In this episode we give tips for overcoming anxiety leading up to a trip and the fear of flying. About 40% of Americans have some level of fear of flying! You are not alone and that shouldn’t keep you from see the world’s most amazing places.

• Familiarize yourself with the experience of boarding a plane and the sounds you’ll hear while flying. There are a ton of POV YouTube videos that will take you along the whole process
  • Anxiety heightens bc of your lack of feeling in control. If you know what to expect to see, feel and hear then you give yourself some of that power back

• Travel buddies – Travel with people you trust and love who have traveled before. Have them pick you up from the airport and sit by each other in the plane so you have someone’s hand to hold 
  
• Start with a flight that’s just a few hours. Too far to drive but short enough that you ease into the flying experience. 

• Give yourself a pep talk – have a mantra to repeat to yourself to remind you of all the beautiful sights you’ll see and fun experiences you’ll have at your destination

• It’s ok if you cry – Flight attendants have seen it all before! The scariest part is take off, the landing. This is only a few minutes of the flight. If you need to cry for those parts then just do it. Once your at cruising altitude you hardly notice you are flying. 

• Medications
  • Anti- anxiety medications like xanax will help with your nerves A LOT!! You can call you doctor and tell them about your anxiety problems and they can prescribe you just a few pills for the flights. Prevents some anxiety symptoms like racing heart, sweaty palms 
  • Melatonin – knock you out to sleep through the flight
  • Magnesium, ashwahanda for stress relief and better sleep

• Things to pack
  • Eye mask to block out everything you see
  • Ear plugs or noise canceling headphones with music or movie/ tv shows downloaded. 
  • Book, magazine, journal, coloring, work project- anything to help distract you 
  • Fan to give yourself some fresh air if you find yourself panicking or hyperventilating 
    
• For really extreme cases there is a program called https://m.fearofflying.com NOT SPONSORED – 3 part program that uses psychology to uncover sources of anxiety and deal with them & VR to simulate the flight experience to ease your into it.

Check out our other episodes on how to travel better!

Fear of Flying – Episode Transcript

0:35

And get ready to embark on a new adventure with us around the globe.

Hey, Squatty’s Travel Squad Podcast is back with Just the Tip, our Friday mini episode series where we give you quick travel stories, hacks and recommendations to set you off into the weekend.

Right.

0:50

Today we’re addressing the fear of flying and tips you can use to overcome travel anxiety so you could enjoy the great big world out there.

So this episode was inspired by me, Kim.

I was at my aesthetician’s office and I’m laying there.

1:06

I’m getting my brows done and talking like we always do about she’s asking me what I’m doing with my life and I’m telling her about all these trips.

And she shares with me that she has a massive fear of flying.

And I do know that a lot of people have this fear, some so much that they literally will not fly and they will not go anywhere.

1:27

And that just breaks my heart because, you know, this podcast is dedicated to sharing the passion of travel and the excitement of visiting a new place and encouraging people to do it.

And so I really started digging into questions with her, like, where does this come from?

1:43

How did you, you know, overcome it?

Because she had told me that she did take a trip to Denver, her first trip ever.

And so thank you to my aesthetician for inspiring this.

I know about 40% of Americans have some level of fear of flying.

So you’re not alone out there.

1:59

But we’ve got some tips for you today to help you overcome your fear of flying and get out there, like Jamal said, and see that big world.

And your aesthetician may have inspired the thought in you for this episode, Kim.

But then when we were talking about it, it really made a lot of sense that, like, yeah, lots of people have this problem.

2:18

Why haven’t we talked about this sooner?

Zana, former squad member, my sister, she has to some degree of fear of flying.

She’ll get on the plane, but, you know, a little bit of turbulence or weird sounds, and she’s not really feeling it.

A good friend from home, Danielle, she has a major fear of flying.

2:37

Always has to take some sort of relaxation medication to help her have a long flight.

Like I remember one time it was her first major trip to Europe and she was just like panicking about the fact that, Oh my God, like, I’m going to be on a plane for this long, scared of them.

2:52

So we’re here to give you guys some tips to make that fear of flying a little bit better for you.

My aunt also has a massive fear of flying and she actually has never been on a plane, so I’m going to send this episode to her when it goes live and really encourage her to get on a plane after this.

3:09

Britt lead us into the first tip.

So with the Internet these days, you can see videos of all sorts of things.

So this tip is actually a really good one.

And it’s actually just, it’s very simple.

You can just familiarize yourself with the experience of boarding a plane.

And in that video you’re going to be able to hear the sounds that you’ll hear while flying.

3:26

There’s a lot of point of view videos where people actually record themselves on planes.

And so I think when you’re anxious and you’re nervous, it’s because you don’t feel in control.

And so being able to see what a plane looks like, feels like, smells like, all of those sorts of things, and seeing that will help familiarize yourself and you’ll know what to expect and you’ll feel a little bit more confident about flying.

3:49

I mean, yeah, if you’re on a plane and you hear the wheels go up after it’s taken off, you’re like, what the hell is that sound?

Are we going to crash?

Like you might get freaked out, but if you know that’s a sound, that it’s the wheels going up, if you’re supposed to hear it, it’s OK, then you’re a little bit more at ease, right?

4:06

Well, not even when the wheels go up at takeoff.

Real flight enthusiasts know that Boeing planes and Airbus planes have a little bit different sounds to them too.

So Airbuses are known to have this kind of little bit of a squeaky noise when they’re flapping the wings a little bit, raising up the flaps before take off.

4:24

And then Boeing planes have certain characteristics to them too.

And all those things are normal.

So if you know that going into it and you hear that, it shouldn’t be cause for alarm.

Absolutely 100% normal.

And that’s something I think my aesthetician said that she watched before she got brave enough to take her first flight, and she said it was really, really helpful for her.

4:47

I think that would be very helpful for most people, especially if they’ve never really been on a plane before or if they have and hear those noises and they still freak you out.

Go online, you can find videos of people talking about exactly what that is to put your mind at ease.

Another tip for you guys is to travel with a buddy.

5:04

You know, if you’re travelling alone, I can see that you could have more anxiety because it’s like, who do you talk to?

Who do you hang on to?

But if you’re travelling with a friend and you can just kind of like ease into a conversation while you get on the plane and as it’s taking off and you have someone to like hold their hand and sit next to, that’s so comforting.

5:21

So definitely travel with a buddy for the first time if you have the opportunity.

And more than that, travel with a buddy who will pick you up from your house and bring you to the airport.

Because if you do, you have intense anxiety, you might pull out at the last minute and cancel your trip because you’re so afraid.

5:37

I talked to several people who suffer from travel anxiety and they even said this.

This is a massive tip.

So get you that trustworthy person you’re going to hold on to in the plane and ensure that they pick you up so you cannot back out.

Not only should they pick you up, if they’re real good homie, they should buy you that airport drink to help the relaxation for you outgoing flight.

5:58

Another great tip is to start choosing flights for your first vacation or trip on a plane that is just a few hours.

Something that’s too far to drive, but short enough that you can ease into that flying experience.

Yeah, don’t go balls to the wall like 12 hour overnight flight.

6:16

Just start small.

Like you said, your esthetician, you’re in Austin, TX, she went over to Denver.

That’s a quick little short flight, probably no more than two hours, maybe even only an hour and a half, I don’t know, but definitely not over that two hour mark.

So that is a good warm up.

6:33

As also for a warm up, give yourself a little pep talk.

I like to have mantras like I am rich, I attract everything I want.

But for you, for travel anxiety, you could say something like, I had the best flight.

This flight was so easy.

6:49

This flight was a lot easier than I thought it would be.

The sights from the airplane window are so beautiful.

I am calm, I am strong.

I don’t have anxiety.

I can handle this.

I can do this.

You know, those things that really put you in the mindset of I’m doing it, I’m having fun and focus on the positive, focus on your destination.

7:08

You missed the most important one, Kim.

We landed safely.

You got to say we landed safely.

Easy peasy fun.

And put yourself in that mindset of I’m so glad we landed safely, safely.

It’s already happened.

It’s already going to happen.

I don’t know if you squaties know this or not, but I’m going to share something about Jamal that you may not know.

7:26

And before we get on any plane, Jamal actually has to physically touch the outside of the plane and he gives it a nice little rub.

And every time before we board the plane, right as we’re about to cross over, I always look back at him and say, don’t touch the plane.

And he’s like, I can’t.

7:42

I can’t do not do that.

I’ve just always touched it even before I met met Brittany and traveled as a kid with my parents and family and flew on planes.

I always touched it with my right hand.

Give it a little rub for good luck.

7:58

That’s just something that I do.

If for whatever reason, and it has happened a couple times where I’ve been a little preoccupied as we’re going down the jet way to board the plane and I haven’t touched it.

And that’s maybe like 2-3 times Max in my life that that’s happened.

8:13

I had major anxiety on the plane because I didn’t touch it.

But again, did you cry?

I did not cry.

I did not cry.

But I’ll tell you what landed safely.

But if you do cry, it is OK.

Flight attendants have seen it all before.

8:29

Zana, like we were talking about earlier, we’ve seen her cry on a plane quite a few times on takeoff and turbulence.

Yeah, major heavy turbulence will bring that out.

And Zana and I remember her telling me a story one time where she was on a flight, there was a lot of turbulence.

She held a stranger’s hand to.

8:47

Luckily it was a very nice passenger and stranger sitting next to her.

And I don’t remember if that’s the same stranger that happened to be a pilot, but I know one time she also sat by a pilot and there was turbulence.

And he was like, oh, I’m a pilot.

And he had explained to her like the science behind turbulence also, which really put her mind at ease for future turbulence rounds that we have been on flights together because now she knows the science behind it, how safe the planes are, what’s really happening.

9:14

And that’s also a good tip we’re talking about.

Look at YouTube videos to understand the sounds, get the feels, but you should also watch YouTube videos on the science of turbulence.

I’m just going to throw that one in there because that could also put a lot of people’s mind at ease.

I think the most touchy areas of a flight are going to be take off, landing and then if if there is any turbulence, which doesn’t happen on every flight.

9:38

Once you’re actually up in the air and you’re at cruising altitude, you hardly even know you’re on a plane.

You’re just sitting in a chair and then you get up and you go to the bathroom.

It doesn’t feel like anything really.

No, it doesn’t.

I mean, it’s just smooth sailing.

You can go to sleep, you can watch TVI don’t get motion sickness on planes, but I get motion sick on other forms of transportation like trains and boats.

10:00

So planes are very mild in comparison to other modes of transportation.

Squaddies, this is a good time to remind you that we have a ton of resources on our website, travelsquadpodcast.com.

Sign up for our newsletter and get our bimonthly newsletter with all of our deals and specials and updates.

10:18

We have itineraries on tons of the trips that we’ve taken.

You can download the PDF guides there, blog posts for every single episode we’ve ever done.

So head over the website and check it out now.

So if you’re really anxious while flying, another tip we have for you is to bring medications aboard if it’s an overnight flight.

10:35

And hopefully if it’s your first one, it’s not an overnight flight, but you can take medications like melatonin to help knock you out.

And so you can just sleep through a flight.

But you can also take anti anxiety medication to help calm you down.

You can take like lorazepam, Xanax.

I’m not promoting a specific medication, but you can always call your doctor, let them know the anxiety that you’re having.

10:55

They can prescribe you a few pills so that you can make get through a trip.

My aesthetician told me that she did this.

She doesn’t have a regular anxiety prescription.

She called her doctor, explained the situation and he gave her just a couple of pills just for this trip and she used it.

11:11

And it was really, really helpful for her to get through it because there are really physiological symptoms of anxiety.

You know, you get a stomach ache, you get sweaty palms, your heart is racing.

These things get.

Nauseous.

Yeah, exactly.

So there are panic and these medications can really help to calm those nerves and alleviate those symptoms to make your flying experience more comfortable.

11:33

And beyond the prescription aspect of things, Brittany mentioned a little bit earlier, melatonin, of course, that helps you sleep, but other types of supplements, magnesium, ashwagandha for stress relief, and they can also give you a little bit better sleep.

So maybe you could nap it if it’s not an overnight.

11:49

And Brittany might disagree with this, but I feel like I’m a lot more calmer lately.

And I actually have been taking ashwagandha as a supplement and I can feel it myself.

Brittany may differ on that opinion, but within myself, I know that’s untrue.

12:05

I am so much more calm.

I still have my moments, I’m not going to deny that.

But in general, Jamal’s toned it down a little bit.

Jamal I I’ve seen it.

Thank you, Kim.

Thank you.

Brittany is my hardest critic.

We all know this.

I also take Ashwagandha, I have it in my hair vitamins and in my magnesium supplement so we are just on a chill pill over here.

12:24

I know.

Another tip for you guys is if you’re having travel anxiety is pack some things to keep you occupied.

You can always pack an eye mask to help lock out everything you see.

Just relax into your seat with that melatonin, take a little nap.

You can also pack earplugs or noise cancelling headphones and already have your music and movies TV shows downloaded to keep you distracted.

12:47

Noise cancelling headphones would be clutch.

I know our audience loves that word clutch.

They would be really helpful for anyone with travel anxiety because it cancels out all those weird noises of the plane.

Or, you know, if someone else is having some kind of a panic attack on the plane, you don’t have to hear it, which can just help keep you in your zone.

13:07

Or crying baby for that matter.

You know, one, that’s just, I hate to say it, sorry for the parents out there who’s listening, traveling.

We understand it.

I’m not being a hater on it.

But at the same time, that could also be one, in general a distraction.

And two, if you hear a crying baby, even though they’re probably not in distress on being on a plane, you could psychologically think, oh crying distress and that could trigger you too.

13:28

So I wholeheartedly agree.

Noise cancelling headphones.

You can also definitely bring a book, read a book, read a magazine, journal.

Like journal out your feelings.

If you’re having anxiety, that can really help coloring.

Maybe have a work project or a creative project that you’re working on.

13:45

Anything that can kind of take your mind away from potential anxiety inducing influences and into just getting through your flight and having fun.

And have like a little mini pocket fan to just fan yourself.

Give yourself some extra air because a lot of times air when we’re not feeling well minus anxiety can really help a lot in the situations to make you relax.

14:06

So have that handy.

If you’re someone that has extreme travel anxiety, as we were doing a little research for this episode, we found there are programs that you can go through to get through your fear and get past it.

We’re not sponsored by any of them, but one I found was Fear flying.com.

14:25

Great website name, right?

It’s a three-part program.

It uses psychology to uncover like what is your source of anxiety?

And then they have different programs to deal with them, VR to simulate that flight experience and you kind of ease into it.

And so a couple news articles I read about it had some success stories that came out of it.

14:43

And so if you really are suffering, but you want to travel, don’t let that hold you back.

Do something about it, take control and get out there, because it’s such a beautiful world and such a shame that you’d be missing it.

And be sure to send this to someone you know if they’re afraid of flying and want to see more of the world.

15:01

Hopefully this can help them relieve some of that travel anxiety.

And thanks for tuning in to just the tip.

Make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and follow us on all the socials at Travel Squad Podcast.

And have fun traveling this weekend.