Shooting While Flying

So if you know me at all, you know I am terrified of flying! I can't figure out if it's worse to have no stress and get to the airport in plenty of time to park and get through security but then have to wait in the terminal and stress out about flying, or to run late, just make it through security and run for the gate, not knowing if i'll actually make my flight and stressing out about that.

A friend of mine recommends getting there early, so less stress. BUT, what about all my anxiety that happens while I sit at the gate waiting for my flight. Don't think about it, he says. Easier said then done...

So my new way of trying to fly with less stress (without the benefits of drugs or alcohol) is to shoot out the window while flying. Now I sit over the wing (where someone told me there was less turbulence--NO, not true...), turn my iPOD as high as possible so i can't hear anything the flight attendants or pilots are saying about bad weather and start shooting. It's actually kind of cool, but some windows are definitely better to shoot out of then others. How do they get so scratched up? And then try using a polarizing filter while shooting...quite a challenge for me...

Shooting while flying has been a lot of fun--usually. Except that now i get really good close-up views of the wings shaking when we hit turbulence. That's when i squeeze my eyes shut and tighten my seat belt (which i NEVER undo while in the air). And there was that time flying into LA when i was getting these great shots of all these homes when I suddenly realized that i was looking straight down, which meant that the plane's wing was pointed straight down. I slowly backed away from the window, put my camera down and tightened my seat belt...