The black writing, with sticky letters, on the back glass of that old jeep did not leave much room for interpretation: "Fear and money, never had!". And on this sentence so peremptory I had time to reflect a lot, since the line of the cars directed to the airport was really long and, for some unknown but recurring reason, the traffic towards the international port of call was very congested.
Without money, I thought, he couldn’t buy a newer car. Patience. But then what does he do at the airport, where even just to park money he needs a lot of money? It was, however, the second part of the philosophical adhesive reflection, as the cars proceeded at a snail’s pace towards the toll booth, that made me think. Without fear, maybe he’s going on a flight. But this brought me back to the first part of the reasoning, which maybe should not be taken too literally. Being alone, the man driving, without someone to support him and convince him not to leave the gate, certainly not afraid to fly. An ancestral terror that instead attacks many aspiring travelers even before booking a flight. A fear so strong, visceral, to prevent you to enjoy honeymoons, holidays, romantic weekends and work destinations too far apart. With all that this entails. A terror misunderstood by friends, family and employers, who often dismiss it as the whim of a late teenager. A tenacious phobia that not even the P.E. Baracus of A-Team was able to clear and make in all its complexity.
@gianlucaacolombo Replying to @Oks Dane e se avete paura dell’altezza preferite sempre il posto corridoio🥰 #flightattendant #cabincrew #cabincrewlife #assistentedivolo #ryanair #pauradivolare @Oks Dane ♬ Aesthetic - Tollan Kim
And that is sometimes particularly devious. Because it is not enough to defeat it when booking, preparing luggage and boarding. No, the fear of flying can shut your stomach and cloud your mind even when you don’t expect it and you’re thinking that, all in all, you did well. Like when the plane took off, the shrill voice authorized the release of the belts and you’re pretending an unnatural tranquility joking about what to ask the hostess when the awaited drink cart will pass. And yet, unfortunately, someone pulled the porthole blinds from your side. The time to bring to mind those few notions of geography that you have laboriously learned in so many years of school and so many evenings in Trivial and panic explodes quickly and unexpectedly, allowing you only to say a question that would not be rhetorical: "but shouldn’t the sea be on the other side?".
Fellow travellers look at you, compassionate, thinking you have exaggerated with those little pills that you have tried to swallow without giving too much in the eye and take on the compassionate and falsely understanding air that the occasion requires. But then the shrill and foreign voice makes an announcement, the content of which is incomprehensible to most passengers. And then everyone starts looking out and gaining the awareness that yes, the plane is flying in the wrong direction. He’s really coming back. A maneuver that, thanks to the many catastrophic American films that we caught on Sky, does not bring to mind any happy ending. And so here the fear emerges, even stronger and shocking leading to thoughts that at best aspire to regret having wanted to overcome, facing that unnecessary stress to be on a plane that flies against hand.
Which then, fear and travel often go hand in hand. Whether it’s fear of flying, sailing, diving or scary trips, the combination is tight even if not always lucky. Some argue that fear is a positive element, which on the one hand prevents us (almost always) from doing stupid risky things and on the other stimulates us and keeps us alive.
@positivitrip POTREBBE SEMBRARE UNA COSA DA NIENTE…😳 Eppure stando alle statistiche circa il 20% degli italiani ha difficoltà serie nel prendere un aereo, una cosa che per tutti gli altri potrebbe essere assolutamente normale. Qualche settimana fa in risposta alle storie in tantissimi - parliamo di centinaia di voi😱 - ci avete raccontato di come la paura dell’aereo vi attanaglia al momento di viaggiare per cui abbiamo messo insieme alcuni consigli pratici che possono aiutarvi a gestire questa difficoltà e provare a superarla. Se la situazione è più complicata del solito sappiate che esistono dei veri e propri CORSI per superare la paura del volo (particolare interessante: diversi di questi sono anche organizzati dalle stesse compagnie aeree, lo sapevate?😎) Voi come la vivete? Siete impavidi o ad ogni volo avete del disagio di cui fareste volentieri a meno?🫨🛫
♬ original sound - Positivitrip
However, it is not always possible to live and perceive it in such a reasonable and detached way. And this can create a number of limits and obstacles that reduce the potential of a holiday. The vertigo prevents us from climbing the 5-metre trampoline to demonstrate our alleged diving skills. And they forbid us to climb on the glass terrace that launches towards the void, suspended over the abyss of the Grand Canyon. They make it impossible to appreciate that new Tibetan bridge that unites two beautiful mountains of the Apennines and also that canopy that runs between the tops of the tall trees of the forest of Borneo.
But fear, a motor that often makes you immobile and sometimes instead pushes you fast on the accelerator of emotions and on the muscles of your legs, can be an uncomfortable travel companion as useful, sometimes, to avoid getting bogged down in situations not too pleasant.
Like when you are in a parking lot just outside the center of Zagreb, a little more than a clearing carved into the rubble of some buildings demolished by bombs that completely close the horizon. A nice place, little reassuring by day. And that with the nightfall, with the few dim and uncertain lights that turn on and off with inconstant alternation, gives even less serenity. That’s why fear starts to move your legs faster, it makes your eyes more able to scrutinize the dark, it suggests you not to argue with the valet who does not speak English and to pay every amount required.
Or like when you are 45 meters below the surface of the sea and, sensing a buzzing increasingly close, you make the mistake of looking up, suddenly becoming aware of the huge, endless column of water that dominates you. The breath then becomes shorter, the breath more labored, the air suddenly seems to come out of the tanks with less conviction. And fear, as when a big dog approaches you angry, suggests you ignore the danger, look elsewhere, quickly (but not too much), how to get away from the danger. At least until the next reckless adventure.
Illustration by Gloria Dozio - Acrimònia Studios
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