Dear Blake:

Congratulations for following through with a goal you set: how exciting, to travel to another country alone!

I did that myself, traveled to Europe alone. What I liked about it was that there was no one for me to report to or to consider- I could go where I wanted, when I wanted, for as long as I wanted to. I didn’t set a plan for myself (advantages and disadvantages to that! I would keep the non-planning limited and the planning flexible), and so, I enjoyed unexpected pleasures. For example I ended up in a small, old Belgium town (on the way to France) in an unexpected local festival and enjoyed it very much. On the other hand, I didn’t enjoy and was quite bored being at the Eifel tower, a known touristy attraction. The sense of freedom for me was intoxicating.

Regarding flight anxiety- didn’t experience much of that. What I like about flying is in the plane there is nowhere-to-go and nothing-to-do, so it is an opportunity to relax. I suppose advice on handling anxiety in any situation will apply to flight anxiety, and you can plan on strategies to calm that anxiety ahead of time.

Congratulations and hope you keep an okay balance between excitement and nervousness.

anita