I know a few of you mentioned there being a lack of success stories on here and I know many of you are inspired by the things that are posted here. I did post this already on the thread regarding this topic (the two airplane ones)...but I wanted to let you all know that I decided to go ahead on the trip after all. I leave on Tuesday morning and I return on Saturday. I just realized how fast it is creeping up!
To refresh anyone's memory, my main fear was being trapped on the plane and having to witness someone be sick or have someone be sick ON me. I would Google excessively for stories like these (seek and you shall find!) and I actually psyched myself out of a trip last summer because of this behavior. I am also afraid of feeling ill myself, but I did fly last spring (same time/same place) without incident and I was not nauseated (although maybe disorientated/overmedicated, haha).
It seems like I've managed to worry about everything possible regarding this trip - from what I should bring, to what if they lose my luggage and I'm stuck wearing winter clothes in 80 degree weather, to what if I catch a cold, norovirus...yeah, I went through it all. But you know what, I'm doing it anyway. And whatever happens, happens. All I can do is make the best of it. My last trip included a couple of unimagined, unplanned fiascos and I dealt with it. I still came home knowing I had a great time. And now those stories are funny! I was so proud of myself for going through with it, I hadn't felt that good about myself in a long time. I look forward to having that feeling again.
I thank all of you on here who posted in response to the airplane threads. All of your posts helped me feel better about this. I am still scared, but I am doing it anyway. So, I hope this inspires someone. And I hope that after it's all said and done, I can come on here and let you guys know how it went and hopefully my experience will help someone with their own challenge.