Funny story... http://www.nbcnews.com/travel/would-you-board-flight-666-hel-8C11144934 Anyone have any superstitions or good luck rituals that they like to follow when traveling? Somehow I got into the habit of picking up a small "good luck charm" on each trip (a cork from a nice bottle of wine, a pretty rock from a river bank, an unusual coin, etc.) and saving it in the pocket of my travel coat until the next trip. Not quite sure how I got into the habit.
I'm not particularly superstitious but I always take a Green Tara gau with me traveling. Inside it has a very small picture of the Dalai Lama and several silk threads from a kata that he blessed.
IF you think it works for you, why question it? As for your base question, it would not get a second thought from us.
I really hate to admit this, but... I am in Wales right now. When I was planning this trip, I planned to leave on a Friday. When I saw that it was Friday the 13th, I decided to leave on Thursday. I think it's ridiculous. But I did it. Can't defend it.
Heck yeah! There will be more empty seats for me to stretch out on. Born on the 13th, so lucky day for me. As for the 666, this doesn't bother me at all, as have no beliefs that concern this random number. Might be good for Yahtzee though.
Twenty years ago my college roommate gave me a 5-yen coin from Japan that he claimed was considered good luck for travelers. It has a hole in the center so I keep it on my key chain and yes, I admit I have it with me whenever I travel. I've also loaned it to a friend who was nervous about traveling to Africa, so (assuming the coin originated in Asia) it has now been to four continents, while I have only been to three. I don't know that I am superstitious to travel without it, but I thought my roommate's sentiment was nice and so I keep the tradition of traveling with it to this day.
@Carroll - you are a brave woman to admit that! But what the heck... if it makes you feel better, what's the harm? Well, except one day less in beautiful Wales... :-)
I can be a bit of a contrarian, so 'hel' yeah! Thomas, don't start collecting any 'lucky' liquids, gels, pointy objects...
Yes, I would be willing to go to Hel. It is the name of a town in Norway. I love Norway ! Being a passenger in an airplane on a Friday the 13th would not make any difference to me. I like the beginning of the old movie about Martin Luther. That movie was made for the Lutheran denomination in America, in, I guess, the year 1955. It depicted the superstitious beliefs of European people during the 1400s. In that movie a young woman in Europe was frightened because she saw a black cat walk across the street in front of her. And houses were designed to have roofs that demons (evil spirits) could not sit on. (Martin Luther believed in the existence of that kind of demons, all of his life). That movie (not in color) is now commercially available on a DVD. When I travel, I do not want to carry any unnecessary item with me, with the exception of photographs and a small souvenir that I may acquire at Europe or Britain.
On Friday, the 13th of September (4 days ago) I flew from Seattle to Hawaii and I gave it no thought that it even was Friday the 13th. Sure nice to be here in Hawaii again.
The former town Hel is in Poland on that strip of land, the peninsula, facing the Baltic. It's called Hela. You can reach it by ferry from Gdynia, where the train stops on the way to Gdansk (Danzig). In 2003 I stopped there as part of the nine or so hour ride to Gdansk.
I didn't even think about Friday being the 13th until now. Flew from Chicago to SFO last Friday, and even had bit of good travel luck by flying standby on an earlier fight since the original flight was delayed. Arrived home 45 minutes earlier than expected and missed the horrid Friday afternoon rush hour out of the city. Now that was a good day of travel for a Friday the 13th!
It even has a name...triskaidekaphobia. Don't you just love that word?
@Kira,I left a day earlier, so I got one more day in Wales. I never considered leaving one day later. There is a limit to my superstitiousness!
We have flown several times on Friday 13th, and always have more space to stretch out in, thanks to those who are superstitious! :-) Wouldn't bother me, neither would the 13th floor, or anything 13.
I used to have to book travel for my ex-boss. He absolutely, positively, flat-out refused to fly on the 13th whether or not it was a Friday. And on Friday the 13th, he wouldn't even leave his house. My weird superstition is that if I happen to see an airborne British Airways jet, I have to keep watching it till it's completely out of sight. It's a ridiculous way of building good karma for my next flight.