People I've Met on Flights and Told That I Was Terrified

A printed diary collecting stories of strangers I met mid-air and confessed that I am scared of flying. On my way to Tangier to start my residency at Think Tanger in the beginning of May 2026, I met a woman on the flight from Valencia. This fascinating encounter inspired me to think about all the people I've had very personal conversations with on planes in the last few years. As soon as I arrived I started to write down the stories these strangers shared with me, while they slowly stopped being strangers.

Somewhere in between commuting from Hungary and the Netherlands, my grandparents passing away, working night shifts and my frontal lobe getting fully developed, I picked up the great habit of being terrified of flying. Ten years ago, I used to love it. I felt I was relevant when I was at the airport. But when I was struggling with knowing where to be, how to live abroad, and how to deal with my more or less continuously broken heart, it became genuinely scary. Thank god, it was also around the time when I picked up another great habit: shamelessly talking to strangers.