When I was younger I would always tell people that I was scared of flying. I haven't ever been on a plane and I told people this was through fear of the plane crashing whilst I was on it. I remember being a teenager and my parents offering to pay for me to go on holiday anywhere I wanted, in order to encourage me to get over my fears and see the world. The worst thing is I love seeing parts of the UK and I am often up and down the county but very rarely have I travelled abroad and never by plane. I know now that I have missed out on a lot and I hope one day it is something that I can overcome.
Too Fat To Fly?
To be honest with you, when I was younger I always feared I would be too fat to fly. It seems silly looking back now because I was much smaller than I am now and travelling would have been easy. The problem is back then I didn't have resources to look up and check and I didn't have a community of fat friends to travel with, only my own fears which most definitely held me back.
These days I would be much more willing to travel abroad - so if anyone wants to buy me a flight somewhere feel free. This is really thanks to the plus size community and the education is has given me. Not only are there actual resources online to look up about flying while fat, but every week I see plus size friends jetting off to the sun - so if they can do it, why can't I?
Making a Holiday For You
One of the things I think is most important about travelling is being organised. Even when I only travel up and down the UK I always make sure I know where I am going, have a back-up plan etc. When it comes to going out for dinner I'm always the one that books the table, checks the venue for accessibility etc.
I love that the internet makes looking up things like this nice and easy. If you struggle with stairs, need a wheelchair accessible venue or something else you can look up accessibility online. In fact there are even holiday websites that can help you find accessible holiday accommodation. Even though it's not something directly affects me I think it's fantastic that you can look up holidays that work for wheelchair users and other disabilities.
Flying
Will I fly anytime soon? Probably not BUT that is not because of my size. If the opportunity arose I would be much more willing to try and fly somewhere, but at the moment it's not in my immediate future. That said, reading about all of the travel possibilities while researching this article does get me wondering what a sun, sea and sand holiday would be like - I guess I'll have to stick to my Blackpool weekend away next month instead ;)