First time flying on my own

Jun 17

Written By Tanya H

The plane I had to get on to fly up to Edinburgh

Last week I flew up to Edinburgh, and I flew all by myself for the first time ever, which is an achievement for me as I was really very anxious about it.

I had a business trip to meet up with my boss and colleague to discuss operations and improvements, and my boss chose Edinburgh, which meant I either had to get the train up (no thank you 10 hours) or fly up, eekkk. Now I have flown loads of times, however as I have gotten older I have found it harder to fly, and I hate flying. When flying with the kids and hubby I always put a brave face on as not to upset the kids, however to fly all by myself, that scared me. I thought about going to see the doctor to get some calming tablets, but no, I was determined to just do it

Then there was the concern of the size of the plane, a few years ago when my hubby worked in the channel islands (6 months in Jersey and then 6 months in Guernsey) he would fly out every Monday and fly back every Friday, in a small plane, and I remember some of the 'bad' flights he had - turbulence was very bad.

I arrived at Norwich airport which is very small, and I spotted the Flybe plane and thought phew, that is not so bad, mid size plane I can handle that! However as we checked in and walked outside, I went to turn right to head to that plane, when I was promptly ushered to the left, and straight to a small plane! a tiny plane! AARRGGHH my worst nightmare, I took a big gulp and boarded the plane, tried not to panic, tried to relax, and tried to stay focused. The plane took off and I instantly started to panic.. at first I thought I was going to be sick, so I concentrated really hard on my breathing and trying to calm myself down - I really did not want to make a scene and throw up in front of all those strangers in a small plane - that would have been embarrassing. Then after a few minutes I thought I was going to pass out, my head was swimming and my chest felt funny. I shut my eyes, which made it worse, so I looked out at the beautiful clouds, and just breathed in and out. After 20 minutes or so I did finally start to relax, and after two cup of teas, we were soon landing, and the 70 minutes was soon over. I done it, and it really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but then what was I expecting? I am really not sure, but I am glad I faced it head on, and I was really very pleased with myself.

Of course after my business trip had finished (and we had a great time in Edinburgh, though we did have meetings all day everyday we still got out to see a bit of the beautiful city) I had to fly back, but this time I knew what to expect, and was more relaxed, and I was landing back in Norwich in no time.