A mum explored seven countries in just 12 months for only £2,600 – without using a single day of annual leave. Claire Howard, 47, went on 13 extreme day trips, each lasting no more than 24 hours, to conquer her fear of flying – a phobia she developed when she was 21.
The English teacher from Solihull, West Midlands, found that this intensive travel method proved remarkably effective in eliminating her fear of flying. Claire’s adventure started when she make an impulsive booking for a solo day trip from Birmingham Airport to Geneva in January 2024. 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”, reports My London.
The risk proved worthwhile. “I was really anxious but also so excited,” Claire said. “The feeling when I got back and I had done it was amazing, I was on such a high from it.”
Claire’s bravery stems from an incident during her earlier travels, a terrifying experience with severe turbulence on a flight from Perth to Singapore in the late 1990s. She recalled her ordeal: “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.”
The terror would grip her days before departure, as she revealed: “It 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.”
She added: “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.”
Yet everything transformed after she underwent a preventative hysterectomy due to her elevated cancer risk from carrying the BRCA 1 gene. The procedure prompted her to cut back her working hours, granting her an additional day off weekly.
Refusing to squander this precious time, she discovered a Facebook community dedicated to conquering phobias. Claire revealed: “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.”
Determined to conquer her phobia, Claire decided to board an aircraft monthly, even for just a single day, to get used to flying. “I was going to force myself to get on a plane once a month,” she said.
“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.”
Throughout her intensive day excursions, Claire has not only substantially defeated her anxiety but also forged treasured experiences with her children, Henry and Caelia. Among her destinations, Poland has made a profound impact, with journeys to Warsaw, Bydgoszcz, and Poznan proving especially unforgettable.
To keep her adventures budget-friendly, Claire has embraced bringing her own meals on flights and using the Too Good To Go app to discover reduced-price dining whilst travelling. With return journeys costing between £27 and £65, each expedition, including entertainment and meals, has totalled roughly £180 to £200.
Altogether, her 13 adventures have cost of total of approximately £2,300 to £2,600. So far in 2025, Claire has been on a flight to Budapest and intends to undertake six more journeys.
She boldly declared: “I am not going to stop. I want it to continue being part of my life.”
Claire’s trips so far:
- January 25, 2024: Flight to Geneva, travelling to Aiguille du Midi in Chamonix
- January 27, 2024: Alicante
- February 8, 2024: Montreux
- February 12, 2024: Bucharest
- March 2, 2024: Warsaw
- March 9, 2024: Bydgoszcz
- June 8, 2024: Beauvais
- June 18, 2024: Malaga
- July 10, 2024: Berlin
- July 23, 2024: Palma
- September 17, 2024: Howth
- October 28, 2024: Poznan
- December 7, 2024: Malaga