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Meet the mom who visited seven countries in one year, spending just $3,180 — and using NO paid time off.
Claire Howard did 13 extreme day trips — visiting each location within the space of 24 hours — in a bid to tackle fear of flying.
Now 47, her phobia started when she was just 21.
But the English teacher, from Solihull, England says the shock therapy worked — and she is no longer afraid of flying.
The mum-of-two took a leap of faith and booked her first solo day trip from Birmingham airport to Geneva, Switzerland in January 2024.
Despite waking up the next day in a panic and trying to cancel the trip, Claire went ahead with it and enjoyed it so much that she ended up smashing her target — taking 13 trips in 2024.
And she did it all taking no annual leave.
Claire 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 $49 cancellation fee and I had only spent $51 on the flights so I decided to just go.
“I was really anxious but also so excited. The feeling when I got back and I had done it was amazing, I was on such a high from it.”
Claire’s fear of flying began in the late 1990s 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 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.
“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.
“The fear is paralyzing. I can’t concentrate on anything but analyzing 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.”
Everything changed 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 chance of breast and ovarian cancer.
The operation was a moment of realization and caused the mum to drop her work hours to four days a week.
When tasked with the question 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 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.
“I was going to force myself to get on a plane once a month. 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 normalized.”
Now, 13 extreme day trips later, Claire says she has mostly tackled her fear — as well as making lovely memories with her two kids Henry, 17, and Caelia, 16.
In terms of a favorite trip, Claire says she has really connected with Poland — visiting Warsaw, Bydgoszcz, and Poznan.
The mum has also been able to cut costs along the way by packing food for the plane journey, and using the trendy 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 up to 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 am not going to stop. I want it to continue being part of my life.”
English (US)