The thing with the planes

Prologue: I wrote this post about 4 years ago. The process hasn’t changed too much though. So, this is usually my thought process of getting on a plane:

I think everyone can agree that getting on a flight gives almost everyone at least a bit of a nervous little tingly feeling in their stomach. Well, that’s how it works for me too. They say things, this applies to ‘all things’ in life I guess, get less scary if you just keep doing them. My first time on a plane, consciously (my actual first flying experience was when I was 1 year old, so don’t let the other type of unconsciousness confuse you, I never got on a plane so drunk I wasn’t aware. I did hungover, but not blindly drunk), was one of the most nerve wrecking thing I had ever done in my life so far. I flew to Turkey with my (now) ex-boyfriend and after a 3 hour delay I was so nervous, I was on the toilet of that plane more than in my seat. I am truly sorry for that image. It was so frightening, I couldn’t get the thought of flying back out of my head the entire holiday. After this, I could never imagine that flying would ever become one of the most freeing things and actually a big part of my life someday.

Nowadays, I still get a little bit nervous every time I get on a plane, but the excitement of going somewhere new and knowing what to expect makes it so much more bearable. The airport itself excites me, because this is where travellers get together. After one bad food poisoning related experience at a Spanish airport I slowly got over the ‘fear of airports’ and started to see the beauty of them. Not necessarily the buildings themselves, because honestly, they’re not all that pretty. But the idea of an airport is beautiful. Some people are bored of travelling by plane, because they do it on an almost daily basis, others are nervous wrecks just waiting for the ‘horror’ to be over. My personal flight experiences nowadays go like this:

1. Go to the airport, usually by public transport, because the days of ‘asking mom and dad to drop me off’ are kind off behind me now, unless they insist of course

2. Arrive at the airport, look at the boards to find my flight on there and find out where I have to go

3. Drop off luggage, in case of a longer holiday, otherwise just go through security

4. Get liquids out of bag, etc. and pass security, where I occasionally get body searched

5. Wander around in shops, maybe buy a book and definitely buy something to eat

6. Find gate, go to the nearest toilet and wait for the boarding to start

7. Get on plane

So far so good, honestly, this whole routine is a second nature for me now. But then the fun begins.

8. Get in seat on plane and waiting for take off

9. Watch the flight attendants or screens for the safety regulations

10. Take off, and this is where I get extremely nervous, because I didn’t mention my fear of heights yet. And I know that people suffering from fear of heights never really have troubles on a plane. Well I do, big time. Which means I always try to get an aisle seat (also the easiest way to go with the whole toilet situation) and my eyes will be closed when the plane takes off. My music will be on, and until the little seatbelt sign turns off, I won’t get rid of the thousands butterflies flying around in my stomach. Not in a romantic way, no, in a scared to death kind of way. After that, I will be fine again and as soon as the plane starts landing I actually like looking out the window. This is, and probably always will be, my routine. That little period of time where I feel like I want to die can’t even compete with the rest of the joy that brings travelling.

It’s just something I want to share with everyone who doesn’t like getting on planes. Everyone gets nervous in their own ways, but please don’t let that stop you to get places by air, or either form of travelling that scares you. It’s just a feeling that will fade a little bit more every time you do it, at least that was the case for me. And trust me, I was a miserable peace of shit (pardon my language) the first time I got on a plane, and now it’s one of the best things I can imagine. Think about your destination and everything will feel a little bit lighter.

Xoxo Domi