Come Fly With Me

By Julia
Potsdam, New York

Gentle reader, something you should know right away before we start this trip together is that I'm a bit of a nervous flier. I have been known to dig my nails into the arms of perfect strangers sitting next to me during turbulent flights. Despite always making sure to review the pamphlet of safety features (conveniently located in the seat pocket in front of me), there is always an itchy sense of impending doom as the plane takes off.

Enter Tom. My man, my rock. My fellow nervous flier who does nothing to ease my distress but instead reminds me of the helplessness of our situation. He likes to pepper our aerial voyage with vaguely ominous statements such as, "I was once on a plane that stalled mid-air," and "I've never heard the landing gear make a noise like that." At least now I know who's arm I'm digging my nails into.

We are currently visiting Tom's family in his hometown of Potsdam, New York. Our friends, Mike and Goose, co-own a plane together and offered to take us for a ride. Considering we will be flying quite frequently over the next ten months, I decided we needed some exposure therapy. Therapists call it "systematic desensitization" but we called it "Flying to Burlington for Breakfast."


The thing is - it worked! Something about being shoved into a 1963 Mooney single engine plane and soaring to 6000 feet above totally calmed my nerves. Mike took us over the Adirondacks and Lake Champlain as we headed east towards Burlington "International" Airport. The morning was so clear that we could see all the way to Montreal. It was gorgeous!

On our way back to Potsdam (after a delicious greasy spoon breakfast in Burlington), Mike even let me, Julia, President of the White Knuckle Clutching Club, fly the plane. No big deal. It was really fun! Tom took his turn as co-pilot as well:

So maybe flying IS for me. The jury is out until our flight through the Himalayas. But having your own plane sure is convenient. In the words of Ferris Bueller, "If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up."