Friday, March 19, 2021

Fear of Flying

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I have always loved flying. Well, except for maybe my first first flight. I was thirteen and we flew from Dallas to Houston (!!!) for my brother's wedding. It was a prop plane and I was horribly airsick--for the first and last time, thank goodness. But since then, flying has always been a welcome adventure. Even in this era of the perpetually shrinking seats (uncomfortable even for a small person) I have looked forward to every trip with a fizz of excitement. I even love airports--all the bustle of people coming and going and the anticipation of my own journey.  For someone who is not good with heights, I'm even surprisingly okay with turbulence. 


I especially love the international departure terminal at DFW Airport (Terminal D.) Once through security, I have always felt like a bird set free, and for years I've taken a photo of the Dallas to London Heathrow departure gate, a little ritual to mark the start of the journey. Here's my photo from November 4th, 2019. Two minutes to boarding!

 


But, now, I don't know. My last flight was London to Dallas, the day before Thanksgiving, 2019, and even though I'm fully vaccinated, I'm having a little trouble wrapping my head around the concept of post-Covid air travel. Mask at the airport, mask on a short flight, okay, I can get there, I think. But a mask on a ten hour flight?? Eeek. How to manage eating and drinking? Not to mention sitting literally up against another person or people, for many hours, when we have been so contact averse for the past year. Then there's the constant sanitizing of hands and surfaces--your seat area is much germier than the airplane loos, apparently. 


REDS, if you've flown (I think Jenn and Lucy have?) how was the adjustment? And if you haven't, how are you feeling about flying again?


RHYS BOWEN: I haven’t flown since late 2019 and have no plans to fly until much later this year when most of the population has been vaccinated. I too worry about keeping a mask on for ten or eleven hours, trying to sleep with a mask on. We do normally go Upper Class on Virgin so I’d get my own pod and not worry about someone breathing near me, but once in Europe all the seats are close together in one cabin. I am vaccinated but what about variants? It is a big concern, but I have to say that I am dying to travel again. Praying the world will return to normal soon and I can sit at a cafe in Paris, go to a pub in London and meet up with family and friends.


JENN MCKINLAY : I traveled by air three times during the pandemic (family tragedy), long flights from AZ to CT/MA and back, during the peak of the pandemic in both places, and it was fine. I’ll be flying again in a few weeks and I’m not worried at all. In fact, I’m less worried now than I was then because at least we’re finally getting vaccinated. I wear an N-95, scrub down my seat, and take a nap. Most of my fellow passengers were well behaved and respectful of the times we’re living in. Personally, I can’t wait to travel internationally. As soon as we get the all clear, I’m outta here. LOL.


LUCY BURDETTE: We flew last May and were scared to death, but at that point things were not as bad as they’ve gotten. Next week we’ll be flying to LA to see our daughter and grandchildren. (and son-in-law of course.) We’re vaccinated, and loaded with sanitizers and wipes, and I keep buying more masks (don’t tell John!) I’ll be nervous, but we’re so eager to see them after a year.  And I too am dying to fly internationally. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens--right now much of Europe looks horrible. 


HALLIE EPHRON: I can’t say that I love flying. Traveling, yes. But getting there is never half the fun. Needless to say I do not fly first class. Steerage is more like it, and usually not direct. Making connections is stressful, though eventually I’m usually happy to end up BEING somewhere else. Especially somewhere exotic - our last trip was to Panama watching birds and walking our feet off. And I do miss going to writing conferences and connecting with so many old friends.


HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: I used to be terrified of flying. I mean--beyond terrified. Once I took the train from Boston to Chicago (23 hours) so I wouldn't have to make a 90-minute flight. Now--somehow--I actually love it. But I had to fly to Florida on March 11, 2020. I was insanely scared, and then I had to be in the Palm Beach airport, then in a hotel, then at an event (where I cowered in the hall while 250 people had a buffet!) then back in the airport, then on the plane home. It was--awful. 


But. I do like flying in general. I love looking out the window (tetris!), and I love how intently I can work. But now, today, I cannot imagine--CANNOT IMAGINE--getting on a plane.

It’s irrational, I think. Isn’t  it? With two vaccines? 

But, ah. They told us exactly how to stay home and we did that.

But how do we now--re-enter?  

 

DEBS: That's the thing, isn't it, Hank? Re-entry. I'm glad some of our more adventurous REDS are paving the way. READERS, have you flown? Are you planning to fly any time soon? Any tips for adjusting to travel in a post-Covid world?

 

And just for fun, tell us about your first-ever plane flight!


 

91 comments:

  1. First flight? John owned and flew a little two-seater Cessna . . . I was a bit hesitant but it turned out to be a great day . . . we flew to Catalina for lunch . . . .

    With folks getting vaccinated, I’m less worried about flying than I might have been earlier in this pandemic mess. I’d fly under most any conditions if it meant I’d get to see our daughter and grandkids in Colorado; usually we drive to Virginia to see our other daughter and the grandbabies. I’ll take any trip in any type of transportation as long as it ends with a grandbaby hug . . .

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    1. Oh, Joan, I totally get that. I got to spend a couple of hours with my granddaughter last week, just the two of us, for the first time in a year and it was just wonderful.

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    2. My first flight was Los Angeles to JFK for my sister's wedding. Easy flight there, but coming home...we stopped in Chicago, it was snowing, the plane landed, skidded sideways, and traveled a very long distance perpendicular to the runway.

      You've brought up an interesting topic that I was discussing with a writer friend today. As difficult as this isolation has been, I'm wondering if there will be an emotional adjustment to being out in the world again. How will we relate to a market filled with unmasked people? Or sitting in a movie theater? Will be ever get beyond caution and fear?

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  2. I'm laughing, Debs. My first flight was the reverse of yours. I just wanted to fly. My parents took me to Houston Hobby, put me on a plane to Dallas, I'm guessing Love Field back then. It would have been the summer of '64 or '65. My aunt drove over from Ft Worth, picked me up, and I stayed with her until my parents showed up and drove me home. Of course I dressed up for the flight. That is what one did in those days.
    We've had our two shots and I am ready to fly somewhere. But I'm waiting to make sure we aren't flying somewhere where covid is still rife. Frank has flown the Houston to Midland circuit a few times during the pandemic. He always sits in first class where there is more room. I'm like Hallie. I go cheap and sit in steerage but I keep connections to a minimum. Flying is no longer a treat, just a means to an end. And isn't that a shame?

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    1. It would have been Love Field, Pat. If you haven't flown in or out of Love Field lately, it's lovely now. Dallas did a great job on updating it.

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  3. My first flight should have put me off ever flying again, but I guess because I was young, I got over it quickly. I was in college and flew from Lexington, Kentucky to Cleveland, Ohio to spend Thanksgiving with my older sister’s family. It was a small plane and the weather was stormy. Oh, and it was at night, so you could see the lightning clearly. Lots of turbulence.

    I’m not ready to get on a plane anytime soon, but if I go to Bouchercon in New Orleans (I am registered), I’ll be flying the end of August. If I decide not to attend, then I probably won’t fly until Left Coast Crime next year.

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    1. I had a flight like that once, Kathy. I was going from Springfield, MO, to Tulsa, OK, on a Midwest Air flight that hit turbulence as we were coming in to land. I was in the back, and I remember the plane swaying from side to side as it got closer and closer to the ground. It was a lovely landing, though, and everyone got off safely.

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    2. I was invited to give a presentation on the importance of the federal courts to the Rochester, NY branch of the women's organization I was a spokesperson for about 20 years ago. I was supposed to fly on these little 17 seat puddle hoppers from Hartford, change in Albany then on to Rochester. The weather was so windy that they cancelled the Rochester hop and I just made it onto a flight to Syracuse before they closed everything down because of the high winds. THe gals from Rochester drove to Syracuse to pick me up for my one night appearance. The next day I flew home, and on each leg we bounced all over the sky in those little planes. I kept reminding myself that the pilot and co-pilot had the same desire to reach our destination, on each leg, as I did. I think that may have been my most terrifying flight experience, but I'm not so sure that landing in Hartford in a thunderstorm back in the mid-70's wasn't the worst one. The nuns who happened to be on that flight were all praying out loud.

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  4. My first flights were when I was 4 years old, going from Toronto to Tokyo, Japan. I was the first grandchild, so we were travelling there to meet my grandparents, and also to attend the wedding of my uncle/aunt. I don't remember much of the flight at all, too young.
    I actually love flying since it's the only form of travel where I don't get motion sick. I get nauseous on long car rides, and sometimes train travel.

    My last flights were on MARCH 17, 2020 from San Diego-Toronto-Ottawa. I prefer aisle seats but I was assigned a window one and took some rare photos of the Pacific coast and the downtown Toronto skyline (CN Tower).

    Like Kathy, I am still registered for NOLA Bouchercon but it looks like I won't get my first vaccine shot until late summer. Ontario is extending the time interval between first and second shots to 4 MONTHS (instead of 21-28 days) since our vaccine supply is so limited. After that, I also registered to attend Left Coast Crime in Albuquerque in April 2022.

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    1. I flew with my very young sons twice from Boston to Mali in West Africa and back. It's not easy traveling with little ones for such a long trip! We also regularly took them to the west coast to visit relatives, but with a non-stop, it's not as bad.

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    2. EDITH: Yes, it must have been challenging to take your 2 sons on a long-haul flight.
      I think the reason I don't remember much about my first Tokyo flight was that I slept through most of it. Even as an adult, I could sleep in my cramped economy seat on work/vacation flights to China and Japan.

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    3. We took my daughter Dallas to London when she was six, and she has loved flying and travel ever since. Start 'em young!

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    4. DEBS: Exactly! It's a good thing that I am comfortable with travel by plane. Some my Environment Canada jobs had me flying every week/several times a month.

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    5. Sounds like a touch of irony there :"Some (of) my Environment Canada jobs had me flying every week/several times a month."
      Not so great for the environment, all that air travel.

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    6. LIBBY: I totally agree with you, but in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, face-to-face meetings, workshops and conferences were the norm. Videoconference technology was pretty crude. If we only had Zoom back then...

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    7. By the time my grandson was 2 he had flown 50,000 miles, since they lived in London and traveled back and forth for over a year. He was such a good little traveler, knew the drill, had his earphones ready to go, his blankie, and his favorite toys.

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  5. My first plane ride was from NY to CA alone and I was so scared of what would happen to the plane. I'm still not a fan of plane rides, but I know it will get me to my destination quicker than by bus, train or car.

    As for post-pandemic traveling, once I get the okay from the various medical professionals, I'm hoping to make it to New Orleans. I think I'm more scared of the other flyers and being around them.

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    1. DRU: I hope you make it to NOLA Bouchercon. I am actually more fearful of the French Quarters crowds and going into tight spaces for indoor dining/live music than the actual flights.

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    2. Those are some of the reasons I've decided not to go to Bouchercon, Grace.

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    3. EDITH: The brutal heat and humidity and threat of hurricanes in August (remember Hurricane Katrina struck was active Aug 23-31) are other XXX against going. But the 2016 NOLA Bouchercon was so much fun so I paid for the early-bird registration in 2019,

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    4. Dru, I hope you make it to New Orleans. I haven't registered yet. I think I'd be okay flying Dallas to NO, it's convention itself that worries me. But I hate missing Bouchercon, so I'll see how things are in a couple of months...

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    5. Deb ~~ If you go, I will go to Bouchercon.. but.. I might drive.

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  6. I hate takeoffs and landing. I feel I'm personally responsible for success and have a little four-part Aikido mantra I recite which has been effective so for (extending the ki is critical). Once in the air I love flying. I can write, dream, read, all alone.

    I'm planning on attending my one-year postponed 50th high school reunion in southern CA in late September. That'll be my first flight since I flew (nervously) home from Puerto Rico March 9, 2020.

    First flight ever? I was a dressed-up (of course) young seventeen on a January, 1970 non-flight from LAX to New York in prep for heading to Brazil for a year with forty other American teens (AFS). I don't remember feeling nervous at all. Three days later after a bit of orientation, we forty flew to Rio. So I went from a cool CA winter, to my first city snow, to ... the tropics! Everything about the year changed my life, starting with that first flight.

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    1. EDITH: I am glad you have decided to attend your postponed 50th high school reunion!

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    2. I'm glad you are going to your reunion.

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    3. Edith, I love takeoffs and landings! I'm glad you're going to your high school reunion! You were such an adventurous teenager. That year in Brazil must have been fabulous.

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  7. I haven't flown and there are no plans to take any flights in the near future. To be fair, I wasn't really going to be flying regardless of the pandemic.

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  8. I don't remember my first flight, but it was likely transatlantic from Canada to England to visit grandparents. Like Edith, I dislike take-offs and landings and help the pilot along with my own meditations...

    As for flying, I'm not yet vaccinated so am grounded for the moment. But when I can, I am wondering what the quarantine rules on arrival will be. Surely those precautions don't go out the window merely because some people have had the vaccine. Do they?

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    1. AMANDA: The whole thorny issue of developing and issuing vaccine passports to prove you have been vaccinated or not is currently being discussed by the WHO and member countries. Our PM (Trudeau) has stated several times that he is against it but it may become the only accepted proof, especially for international travel.

      And even domestically in Canada, there is no non-essential travel is discouraged but I have seen people from QC and ON flying to BC for winter ski/vacations without any quarantine rules. And who know if the Atlantic Bubble will be reinstated again this year.

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    2. GRACE: Given how confusing the virus and its trajectory (right word?) is, it sure would be nice if the government agencies could be more clear in their communication. I fear that Manitoba will be opening up more and, in my (never) humble opinion, that will lead to a lockdown in the summer again. I would love to be proved wrong.

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    3. AMANDA: Sorry to hear about the situation in Manitoba. It's a tough balance for provinces/cities to decide how long to impose restrictions and when to start slowly opening up again. All of Ontario was shut down for 2 months, regardless of # of cases which irked many city officials, including here in Ottawa. And Toronto (and adjacent Peel region) have remained in a lockdown since November, the longest in North America, since the cases did drop but are plateaued at an high rate. So, many business owners say that is proof the lockdowns are not working, and they are hanging on by a thread.

      Having worked in the federal government for 27 years, I know that clear communication has often NOT been their strong point. But I do sympathize that both federal and provincial government have had to face constantly changing science and opinions/directives from health experts on how to protective measures/lockdowns/vaccines/reopening.

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    4. Grace: They just announced yesterday that a Maritime Bubble--no Newfoundland at this point--will open on April 19th assuming we all behave at Easter. Our numbers are very low at the moment but we've had a few scares. You have had it far harder than we have.

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    5. DARLENE: Thanks for the update. That means a second summer without being able to go to the Maritimes for a vacay (Nova Scotia for me). Oh well, good for them. The Atlantic Bubble seemed to work well for quite a long time last year.

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  9. First flight? New York to SFO, to visit my CA relatives. I was airsick the entire trip.
    We'll make a trip to Houston during the summer, a non-stop two hour flight from Cincinnati. That's it, other than driving to Nashville for Killer Nashville at the end of August.

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  10. First flight was in the early 60’s in a 4 seater owned by a business friend of my parents. I loved it. First commercial flight was ‘76 from IL to NYC, so exciting. So if I have the opportunity I will be flying. Vaccinated, masked, lots of wipes..
    But what does it say about me that when I saw the title Fear of Flying my first thought was the Erica Jong book?

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  11. My first flight was from Springfield, MO, to Kansas City when I was about 13. I was going to spend a week of my summer vacation with my grandparents, and I got all dressed up for the occasion. Even today, flights from Springfield are not high-class affairs. Back then I flew Ozark Airlines, which we joked was really Ozark Airlines and Crop Dusting Service. Pretty sure the plane was a DC-3 twin prop. Although Kansas City is only a 4-hour drive from Springfield, the flight made a stop-over in Columbia, MO, where we landed on a no-joke grass landing strip before heading on to the old downtown Kansas City airport. KCI had not been built yet.

    I loved every single moment of it!!!! I was reminded of that excitement years later when I flew from DFW to KCI. There was a four-year-old boy in the seat behind me, so excited to take off he kept a running (and often restarted) countdown as we taxied for takeoff. When we finally lifted from the runway he exclaimed, ". . . three . . . two . . . one. . . Blastoff to Jupiter!" I think of him every time I take off now. Jupiter! What adventures I'll have!

    That said, I don't see travel in my immediate future. I get my first vaccination shot in about three hours, and by the end of April I should be good to go, but the shutdown has hollowed out my "Have Fun" funds, so I'll be sticking close to home for a while longer, I'm afraid.

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    1. Now I'm going to say "Blast off to Jupiter!" when I do get to fly again!

      Good luck on your shot, Gigi. Hope the process goes smoothly.

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    2. Great story, Gigi. Now I'll be thinking, "Blast off to Jupiter," too.

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    3. That kid is probably in college now, with no idea how many people he has impacted with that blast-off countdown.

      The shot process was super well organized, and went off without a hitch. I'm already scheduled for shot #2, so all I have to do now is show up on April 16.

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    4. Yay, fabulous! Wine party in six weeks:-)

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    5. Oh I hope I can remember to shout Blast Off to Jupiter the next time I fly. I love that!

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  12. I don't remember my first flight. It had to be my 9th grade trip to NYC from Buffalo. I think. Pretty sure. I know it was exciting.

    Now, not so much. Even pre-pandemic, flying was a chore. So much security, the seats cramped, the airports, just...blah. But I love being where ever I'm going so, it makes up for it I guess.

    I don't think I'll be flying until I'm vaccinated and most of the population is, too. I'm not particularly worried. I read an article recently that said self-harm is up 300% among people 18-24 years of age because of the negative mental health impact of isolation and loneliness. It might be scary, but the time is fast approaching when we have to brace ourselves and get back to our lives - for our own sakes.

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  13. My first flight? Oh… Certainly when I was a little kid. I remember thinking the “stewardesses” were so chic, and I loved having meals on the plane, with silverware, and tiny little ceramic salt and pepper shakers. It was so glamorous!

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    1. HANK: I still remember my first European flight on now defunct WARDAIR in 1985. It was a charter airline, and yet they served full dinners in economy using real china plates and cutlery and free booze! I was really impressed, ha ha! WARDAIR merged with Canadian airlines in the late 1980s, and that level of service stopped in economy!

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    2. Air France used to be so wonderful. Real food for everyone, free alcohol across the ocean. Sigh.

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    3. ABSOLUTELY! And I still remember what I ate: filet mignon with asparagus and hollandaise sauce. Compare that to typical airplane meals in 2020!

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    4. EDITH: I have foodie friends who still specifically choose to fly on AIR FRAMCE flights for the culinary experience. Can't say that for any North American airline.

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    5. I would love to fly Air France! Nice to know they still serve decent food. I certainly can't say that for American, which is my usual airline since Dallas is an American hub.

      Edith, I don't miss the free alcohol on those transatlantic flights, having had the misfortune to sit next to people who over-indulged, to say the least, on too many flights.

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    6. DEBS: I just looked at the Air France a la carte menus. Not bad.
      https://www.airfrance.fr/FR/en/common/resainfovol/achat/menu_a_la_carte.htm

      The last decent North American airline meal I had was with VIRGIN AMERICA in 2017. Sir Richard Branson knows hos to treat passengers right. And of course, Virgin merged with Alaska Airlines later that year.

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    7. Air France has had the best food of any airlines I've flown in a long time. I was bitterly disappointed that my last trip home from Europe the flight was changed from Air France to Delta because of a pilot strike in Paris.

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    8. What fun to check out the Air France menus, Grace. I would be happy to pay to get a decent meal on my long haul flights to London, but American doesn't give you that option:-(

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    9. DEBS: It'x fun to dream about a good airplane meal, isn't it.
      You can pre-order your meals on Air Canada long-haul flights, and the extra price is not that much more, like $10-15, I think. Too bad about American.

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  14. I've never been frightened of flying--first trip was a nonstop from Cleveland to Phoenix when I was 18. The only time I've been uncomfortable on a plane was coming back from New Orleans when a crowded plane was put in a holding pattern over the Chicago airport--the air was getting staler by the second and I put to use those wristbands with a pressure point on your pulse. I'd fly again in a heartbeat--although I think I'd invest in a better mask given the close quarters.

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    1. Yes, when I fly I'll be wearing an N95 or at least a KN95.

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  15. We are flying to Portland Oregon soon, to see our daughter there for the first time in over a year. All parties are anxious, both to see one another and to travel to do so. However, my oldest (nurse, fully vaccinated) daughter just flew from Detroit to Phoenix a couple weeks ago, and she said Delta was great. Every other seat is kept open, and the plane is exhaustively cleaned. Flight attendants are constantly monitoring the mask situation: if passengers are not eating or drinking they are reminded to pull up their masks. Other airlines, like the one we are flying, do NOT keep the middle seat open, sadly, which is one reason I'm nervous. I'm also concerned about the conditions at the airport. But we have our masks, wipes, and sanitizers ready. And my daughter has her HEPA filtered air cleaners ready for our stay. Her house has a separate AirBnB, luckily.

    My first flight was from Cincinnati to NYC in my early 20's. I was a newly promoted dress buyer for a small women's specialty chain (literally small: petites and small sizes, and also nine stores), and it was my first buying trip with my boss. As Pat said, everyone was dressed up, and even in coach we were served a full breakfast, on china plates. Can you imagine that today? You're lucky to get water. In a plastic bottle. And half the passengers are in the pajamas. However, there was still a smoking section on every plane, which almost always started the row behind mine. For some reason my boss always booked us into the middle of the cabin. Small favors that we no longer have to put up with that issue, at least.

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    1. I sat in the row behind the first class smoking section all the way home from Europe once, Karen. UGH.

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    2. KAREN: Yes, no smoking on flights is a plus. And yet, more recently, I was on a flight to the US where passengers were allowed to use VAPES. I was shocked! I hope that is NOT allowed anymore.

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    3. Smoking on planes!!! How horrible that was. Some things have changed for the better. Smoking wasn't banned on all international flights until 2000! Now I can't imagine someone smoking on a plane. And Grace, I've never seen anyone vaping.

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    4. DEBS: Thank goodness! I hoped that my experience on that flight was an anomaly. The flight attendants walked right by the rows, not saying a word to the vapers.

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    5. I'm either allergic to cigarette smoke or extremely sensitive to it, and ended up sneezing the entire flight. I'm sure that was almost as pleasant as the smoke!

      Vaping? What the heck? I'd be really annoyed to sit next to someone doing that, too.

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    6. Smoking on planes! Somehow I always got assigned a seat immediately behind the smoking section. The smoke always drifted back to us nonsmokers.

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  16. I haven't flown in years and I have no plans to do it any time soon. But someday, I hope. My son flies frequently for his work and has no problems. He always tries to use his "favorite' airline where they treat him very well and even remember him.
    My first flight was when I was 10 or 11 and someone with a little plane was giving rides at the fair. We went up and came back down a few minutes later. I was never too comfortable flying, although I loved looking out the window - seeing the actual curvature of the earth is amazing! And I love to pick out landmarks on the ground. my father finally got his pilot's license then I flew with him a little. Eventually my son got his license too but flying has become a much too expensive hobby for him.

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  17. My first flight at 18 was a budget airline to Germany. We had two attempts at take off. I thought this was normal!

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    1. Rhys, I 'm glad that didn't put you off flying for good! :-)

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    2. Ignorance is bliss! Holy cow, Rhys.

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  18. I have to confess that I love flying.I even wrote a blog about it once.I never really got over growing up when air travel was still glamorous and being a stewardess was a great career.(At maximum height of 5'2", that would never happen) I always had an an itch to travel but wasn't on a plane until I was in college, and didn't go anywhere until after grad school. The fact that I have become a person with favorite (and least favorite)airports still amazes me. That said, I don't know when I will feel safe flying again. Thinking about it a lot. Yes, I am registered for B'con, even though NOLA in Aug is sort of nuts. ( But first visit there was June, which is also nuts) We'll see.For now, lots of travel daydreams.

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    1. My cousin Beverly was a stew for years. Tall, willowy, beautiful Bev.

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  19. I’m fully vaccinated and I love flying, but I’m not ready for plane, train, or bus travel just yet. It’s the variants of the virus that concern me. How many more will there be? Will my vaccine protect me from them? And so on.

    The first time I flew it was from LaGuardia to O’Hare. I was with three other people and we were going to a conference. About a third of the people on the plane were attending a bowling tournament in Chicago for blind and visually impaired bowlers! Passengers were either competing or were going along with family members who were in the tournament. Many of the bowlers were seasoned flyers and explained to their seat mates, whether sighted or blind, what was happening with the plane throughout various stages of the flight. When the plane’s wheels touched down, the group burst into applause! One of them explained “we don’t know that the plane has landed until we feel it happening!” Whenever I fly I think of that group.

    DebRo

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  20. My first flight was when I was 3 or 4 years old, sometime in 1951. My mother, father, brother and I flew to Tucson, Arizona through Dallas, Texas. One plane was, I believe, a DC 7, that's what sticks in my mind. The stewardesses were very kind. My brother and I ran up and down the narrow aisle of the plane, eventually bumping heads and then crying like two little ones do. The stewardess took us to meet the captain (curtains separated the cabin from the cockpit) who was very kind and showed us the cockpit. Life was simpler then, yeah?

    I love flying and I hate it, too. I am always a wreck about whether I have everything, getting to the airport on time, just all the stresses of travel. We may go to Disney World in the fall. Maybe. We'll see.

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    1. Sorry, Judy, but I can't resist throwing this classic Flatlander's song at ya, considering that flight to Dallas. https://youtu.be/UxjJ37H6iR8

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  21. I have not flown or gone further than our city limits but my sister and niece have flown from Eugene to Santa Rosa twice. This trip includes a connection in either Seattle or Portland, though my sister's last trip had her flying from Portland to LA then to Santa Rosa, I think was less expensive. I will be honest, they do obtain tickets or upgrades for first class seats. I was more worried about them flying than they were. I will be taking to the air for the first time in June. I should be okay, I have been vaccinated since January and it is a relatively short trip. I think the waiting for the connecting flight will be the most stressful part of the trip.

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  22. Gigi's comments reminded me of our regional airline we all used in college: Trans Texas Airways. Known affectionately as Tree Tops. When they flew to Mexico they became Texas International. Eventually they bought Continental Airlines and kept that name.

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    1. I narrowly avoided Trans Texas once upon a time. I was trying to get to College Station. All I can say is, Bless your Heart!

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  23. Last time I flew was on March 12, 2020! Upon arrival at home, I learned that they ordered lockdown in San Diego where the conference was! I remember wiping my seat with hand sanitizers and in my row, there were three seats and only one other person in my row. The nice lady offered to share some of her hand samitizer wipes. We all were nervous! I remember refusing to partake drinks nor snacks on the short flight (one hour flight).

    Yesterday I was reading about another lockdown in Italy! Someone said they did not think travel will be possible until 2022. Now there are variants to worry about! The Covid rate has gone up in Michigan! There is NOT enough vaccines for everyone! I am still waiting for my turn.

    Look forward to travelling again. I would LOVE to visit Scandinavia again. Scotland again. I'm not sure about England with the brexit stuff. When I arrive in England and they see my American passport at the airport, what happens? Outside the airport, I may be OK since people think I am English. LOL.

    Diana

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  24. Sorry to have missed this - I spent all yesterday in the car, and so can confidently state I would, in fact, rather fly, because I can at least do work or read and get up and go to the loo without stopping the journey.

    I flew once in 2020, in November, to my sister's in Alexandria, VA. We were going to clear out our dad's house since it had been sold, and had a convoluted plan that involved, among other things, me arriving with Barb and her husband and leaving in a one-way van rental.

    I got a direct flight from Portland to DC, which was nice, since I didn't have to deal with the most nerve-wracking part - walking through the airport - more than once each way. I was pretty calm on the flight; I had researched and learned airlines had refitted their air circulation systems with surgical-level HEPA filters, greatly reducing the risk of infection. Everyone was good about masking, and I was the only person sitting in my row, which helped a lot. I've long been THAT woman, who gets out the sanitizer and wipes and cleans the seat, tray, seat pocket, etc. The big difference is, now I look smart for doing so!

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    1. Julia, I'd forgotten you made that trip. And you'd better believe I will be sanitizing every surface I come in contact with on planes from now on. Trays and remotes and armrests are obvious targets, but the air vent knobs are bad, too, and the headrests. Ack!

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    2. Julia, I flew a few years ago soon after a bad bout of bronchitis. I asked my dr , who travels a lot, about safest way to be on plane and he said to do exactly what you are doing - wipe down every surface, they are the greatest health risk on the plane!

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  25. My first flight was in the mid 1960's from Seattle to San Francisco. It was a red eye, when we got up to cruising level and I could see the stars, I was forever hooked. I am scheduled to fly in April, the ticket has been reissued three times since June 2020. I had my tickets changed at the Tampa Airport, which really brought the reality of the pandemic home to me. It was like walking through a ghost town. In spite of all my air travel, I am still nervous on take offs and landings. I tend to remember all the blessings from all the major religions during this time, it soothes better than chocolate.

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    1. Fingers crossed you get to make your April trip, Coralee!

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  26. The last time we flew was May 2019 to Amsterdam then after a few days we took the train to Paris and few home from there. As much as we're both itching to travel again, the best we're able to convince ourselves of is a beach trip on the NC coast this coming September. Neither of us is ready to get back on a plane.

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    1. The situation in Europe is very distressing, isn't it? At least the UK has done a better job on vaccine rollout--one good thing you can say for Brexit...

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    2. My daughter-in-law's family lives near Tuscany, no one has been vaccinated and they are in lock-down for the next month. I don't think Europe is a viable option this year, but we are flying to Maui very soon. My first flight was from San Jose to Kansas City to visit family members in the late seventies, I was very young.

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  27. My father was an Eastern Airlines pilot and I flew a lot.
    My most memorable flight, however, was 30 years ago in Peru. My husband and I were in Lima to adopt our daughter and we had to fly inland for part of the legal proceedings. It was a 7 passenger plane. There were other would be parents with us, at least two of whom were deathly afraid of planes.
    We got to our destination and landed on a mountainside on a dirt strip. We were driven into town to meet with the judge. As we waited in the park for our rides back to the airstrip, we noticed ominous clouds gathering. We rode in multiple, semi-derelict vehicles, some without windows, through the rain. One of our lawyers rode in the back of a pickup truck.
    When we got to the airstrip the plane wasn't there. They'd taken advantage of our time there to run another job and hadn't gotten back yet. Once they arrived the storm was in full force, but we took off. There was lightning and thunder most of the trip. The pilot and co-pilot were kidding us that God was taking flash pictures of us.
    We all joked that our children would be able to accuse us of many things in later years, but they couldn't say we hadn't wanted them!

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  28. For the most part, I’ve always enjoyed flying and, like, Debs, I REALLY like airports. But I’m struggling with the idea of getting back in the air. We have two sons, two daughters-in-law, and a grandchild on the west coast—half a continent away— and now that we’re soon to be fully vaccinated, we’re seriously considering making the drive rather than getting on a plane. It’s a “poser” indeed!

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  29. I used to love traveling by air. Flew all over the US for work and to Europe and Asia for vacations. Now I like being in other places but not the travel. Long lines and longer lines and removing shoes and so on. Tiring. But I will fly to Kauai later this summer - like a cross country flight but less than France, England or Bali! I’m ready to take what I think will be, by then, a less risky trip. Helps that it’s a direct flight.

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