Cancelled next years holiday abroad

[YellowphantGrey]

And feel awful about it.

Trying to convince myself a UK holiday will be ok bur I know it won't.

We've just returned from disaster holiday after two horrific flights. Holiday itself was fine but the flights were absolutely horrific. People in tears, screaming, crying, my kindle screen broken, DH hurt his back, people throwing up, all from 2 hours worth of severe turbulence on a 4 hour flight and Pilot had to speak several times. It was a night flight and all lights went out and emergency floor strip lights came on. He ended up having to fly lower to try and avoid and was prepared to divert when it started becoming clearer.

On the way over, it was an hours worth of turbulence and not as bad but still took some quite big drops, everyone lifted out of their seats on each drop. Couldn't land and had to retry which was successful second time round.

We decided today after we are all bruised and shaken that we don't really want to fly again but I'm also worried my DS will now be restricted in life and we should be forcing ourselves back on a plane.

Any ideas what to do? I don't think any sort of scared of flying course would help as even the cabin crew were crying yesterday! Apparently turbulence is set to become more frequent, common and extreme.

Cruises are a definitive no as well.

I suppose we could train or drive?

I saw a horrific road accident on the way back from Cornwall this year. I always say that statistically, plane travel is safer than long car journeys. There are far too many idiots on the road now.

Planes stalling doesn’t mean the engine stops like a car, it means the angle of attack is not sufficient to achieve uplift under the wings.

Why do you keep saying I've taken hundreds of night flights? I've never said that?

As children, we flew abroad for Easter hols and Oct half term, UK for the summer.

I worked abroad during summer holidays till I was 19 working in children's entertainment abroad, mainly the kids clubs. I then did this for two years solid around Europe, beach resorts.

I came back and worked as a Nanny. During this time I worked for 3 families, one of which both parents travelled for work so I went with them, I probably flew about 4 times a month for 4 years.

I then settled as a non travelling Nanny and went back into nurseries for a couple of years where I went on holiday 3 times a year, a week at a time.

I then went back to Nannying and set up my own childcare agency and I've now got my own nursery and opening my second next year. I work in the nursery and give myself two solid weeks off every year, other than that, it's long weekends or shorter days. We fly at weekends for short breaks sometimes.

I'm not sure why you can't grasp I spent lots of time flying for work?

DS is bruised and Dh jolted his back. One of the cabin crew was also hurt, hence her crying.

I was hoping for useful holiday suggestions not the third degree and people actively saying I'm lying.

I think a short hop on a plane somewhere would be good, to nip your fear in the bus asap.

And yes, I get it. I've been in a plane that had to make an emergency landing after engine failure, ditching the fuel (without telling us, so it looked like black smoke was coming out of the engines) and then bring surrounded by flashing lights of fire engines coming to meet us.

It's better to try and get back onto that flying horse!

I never said I've had hundreds of night flights though? They come from someone else who either misread or decided to add that. I said I've taken hundreds of flights.

I also took around 4 flights a month for 4 years with my job, which was around 190 flights alone.

It's getting weird now to have people insisting I've said something I never 😳

Just to add, I've re read my posts and I can see I've put night flights, it should have just been hundreds of flights.

Probably about half the flights I've taken have been early evening into night!

I don’t understand why people are pestering OP to fly again. Maybe she will, maybe she won’t. The point is, having just had a horrible experience, none of the family want to fly next year. No doubt as time passes, the memory will fade, and they may well be happy to fly again. But right now, they want alternatives. Nothing wrong with that.

OP we took the car on the ferry to France and had a lovely holiday. We were able to fill the car with all our stuff, and didn’t have to think about where liquids were packed etc. Just shoved it all in and off we went. And the busiest French motorways at peak time were about as busy as the M69 at 4am, so the driving was pretty easy.

me personally id be back on the next plane etc one plane is not always the same as other planes

Staggered by some of the responses OP — people clearly don’t read the news. This is set to happen more and more unfortunately. Sorry for what you went through. Hope you never do again. Can understand why you’d want a year off after an experience like that!
I would recommend Le Shuttle/eurotunnel — we love our driving holidays to southern France and beyond. So much to see and so relaxed in the car. France has great motels for stopping off so it doesn’t need to be exhausting.

so because the news say, then it should be treated as the holy truth and nothing but the truth etc,

Why are cruises a definitive no btw?

im guessing the nature of the weather at sea ?

Yep, this.

Valencia is fabulous!

I've taken over 500 flights in my lifetime. I've been in three go-arounds (where they have another go at the landing), one of which was because another plane didn't clear the runway. I don't think I've had more than 10 minutes of turbulence.

On the other hand I remember a ferry trip when for two-thirds of the way the rocking of the ship was so bad that I was afraid I was going to die, and for the other third I was so sick I was afraid that I wasn't going to die.

Remember that something like 100,000 commercial flights are taken every day. About once every couple of months (so let's say every 5,000,000 flights) we see turbulence that injures a couple of people, almost always those who don't put their @#$%! seatbelts on when the light goes on. Even if climate change triples this, it will be an astonishingly rare occurrence. (Ironically, if it was anything else, the media would stop writing about it.)

I have a fear of boats, no bad experience, I just don't like them. Completely irrational like all fears

Don't let them get to you.

I've a long haul flight in a couple of days and this is giving me the heebie geebies!

There's lots of lovely places to holiday in the UK and Ireland. You just won't be able to rely on the weather. Plus you can drive/take a ferry.

DS is bruised and Dh jolted his back. One of the cabin crew was also hurt, hence her crying

A poor choice of words - nobody was injured, not in any kind of a serious sense. I told you I believe you, but you've ignored the point I actually made - / it's ridiculous that people are saying they don't fly after reading this thread about a flight where NOTHING ACTUALLY HAPPENED yet will happily drive to Dover or the Eurostar feeling oh so much safer. When the exact opposite is true. The mind boggling illogical thinking of the human race!

Hypnotherapy. Works wonders. I was a very nervous flyer but no longer.

Which airport did you fly into in the UK @YellowphantGrey - some are known for being windier than others.
We've just experienced quite a ‘fast’ landing and real hard bump as we touched down. I was fine though.

Like you I want to know that I am going to have some settled sunshine. We have holidayed in the UK - good enough, but now back to flying, following my successful hypnotherapy.

I have clear memories of what seemed like the entire ship vomiting between Dover and Calais in 1997 and these memories will not go away 😂.

I know, cruise ships are larger, more stable, people don’t get seasick on them etc, but I just don’t do well in boats.

Love trains though.

I know people who feel safer in cars because they are in control. Statistically you might not be, but not everyone thinks the same way do they?

Luton. We fly from whichever is cheaper!

@SugarHorseSpooks why is it so essential to fly? What is so wrong with not flying? I’m 56, I’ve flown to many places over the years. As I’ve got older, I’ve disliked flying more and more - the madness of arriving hours early, the baggage restrictions, the time consuming security checks, the tedium of the luggage carousel, the fear of crashing - everything about it just feels like a chore. I would happily never fly again. Many amazing places are accessible by other modes of transport. Why does everyone have to be able to fly?

Nope Nope!!! I've only ever been on a plane to Germany and back and that was when I was 5 years old. I'm mid 40s now and this is why you'd never get me on a plane. Fuck that!!!

Not that it really matters, but you did say 'it'

I've done hundreds of night flights but never had it completely black with emergency floor lighting on either, normally it's the mood lighting!

It was likely a throw away comment, not important, but other people aren't going crazy/making things up here!