H aving such a strong love and desire for traveling and suffering from anxiety, motion sickness, or fear of flying are things that don’t work very well together.

Airports are crowded, people are running every where, and you have to make it through a scary security check.

It almost seems as if you have to make an ultimatum; stay at home and miss so many great opportunities and experiences or just take the plunge and figure out a way to cope with your travel anxiety.

I don’t know about you, but the latter option seems much more appealing to me, and that is exactly what I had to do to overcome my anxiety and fear of traveling on planes.

Here are some major keys that have helped me travel with ease on my previous adventures and may work for you:

Flying

There are almost 24,000 commercial flights that operate worldwide daily. How many airplane crashes do you hear about daily? I’ll wait.

Sure turbulence is a possibility, but it is like going through pot holes in a car for pilots. Totally normal. Extreme turbulence is very rare and pilots will try a different elevation to try to make your ride as smooth as possible.

PUNCTUALITY

Rushing will only make you feel more anxious and stressed. Think about it, if you are already nervous about flying, adding unnecessary stress of being on time will only push you over the edge.

PLAN AHEAD. Download the app of the airline you are flying with and add your boarding pass. This will allow you to see your departure gate. This will also provide you with updates to your flight.

Leave plenty of time to wait in line if you are checking a bag and to make it through security. The general rule of thumb that I use is to arrive at the airport at least an hour and a half before the flight boarding time.

Hydrate well before flight

Good ole H20 for the win. Pretty self explanatory. Water will help you from feeling dehydrated and lessen your chances of headaches and feeling weak (which will only make things worse for you). Just make sure you use the restroom before boarding to save yourself from getting up too much in-flight.

Music

While finishing up with packing the night before, make a few playlists of your favorite songs to get you through the flight.

I find that listening to music with ocean sounds will really relax you and keep you calm. DON’T FORGET YOUR HEADPHONES.

#WindowSeat

 Sitting by the window is great because I feel further away from everyone and in my own little bubble. Even though I am on the same row, the aisle has too much traffic and the middle seat is too close for comfort. Plus, you can lay your head on the window without bothering your neighbor if you want a quick nap.

Dramamine

If you are a person who likes to take medicine and be done with it, Dramamine is a great thing for motion sickness…especially if there is turbulence.

If you take the original version, you will fall asleep and wake up at your destination. If you don’t want that groggy feeling, they have introduced a non-drowsy version that will help the problem without making you sleep the whole flight.

Ginger ale/ginger chews

I CANNOT fly without having ginger ale before a flight or during. It really eases my stomach and any butterflies I may have before take off and once we are in the air.

Another thing that I have recently discovered to help with motion sickness are ginger chews. You can get them from a candy store or from Amazon.com.

An additional plus to ginger candy  is that since they are chewy, they can help with any ear popping that may occur due to the high altitudes. WIN-WIN.

Cocktail anyone?

For those of us that are of age, a quick cocktail may be a great way to ease your nerves while traveling and help you breathe a little easier.

A tip within a tip, don’t order too many…plane drinks can be pricey and well, if there is too much turbulence that can be bad news for you.

TO CONCLUDE

All of these tips are things that have helped me as well as people around me so I am pretty sure they will work for you as well.

Before you rule out a trip, try some of these things and watch how great things turn out. And I forgot one major, major key…RELAX!!! You got this. You will be fine.

Just think about your destination, all the great food, views, and memories that will be made on your trip.

WOOOOOSAH.