I'm scared but I determined
 

Hi,

I have a flight phobia but I so want to see Asia before I'm too old. Most of all I want to see the Orchids in Loas. I've been talking to 365Travel about their Orchid Trek. I'm thinking of booking my flight through American Express to use points and I want to be able to reach someone on a 24 hour basis if I miss a connection on a flight. I've been to the Laotian embassy to get information on visas. I feel like I'm going about this all wrong. I'd love some travel mentoring. What are the steps? Book the flight first? Is the agency I picked a good one? What do I do about SIM cards? There's so much I just don't know. Also what should I pack? What kind of clothes should I wear?

Good for you: you have already identified a priority. That is the first big step and what is actually very hard for many people.

Figure out if there is a better time of year to go. I saw one mention that the 'wet season' was the best time to view orchids. I have no personal knowledge of this or if that is an important consideration.
it seems to me that most tour agencies offer a day hike, and some offer an overnight trip. Since this is a priority, go for an overnight trip. Then figure out your flights so that going on the orchid trek is one of the first hings you do. Do not leave this for later.

To recap: figure out orchid trek times/days, then book flights. If you are going to more then one country, you can fly out of a different city than the one you flew into. That's a start.

I have never been to Angor Wat, but most folks I know who have been would combine your trip with a visit there.

Hope this helps.

Google is one of the first place to look. According to Google, March is the best month for orchid watching. You might want to join a tour if you have not been in that country. I googled "orchid in laos" resulted in several hits including tour guides. As for what to wear, need to find the weather from www.weatherspark.com
You need to enter the nearest large city. It will show average temp, precipitations, etc. year around.
I also found that Ecuador produces a lot of orchid.

Congratulations on trying to overcome your phobia by actually going on a flight, and doing what you always wanted to do is a good motivation. I think you should do your own research first before booking a flight. Contact your tour agency after you do research so you could ask the agency questions, you’re the only one that can judge an agency if they’re good or not based on their answers to your questions. You can contact a few tour agencies so you can compare their offerings. I have not done any orchid trek, so I cannot provide recommendations. Once you have chosen your tour agency, I think that is the time you book your flight. That’s just the approach I would take, but there are a number of ways you can accomplish this. Perhaps your chosen tour agency can provide a better recommendation.

"I want to be able to reach someone on a 24 hour basis" Sorry but that is unrealistic. The vast majority of airlines make it very difficult to reach any sort of human. Expect a very long wait on hold if you do choose to call them. Neither easy nor convenient on a cellphone in a foreign country.

If you have a flight phobia then Laos is probably not the place to be flying. To get there will involve at least one, possibly two changes of flights and the airlines may not be the best.

If your main focus is orchids then there are far easier places to see them that are easier to get to. The Orchid House in the Botanical Gardens in Singapore might be a good starting point.

​​​​​​​Also worth considering some form of therapy or fear of flying course. A friend once had great results with a short course of hypnosis therapy which enable her to get on a plane and fly long haul. Still dint like it but previously she could have even got on the plane.

No reason to have a phobia ! You have to think that there are infinitely less plane accidents than car ones. Most planes in SE Asia are extremely reliable Airbus ; I do not even remember when there was an accident with one !

Short memory . . . Malaysia Airlines flight 370. At least there were no messy pieces to clean up.

Oh, one, What an appalling record !!!!!!

Go to your doctor and tell them about your apprehension of flying. There are pills that can temporarily ease your anxiety about getting on a plane.
Do not try and liquor yourself up on alcohol beforehand - for obvious reasons.

Something that says it is you.

Happy trails Jill

I tried to get it fixed, but it was too late.

I guess memory shortage is contagious, Flight 370 was a Boeing.