Between the ages of 0 and 36, I boarded an airplane exactly twice. Due to a midlife career change, my flying shot up quite a lot after age 40, with multiple airplane trips to cities across the country. I was a touring musician, and airfare was covered by whomever hired me for the gig as part of my contract. I hated how much I was flying but could do nothing about it without jeopardizing my career and the number of gigs I was booking. That all changed last fall. After a lifetime of working with my hands in various fields, I began to experience severe pain and was diagnosed with advancing arthritis at age 60. My music career ended, and with it came forced semi-retirement. While I ache at no longer being able to play my instrument, I am greeting the greater amount of free time with more walks and bicycle rides around my neighborhood, and recently decided that I no longer needed to board an airplane. Other than an emergency trip to help an elderly parent who lives out of state, I see no reason or need to travel by air anymore. When my parent is gone (which will likely happen sooner rather than later) I will no longer need to fly even for an emergency. The yearlong pledge is an experiment. If it works, I’ll keep extending it annually.