When it comes to flying, Jennifer Aniston doesn’t exactly “just go with it”—and she’s not shy about admitting it. The beloved Friends star recently opened up about her “extreme fear of flying,” a challenge that hasn’t stopped her from jetting off to dreamy locations like Kauai and Lake Como to film alongside her frequent costar Adam Sandler.
In a conversation with Travel + Leisure published April 17, Aniston shared some of the unique habits she’s developed over the years to cope with her flight anxiety, including tapping the outside of the plane with her right palm and stepping aboard with her right foot.
“But I have been doing some hypnosis lately, and one of the requirements is to remove all of those superstitions,” she revealed. “I have not been doing the right hand, right foot—and now it’s shockingly good!”
Apparently, a little hypnosis magic isn’t the only thing helping Jennifer stay calm at 30,000 feet. She also turns to meditation during flights to ease her nerves.
“Plugging into a good meditation can get you through,” she said. Plus, she’s all about getting up to stretch and move around mid-flight—because who says you can’t get a few steps in while cruising over the Atlantic?
Despite her uneasiness with flying, Aniston’s love for travel keeps her passport well-stamped.
Her ideal destination? “A white sandy beach and clear, crystal-blue water,” she happily admitted.
And when it comes to travel memories, one birthday trip stands out: “I’ve had a lot of really meaningful, wonderful trips, but there was one time where it was for my birthday with like 50 friends,” she recalled.
“I said, ‘Whoever wants to come, let’s do this,’ and a lot of them did. We had about three days of just lounging, relaxing, swimming, spa-daying, working out, eating, drinking, just enjoying ourselves. That was really fun.”
For Jennifer, traveling is more than a getaway—it’s a gateway to a bigger, more vibrant world beyond her childhood in New York.
“There’s more that exists than just this little bubble that we are in,” she reflected. “It’s all very important and expands our awareness greater than what we’re confined to.”
