Confessions of a Travel Writer with a Fear of Flying
Words, Stefanie Ash
I have an unhealthy obsession with airplanes. But not for the reasons you might think. Call it slight claustrophobia, fear of heights or a healthy dose of control freak, I must confess I’ve never really enjoyed being in the air. This is kind of a big deal considering I’m suspended in the clouds almost every other week.
It’s not that I’m compelled to pop the valium each time I fly, or that I go into a noticeable state of hyperventilation before takeoff and landing (it’s more of an inaudible one), it’s just that I’d rather not be inside a giant floating tube for a prolonged period of time. Like cage diving with great whites or free diving to the darkest depths of the ocean… flying is an unnatural thing for us humans to do. And yet we do it to explore the world because unfortunately, teleportation hasn’t been invented… yet.
Regardless of how many times I fly, my anxious takeoff jitters have never truly been cured. And even though I feel like swigging an entire vile of Bach’s “Rescue Remedy” drops to take the edge off before the seatbelt sign turns off, I still take every single one of my flights without so much as a grimace. Once on the plane, I sit quietly in my aisle-seat (because, toilet access) like a Japanese zen-master going through an earthquake and I suck it up because for me, the end really does justify the means. I love experiencing and writing about new and exotic places and as such, it’s worth a bit of mental discomfort.
Which bring me to one of the greatest shows of all time: Air Crash Investigation. I’ve watched each episode at least twice. It’s a weird little conundrum, but I find respite in knowing every single solitary thing there is to know about airplanes. And I mean everything: the sounds, the smells, the noises, what the cabin air should be pressurized to, the maximum crosswind speed a Boeing Dreamliner can land in (it’s around 35 knots by the way). I could probably get my pilot-license with the amount of knowledge I’ve gained from this show over the years.
Air Crash Investigation piqued the collective interest precisely because of the fear theory: human beings are obsessed with what they can’t control - why else would the horror film genre be so lucrative? I feel a strange sense of calm after every episode of Air Crash Investigation, safely equipped with the confidence that modern-day engineering and regulation has learned from past mistakes.
I’m also utterly obsessed with Take Off Tube. And if you know what that is then you’re probably just as deranged about airplanes as I am. Let’s be friends.
Over and Out.
