Fly the friendly skies

I recently gave a presentation with a co-presenter I've worked with on several occasions. All-in-all, I feel that it was another successful presentation. I've noticed there are moments of unspoken understanding between the two of us and things just click. It's a fantastic experience. Our topic was one that is apparently "timely" in my profession. I have been contacted about this particular topic (more actually than I had anticipated). It seems it's an issue that many places are facing, and I'm quite frankly surprised at the amount of resistance there is in my field regarding this issue.

After the presentation, I was approached by someone who used to be a local but has since relocated to a place that is only accessible via air travel: my most despised way of travel, actually.

Despite this and other random postings on the subject, my only problem with travel (which I love to do) is that it often involves a flight, since there is nothing really close to me that I want to visit. I'm absolutely convinced I'm going to die in an airline disaster. A friend of mine, who is an ER physician, tried to alleviate my fears by telling me that at 10,000+ feet, if I were to expereince some sort of horrendous event, I wouldn't be conscious for too long anyway--the lack of oxygen at such an elevation would cause me to black out pretty quickly.

Which may be true, but it doesn't eliminate that my last thought could be characterized by an "FML" post.

Uncontrollable, stark fear hits me the minute we begin to taxi. Sweaty palms, hyperventilation; I'm surprised I haven't had to resort to Depends because I border on urinary and bowel incontinence as we hurtle towards that not-too-distant point where the tarmac runs out and we damn well better be headed up. And if we hit turbulence in mid-flight? Worst. Feeling. Ever. I've been on some rough flights, and had some rough landings, so one might surmise that I'd actually be okay with, or at least used to, traveling par avion.

There are places I'd love to go and see: other parts of the country and world. But the problem is planes are the most convenient way of getting there. And I'm using "convenient" loosely, since the whole expereince leading up to and including the flight just bites big donkey dick. Inconsiderate fellow travellers, shitty TSA workers, kids, swine flu, the rediculously expensive and unsatisfying airport food... it all leads up to a day that is rivaled only by being caned in Singapore.

So off I go from here to look at plane tickets for 3 excursions to states that are incredibly disparate from each other, each located on a different coast of some sort. I can't wait.