Dalai Lama

[davidn]

The time of year has come once again to go through the unique mix of stress and spirit-crushing tedium that is commercial flight. Among other things, I will have Whitney, Etrian Odyssey III, Professor Layton, and a heap of British television on the iPad to keep me company during the six hours locked inside an aluminium coffin, but my experience last time I flew seems to have brought the fear of flying that I had between the ages of 3 and 16 back in full force and I've been stressing about the flight - and just the thought of being inside an airport again - for the whole week.

Occasionally these days, I honestly find myself thinking "You don't have to go on an aeroplane tonight" out of nowhere, in a newfound appreciation for life staying on the ground and not in airports. But this time, I do. Then after that, we come back in a week, then we've got two weeks here, then we fly there again, and then we come back in another two weeks. So I hope I get over this the first time.

Comments

[ravenworks.livejournal.com]

I'd say your previous experience qualifies as annoying, but.. is it anything to be fearful of? Is there anything on the other end of the flight that you absolutely can't be late for?

[davidn]

No, Captain Rational - logically, there is nothing different about this flight from any other that I've had in the past, and as it's on a large airliner and not a propeller plane during a storm, there is a much greater chance of success without being sent off in the middle of the night to somewhere I never meant to go with a moderate risk of being stranded and a hardly-explained 'security issue' while waiting to take off. But the uncertainty of flight and how it's out of my hands and I can't do anything to make things easier for myself was demonstrated to me then, and it's stayed with me a bit.

[ravenworks.livejournal.com]

No, but I mean -- are you scared, or just frustrated? When I hear someone say "I'm afraid of flying", it's that they're afraid of the physics of it or whatever... that doesn't seem to bother you. You've got plenty of games, and you aren't even alone... I don't understand what would be so unpleasant about some delays?

[davidn]

The physics of it aren't exactly a comfort either - I get the distinct feeling that if I think about them too hard when in the air they'll just stop working. Even though I try to convince myself of what you're saying - that the circumstances are so different this time - the memory of the last time is difficult to ignore, and thinking about those seems to have also reawakened the fear of the actual flight.

And being delayed increases the bad anticipation... it's bad enough being confined into that space in the sky for six hours, but if I have to wait a longer time just to achieve that... that's worse.

[ravenworks.livejournal.com]

I would have thought it would be a reprieve!

But, the farther we get into this discussion, the more I'm reminded how little sense anxiety sometimes makes, so I guess I'll just leave it at that. :X

[davidn]

I've always had greater difficulty with the... knowledge that something I don't much like is coming up, rather than the event itself.

[shoe--gal.livejournal.com]

Ugh, flying. The whole thing from start to finish is just so stressful - I always find the waiting to board the absolute worst part, and if there's any sort of delay however small it really does make it worse. Hope you have a better experience this time - I'm already freaked out about the new pat-downs aka groping they go in for at the airport. You'll probably be in such a state of shock after being felt up by the TSA that the flight itself will be no bother!

[ravenworks.livejournal.com]

.... are you as intrigued by the full implications of that statement as I am?

[davidn]

I... didn't even notice any implications when I wrote it! I have a feeling I know what you're thinking, but am too shattered with nerves to think about it just now - I'd say to message me about it when I get there, but by then I think I'll be too half-dead instead.

[davidn]

I think I went through the full body scanner on the way there, when I last flew - it wasn't stressful enough for me to remember anything about what it was like, but it was up against stiff competition.