Flying in the face of fear

It has become such a problem that now I refuse to go anywhere if it involves a flight.

My world has become very small. I know the Channel Islands and Cornwall like the back of my hand.

This year, the problem has come to the forefront after the Teen announced that her ideal summer holiday destinations this year are Italy, Berlin, Brazil, Cuba, Spain or Kenya.

I was forced to admit my fear, which I have hidden for years (she didn’t notice my sheer terror on that flight to Nice), which came as somewhat of a catastrophe to her.

“How are we going to get to x y or z if you won’t get in a plane?” she cried.

“I am not going to Cornwall again, or Jersey, it's just ridiculous.

“There is more to life than St Ives.”

And so her rant went on. She even threatened to leave home to live with her Jetset mates at one point.

LOML Googled train journeys to Spain and found that it was about £75 more expensive and means changing trains five times, a four-hour wait in Barcelona and arriving in Andalucia at 3am.

It sounded nearly as harrowing as flying.

He even tried to find a cruise that would stop somewhere exotic, where we could depart for a few days to be picked up later. One holiday company told him that unless he had a six figure budget there was “not a chance”.

What it boils down to is that I need to get on a plane. But I am scared to death - and of death.

The mere thought of it is enough to make me feel ill.

But I know the Teen has a point and why shouldn’t she want to explore the world?

Italy is no more expensive than Jersey and it would be nice to go somewhere we haven’t been before.

So I’ve bitten the bullet and booked myself on a Flying Without Fear course run by Virgin Atlantic.

I could finally be cured.

In a few months I could be lying on a sun lounger without the need to keep an umbrella and a woolly jumper close to hand. I could be sipping a pina colada instead of a cup of tea or seeing the lions on safari.

Or I could be dying in a fiery furnace.

We shall see.

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