A mum conquered seven countries in just one year for a mere £2.6k and without using any annual leave. Claire Howard, 47, embarked on 13 extreme day trips, lasting no longer than 24 hours each, to overcome her fear of flying – a phobia that struck at age 21.
The English teacher from Solihull, West Midlands, discovered that this intense approach to travel worked wonders, crushing her flight fears. Claire’s journey began with a spur-of-the-moment booking for a solo day trip from Birmingham Airport to Geneva in January 2024.
Even after trying to cancel the next morning in a state of panic, she followed through thanks to the high cancellation fee dwarfed by her desire to beat her anxiety: “After a late night of scrolling I just booked one. I decided to go on my own, I just thought ‘if I can do this then I can do anything.’ When I woke up the next morning in the cold light of day I panicked and tried to cancel. But there was a £40 cancellation fee and I had only spent £42 on the flights so I decided to just go.”
Claire’s first trip was to Chamonix, France
The gamble paid off: “I was really anxious but also so excited. The feeling when I got back and I had done it was amazing, I was on such a high from it.” This newfound courage traces back to an event in her early travels, a horrendous bout of turbulence on a flight from Perth to Singapore in the late 1990s.
She recounted her experience: “I was young, I was on my own, and loads of people on the flight had started getting out prayer beads. It was really terrifying. That was what really sparked my fear of flying. I did fly again, but I was at the point where I had to go to the doctor and get diazepam to get on a plane.”
The fear consumed her days before her flights, as she explained: “It starts a couple of days before. I start obsessing about getting on the plane and running through all sorts of scenarios. When I get on the plane, any sort of sound or judder will make me freeze. For me it is the lack of control, you can’t get off. “
Claire forced herself to confront her fears
She continued: “The fear is paralysing. I can’t concentrate on anything but analysing to see any signs of something wrong. I become frozen from the fear. I am fine once I am there, but the build up to getting on the plane again overshadows all the fun and excitement.”
However, everything changed after undergoing a preventative hysterectomy due to her high risk of cancer from the BRCA 1 gene. This operation led her to reduce her work schedule and gave her an extra day off each week. Determined not to waste this time, she joined a Facebook group focused on overcoming fears.
Claire said: “What I didn’t want to do was spend my day off cooking or cleaning. That is when I saw the Extreme Day Trips group. I decided I was going to use my day off to do 12 trips in 12 months.”
Determined to overcome her fear, Claire committed to taking a flight once a month, even if only for a day, to get accustomed to the experience. “I was going to force myself to get on a plane once a month. If I was only there for a day, I didn’t have time to waste stressing about the flights. Flying has become much easier, I am now used to the routine of it. I now feel that I know what the noises are and everything is normalised.”
Claire says the trips have been a great opportunity to spend time with her children
Over the course of 13 extreme day trips, Claire has not only largely conquered her fear but also created cherished memories with her children, Henry, 17, and Caelia, 16. Among her destinations, Poland has left a lasting impression, with visits to Warsaw, Bydgoszcz, and Poznan being particularly memorable.
To make her travels more affordable, Claire has adopted the habit of packing her own food for flights and utilising the Too Good To Go app to find discounted food options while abroad. With return flights ranging from £27 to £65, each trip, including activities and food, has cost approximately £180 to £200.
In total, her 13 trips have amounted to around £2,300 to £2,600. Looking ahead to 2025, Claire has already booked a flight to Budapest for next week and plans to embark on six more trips. She defiantly stated: “I am not going to stop. I want it to continue being part of my life.”
Claire’s trips so far
- 25-01-24 – flight to Geneva, travelling to Aiguille du Midi in Chamonix
- 27-01-24 – Alicante
- 08-02-24 – Montreux
- 12-02-24 – Bucharest
- 02-03-24 – Warsaw
- 09-03-24 – Bydgoszcz
- 08-06-24 – Beauvais
- 18-06-24 – Malaga
- 10-07-24 – Berlin
- 23-07-24 – Palma
- 17-09-24 – Howth
- 28-10-24 – Poznan
- 07-12-24 – Malaga
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