Ok, it's time for a bit of an admission: I'm a nervous flyer. It's strange because there are very few places that I am happier and more in my element than at an airport or on an airplane. I love to fly. Any weekend or weekday that I am up in the air I am happy. Which makes it hard to justify why I am such a nervous wreck when planes hit turbulence.
I bring this story up because last night Kelsey and I were flying from Chicago to Peoria Illinois to visit her family for the weekend. As you might know the Midwest was under attack from another set of severe storms and some were heading right for Peoria as we were coming in. The little regional jet trucked right along with a few bumps for the first half of the flight and then when we started out descent and made a right turn I felt like I was on a tilt-o-whirl! We got whipped sideways and dropped over and over on rolling wind sheer. After that there were constant flashes of lightning all around us. To say I was sweating was an understatement.
But in my mind I known the physics of turbulence, I know that the plane isn't really dropping huge amounts, but it still gets me going and nervous because I can't tell what's coming. So I need your help...what do you all do to get over the fear of bumps while flying? Any tricks?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Follow us on Twitter @doit4thepoints!
Have a question for us? E-mail us at chris@doitforthepoints.com or jd@doitforthepoints.com
Chris - I have the same confession to make. I don't like turbulence at all, even though it happens. I always think about the worst case scenario - especially when I fly into DCA. That right turn around Arlington over the river kills me (especially since there is always some sort of storm happening it seems).
ReplyDeleteUltimately, what calms me down is percentages. There's almost no chance the flight you are on will have any problems. Turbulence happens all of the time, so it's not unique to that flight. That's what keeps me calm in the long run. That and staying occupied (reading helps me quite a bit).
Jeff- Thanks for sharing....it's weird to be fascinated by flying and to love being up in the air but not a fan of turbulence. It's a hard paradox!
ReplyDeleteThat's a good way to think about it, I always try to keep myself busy and just turn on some music and keep calm. Glad I'm not alone! :)