For the longest time I was a frightened flyer...a manic gripper of armrests (I still blush at the memory of a particularly stressful take-off when I failed to notice that the stranger next to me had laid claim to the armrest...until, that is, we were safely in the air and I realized that my fingernails had gouged divots out of the back of his hand)...a nervous wreck for several days before and after any air travel.

Then I got a job where I found myself in the air several times a month...and one day...as I was watching the cloud formations...the mountains, the deserts, and the farm land far below...the anxiety dissipated. Admittedly it wasn't just a zen-like love of nature...a selection of movies on my iTouch helped as well...but, for a chocolate-box-feel-good-moment, I've found that few things beat the ever-so-fleeting-yet-momentarily-perfect combination of cloud, land, sky, and sun.

Of course, palm trees and over-sized fireplaces at your destination also help to instill a certain sense of peace...