A woman did 13 extreme day trips in a bid to tackle her fear of flying — and it worked, with the English teacher visiting seven countries in one year
An inspiring mum jetted off to seven different countries in just one year on a shoestring budget of £2.6k and didn’t use a single day of annual leave.
Claire Howard, an English teacher from Solihull, embarked on 13 extreme day trips – each completed within 24 hours — as part of her own unique treatment for conquering her crippling fear of flying. The 47-year-old’s phobia took flight back when she was 21 but through her determination, she’s now soaring high without fear.
Bravely setting out on her first solo journey from Birmingham to Geneva in January 2024, Claire recounts how the initial panic almost grounded her plans. She said: “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.”
Despite the anxiety, the trip proved exhilarating: “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.” The turbulent voyage from Perth to Singapore that once shook her confidence decades ago couldn’t have prepared Claire for the elation of defeating her fears.
She recounted her harrowing 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. It [the anxiety] 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. 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.”
Claire’s life took a turn when she underwent surgery for a preventative hysterectomy after learning she carried the BRCA 1 gene, which significantly increases the risk of breast and ovarian cancer. This major event led her to reduce her work hours to four days a week and contemplate how to spend her extra day off.
Determined not to waste it on mundane tasks, she discovered the Extreme Day Trips group on Facebook. “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,” she said.
Determined to overcome her fear, Claire committed to taking a flight once a month, no matter how short the trip. “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.”
After 13 extreme day trips, Claire has largely conquered her fear and created cherished memories with her children, Henry (17) and Caelia (16). Among her favourite destinations is Poland, where she visited Warsaw, Bydgoszcz, and Poznan. To make her travels more affordable, Claire packs her own food for flights and utilises the Too Good To Go app to find discounted food abroad.
With return flights ranging from £27 to £65, each trip, including activities and food, costs approximately £180 to £200. In total, her 13 trips have cost around £2,300 to £2,600. Claire plans to continue her travels in 2025, with six more trips already planned, including a forthcoming visit to Budapest. She expressed her commitment to maintaining this lifestyle, saying: “I am not going to stop. I want it to continue being part of my life.”
Claire’s trips in 2024:
January 25: Geneva, Switzerland followed by a trip to Aiguille du Midi in Chamonix, France
January 27: Alicante, Spain
February 8: Montreux, Switzerland
February 12: Bucharest, Romania
March 2: Warsaw, Poland
March 9: Bydgoszcz, Poland
June 8: Beauvais, France
June 18: Malaga, Spain
July 10: Berlin, Germany
July 23: Palma, Spain
September 17: Howth, Ireland
October 28: Poznan, Poland
December 7: Malaga, Spain
