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?

Bloody hell that sounds terrifying. We are currently in Portugal and fly home in 2 days. I HATE flying and already freaking out at the prospect of a return flight home. Will definitely be doing UK holidays from now on….

Sounds traumatic; it will take you sometime to get over it, I will suggest driving with some stops over or train while you all get over the trauma. Probably not canary island and night flights anymore.

Have a look at ferries and trains.

My mother wouldn't fly so as a child I was driven to France, Spain, Italy and quick day trips in to countries on the way.

You used to be able to put your car on the train at Calais and spend the night speeding towards Nice.

You can get ferries to Holland / Germany or to France and Spain. Once there you can get trains and more ferries.

But if you want to go to the Canaries you need to make the journey part of your holiday. Ferry Portsmouth to Santander is 2 nights on board, train to Cadiz, about 10 hours then another two days on the Ferry.

I love sleeping in the cool little cabins on the ferry to Harwich to Holland and you get a full English buffet breakfast before you disembark.

I wonder if we were on the same flights in 1998?! My approach ever since is ‘if I was going to die on a plane it would have been then and I didn’t so 🤷‍♀️’. Probably not the most sane thought process but it gets me through.
This summer the turbulence on a flight made a daily mail article and my family and I all started discussing our 1998 flights and saying why didn’t we go to the press at the time?! Maybe we could have made some money from selling our story

You can get the train direct to anywhere in Europe - or further. I travelled from Kings Cross to Turkey 🇹🇷

Have fun with it, build stops into your journey.

Come on, people puking and leaving the flight with bruises isn't an example of unnecessary anxiety is it?

Someone on these threads is always trying to blame the poster for the upsetting things that happen to them.

OP, my mum had a fit on a flight when I was with her aged 12. It took me a decade to get over that, although we did fly as a family a few times in that time. You DS probably will have some fear, but they can always seek support for it.

Sounds awful.

I fly a lot (at least 4 flights a month) and have had two hairy flights over the years. They were scary and unpleasant the time. But then I put it in perspective.

Flying is the safest form of transport and even though you've been very unlucky what you've experienced is rare.

I understand why it's put you off and there are alternatives if you wish them.

I will still be flying because I live in Scotland so the 'jump on a train / drive' options are very south of England centric and not attractive or convenient for me and I know that risks are very, very small.

All the stories of turbulence recently worry me. We are going to Tenerife in December and when I read this, it does make me a little anxious. Even though I've flown many times.

If you read the whole thread you will see links to a BBC article about why severe unpredicted turbulence is becoming much more common and causing a real issue of the aviation industry.

We were a blended family growing up, so there were 5 kids and my parents always drove to Dover took the ferry (now you have the option of Eurotunnel) to Calais and put the car on a sleeper train in northern France and we woke up in the sun in Southern France the next day. For them it was cheaper than flying and hiring 2 cars. Earlier this summer we did a train trip round Northern France to catch some of the Olympics in Lille, then went on to Disney, Rouen, Giverny and Amiens. The French trains were surprisingly efficient and always punctual and the TGV is fast. Lots of options, you are not limited to the UK if you don't want to fly.

I had the grave misfortune to be on a Caribbean cruise where we hit a storm and the entire ship seemed to be vomiting. I got seasick for the first time in my entire life. Don’t believe the hype!

your experience sounds horrible @YellowphantGrey i totally understand not wanting to fly next year. I am a very nervous flier, in fact I didn’t fly for a period of about 5 years as I just refused - it wasn’t worth the trauma! In that time I made my partner take two holidays via train - one to Nice/Monaco and one to Calafell in Spain. Both can be done in a long day, or break it up with an overnight stay in Paris. The hotels were 5 star, not as much choice for All Inclusive but amazing locations, gorgeous beaches, fab weather. Looking back I’m so glad we ended up doing these trips as they are hotels and resorts we wouldn’t have ended up trying if it hadn’t been for my fear! The train was comfortable and fun too and a bit of an adventure finding our way etc. Also did a trip to Valencia during that time with my sister and we met my parents there and stayed in an air bnb. Bit of a longer journey but still
doable. One was an overnight train with dinner from Barcelona to Paris!

since then I did do a fear of flying course and can now fly but I do find it hard and usually take medication. We went to Majorca last year with our toddler and it’s a shorter duration than canaries, so that could be an option? The idea of over 4hrs in the air is not appealing! Give yourself some time to think. There are many places you can get to via train and I think it’s an idea worth exploring as an alternative summer adventure!

The only time I've experienced bad turbulence like that was on a flight to Madeira. The pilot ended up asking for permission to fly higher to get out of it, which thankfully worked. That was about 15 years ago and it hasn't stopped me flying - mainly because I live abroad and do actually want to see my family! I have a two year old and come from the opposite end of England to the Eurotunnel. I expect there will be more instances of severe turbulence as climate change gets worse, probably more on flights to places people traditionally go to for the hot weather. Luckily I don't live in one of those so will hopefully still be able to get home fine!

Lake District, Pembrokeshire, North Wales, Norfolk, Cumbria, Northumberland, Scilly Isles, Hebrides, Shetland, Peak District? To say nothing of the whole of Ireland?

You really can have a lovely time without being dependent on warm weather. But if it's warmth that you want, you can get to the South of France and Spain easily by ferry or train.

Sounds scary but no real harm done. Will build resilience for your son.

It will help the environment if everyone worrying about rough flights just stops flying for good, so I'd regard that as a win.

Interrailing is a good suggestion or if you just want a single destination, euroster + another train would work, the journey is fun and you get a much better idea of the distance you're travelling.

The only risk in turbulence is launching out of your seat, or things falling on you. It’s just like driving over a bumpy road, planes aren’t in any risk. But saying that, it IS scary when you have turbulence, so I do sympathise. I live in Aus and we travel regularly back to the U.K. and the big planes are much calmer in general (although we always get some bumps over the Bay of Bengal). I flew up to Edinburgh last year on a small plane and felt every bump!
If I were you, hard though it is, I would book a short European break soon to face your fear. There’s so much world out there, if you like travelling it seems a shame to restrict yourself.

One of my sons’ friends is a pilot for EasyJet and I asked her once “in all the years you’ve been flying (around 25), have you ever had an emergency?” and she said “no. I had to fly through a storm once instead of going around as it was on us before we expected it but it was never an emergency”
She flies 3 times a week, return, and it did reassure me!

Also, of course, your statistical risk of driving for a holiday in France is much higher than if you flew.

Agree!

Really pisses me off having to wade through pointless irrelevant posts from jobsworths like this poster. Bore off.

Ruins credibility? Is this a court of law?

FWIW I know 3 people who have definitely racked up 300 flights each over the past 5 years through work and leisure. Some people fly a lot at certain times in their life.

Oo how exciting to explore new holiday destinations.

Get the ferry or Eurostar and basically go anywhere in Europe. The journey is part of the fun!

At 16 the word is your oyster. You could go inter-railing or do a through hike and carry tents on your back.

Ps I really hate the "Uk holidays are awful" rhetoric, it's fine to say "it's not for me" or "I can't switch off unless I'm abroad" but like anywhere, the world is what you make of it. Embrace the opportunities.

Enjoy your next adventure wherever it is!

I believe you OP and your response is logical.

Check out "the Man in Seat 61" website for amazing guides to travelling by train - from the UK to abroad and all over the world.

There's a difference between turbulence and severe turbulence on a flight. I've been fortunate to have not experienced the latter, but what you described is definitely not normal. It probably doesn't help that 2023/24 was an El Niño year.

I’m cabin crew, I’ve never experienced anything as bad as you describe but obviously I can understand why it would put you off. I’ve only been knocked to the ground once and it was on the way to Thailand, years ago. I’ve thrown up a few times though! If you don’t want flying itself to become a mental block, maybe fly into somewhere cold for a pre-Xmas break for a reset. I find we get turbulence more often into places like Portugal and Spain (still hardly at all though, it’s v rare and you’ve been very unlucky, which I know doesn’t make it easier if you’re injured! I hope the crew were at least slightly helpful)

I find ferries and trains worse for feeling sick due to movement and general rocking around but if you don’t, I second the opinion Eurostar is great for connections into Europe once you get to Brussels or Paris and you can take your own booze

(Also, it’s in your 11th post that you say you’ve taken hundreds of night flights, that’s why people keep repeating it to you. I realise it’s just a phrase)

OP, sorry you had this experience, it does sound scary.

As you point out, increasing turbulence is probably caused by global warming - and flying is not good for the environment. If you reduce the frequency of your flying you are really doing the planet a favour - it's a really good thing and one to be celebrated. We have all become used to flying way too much. I am ashamed of how casually I used to get on flights, even just for a weekend away..... Shockingly irresponsible and unnecessary.

Your son is not losing our in essential experiences because of it. Plenty of children don't ever have holidays abroad, and they thrive completely fine. Holidays for children are more about the activities and the quality time spent with their carers, than the destination.

And if you insist on still taking him abroad (nothing wrong with that - broad experiences are great of course) you of course still can via train or boat.

He may also have the opportunity to go abroad via school trips, and can do so with friends as he gets older.

You also say you have "done" the UK, but like anywhere it's a dynamic place, always changing. I am sure there may still be things in the UK worth experiencing that you and your family have not yet enjoyed.

I honestly wouldn't stress excessively about this issue. It will be ok. Sorry you had a scary time tho - that does sound awful.