I love flying! Love the take off and the landing. Love sitting by the window and looking at the clouds or the ground below.
I'll be flying to Vegas soon and can't wait!

The cramped seating is so miserable. Even slight turbulence makes me sick so I almost always take a Bonine.
Otherwise, it's great.

I have been on long flights to Europe, Africa, even Australia. They are the worst unless you can get business class. First is way too pricey.

I'm sorry you were scared. The more you fly, the more relaxed you become. If you fly infrequently, then you will be nervous. I imagine that was really scary in Alaska. If you take a motion sickness pill, it makes you drowsy which might help. Are you planning a trip?

I also love flying. I've only flown commercially twice and had a positive experience both times. When we lived in Montana, we flew quite a bit with a friend in his 4 seater.
Taking off from the Butte Mt airport was OK, but landing, we had to come over the east ridge, and then had to come down quickly to the air strip. Kinda felt like you were leaving your stomach in the clouds/ LOL

I hate every single thing about flying except getting somewhere quickly. For me, it does NOT get easier the more I fly, it's just as scary every single time.

I flew into Kodiak Island, Alaska on a tiny prop plane during a storm, so I understand. I thought I was a goner for sure! It was the most terrifying hour and half in my entire life. Just thinking about it makes me feel sick.

We live in California. We fly to Hawaii twice a year. Have flown to New York. Also many places within the State of California; from California to Washington (state), and Oregon, Nevada, Arizona.

I'm not particularly fond of flying, but there are some places that you just can't drive to (Hawaii!), and flying is so much faster than driving.

I love flying! Especially the takeoff and landing, it's when you can feel the awesome power of the airplane engine. I've flown a few times, to New Orleans a couple of times and then to Las Vegas, Tampa, and Miami, Fl. I agree with you, Socks, the cramped seating is the only negative to me...

I'm not afraid of flying, but I hate that feeling of being crammed into a cattle car. I'd much rather drive/ride so I can stop and move around when I need to.

I almost want to kiss the ground when I land. LOL! I always get a window seat though. Pretty patchwork landscapes are the best part of flying.

I love reading everyone's replies here, its so interesting to me to read how many of you enjoy it, and to hear about all the places you have been.
Socks....sounds like you have been to alot of countries !
I have only left the USA many years ago to go across the boarder into Mexico !
I think I have lived a shelter life, LOL !

I love flying!

I was on a plane once meant to carry cargo, not people....the cabin was NOT pressurized and we didn't fly high enough to need it to be. The seats were bolted to a plywood floor. :0)

One plane which flew us from Grand Caymen to Little Caymen, seated 6. The engine noise was Soooooooooo LOUD....I needed ear plugs. :0)

The landing gear wouldn't open on one plane we were on. We flew around in circles until it did.

In Hawaii we chartered a small plane to fly over an active volcano.

I've flown in a helicopter. We chartered one in Las Vegas to fly over Lake Mead....the pilot gave us a thrill by doing dead drops over the edge...

I was in my 60's when I first flew. I flew to Johannesburg, So Africa, the second longest non stop flight in the world. Coming back we had to stop and refuel on an island because we were bucking a head wind. The thing I don't like about flying is the crowded conditions, a little to close for comfort. My favorite plane is a 6 passenger Cessna. It was very exciting for a couple of trips, now it is just a quick way to get to my destination.

Don't get me started. Last time I complained at this site about flying on commercial airlines, I was chastised, admonished and criticized ruthlessly. Yikes.

That being said, I don't like flying one bit. It's something to be suffered through and that's the best thing I can say about it. The whole experience - from beginning to end - is just so unpleasant. People say if you fly enough, the fear lessens. Not my experience. One week, I flew five times (round trip) in eight days. I fly a lot.

I'm prone to airsickness and I hate the turbulence and my ears hurt for days afterward and I also suffer from claustrophobia.

And the backscatter (or whatever it's called) virtual strip search now in use at American airports is not something I'm ever going to allow. It's a violation of my religious beliefs and my personal belief systems. Two weeks ago, I flew out of Boise and they're using it there, of all places. I opted for the full-body cavity search instead.

I'm flying next week to Atlanta and God willing, that'll be the last time I set foot on a flying tin can.

I hope.

Rose

I don't mind flying, in fact I look forward to it. It's the getting on the plane that irritates me. Stripping down to bare feet, emptying pockets, worrying that you forgot to remove your handy, dandy, teeny, tiny Swiss Army knife with scissors, tweezers, nail file/screw driver, toothpick, and knife from your purse and will now have it confiscated. DD had a pair of knitting needles confiscated from her purse (seriously). I guess they thought she was going to knit an Afghan (said jokingly). :-)

I've flown a number of places...
London, Frankfurt Germany, Paris, Bueno Aires and Ushuaia, Argentina, Tokyo and Kobe, Japan, Hawaii, Mexico City and Acapulco, Mexico, Vancouver, BC, Anchorage, Alaska, Boston, Seattle, Las Vegas, LA, Chicago, NYC, Houston, San Francisco, San Jose, Greenville, South Carolina and many other places I'm sure I've forgotten.

Jodi-

Love flying!
My former and his parents had Cessna's, and that introduced me to flying.

Flown commercially over the Atlantic, a few times, and the Pacific twice. And in and around the good ole USA

Been there, done, that, Nicole, on a cargo plane. They gave us ear plugs to wear.

Rosemary, are you sure you mean body cavity search?

I used to fly every week, then every month, now I fly about once a quarter. I don't have any fears of flying, but to me, it is something to be endured.
I don't enjoy the close quarters, lines and sometimes inconsiderate fellow travelers. I do enjoy getting somewhere quickly and I am appreciative of the airline professionals who work to keep up safe in the most comfort possible.

Jodi, thats an amazing list to someone like me !
WOW !
Vala55, I would need to wear depends on a small plane, if they could get me drugged up enough to get on one !

I've been flying commercially for 65 years...since i was only a few months old.

I love it.

Even used to take a 7 seat Islander airport shuttle down to PHL from out neighborhood airport. Sadly, that service was discontinued about 20 years ago.

Longest trip by air was from PHL to Wellington, NZ. Trip was 5 flight segments, no more than 2 hours apart - 32 hours straight from my door to the hotel. Very, very tiring.

Most interesting stop was a few hours in Iceland, when a flight from Nice, France stopped to refuel.

Most scenic was a morning flight from Stockholm to Rome. It was a cloudless sky, and we flew down over Eastern Europe, over the Alps. Fascinating.

Where have I flown to? All over the US, including Hawaii and except Alaska.
To Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Iceland, England, Scotland, Sweden, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, and Fiji.
I may have missed a couple.

LOL, I am beginning to feel like I have lived a shelter life !

I love flying. Get a window seat and watch the weather outside. I've flown from New York City to Buffalo many times to visit my parents, to Texas, to California, to Europe twice. The only way to go. But I do hate delays at airports.

Rosemary, a strip search or a CAVITY search?!?!?! I don't mind the scanners but I'd still like to know just in case, LOL....

I don't mind any of it, it's no big deal for me to take off my shoes and jacket and put it in a bin and walk a few steps until I get it back. I like the take-offs and landings and I always have at least one good book with me. I think the worst thing for me is the overpriced, lousy food you usually find in the airport. I feel sorry for the flight attendants who are treated like the passengers' personal slaves and so rudely, too. And I don't like when I get a chatty seatmate or one that crunches ice. Otherwise, I'm happy to fly.

I enjoy flying but don't do much. Been to Charlotte, Houston a couple times, Phoenix & Tucson. Can't think of any other places. I like the takeoff & landing and watching the scenery. I don't like the silly "food" that people are so crazy about. Good grief folks, have a sandwich before you leave, you don't have to eat every five minutes. No wonder so many are so fat. And the cramped seating isn't good. And the ones who bring their life's possessions on board and take up all the storage compartments. Screaming kids and cellphones don't impress me either.

Now with needing a passport to go to Canada, the extra security and delays and of course the cost I doubt I'll be doing much if any flying again, but who knows. I do understand the concern with the weapons though. Make fun of it all you want but a knitting needle is a pretty good weapon, especially considering that a razor blade was sufficient to take down four airliners on 9/11.

When I went to Charlotte about 25 years ago, I forgot that I had a standard pair of scissors in my briefcase. Thought they were going to call the SWAT team! And it was borderline on passing. I took them out and told my dad to just go throw them away. At least they didn't lose my luggage until the trip home.

Let's see: St Lauderdale/Miami bunches, Cape Canaveral, Philly, New York, Seattle WA, NC, CA. Louisiana, Texas, Iowa, etc.

Hawaii, Japan, China, South and East Africa, Alaska, in and out of Rome, Scotland/Ireland

Fine with flying once I've boarded. I'm a very relaxed flyer. Generally go to right sleep on a plane on trips longer than a couple of hours. Hate hate hate the whole airport experience.
I am not a believer in stupid "feel good' security measures.

I hate everything about it, can never forget that I'm actually sitting in a chair in the sky with the ground far, far below me.

I also get motion sickness, so I don't make a good traveler at all. LOL

I fly with the help of a little white pill which my friend refers to as The Prince, (Vallium.) Take-off is sooo hard for me and landing, less so. I'm ok with a little turbulence but hate, hate the stale air by the end of the flight which brings on a feeling of claustrophobia. I did make it to India and back but made myself sick to my stomach with fear, and thought I had food poisoning. My real fear is that the mechanics didn't do a good job or didn't catch a problem.

The security person checking the carry-ons at the start of my last flight didn't seem to be looking at the machine very carefully, imo. Otherwise, I don't mind all the security measures.

I have done a lot of flying in the last 42 years. I have been to Hawaii several times, Mexico, Italy, Germany, France, England, Holland and Italy. I have flown back and forth from West to East Coasts many times. I don't like the crowded seats and the lack of leg room but other than that it is a fast way to travel. I have reservations to fly to California on September 23 for an 11 day vacation.

My main problem with flying is that I have claustrophobia and being crammed into a plane with all those people is no fun. I've also been in a lightening storm with bad turbulence. I was suffering with an ear infection too at the time.. that was not a good flight.

I would be okay if I never had to fly again. I hate the long car rides though.. so for a long trip I will endure flying.

I've been in a small tourist plane and a commuter plane (hated that) flew in big planes to Washington, DC, Las Vegas, Florida a couple times, Michigan.. think that's it.

I flew a lot to Florida for the 30 years my parents lived there, and also to Bermuda and Arizona because my in-laws lived there.

When I first began flying, it was a different scene: Meals to look forward to, free drinks, not so many delays. Also, I was young and fearless. I was a little nervous on the landings, but then my cousin, an airline captain, informed me that take-off was riskier than landing. That contributed to my growing anxiety about flying.

The last time I flew was in 1996, and by then I was envying what I perceived as "the lucky people on the ground." I haven't flown since, and would be delighted to keep it that way.

I enjoy flying but my husband doesn't. He feels so uncomfortable when he's crammed into tight seats. We're flying to San Francisco next month and I picked an exit row seat for him that doesn't have a seat in front - so he'll have plenty of leg room. On the return I used frequent flyer miles to upgrade to first class.

We go to Boston every other year and took Amtrak the last time and enjoyed it so much we'll do it again next year. It wasn't much cheaper but it was so nice to be able to get up and walk around and use a real bathroom. I had completely forgotten how interesting it is to view the scenery from a train rather than the monotony of an interstate.

Maire

I flew first class to Scotland, last summer, and it was delightful! My FIRST

Whenever I get a chance, to go international, I will definitely do it again.

Don't have the moneys to do it on short trips, but overnite flights is so worth the money.

The "full body cavity search" was actually a little hyperbole. My friend Carla says she feels like she can forego her annual OB/GYN exam, given the intrusiveness of the TSA searches. :)

I do prefer the pat-down search to the backscatter. I'll tolerate a lot to avoid the electronic strip search offered by backscatter xrays.

I really do hope and pray this is my last time on an airplane. Hubby and I take lots of little trips and we do cars and trains now. He hates flying more than I do.

I love to fly for one reason only, Time. When we travel, I just want to get where I am going fast! I am not scared to fly and I don't get sick, I just don't like it. Too crowded, close and I cannot sleep a wink on a plane.

We fly once or twice a year, I think it's the only way to travel. Unless you are going short distances.

Oversea flights about kill me, I don't do well without my beauty sleep!!!

I love flying and have my face glued to the window the whole time, even if it's cloudy there are still things to be seen. My cousin used to take me up in his little 2 seater Piper Cub. We would land in a hay field. One day we pushed it across the road into our grandparents yard so we could wash it. Boy, did we get looks from people driving by.
A few years ago Bigbaby gave me 4 hours of flight instructions in a 4 seater Cessana. Best birthday present ever! Someday if I have more money than I know what to do with I'd love to own an ultralight.

Ron

Ron, I love small planes and I flew on a Piper in Alaska. I had a special treat on my Peruvian Amazon Riverboat Tour. Helen Piper and her daughter were were guests also. They were very nice. The made sure they sat with every passenger during dinner so the could get to know us all. They were the life of the party during happy hour, encouraging everyone to get up and dance and have fun. I don't mean they were drinking to much, just having fun.

Ron this is the plane that took me to the top of MT McKinley. The pilot said "there are a lot of Pipers In Alaska, very dependable".

I love to fly! Back in the 70's I was a flight attendant with Mohawk and then with Allegheny, loved it. Since then I've travelled the world, set foot on every continent except Antarctica.

My first flight was Chicago Midway to Minneapolis when I was...seven, I think. O'Hare hadn't become a commercial airport yet. I LOVED being on the plane and was mortified when I had to use the airsick bag! Turned out I had the flu and was in bed at my aunt and uncle's home on Lake Harriet for days after. I don't remember the trip back; it may have been on the "Hiawatha".

I'd LOVE to travel on a NICE train again and sleep in a berth with the sound of the clickety-clack -- but I haven't heard much that's good about train travel recently. My father took me to Tucson on the train to visit his parents when I was six. DH and I endured a hot overnight in a compartment Chicago-Montreal for the fair.

Maire_cate -- Please tell me more about your trip to Boston by rail.

The only place we fly regularly now is to Maui every February. It's nine hours out and eight on the return. I like the 767's AA uses. We use miles to upgrade to first. I can actually sleep on the almost-flat-reclining seats on the redeye home. When we are outbound I am like Ron, glued to the window as we go over the Rockies and (usually) over the Golden Gate bridge. Coming home Vegas looks like 'that bad place in the Bible' at night, burning bright in the middle of darkness. (Chicago looks like another level of the Inferno with its ugly sodium vapor lighting.)

I remember wearing a suit -- and girdle, stockings, gloves, and a HAT boarding the plane in NYC when we honeymooned in London and Paris. Now many passengers look like they just came in from mowing the back forty.

I HATE the 'security' because it is such nonsense. Ever notice how TSA ignores the scruffy looking, stinky guy with the beard and frisks little old ladies -- like ME? It's SUCH a waste of time. I'd be glad to just be scanned. They could SEE my two artificial hips and be done with it.

We've never been to the Near or Far East. We've visited most of the States, Mexico, the Caribbean, South America, Canada, England, Scotland, the Continent, Russia, the Scandinavian Countries. (Some of that travel was via car, rail and cruise ship.)

Monica -- I'm intrigued that you were flying as a baby! Parents in the service?

We've been on huge airliners, 6-seaters and helicopters. My most memorable flight was aboard the Goodyear blimp over the coast off Miami when I was about ten. When they cut the engines it felt just the way you do when you are 'flying' in a dream -- silent, effortless floating above the earth.

Flying doesn't bother me, and I find the actual air travel part of it to be mildly interesting. I don't like all the airport formalities, though, because they're time consuming and quite a bother; however, I do appreciate the efforts towards security. I've been to Jamaica, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, B.C, Calgary, Washington and North Carolina a few times. I actually like road trips much better, and I always want to visit interesting places on the way to my destination. Because I work f/t, I just don't have the luxury of time to do that.

vala, the piper my cousin had was much smaller. Single engine, two seater, one behind the other, with dual controls. It was great for training in, and needed less than a thousand feet to take off.

Ron

This piper J-3 is similar to my cousins plane. His wasn't this flashy, it was white with red trim. I remember it took two people to start it. One at the controls and one to spin the prop to start it.

Just the bare neccesities in the cockpit.

Ron

Chisue- We live near Philly so the train trip wasn't all that long. Depending on which train and what time you leave the trip can be from 5 to 6 hours. I think the shortest time is 4 hours 51 minutes on one of the Acela Express trains which is what we booked.

If you calculate the the actual travel time door to door the train was faster than flying. You don't have to be there an hour (or 2) before flight time, you don't have to wait as long for luggage (there are overhead racks and a storage area on each car), the seats are roomier, we were offered both breakfast and lunch with several choices.

You could get up and stretch your legs easily, the bathroom was very large, there was a club car, the meals were tasty and the service staff very nice. We did go first class so I don't know what the other cars are like. The only downside was that the ticket doesn't give you a specific seat by row and number just 'A' seat in first class.

However the unexpected bonus was what we saw out of the windows. We've become so accustomed to driving on interstates that I had forgotten what the countryside and little towns look like. And like you I would love to take a longer trip on a train. I have read reviews by travelers who have done that and they seemed to feel that the postives outweighed the negatives.

Ron, that is simple alright. Looks like fun.

Maire_cate -- Thanks for the information. There's a lot of talk now about spending some stimulus dollars on new rail. I may get to take that trip yet!

I, too, have enjoyed seeing the country from a train window. Of course, you also see into everyone's back yards and rear windows when you are departing and arriving cities. (Sort of 'the backside' of life.)

Ron -- Hard to believe that's not just a scooter with wings! Now I understand how you could just push it across a street and wash it with a garden hose. I wonder if that isn't what a boy friend took me up in years ago...almost lost my breakfast as he 'showed off'.

First was Tokyo to Seoul, 1953 - we got to visit the cockpit (flight deck?).

Second was Seoul to Hong Kong, with Cathay Pacific, one of the world's best airlines, in '57, just after turbo props came in.

Then Hong Kong to Bangkok, Calcutta, Bombay by "Constellation" ... and they re-issued my ticket Hong Kong - Bombay. Then when I arrived in Calcutta, told that I needed to go to New Delhi to travel north to the mountains ... that they couldn't reroute me to New Delhi, or I'd have to make my own way there and to Bombay. After the end of the flight, after much arguing in New York (why didn't they have a map of India in the Air India office in Hong Kong?) they paid my flight Bombay - New Delhi and return.

Bombay to Beirut, side trip to Amman, Athens, Rome and Geneva (to take a conference at the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey, near Geneva).

Geneva to London, then hitch-hiked around Europe, including a trip Geneva to Salisbury, England, for a missionary colleague's wedding ... till I bought a VW Bug in Geneva, which I shipped to N Y and drove around Ithaca that winter while attending Cornell.

London - Montreal, then hitch-hiked to Toronto ... and it was while they were building the Seaway, so the guy who picked me up by Dorval airport and dropped me in Toronto (my longest hitch-hike by far) gave me a bonus ... on the detour through Ottawa (due to the Seaway construction), we drove past our Parliament buildings, so I got to see them.

This was all in 1957, and I've flown a number of times since, including London - Edmonton, and Detroit - Phoenix.

Flying doesn't bother me ... I figure that my possibility of ending up in disaster is much less than while driving on the road ... but it makes a bigger splash in the papers/on TV.

As for the searches at the airports ... I figure that's mostly window dressing, to make us feel better ... how careful are they about various airport staff, baggage handlers and the like? Seems to me that airports are pretty porous.

And, anyway ... all that terrorists need do is pop a rocket-propelled grenade at an airliner from just beyond any major airport boundary.

ole joyful

I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!! probably why I've been a flight attendant for almost 33 years!!

I love traveling and I love flying. My first flight was when I was 4 to London to visit my mom's family. My most recent was last month from Chicago to Buffalo and back. My longest flight was NYC/Kennedy to Cairo, Egypt. Long flight but well worth the vacation! I've filled up one passport and had to get another before the normal renewal time. Smallest plane was a 4 seater and I got to "fly" it (with a licensed pilot at my side) once we reached our cruising altitutde of 3000 ft. That is one of my biggest thrills of my life!!!

I'm fortunate that I've been able to travel so much. And I'm especially fortunate to have family in many places....no hotel bills for us when we arrive! We also get to return the favor.

I like getting some place in a hurry. I don't like being up so high and I don't like being crowded with other people and I don't like being out of control. I can fly and handle it okay....I just don't want to do it any more.