Since I was a kid, I have always dreamed of being James Bond. When my friends and I had water gun fights I was the kid wearing my dads old suit coat with the water pistol tucked safely under my armpit like I had seen Bond do during the TNT Bondathon weekend.
As I got older, I read all the original Ian Fleming novels, watched the movies religiously and started quoting the movies in every instance I could make fit; shockingpositively shocking from Goldfinger was my favourite. When I was in university I started going to various forums and websites that reported news about the the newest Bond film which at the time was Casino Royale.
Through happenstance I stumbled upon the website BeingJamesBond.com which opened my eyes to a new approach to being a Bond fan; it enlightened me to idea of immersing completely into the lifestyle of Bond, inspiring me to start skiing again, to ride horses at my parents farm and start drinking fancier drinks than the cheap beers I was used to.
Like many Bond fans, it evolved into purchasing clothing worn in the movies, using the same cologne Daniel Craig wears and yes even using pens that are Q Branch certified. Sites like Bondlifestyle and thesuitsofjamesbond blog (and now this site), had done all of the leg work for me, and I was reaping all the benefits of living the James Bond Lifestyle…except one.
All my life I had dreamt of swimming in the beautiful Caribbean waters of the Bahamas like Bond had done in Thunderball and more recently in Casino Royale (and I guess technically in Never Say Never Again). Unfortunately I have a tremendous fear of heights and subsequently a deathly fear of flying, the mere thought of getting on a plane would spiral me into a mini panic attack. It was so bad, that I had accepted in my own mind that I would probably never fly.
All that changed when I watched the Having a Thunderball in the Bahamas video. I watched it twice back to back, and something about the realism of seeing Bond locations in a home video style like that made me say to myself forget fear, I have to go!.
A few weeks later the trip was booked, many months later I was on a plane (calm as can be) and a few hours after that I was swimming in the beauiful turquoise waters of the Bahamas.
Needless to say, the trip was amazing (it fruited many future Bond experiences) and I realized what so many people had been saying in videos for so long, this is the next step of the Bond fan evolution, traveling the world using the Bond movies as a compass to a rich and fulfilling life. The reality is, I will never be James Bond, but now with the world as my oyster, it is pretty great being me right now.
That being said, thank you to all of the people that work so hard on the aforementioned websites; you truly do make a difference!
This is a great Bond Experience! Bravo for facing your fear of flying. I would also recommend going to your local airport and taking a 30-minute flying introduction flight where you get to have hands-on of the aircraft. This might also help to alleviate some of the fear. Great read!
Paul
Good to see you overcame your fear of flying and got to do some Bond travel. I hope this is the start of many trips to come.
Yesssss
Flying is fun, youll get used to it