Do your palms get sweaty whenever you are about to take a flight? Does the thought of being in a winged tube 10,000 feet in the air make your heart sink? Then you, my friend, are not alone! Many Nervous Flyers experience some anxiety before or during their flight. Aviophobia is a common difficulty that troubles countless travelers.
The fear of flying may be due to several reasons. Some travelers are scared of crashing while the others are afraid of turbulence.
However, if you intend to see the world, you must travel. Therefore, you have to find ways to appease your nervousness and keep a check on this fear of flying.
We have devised a list of travel tips to make your flying experience a little less distressing. Hence, the next time you come across some cheap flights from the USA to India, don’t hesitate to avail the deal.
Here are the Top 10 Travel Tips
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Steer Clear of Sweets, Alcohol or Caffeinated Beverages
Whenever we are anxious, we tend to indulge in sweets. However, if getting on a plane makes you uneasy, avoid stimulants such as sweets, tea, coffee, sugary beverages, and even alcohol. All these will just heighten your anxiety.
Conversely, you can opt for chamomile tea or sniff on lavender sachets. These can help you calm your senses and keep you relaxed during your flight. Furthermore, peppermints can help too.
Similarly, avoid giving your kids many sugary treats too. These may lull them into a false sense of safety, but they don’t actually make them feel better.
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If Possible, Avoid Traveling Alone
Whenever possible, travel with a companion. This person may be your partner, close friend, or a buddy. However, make sure that they don’t feel the same way about flying.
Traveling with a loved one gives you a sense of relaxation. These are the people who know you and understand your fears well. Furthermore, you will have someone who can reassure you during your flight.
Having someone to hold your hand during the takeoff and landing can work wonders in keeping you calm. Therefore, avoid traveling alone.
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Stay Hydrated
Flying can be extremely dehydrating for your body. So, make it a point to keep sipping on water throughout your flight and keep yourself hydrated.
Water is better than any beverage. Sugary drinks will do nothing but put a lot of stress on you. It will make you nervous and affect your flying experience.
Also, it is not advisable to travel empty stomach. Make sure to eat at short intervals. Otherwise, you will not just feel anxious but also nauseous.
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Bring Along Distractions
To avoid unnecessary stress, make it a point to keep yourself busy during your flight. When it comes to keeping yourself distracted during your journey, there are plenty of options to choose from.
You can try reading your favorite book or knitting. Also, filling some crosswords might help to keep you distracted. As long as it helps you, it doesn’t matter what you do.
If you are unable to read or focus due to motion sickness, you need not worry. Music can help you occupy your mind! Bring along your own music and headphones. Also, you can listen to an audiobook.
Hence, listening to something you like and enjoy can help you keep your fear of flying at bay.
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Try to Sleep
Sleeping can come to your rescue if you are unable to keep yourself occupied in any other way. Therefore, when nothing helps, close your eyes, and just try to sleep.
Also, you can bring along whatever keeps you comfortable and aids your sleeping process.
Overnight flights are the best for you if sleeping helps you maintain your calm. This is because you naturally sleep during the night.
Furthermore, you can use a neck pillow or try some calming music to help you sleep better and comfortably.
However, if the blackness of the night scares you, traveling during the night might not be an option for you.
In such cases, opt for day flights. These are sure to lessen your feeling of being closed in which increases during the night.
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Reserve your Preferred Seat
To help you feel as calm as possible during your journey, reserve the seat that you prefer. If a window seat enables you to calm your nerves by looking at the view outside, choose it.
However, some people prefer the aisle seat as looking down makes them nervous. If you are one of them, choose this seat while booking your flight.
There are chances that if you know that you have your ideal seat booked ahead of time, you will feel less anxious and have a happy journey.
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Breathe
If you feel your anxiety striking you, the first thing that you should remember is to breathe.
Breathing when you get anxious can prevent you from a panic attack. Also, conscious breathing is the best technique to calm yourself down.
Try to breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Do this as slowly as possible. This is sure to help you soothe your anxiety.
Furthermore, you can try some calming and breathing exercises. Try wearing something around your wrist. You can snap or pull at it. It can keep you distracted just enough to get through the takeoff or even turbulence.
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Know When to Seek Professional Help
Don’t suffer in silence. If required, you can reach out to the passenger next to you or a flight attendant for help.
Letting a flight attendant know in advance that you are a nervous flyers might help. Also, try to indulge in some talk with your co-passenger. But, make sure that they don’t get uncomfortable by it.
However, if nothing helps, you should know when to seek professional help. If taking an anti-anxiety drug makes it easier for you to fly, go ahead with that. There are innumerous people who are nervous flyers and have got a medicine prescribed to help them.
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Focus on the Positive
Instead of thinking about the “what if’s,” focus on the positives. If you are on an airplane, the chances are that you are flying somewhere exciting or new. If not, you might be returning from an amazing trip.
Hence, think about all the fun times you have spent or are going to spend. Try learning the language of the place you are visiting. Or, if you are returning from your holiday, try editing some travel pictures for your Instagram feed.
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Fly More Often
As strange as it may sound, flying more often can help you overcome your fear of flying. If you fly frequently, you are bound to feel more comfortable.
Therefore, try traveling as much as possible. Once you begin to have some pleasant experiences, you won’t be a nervous flyers as compare to them. You just have to trick your mind in believing that flying isn’t a big deal for you.
If you are nervous flyers, don’t let your fears get in the way of your travel plans. Conquer your fears by following the above tips. All you need to do is to book last minute flights to India and get set to experience a world of new adventures.