To help you out, here are five easy ways to overcome your flight anxiety:
- Skip the alcohol and caffeine
- Research flying
- Organize yourself
- Plan lots of distractions
- Embrace the turbulence
Skip the alcohol and caffeine
Alcohol tends to be the first thing people think about consuming to alleviate anxiety about flying. It’s easy to stop at one of the many bars in the airport and get a glass of wine to take the edge off before your flight. Then, once your flight takes off you may be approached by a helpful flight attendant offering you an alcoholic drink. Don’t give in to the temptation! Although it may be fun to fly with a buzz, it is easy to overdo it when you are already a bit nervous. Trust me, flying after having too much to drink is downright miserable.
If you are prone to panic attacks, you should also skip the caffeine on flying days. Caffeine increases your heart rate, making it more likely that you will have a panic attack when faced with a situation that already makes you anxious, such as flying.
Instead of alcohol or caffeine, try a calming tea. Chamomile tea is a great option for relaxing your entire body. You can bring a few tea bags in your carry-on and ask your flight attendant for a cup of hot water to make your tea on the plane. Also, remember that with the dry air on a plane it is easy to get dehydrated. Drink plenty of non-alcoholic, non-caffeinated beverages so you arrive at your destination feeling great.
Research flying
When any event becomes routine the anxiety associated with the unknown is taken away from it. Flying is a routine event that is done thousands of times a day throughout the world. You may just need to get familiar with what is actually happening while you are on a plane. A great way to do that is by watching a video that Virgin Atlantic came out with a few years ago called Flying Without Fear. It is available on YouTube here. This video takes you through a typical flight and the various noises, smells, and feelings you may experience during takeoff, cruising, and landing. It can help to rewatch this video before every flight if you are feeling anxious. While sitting on a plane remind yourself that everything which is going on is normal and routine. Your pilots have gone through rigorous training and have most likely been flying for several years. The chances of you being in a plane accident are less than one in three million. Those are some extremely slim odds.
Organize Yourself
Flying days can sometimes be stressful. Your anxiety about flying may not actually be the flying part itself. Instead, your fears may stem from other things such as, how you are going to get from the airport to the hotel, and if you remembered to pack everything. By organizing all of these things far in advance you will find yourself calmer on the day of your flight. Try packing several days ahead of your departure. If it helps you can even make yourself a checklist of what you need to pack. Also, make a checklist of all the other things that you need to deal with such as ground transportations, hotels, wrapping things up at work, travel insurance, and who is going to watch your pet. With all of these things organized you can relax and enjoy your flight.
Plan lots of distractions
Flying is bound to induce anxiety when you don’t have enough to distract yourself while on the plane. When you don’t have enough to do and too much time to think, your mind will most likely wander to the worst possible outcomes. Instead, bring lots of options for keeping yourself busy. If you are on a long flight you will likely have some type of entertainment system available with movies and games. Even still, you may want to bring books, have relaxing music to listen to if you find yourself getting anxious, and download some games on your phone that don’t require the internet.
Also, try striking up a conversation with the person next to you. It is always fascinating to hear about another person’s life and it can be a great way to spend some time.
Once you relax you can enjoy the beautiful view.
Embrace the turbulence
Turbulence seems to be the number one thing that scares people while flying. Remember, turbulence is normal. I know, it’s is easier said than done, right? When turbulence starts, instead of letting the fear take over try taking long deep breaths and tell yourself that this a completely normal part of flying. It is just like going down a bumpy gravel road. You are not in any danger. No planes have ever crashed due to turbulence. If you need further reassurance, look to the flight attendance. If they are calm during turbulence (which they will be because it is a normal occurrence) you should stay calm as well.
Also, when booking your flight try to get seats on the wing. The wings stabilize the plane and you will feel turbulence a lot less while sitting there.
If you are still feeling a bit anxious during your flight, talk to the flight attendants and make them aware of your fears. They are trained to deal with this and will likely come check on you often to make sure you are doing fine.
By following these easy steps you will be on your way to a more relaxing flying experience. Who knows, as you become more comfortable with flying you may even find yourself enjoying long flights!
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About the Author | ||
|---|---|---|
Sarah McArthur // The Wanderlanders
Sarah started her travel journey in 2011 when she moved to Germany from the USA. She had a hard time finding an online community of other like-minded, young travelers so she created her own: The Wanderlanders. Check out her travel blog to learn more about her adventures and travel tips, as well as those of the entire community.
