Once Was Enough

Posted by fheenix33 on May 21, 2009

Those that know me will tell you that I hate to fly.  In my adulthood I have always made the decision to travel via ground.  Over the years I’ve heard people ask me countless times, “How do you know you don’t like to fly if you’ve never been in a plane?”  I will admit, they had a point and in April of 2008 I decided to fly to Texas for a business trip.  Long story short, by the time I landed at the DFW airport I was convinced that after my flight back to Ohio I would never fly again. 

Surprisingly I am not afraid of heights.  In fact, one of the things I want to do in my lifetime is go sky diving.  The only thing holding me back from the “I love to fly” group is the mere fact that when I am on a plane I have no way to get out.  If there are any problems on the plane or something malfunctions and the only solution is evacuation, you can safely assume what the end results will be. 

This time around on my travels to Texas I decided to take the bus.  I examined the route that I would travel and being the adventurous person that I am, I was excited that I would travel through territory that I had never been to.  How great would it be to sit back, relax and see amazing places that I had only heard of by word of mouth.  Yes, I could finally brag that I had stepped foot in Nashville and Memphis and I saw the scenery that Kentucky and Arkansas had to offer.  I boarded the bus with enthusiasm fully equipped with my camera and lots of batteries, plenty of nuts and veggies to snack on and a smile on my face.  I bid farewell to Akron as we pulled out, sat back, exhaled and muttered, “Here we go.” 

It didn’t take me long to realize that taking a non-chartered bus long distance was a huge mistake.  I’m not snooty when it comes to accommodations, but I cringed at how dirty some of the busses were that I had to board.  I put my antibacterial wipes and hand sanitizer to good use.   There were dirty napkins stuffed where the overhead lights were, clumps of dirt hanging from the air vents, gum stuffed in the window sliders, garbage stuffed underneath the seats and the bathrooms…not EVEN going to go down that road.  I sat there keeping my fingers crossed that all the vitamins that I take would somehow ward off the bacteria and germs that I would come in contact with. 

Seating was very cramped and there was enough leg room to comfortably accomadate someone who was 4 feet tall…3 feet tall if the person ahead wanted to lounge back their seat.  Having had a minor knee injury prior to my trip I cringed every time I had to keep my knees bent for several hours at a time.  I saw stars when it was time to get off the bus and walk around.  Trying to get some sleep on the bus was near impossible on the way down with someone yelling on their cell phone for several hours and another woman behind me who thought she had to provide comic stand up relief for the entire bus. 

By the time I got to Dallas I was ready to kiss the ground.  I took deep breaths of the fresh air and told myself that I would never travel via bus again.  I did realize that my options for travel were depleting, but I would cross that bridge when I had to again.  After a great lunch with some incredible people, a nice hot shower and a drink I was able to turn an unpleasent experience into something somewhat positive.  I saw some incredible scenery, visited places that I had never been too and I was in Dallas with an amazing team of people. 

Once I was back in Akron and off the bus I realized one other postivie outcome of this entire experience…My fear of flying was cured!