Mery and I were in the room when I got the CNN notification on my phone saying that a Indonesian plane crashed.
Mery decided to check her phone and voila, 7 missed calls from her parents! When I looked at my phone, also saw a bunch of messages from family and friends checking up on me.
Now this is not the first, second neither the third time that these sort of news have worried my dear ones.
In fact, for the last 20 months, there have been some serious bad news in the air aviation world. And Asia endured a particular brutal year in 2014.
One of my many flights with Malaysia Airline
I was in China when that Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. That was in March 2014. And between December 2013 and January 2014 I have flew with Malaysia Airlines 5 times.
In July 2014, I was about to book a flight to Japan with Malaysia Airlines, for my mom disdain, but I told her “Come on mum, whats the chances something else will happen with Malaysian Airlines?? Is not like will happen again, and that quick!”
I was in Myanmar and couldn’t book my flight for 2 days as the internet was shocking.
One morning, the day I was supposed to move to a town with decent internet and book my flight with Malaysian airlines as it was so much cheaper than other companies due to the price fall, I got the CNN text: Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 was shot down.
Guess my mum was right. And yep, I end up choosing another company because as they say “theres no 2 without 3”
The TransAsia flight that crashed in Taiwan happen only weeks apart from my visit to the country.
And lets not forget Air Asia crash, also in 2014, which is by far the company I used the most here in Asia. In the last 2 years alone I have flew their planes over 20 times.
And now here I am in Indonesia, and another plane crashed just when I have been trying to book a internal flight for a couple of days but without success.
So, out of pretty much anyone I know, I should be the one more worried about flying, right?
But I am not. In fact, I am not at all.
Lets be clear here, when air disasters happen, they make news. But if you look at the whole, far fewer people die in plane crashes than in:
- cars,
- motorbikes,
- boats,
- trains,
- buses,
- and even bicycles
Exactly, flying still is the safest way to travel.
Yes, you might say, “oh but look at all these accidents” etc etc, but it’s a relative low rate when you compare it to the massive number of people who are flying today.
A few fun facts why you shouldn’t be scared of flying:
- Because there’s over 10,000 planes in the sky right NOW
- You more likely to be struck by lighting than die in a plane crash
- You are also more likely to win the lottery than die in a plane crash
- Oh, and you are also more likely to die from falling out of bed
- The odds are 11 million to 1 that you will die on a plane crash
- Its the best way to see everything the entire World has to offer, unless you live until you are 700 and don’t mind driving a car or riding a bike for that long? 😀
The point I would like to make here is:
DO NOT BE AFRAID OF FLYING.
Don’t use it as an excuse to stop seeing the world.
Flying still is one my fav things, because I know that at the other side I will have a new culture to learn, a new adventure to live or my friends and family waiting for me. I love flying and all the incredible experiences that bring to my soul.
FLY more. EXPLORE more. LIVE more.
Here is a message from me:
Much love from Bali
Emma
