Flying to Crete. Please talk me down, terrified.

[LittleO9]

With everything that is going on in the middle east right now I am so nervous about flying. Especially with Crete being so close to Middle East airspace.

I never used to have a problem with flying but since having children, the thought of something happening to them fills be with utter dread.

I honestly feel like cancelling our long awaited holiday. But DC are so excited.

It's really not very near to it. It is very much to the south of Greece and the west of Turkey. Are you getting muddled up with Cyprus?

Sorry I'm aware that Cyprus is much closer. But Crete also seems a little close for my comfort. Not like Spain or France for example.

Statistically, flying in a plane is far safer than going in a car. You would probably be more at risk if you cancelled and rebooked in the UK. Remember that air crashes make the news partly because they are so rare. Crete is gorgeous and great for kids. You will have a lovely time and I'll happily swap with you!

I catastrophise everything since DC so I am well aware I'm probably not being rational.

My concerns are not actually primarily about the safety of air travel to be honest. I'm concerned about the threats against the UK that have been made and whether that could involve civilian aircraft.

Again, I know im probably not being rational.

This is all your anxiety talking.

Nothing is going to happen, no action you take/don’t take will make any difference to how conflict in the Middle East plays out.

If you have got to the point of evaluating comparative risk, why would you assume you would be less safe on a holiday island in Greece than in the UK anyway?

The distances are huge though. It's a bit like saying you don't want to go to Ireland because there are problems in London.

That's a good analogy thank you 😅

It's not actually being in Crete that worries me to be honest. It's purely the flying.

Our global media means we know more about what is happening in the world than in the past. We hear all the bad things and it elevates that sense of risk. It's totally normal to want to protect your children and that feels harder when the perceived risks are unknown, so everything feels like a potential threat. There is a far more real risk to your children if you give in to these negative thoughts and limit their world. I understand, I have similar concerns. But if you push through, you will have a great time where the main issues are likely to be your children only want to eat chips and ice cream for a week or they moan the swimming pool is cold etc.

I think I work on probability.

How many airline disasters, how likely is it going to be a plane flying out of say Gatwick, rather than any other UK airport?

How likely is it that the aeroplane is going to Crete, rather than any other airport in the world?

How many flights are there a week going from (say) Gatwick to Crete…
On one flight, from one airport to another, on one day and at a particular time.

Therefore how likely is it that you are going to be involved in an airline incident.

I'm not a great flyer either, hypnotherapy has helped amazingly ( in fact I think I am sitting reading and relaxing on my sofa!).

Crete is well out of the way. I flew from the Middle East yesterday and whilst the route was diverted (we were due to fly over Iran) there was no other changes. It didn’t cross my mind to cancel my flight

Thank you, I feel a bit better already.

I can't believe what an anxious mess I've turned into since DC. I never used to be like this. But now the thought of potentially endangering my children on a plane or whatever just sends me into such a spiral.

enjoy it. I love Crete. Where are you going? Chania, Agios Nikolos, Hersonjisoss, Koutolafari, Heraklion. It’s my favourite of the Greek islands and I go often.

I do understand as I used to be a nervous flyer. Weirdly since having kids I'm better, as I'm more able to be in the moment and worrying about sorting them out. I get anxious about all sorts of things though so do get it.

As someone else said just think about the thousands of flights happening daily, it's all routine and fine.

Focus on what a good time you'll have with the kids once you're there.

My kids have started making comments about flying is scary etc (we fly a lot including to New Zealand so they've done plenty of it but have started saying this). I stay very matter of fact, it's the safest form of transport, if anything goes wrong the pilot can land, etc etc. I don't want them to be nervous like I used to be.

Enjoy, I bet you'll have an amazing holiday 😊