Meet the mom who visited seven countries in a single 12 months, spending just $3,180 — and using NO paid time without work.
Claire Howard did 13 extreme day trips — visiting each location throughout the space of 24 hours — in a bid to tackle fear of flying.
Now 47, her phobia began when she was just 21.
However the English teacher, from Solihull, England says the shock therapy worked — and he or she is not any longer afraid of flying.
The mum-of-two took a leap of religion and booked her first solo day trip from Birmingham airport to Geneva, Switzerland in January 2024.
Despite waking up the following day in a panic and attempting to cancel the trip, Claire went ahead with it and enjoyed it a lot that she ended up smashing her goal — taking 13 trips in 2024.
And he or she did all of it taking no annual leave.
Claire said: “After a late night of scrolling I just booked one. I made a decision to go alone, I just thought ‘if I can do that then I can do anything.’
“After I woke up the following morning within the cold light of day I panicked and tried to cancel. But there was a $49 cancellation fee and I had only spent $51 on the flights so I made a decision to simply go.
“I used to be really anxious but in addition so excited. The sensation after I got back and I had done it was amazing, I used to be on such a high from it.”
Claire’s fear of flying began within the late Nineteen Nineties when she was 21 years old and was traveling the world.
Her flight from Perth to Singapore had suffered really bad turbulence, which sparked a lifelong phobia.
She said: “I used to be young, I used to be alone, and loads of individuals on the flight had began getting out prayer beads. It was really terrifying. That was what really sparked my fear of flying.
“I did fly again, but I used to be at the purpose where I needed to go to the doctor and get diazepam to get on a plane.
“It starts a few days before. I start obsessing about getting on the plane and running through all kinds of scenarios.
“After I get on the plane, any type of sound or judder will make me freeze. For me it’s the shortage of control, you’ll be able to’t get off.
“The fear is paralyzing. I can’t think about anything but analyzing to see any signs of something flawed. I turn into frozen from the fear.
“I’m fantastic once I’m there, however the construct as much as getting on the plane again overshadows all of the fun and excitement.”
The whole lot modified two years ago when Claire went into surgery for a preventative hysterectomy after discovering that she had the BRCA 1 gene — giving her a high probability of breast and ovarian cancer.
The operation was a moment of realization and caused the mum to drop her work hours to 4 days per week.
When tasked with the query of what to do with this spare day, Claire decided it was time to tackle her fear of flying.
So she joined a Facebook group — and went from there.
She added: “What I didn’t need to do was spend my time off cooking or cleansing. That’s after I saw the Extreme Day Trips group. I made a decision I used to be going to make use of my time off to do 12 trips in 12 months.
“I used to be going to force myself to get on a plane once a month. If I used to be only there for a day, I didn’t have time to waste stressing concerning the flights.
“Flying has turn into much easier, I’m now used to the routine of it. I now feel that I do know what the noises are and all the things is normalized.”
Now, 13 extreme day trips later, Claire says she has mostly tackled her fear — in addition to making lovely memories along with her two kids Henry, 17, and Caelia, 16.
By way of a favourite trip, Claire says she has really connected with Poland — visiting Warsaw, Bydgoszcz, and Poznan.
The mum has also been capable of cut costs along the best way by packing food for the plane journey, and using the fashionable app Too Good To Go to get discounted food abroad.
Flights varied from $33 to $79 for returns, so each trip with activities and food included has come to around $220 to $245
Overall, this adds as much as around $2,800 to $3,180 for all 13 extreme day trips.
In 2025, Claire plans to go on six more trips — having already booked a flight to Budapest for next week.
She said: “I’m not going to stop. I would like it to proceed being a part of my life.”
Meet the mom who visited seven countries in a single 12 months, spending just $3,180 — and using NO paid time without work.
Claire Howard did 13 extreme day trips — visiting each location throughout the space of 24 hours — in a bid to tackle fear of flying.
Now 47, her phobia began when she was just 21.
However the English teacher, from Solihull, England says the shock therapy worked — and he or she is not any longer afraid of flying.
The mum-of-two took a leap of religion and booked her first solo day trip from Birmingham airport to Geneva, Switzerland in January 2024.
Despite waking up the following day in a panic and attempting to cancel the trip, Claire went ahead with it and enjoyed it a lot that she ended up smashing her goal — taking 13 trips in 2024.
And he or she did all of it taking no annual leave.
Claire said: “After a late night of scrolling I just booked one. I made a decision to go alone, I just thought ‘if I can do that then I can do anything.’
“After I woke up the following morning within the cold light of day I panicked and tried to cancel. But there was a $49 cancellation fee and I had only spent $51 on the flights so I made a decision to simply go.
“I used to be really anxious but in addition so excited. The sensation after I got back and I had done it was amazing, I used to be on such a high from it.”
Claire’s fear of flying began within the late Nineteen Nineties when she was 21 years old and was traveling the world.
Her flight from Perth to Singapore had suffered really bad turbulence, which sparked a lifelong phobia.
She said: “I used to be young, I used to be alone, and loads of individuals on the flight had began getting out prayer beads. It was really terrifying. That was what really sparked my fear of flying.
“I did fly again, but I used to be at the purpose where I needed to go to the doctor and get diazepam to get on a plane.
“It starts a few days before. I start obsessing about getting on the plane and running through all kinds of scenarios.
“After I get on the plane, any type of sound or judder will make me freeze. For me it’s the shortage of control, you’ll be able to’t get off.
“The fear is paralyzing. I can’t think about anything but analyzing to see any signs of something flawed. I turn into frozen from the fear.
“I’m fantastic once I’m there, however the construct as much as getting on the plane again overshadows all of the fun and excitement.”
The whole lot modified two years ago when Claire went into surgery for a preventative hysterectomy after discovering that she had the BRCA 1 gene — giving her a high probability of breast and ovarian cancer.
The operation was a moment of realization and caused the mum to drop her work hours to 4 days per week.
When tasked with the query of what to do with this spare day, Claire decided it was time to tackle her fear of flying.
So she joined a Facebook group — and went from there.
She added: “What I didn’t need to do was spend my time off cooking or cleansing. That’s after I saw the Extreme Day Trips group. I made a decision I used to be going to make use of my time off to do 12 trips in 12 months.
“I used to be going to force myself to get on a plane once a month. If I used to be only there for a day, I didn’t have time to waste stressing concerning the flights.
“Flying has turn into much easier, I’m now used to the routine of it. I now feel that I do know what the noises are and all the things is normalized.”
Now, 13 extreme day trips later, Claire says she has mostly tackled her fear — in addition to making lovely memories along with her two kids Henry, 17, and Caelia, 16.
By way of a favourite trip, Claire says she has really connected with Poland — visiting Warsaw, Bydgoszcz, and Poznan.
The mum has also been capable of cut costs along the best way by packing food for the plane journey, and using the fashionable app Too Good To Go to get discounted food abroad.
Flights varied from $33 to $79 for returns, so each trip with activities and food included has come to around $220 to $245
Overall, this adds as much as around $2,800 to $3,180 for all 13 extreme day trips.
In 2025, Claire plans to go on six more trips — having already booked a flight to Budapest for next week.
She said: “I’m not going to stop. I would like it to proceed being a part of my life.”
