Flight Anxiety

I'm not afraid of flying. I love flying! I'd like to get a pilot license some day! But when flying, I do feel vulnerable. I understand why early flight attendants were required to be nurses because anything can happen in that metal tube sailing between heaven and Earth. The only people there to help us is the flight crew. 
I'm mentally preparing for 22 hours of flying, leaving at 0200 and flying west, chasing the sun, with a stop in Amsterdam, arriving in Portland at noon. It will be a 36 hour day. But I don't mind time zone silliness.

What has me worried is geopolitics. Flying to Delhi involved flying to the Black Sea just west of Ukraine, and then along the Black Sea, past cities that have become notorious, such as Odessa and Zaporizhzhia, and over waters were Russian forces launch hypersonic missiles.

The other half of my travel party that left a week ago had a flight alteration because of increasing hostilities between Israel and Iran. Again, I completely trust the flight crew and pilots to keep us safe, even if we have to be in the air a little longer, but it does cause a bit of anxiety. Serriff is feeling anxiety too, and has improvised a 'pregame' mango screwdriver to calm the nerves.

On the bright side, Amsterdam is in full holiday season! The airport should be packed with happy people! Then again, the packed airport will make it harder to clear Netherlands security and get to our flight to Portland in time, moreso if we spend extra time in the air due to geopolitics. Here's hoping all goes well!

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