Tonight I invite you to a quiet vermut on the sofa in front of the TV at home.
I travelled back from Cornwall early this morning after an overnight drive and no sleep and now am far too tired to go out anywhere!
It was strange that I had an attack of pre-flight nerves before getting on the Ryanair plane this morning. You know, when you have waves of irrational thoughts which include ‘get off the plane! get off the plane now!’?
- Waiting to board, the man behind me was restless and edgy – was he an attacker?
- It took a long time to get the plane ready to board – had there been a warning?
- Across the isle was a security guard who was permitted to carry a suitcase beside her and she kept looking back over her shoulder to check the passengers – did she have a gun?
My brain was going crazy with panic warnings and my heart was pounding as they closed the doors and we seemed to taxi forever along the runway. You know how you watch the air hostesses for reassurance? They seemed to be behaving normally so I closed my eyes and told myself it was lack of sleep that was putting me on high alert.
Of course it was all fine and we had a smooth flight and arrived on time to the now habitual burst of applause from the other passengers and the toot diddle toot toot of Ryanair because it was yet another punctual flight. I cried on landing and felt better for the release of tension.
Do you ever get afraid for no reason on a plane? Once that door opens in your mind then it is very hard to close it against the flood of terrifying images that threatens to drown you. How do the flight attendants manage to do it day after day?
Well, it’s nice to be home and lovely to sit down with a drink and feel my body begin to relax again and feel safe. Vicki Cristina Barcelona is on the television in Catalan so I think I will watch it now and slide gently into the language again . I don’t know if Bodhi Chicket is having a virtual vermut today but it’s worth going over there to take a look and see what she is thinking about.
Fins Ara
Oh piffle. I don’t know if I can scare up a vermut tonight afterall but I am glad to hear you have your feet back on Spanish terra firma and yes, lack of sleep tends to heighten every one of our cells plus we are inundated with terrorist fears daily so it’s normal (imagine – we are saying feeling like this is normal!) that you went through what you did. Plus, you had extra emotions leaving your old dogs behind. Must get my boy in a bath, read stories and if there is any shred left of me after that I may come back here for a vermut!
Benvingut maca!
Sometimes, yes I get a bit nervous on planes, especially when I’m flying with my kids, I usually think it has more to do with the stress of getting organised to change countries again and not so much to do with the flight itself.
Glad you’re back!
Fins ara….espero
I don’t often travel by air, so haven’t had this feeling. I imagine I’d probably burst into tears of relief just like you did, though, upon touchdown.
Have no idea what a vermut is and will have to google that!
I read once that the age-range for people panicking on planes is about 25-50 and that airline staff especially watch this group if there is an incident on the flight. People under 25 don’t think they can die, they’re bullet-proof. People over 50 know they’re going to die sometime, and reconcile more readily. People in the 25-50 age-group know they can die, and don’t want to yet.
Air travel is safer than cars etc, but of course it is rather spectacular when they do crash. What is Ryanair like? Don’t they fly to weird airports that are hard to get to?
Pearl x
Thanks so much for all your messages – it is wonderful to hear from you after I write a post. I don’t usually get scared but when I do it is horrible. I fall outside the age range – 54 and I still don’t want to die yet! Ryanair are ok once you get used to them. I like the prices and also the fact that so far they have always been on time. Bristol is hard to get to but it is the closest for Cornwall – that is why I drove a hire car all night to arrive in time for a 7am flight and so was overtired and edgy. K x