flying alone

[randolady 1]

I could put off worrying about this for another 6 months, probably, but oh well.

Is anybody else nervous about the prospect of their fiance/husband/wife flying alone? I am!!! To travel from Tanzania to Chicago is probably going to take a total of 30 hours of travel time, with at least two layovers. My fiance has never flown before. Things I'm worried about:

1. Missing a connecting flight and not knowing what to do and not being able to contact me

2. Getting scared while flying

3. Security giving him a hard time

4. Deep Vein Thrombosis (no no, just kidding! Well maybe a little...)

5. Being bored to death

I would really like to fly with him, but that would be a lot of money for an escort service. He will be okay by himself, yes?

[Niels Bohr 72]

Yes. I will be extremely worried if my wife fly alone. She doesn't speak, nor does she understands English. And she never flew in her life.

If she flew alone, she'll get lost or miss her plane. So, to make sure she arrives safely with no problems I need to escort her by going to get her.

[Dan J 277]

When I flew to Indonesia, it was the first time I flew alone, and flew internationally. It took around 30 hours from Minneapolis, with 2 stops.

1. Having a laptop helps, most airports have wi-fi, free or paid for. Other than that you should be able to find IDD phones that can be used with a credit card. If your fiancee knows english, he should have no trouble finding his way around most airports.

2. Not much you can do about that, sleeping pills might help, too busy sleeping to care.

3. Outside of the US, not likely, inside, it depends.

4. On long flights, get up and walk around every few hours. Strech and bend.

5. Book and reading material are good. Some flights he may just end up sleeping. You can rent dvd players and dvds from some airports and return them at your next stop.

If you been through the airports he will be going through before, you can let him know what to expect. Its sometimes a bit confusing, especially if you are taking multiple airlines that are not codesharing.

[Detty2809 0]

My fiance said that he's not worry about me flying alone cuz I've done it several times....but *I* myself am worried!! HAHA!! I dunnnoooo.. I've flown more than dozens of times and still scared of flying....especially after the transportation accidents in Indonesia... I'm not scared of getting lost in the foreign airport...just the flight itself.

[m&n 0]

Don't worry......people are very helpful..... my grandmother has taken countless flights from the US to Egypt or Saudi and the only things she says in English are "Yes" "No" and "No English"!!

[Niels Bohr 72]

Don't worry......people are very helpful..... my grandmother has taken countless flights from the US to Egypt or Saudi and the only things she says in English are "Yes" "No" and "No English"!!

I don't know. I want to believe.

My wife is beautiful. I'm afraid someone might kidnap her, rape her, or what. LOL.

[m&n 0]

What are you trying to say.....that my grandma's not a beauty!!! Just Kiddin!!

Don't worry......people are very helpful..... my grandmother has taken countless flights from the US to Egypt or Saudi and the only things she says in English are "Yes" "No" and "No English"!!

I don't know. I want to believe.

My wife is beautiful. I'm afraid someone might kidnap her, rape her, or what. LOL.

[jlivings99 0]

If you are concerned about someone not speaking English, a woman on an international flight with me had a sheet of paper with all of her information (written by a relative). One of the flight attendants used the information to fill out the woman's forms for her. I wish I could get so much assistance.

[Otto 83]

Well...don't tell Karin..but I do worry..not too much though.. She is tougher than she looks so.. The language isn't that much of an issue and the trip is much shorter.

That said..

5. Bored to death..it's gonna happen..so things to read are nice, books, magazines from home are suggested.

4. Make sure he knows to drink water on the flight and during layovers.. wear comfortable clothes and I suggest removing shoes during the flight (people tend to swell at altitude).

3. This shouldn't be too much of an issue.. he/she needs to remember to have their paperwork (passport, visa etc) in a safe place ON THEM at all times..don't sent it down, don't forget to retrieve it..always kept close and in their possession.

2. Scared while flying.. try a window seat - to make it interesting..they can see out and watch from a view you don't get to see very often..worked for me when I was a kid..but hopefully the fear is not overwhelming.. see Tip #1 for more

1. If language is an issue..it might be a good idea to prepare in advance some key phrases in both languages - native and english...Things like their name - where they are from, where they are going, who they are meeting..and some contact information...I am hungry, I am lost, I am afraid of flying..etc..just little things that can help if language becomes an issue...

Plan the trip out..find out where the layovers are going to be.. how long - if possible, get the layout of the airport..make a plan for each stop. Always remind them..Do Not Leave The Airport... and what to expect when they arrive at the POE..

[raphael7546 0]

My daughter 11 yrs old flys by herself to come visit me and then back home all the time.

My neighbour is 80 yrs old and was given air fare to see his brother in California. He hadn't used it becuase he was scared to fly alone. After learning my little girl flew here alone since she was 8 yrs old , he decided to fly. He said, "If She can do it, So can I !!

[JelloShotGirl 0]

i was supposed to go "pick up" my husb to be and fly back with him, but I had some drama with the tickets that caused me to wait till last minute=now cant afford the ticket to get there, so he is flying to NY by himself, everyone telling me he is a man/ big boy (LOL he can handle it!) he is 38 years old, so I thought about it, yeah, he can handle it! I flew over there a few times so he can do it! dont worry! ( I didnt tell him all the turbulence after flying over Korea, though! LOL!

Edited March 19, 2007 by JelloShotGirl

[Cali Gal CPA 0]

on a long flight, bring a good book or pop a benadryl

[Cali Gal CPA 0]

My daughter 11 yrs old flys by herself to come visit me and then back home all the time.

My neighbour is 80 yrs old and was given air fare to see his brother in California. He hadn't used it becuase he was scared to fly alone. After learning my little girl flew here alone since she was 8 yrs old , he decided to fly. He said, "If She can do it, So can I !!

Unrelated, but this post reminded me of my first week of driving in the US. You see, I have a merging anxiety, I know how to do it but would really be scared. One day I had to pick my daughter from RDU airport after a summer vacation in CA, hubby was TDY in Alabama, I was merging onto I-95 and on my right was an 80-year old woman, driving an old Cadillac, she didn't seem fazed at all, she was just merging minding her own business. Wow, if she can do it so can I!

My merging anxiety went away that day. Presently, I'm driving on the autobahn and merging doesn't scare me as much.

[randolady 1]

on a long flight, bring a good book or pop a benadryl

Hehe, I did that when coming back from Tanzania. The problem is with two 8+ hour flights in a row, with not much layover time in between... I couldn't sleep on the second flight, having slept so much on the first one. And my entertainment console was broken! The only book I had was Atlas Shrugged, and I had read that the month before. Guh. I had never before stared into space for so long.

Oh well. Once I got to Newark I treated myself to trashy magazines and caught up on all the celebrity gossip I had missed in the past two months.

[mmarlo 1]

I don't think your fiance will have as much difficulty with the length of the flights as you did. He's Tanzanian, and he must be accustomed to loooong waits and lengthy, bumpy, and uncomfortable travel. I think if he were to take the bus from Dar to Nairobi, for example, it could easily take just as long as the flights from Dar to Chicago, with a lot of bumps along the way, possibly sitting in a seat that doesn't recline (or only reclines!), and with a fairly high chance of a break-down! I did a Busia-Nairobi-Mombasa-Nairobi-Busia-Nairobi trip over a period of about two weeks, covering roughly the distance from Chicago to Detroit to Indianapolis and back, and each leg was 8-10 hours on the bus. The 26 hour flight back from Nairobi to Indianapolis was much easier and much more comfortable.

I think your fiance, as an English speaker, won't have much trouble getting directions in the airports. He just has to be willing to ask for help. He certainly won't be the only African on that flight who gets confused when they reach the airport in Europe. They can easily stick together and figure out where to go next. Even experienced travelers can get confused in a new airport, but it's usually easy to get help.

All that said, I totally understand your concerns. I would have liked to have "picked up" Jacinta to bring her back here, but the cost is prohibitive. However, I happen to have a wealthy aunt and uncle who apparently have been dying to go on safari, so now they're planning to go do their sight-seeing and then bring Jacinta back with them on the same flight. I think it's great, and she does too, but honestly it's not necessary, and if they weren't going, Jacinta would be dealing with one more aspect of the "journey" alone.