I just wanted to share with you my experience since the fearless flying course in Perth last year.
Firstly, the course was fantastic. Best value of any courses I have ever been on! Couldn’t rate it highly enough.
Two weeks, following the course I had a train ride booked to Adelaide on the Indian Pacific. That was booked beforehand, so I did it anyway and drove back to Perth with my dad.
Then I booked a flight to Exmouth to catch up with my family a few weeks later…. A bit scary but totally fine. It was a low and thick cloud landing without a hitch so that was cool.
Then I kind of went from strength to strength. Being lucky enough to fly for work I flew to Sydney for a conference in June, then the Gold Coast (personal) then Brisbane (work). Then Darwin in August, Melbourne speaking at a conference in October, then another speaking enagement in Melbourne in November and on to Tassie… .etc.
So I have made it to every capital city in Australia in the last 10 months which I’m really proud of and really thankful to you.
See attached I have made a map of where I have flown.
I have come to love flying. As an engineer I love the engineering aspects of flying. I have got into using a flight simulator at home and love that. Now getting on a plane is a thing of interest and dare I say it almost relaxing (kicking back watching a movie).
You probably get lots of these stories! Happy to share mine at an upcoming course if you like.
As mentioned previously, yesterday was my first flight since the course. I had had such a strange, out of the ordinary week and that’s something that would usually have me very anxious, but all week had been using the techniques that Vanessa taught us (especially five second breathing) to ensure that my anxiety didn’t take hold. I was pleased and surprise to find that it worked!
Hopping on the plane was a breeze (though I found myself wishing that you all were with me, especially Vanessa with her distraction techniques!) as was push-back and take-off.
During the first hour there were a couple of nervous moments, but instead of letting myself take hold of those thoughts, I flicked them off, breathed, and reminded myself that the pilots were in control.
When the phone dinged my sister asked me I I knew what that noise meant, and I told her the pilots probably wanted their coffee 😉
When the plane turned sharply, I knew we were just following our course, not flipping over! When we started to descend and it sounded like the engines went off and it felt bumpy and there was a big noise, I reminded myself that we don’t need so much power coming into land and the air pressure is changing and the landing gear is going down.
These are all things that would have had me in full-on panic attack mode before. But because I could control my physical reaction by regulating my breathing, I was in a state to remind myself that I knew why everything was happening.
My mum was crying when she met me at the airport. I think she thought she would never see me hop off a plane again! My life has just opened up since completing the course. The sense of freedom is overwhelming. I feel like a new person! No more boundaries! Again, thank you all so much for your support and for sharing your stories post-course.
