I did consider one but only because I thought they had private restrooms. Turns out they don't. The chairs do recline but it isn't the most pleasant sleeping experience, especially if someone nearby is snoring.

What I would do most nights was stay up late drinking cocktails in the observation car until I was tired enough that I would fall asleep without worrying about it too much. I know that sounds terrible but it really helped. Plus it was fun being up while the rest of the train was asleep.

 

[corianderstem]

Maybe someday I'll suck it up and try it. Maybe Amtrak one way, and airplane home.

 

[zoney!]

I find the train the opposite experience. Unless it's a fairly short trek, say Detroit to Chicago I can't deal and will just suck it up and just fly. I find the train to be uncomfortable, long, and annoying.

For me, there is a "romanticism" to train travel. I love the past, and all the history along the rails.

Someday I hope to do a cross-country (knowing I will fly back).

 

[No spoken words]

This might sound lame or corny, but one of the most profound and satisfying moments of my life was riding a train in Europe. Words cannot do it justice.

Jeff, you have to do a x-country, be it via train or car. It's amazing.

 

[UberBeaver]

lol.

 

[cruzila]

I've never understood the fear of flying because of the fear there's going to be a crash. How many plane crashes are there a year? I'm on the road about 2 hours a day right now driving to and from my school, which is about a half hour away. I go twice a day on one of the busiest freeways in the Twin Cities. I probably see one crash a day on the way to school both times.

for someone like me, it isn't the fear of a crash...it's claustrophobia and not being in control.... that's why i concentrate on my destination and what not and use a distraction like music.

 

[corianderstem]

Telling myself the odds doesn't help. Watching to see if anyone else (esp. the flight attendants) looks worried helps a little.

Mainly my problem comes when I inevitably start thinking, "How is this bazillion pound hunk of metal staying up in the air? It can't be possible ... we're all gonna diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiie!"

 

[zonelistener]

Jeff, you have to do a x-country, be it via train or car. It's amazing.

I won"t do it by car....I cannot be in a car that long/

 

[anitram]

I love road trips. Some of my best/favourite memories are from those. Ditto trains. Planes are just so boring.

I don't hate flying, but I don't love it either. I like my feet on the ground, thanks. I hate how cramped it is, I hate the air in there, I hate the pressure, I hate anything that isn't an aisle seat, I can't sleep sitting up, the food is disgusting, there is almost always a screaming child (for God's sake, people, sedate your children!), it takes forever to get in and out of the airport, I feel like I need a shower immediately after getting off the flight, and I hate that white noise that's constantly present.

But I don't have fears of flying or anything like that.

 

[anitram]

I'd love to know. For cross-country trips, are the only options sleeping upright or getting a hugely expensive sleeper car? Having only taken a few-hour trip via train, I was really curious to take a longer trip, but at least based on what I saw on the Amtrak website, it didn't get my hopes up.

Too expensive or too uncomfortable.

In Europe you usually had regular seats, expensive sleepers, and then you had reclining seats, which reclined almost to a horizontal position (I'd say maybe 30 degree angle). Out of cheapness, I tried this last option, and wouldn't recommend it.

 

[dazzlingamy]

i hate flying as well. I used to love it and suddenly i hit adulthood and got scared of everything like that.
The sad thing is, in Australia you can NOT not fly if you live where I am, faced with the prospect of a 20 hour bus trip to get to the nearest city or a 2 hour flight, you just can't choose.

also, my european trip is coming up, and i've managed to stagger our planes so the longest flight is only 11 hours, which isn't too bad. That 16 hour flight from New York to Sydney was a fucking DOOZY.

God i wish i could get some anti anxiety or sleeping pills - do you think doctors will give me a prscription if i tell them my fear?

 

[BonosBaby12]

How did it go Randhail?

 

[Liesje]

God i wish i could get some anti anxiety or sleeping pills - do you think doctors will give me a prscription if i tell them my fear?

Probably, but you can get OTC stuff that will knock you flat. Just a half a dose of Dramamine (OTC drug for motion sickness) put me out for a 9 hour flight.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimenhydrinate

 

[Earnie Shavers]

My cousin is a 747 pilot.

All that fear you have on flying should be focused on the first 2 minutes of the flight. 95% of aircraft crashes happen within the first 2 minutes after take off. After that, the only thing standing between you and baggage claim at the other end is the competency of the air traffic control at your destination.

In between, there is virtually nothing to fear, least of all turbulence, which is as likely to bring a 747 down as the ripples in your bathtub are likely to suck you under and drown you.

Seriously - if you are a panicked flyer and know that no facts about aviation safetly in general will change that, at least focus is on the start and finish. Modern commercial airliners never, ever just fall out of the sky. When was the last time one just disappeared over the Pacific? It's always take off and landing. Once that seatbelt light comes off for the first time, you're cool. And then at the end of the journey when you hear the captain tell the crew to get ready for landing, just hope the dude at the airport guiding you in didn't spend the night before coked to the eyeballs.

If the fact don't sway you, at least focus your panic and don't ruin the entire flight for yourself.

 

[corianderstem]

Well, I heard about all that in Say Anything, but it doesn't make me less nervous.

It's actually take off where I'm most nervous. I have learned to look at turbulence as akin to a truck driving over a bumpy gravel road, but I still don't like it. Although I've only experienced very bad turbulence once.

I'm just a nervous nelly, I guess.

 

[Diemen]

The actual flying I don't mind as I find it fascinating to watch the scenery and all the patterns that aren't visible from the ground, but I don't like takeoff or turbulence, hate how cramped it is (at my height it is pretty much impossible to get any sleep) and could do without all the delays associated with airports (Is there anything more annoying than waiting after a flight for your bags to arrive on the carousel? Oh wait, yes, delayed flights, cancelled flights, lost luggage, etc...).

I absolutely love road trips though, whether by car or train. I think I actually prefer car, as I can stop when I want and take whatever detour I feel like. There's something about watching the landscape change as you drive through it that's immensely satisfying and peaceful.

 

[Vincent Vega]

I like flying and dreamt of becoming one. As I always sucked at maths and physics (at least the more mathematical stuff), had bad eyes very early on and have never been the most athletic guy it was clear I wouldn't ever become one.

Even though I was fascinated by flying I did only get the chance to do so last year, at age 20. It was the trip to Australia, so a pretty long one as well with 24 hours flight time plus some waiting time in London. I liked it and enjoyed the takeoff as well (every single one), but I have the same problem as Diemen: I'm too tall for that. I couldn't sleep much and there is no space to make yourself comfortable.

I'm quite cynic, so when I hear of those statistics I always say: Well, one has to be the one millionth/make up the one percent, or whatever.

But don't think like that.

 

[zoney!]

Originally posted in an article in the New York Times
In a typical year, lightning kills about 47 people in the United States, and venomous animals and plants, 94.

Last year, passengers flew 760 million times on airline flights in the United States, with just one death, a mechanic who fell while trying to close the door of a parked Boeing 737.

Looking at those numbers, flying seems pretty safe. Make that, very safe

So, you are more likely to die from a SNAKE ON A PLANE than the plane going down!