I am tired

[LissaC]

I never been through TSA but I've been through security before my flight to Israel. After airport security the gate opened 2 hours earlier and I was questioned by a security guy, then questioned and searched by one policeman and one policewoman who also searched my bag for explosives and the policewoman did a light body search on me. I even had a bottle of water that I had filled on the airport's bathroom and they asked me to drink a bit of the "liquid" I had in the bottle There were policemen guarding the plane as well. And I guess this wasn't too bad. A couple years ago there weren't direct flights to Tel Aviv from Lisbon, I know someone who connected in Amsterdam where passengers to Israel had to wait for the plane in a separate room that only had one bathroom and one caffé.

The road to Tel Aviv airport has two military stops where they stop the car, look at your faces and open the bag of the car. And then you're questioned and searched on the airport. I knew an Australian girl who was traveling the world and she had been to Iran, then Jordan, then to Israel. When she entered Israel she was questioned for 2 hours and they demanded to see all of her travel photos.

 

[caseydog]

One of my neighbors that psycho-poodle LOVES came by with her dog, and we talked for a while. Same thing with her that we all seem to be experiencing. Home cooked food is great, but at some point, you just want to go out to a restaurant and let someone else do the cooking. And, you want to do it with a table full of friends.

CD

 

[TastyReuben]

Wow, a lot to digest here.

1. If you are okay with sitting/walking through airports, you obviously haven't spent any time at LaGuardia. The Cincinnati airport is no luxury resort, but it is about 1000 times better than LaGuardia.

2. TSA is not a big deal, until you test positive for explosives. I work around old cars, and they spew a lot of unburned hydro-carbons. The TSA people were very professional, and really polite. If you test positive for explosives, kiss off the next hour. Oh, and don't freak out when they take you to a little room, and frisk you in a very personal way. They do tell you what they are going to do, before they do it, but they don't buy you dinner and a movie first. Again, I have to say that the TSA people were very professional, and treated me with great courtesy. They had a job to do, and I understand that.

CD

My favorite airport in the US is Philly. Most people hate it, but I love it. Least favorite is Atlanta, though I've not been to LaGuardia.

Minneapolis (though I haven't been there in over 15 years) was always nice, and I also like Detroit's airport.

I've had the "personal" searches by TSA before we got on the approval list because I refused to go through the x-ray machine. Always polite, always professional, always went all the way up my thigh/groin joint until they couldn't go any farther.

With the travel anxiety, it has nothing to do with the reality of the situation, it's just that my mind starts going to every possibility of how things could go wrong, no matter how ridiculous.

When getting on the plane, I worry about overhead space, even though we always have dedicated overhead space, when we're in-flight, I worry about getting diverted. When we land, I worry about the door getting jammed, when we get into the airport, I worry about my luggage being lost, and then (if we have a rental car), about something going wrong with that, and if we have public transport, about my travel pass working, and en route, I worry about the hotel losing our reservation. When we rented a house, I worried about not being able to get the lockbox open that held the key, and I insisted on having a way to contact the home owner directly instead of through the agency, since we were arriving on a Sunday.

And as soon as we get there...I start worrying about all that in reverse, for the way back.

 

[caseydog]

My favorite airport in the US is Philly. Most people hate it, but I love it. Least favorite is Atlanta, though I've not been to LaGuardia.

Minneapolis (though I haven't been there in over 15 years) was always nice, and I also like Detroit's airport.

I've had the "personal" searches by TSA before we got on the approval list because I refused to go through the x-ray machine. Always polite, always professional, always went all the way up my thigh/groin joint until they couldn't go any farther.

With the travel anxiety, it has nothing to do with the reality of the situation, it's just that my mind starts going to every possibility of how things could go wrong, no matter how ridiculous.

When getting on the plane, I worry about overhead space, even though we always have dedicated overhead space, when we're in-flight, I worry about getting diverted. When we land, I worry about the door getting jammed, when we get into the airport, I worry about my luggage being lost, and then (if we have a rental car), about something going wrong with that, and if we have public transport, about my travel pass working, and en route, I worry about the hotel losing our reservation. When we rented a house, I worried about not being able to get the lockbox open that held the key, and I insisted on having a way to contact the home owner directly instead of through the agency, since we were arriving on a Sunday.

And as soon as we get there...I start worrying about all that in reverse, for the way back.

Wow, I would like to reply to that with something more than, "Are you taking your meds?" But, this thread has gone way off-topic, and if/when MG steps in, she's going to blame it on me.

CD

 

[medtran49]

i am tired or wearing a face mask, I am tired of having to cook every day. I am tired of not being able to congregate with friends. I am tired of the extreme heat and humidity that we have been experiencing. I am tired of the crazy extremes of drought then flood then more drought. I am tired of being tired.
I want to scream.
This is me being crazy.

I am so glad I have all of you. I can vent without judgement.
to all.

Me too!

 

[rascal]

I don't know anyone that gets anxious about flying, kiwis are I'm told the most travelled people in the world. Our distance prolly attributes us that? First class is a bonus, I've only flown it twice Auckland to singerpore and Auckland to Vanuatu. Loved the experience. Pre covid I was flying regular delivering trucks. That's dried up. On the news about a month ago Auckland airport with its shutdown put 120 businesses that operate from there out of business. I never thought about all those businesses that work from the airport.

Russ

 

[TastyReuben]

Wow, I would like to reply to that with something more than, "Are you taking your meds?" But, this thread has gone way off-topic, and if/when MG steps in, she's going to blame it on me.

CD

Yeah...for cholesterol and blood pressure, the usual chubby middle-aged afflictions.

Seriously, if I were a generation younger, I'm sure they'd have already hepped me up on all kinds of anti-anxiety medications. I don't know about all my nieces and nephews, but I know a good bit of them are on those.

I was talking with my niece one day, we were flying and sitting in the airport, and she asked how things were going, and I said, "Oh, fine, just waiting to find out that they won't let me on because I've forgotten to register my socks or something," and she started laughing and said, "OMG! I'm the same way! Do you worry that they'll run out of food? I do! That's why I always pack food!"

Seriously, it's no fun, because I mentioned just one thing for each part of traveling, and in reality, there are dozens of things going through my mind at the same time, and I'm constantly terrified I'm going to lose my tickets or passport or phone or ID, so the whole flying experience, I obsessively check, recheck, and re-recheck my stuff every few minutes.

I really feel for my wife. I don't really verbalize much of what's shooting through my brain, but she can see I'm visibly agitated the entire time. By the time we arrive at our lodgings, my nerves are so shot, I'm close to a breakdown and ready to collapse somewhere and not think about anything for the next 24 hours, but she wants to go, go, go.

 

[caseydog]

Yeah...for cholesterol and blood pressure, the usual chubby middle-aged afflictions.

Seriously, if I were a generation younger, I'm sure they'd have already hepped me up on all kinds of anti-anxiety medications. I don't know about all my nieces and nephews, but I know a good bit of them are on those.

I was talking with my niece one day, we were flying and sitting in the airport, and she asked how things were going, and I said, "Oh, fine, just waiting to find out that they won't let me on because I've forgotten to register my socks or something," and she started laughing and said, "OMG! I'm the same way! Do you worry that they'll run out of food? I do! That's why I always pack food!"

Seriously, it's no fun, because I mentioned just one thing for each part of traveling, and in reality, there are dozens of things going through my mind at the same time, and I'm constantly terrified I'm going to lose my tickets or passport or phone or ID, so the whole flying experience, I obsessively check, recheck, and re-recheck my stuff every few minutes.

I really feel for my wife. I don't really verbalize much of what's shooting through my brain, but she can see I'm visibly agitated the entire time. By the time we arrive at our lodgings, my nerves are so shot, I'm close to a breakdown and ready to collapse somewhere and not think about anything for the next 24 hours, but she wants to go, go, go.

So, I'm guessing you would not enjoy waking up in Dallas, photographing 3 cars in LosAngeles, and checking into a hotel in New York at 2AM.

Even better, you don't mind sitting in airports. Imagine sitting in an airport, with no ticket, waiting for your customer to call you and tell you where you are going.
CD

 

[TastyReuben]

I don't know anyone that gets anxious about flying

The actual flight, like worrying the plane is going to crash...never enters my mind. I worry about all kinds of tiny details, like what happens if I go into the toilet on the plane, and then can't get the door open again? I've flown hundreds of times, that's never happened, yet I put off using the toilet on the airplane for as long as possible just because of that.

 

[TastyReuben]

So, I'm guessing you would not enjoy waking up in Dallas, photographing 3 cars in LosAngeles, and checking into a hotel in New York at 2AM.

CD

No, I wouldn't enjoy that. I have to have downtime between each leg of a trip. That's why I don't mind long layovers.

 

[rascal]

The actual flight, like worrying the plane is going to crash...never enters my mind. I worry about all kinds of tiny details, like what happens if I go into the toilet on the plane, and then can't get the door open again? I've flown hundreds of times, that's never happened, yet I put off using the toilet on the airplane for as long as possible just because of that.

Hey I'm scared of heights, but I resign myself to knowing there's nothing I can do about it. Could you take a pill? Diazepam ? Before flying?

Russ

 

[TastyReuben]

Hey I'm scared of heights, but I resign myself to knowing there's nothing I can do about it. Could you take a pill? Diazepam ? Before flying?

Russ

I don't know, never asked, but I usually don't like taking medication. I'm always on my doc's butt to take me off my cholesterol and blood pressure pills.

 

[rascal]

I don't know, never asked, but I usually don't like taking medication. I'm always on my doc's butt to take me off my cholesterol and blood pressure pills.

I have felodipin sp? for bp. I had a bout of depression after 2 big ops in 06 when I nearly died. They gave me diazepam in case I had a bad day? I've had like 1 this year just to make me chill. They do work.

Russ

 

[Burt Blank]

@caseydog that's one thing I'd love to try, flying first class. If I ever do it I want it to be on one of the emiratis airlines

Like the Dog I was very lucky, for the business I mainly flew Club/Business class. On occasion we would blag a promoter to pay for first class.
Japan Airlines first class is very hard to beat. Wonderful sushi and silk kimonos. I flew with them Heathrow to Tokio refuel Alaska, Tokyo to Heathrow with a 2 day stop over in the Kahala Honolulu for free ( manager was my buss partner brother). Upon descent into Heathrow Stevie said to me "do you realize you have flown around the world in 9 days" My response was "and".

 

[Burt Blank]

Tel Aviv

One of the reasons El Al is still the safest airline to fly on is because wherever they take off from security starts in the airport before you would recognize it. Undercover agents mingle and watch. They are trained in only one thing, threat recognition. They do not have to detain. They do not look like the stereotypical TV Mossad agent. I have said enough.