Flying over the Atlantic for the first time after a scary experience
In a week, I'll be headed to the US. I'm European and these last two years I've taken 4 trips around Europe. I wasn't scared of flying as a kid, but I became anxious about it as an adult. It was all going really well from that first trip. Lots of layovers, and even though it's not the most fun thing in the world for me, I got to a point where I didn't hyperventilate too much during takeoff and landing. All great! I felt like the bravest gal in the world every time I did it.
(Warning: this paragraph might potentially be a little upsetting) Now on a flight back from one of my trips, about a month ago, something happened. I know now that I was never in any actual danger, but my brain was 100% sure I was going to die in that moment and I am not exaggerating in the least. I obviously don't want to go into insane detail since this sub is what it is, but we got into the cloud bit while the plane was descending, and there was thunder and lightning. I didn't know this, so all I experienced at that point was turbulence, then a loud boom, and then the plane feeling like it was dropping. It obviously wasn't. It was the sound of thunder and what I can assume was the pilot wanting to get tf out of there, but it freaked me out completely to the point I was weeping uncontrollably when we got landed. I still got on the next plane (being super brave and all) and then we had to deal with some pretty windy weather on the last landing, but this pilot had warned us beforehand which did help a little. Didn't stop me from clutching the seat the entire way down though, but I pulled through.
Now, I had hoped, since I got on the next plane right after, that that experience wouldn't linger in me, but I think it has. Yesterday, as I was driving during a storm, the way the car shook was enough to send me back to that plane mentally. I'm flying to a whole other continent in a little over a week and it is spooking me a little. It's a longer trip and it's over much more water than I've tried before.
Some of these might be stupid questions but: Is there anything different I should expect compared to just traveling in Europe? Since it's over an ocean, should I expect more turbulence? More terrible weather? I'm traveling all the way to the West Coast if that makes any difference at all. Anyone who's had similar uncomfortable experiences and maybe has tricks on overcoming it? I know more exposure is always the way to do it but I mean while I'm up there. Some way to calm down?