Flying high

I've lived in four countries on four continents, been to dozens of countries around the world and all across America.  All that travel adds up to a lot of time spent in airplanes.  I'm going to let you in on a little secret, I'm terrified of flying.  Terrified.

Flying is, without question, my least favourite activity in the world.  Not only is it uncomfortable and inconvenient, it's just plain unnatural.  Cruising through the sky at 38,000 feet? Give me a break, I'm not supposed to be up there.

I know precisely how ridiculous this fear is - flying is the safest form of travel, etc. etc. Yes, I know.  Terrorism doesn't scare me particularly - but cracked wings, high-altitude stalls, frozen temperature gauges - these are the things that lead to sleepless nights even before the shortest of flights.

Before moving to Asia the vast majority of my flying experience was between the UK and US and inter-European flights. I've crossed the North Atlantic dozens of times and until moving to the tropics I took for granted just what a smooth, turbulent-free route that generally is. 

Hot weather and tropical storm systems make for extremely turbulent flights in this part of the world.  I've now crossed the Bay of Bengal nine times since moving to Malaysia and every single time it has been a stressful, hair-raising experience.  Travelling east over the Bay of Bengal is particularly bad.  In the roughly three hours you spend over the water a solid one and a half hours of it is heavy turbulence - not gentle shaking, but turbulence that feels like a carnival ride, you can actually feel the plane losing altitude and your stomach dropping right along with it.

I'm pretty sure each of these crossings has taken years off my life.

I was giving a talk about travel to a group of seventh graders last year, and a student asked me what my scariest travel experience has ever been - all I could come up with was crossing the Bay of Bengal. 

I run a strict Airbus and Boeing policy, I won't set my big toe on any other make of plane - the same day we flew back from Indonesia in May (on an Airbus) another plane in Indonesia - a brand new Russian plane crashed into the side of a mountain killing everyone on board. When there is a crash or major incident I fret and obsess over it for days.  The Air France crash from a few years ago still lingers.

Aside from severe turbulence and a couple of ropey landings in storms, I've never experienced anything approaching an aviation disaster.  I do however know several people who have had flights re-routed or performed an emergency landing due to cracked windscreens or a loss of cabin pressure - I figure it's only a matter of time before it happens to me!

I've had a nice break from flying recently, I haven't been on a plane since May, but that will end in just a few short weeks when I'm off to Thailand.  My anxiety is already rising- but so long as the  anticipation and excitement of visiting a new place can exceed my anxiety, I'll manage.

I've also made it clear to my husband, that when we pack up and move back west for good - we're either taking the trans-Siberian railway or driving (yes, I'd probably rather drive through Pakistan than get on a plane given the choice!)

And speaking of exciting cross-continental land journeys, we currently have a student who is riding a 110cc motorbike through 21 countries from Malaysia to the UK as charity ride for the Red Cross - last we heard he'd made it as far as Bangkok - you can follow his blog at http://www.goingnotts.com/  or if you're feeling generous you can donate to a good kid working for a good cause: https://www.justgiving.com/goingnotts.

For those you accessing this blog through the Register-Mail you can read more about my past exploits and adventures at www.wherecanigetadrink.blogspot.com. 

I welcome comments, questions, ideas and suggestions about this and future blog posts.