Travis Barker finally conquered his fear of flying and his auctioning off his boarding pass for charity.
Barker developed the phobia after surviving a plane crash in 2008. The crash resulted in the death of four people, the two pilots on-board and two of Barker’s friends Charles ‘Che’ Still and Chris Baker.
Only two people survived, Barker and his friend DJ AM who passed away a year later due to an overdose.
The famous drummer was left with third degree burns on over two-thirds of his body. He spent three months in a hospital burn unit and has undergone 26 surgeries.
Following the crash, Barker refused to board a plane for over 13 years and insisted on travelling by boat when on tour.
However this changed in 2021 when Barker took a flight for the first time in over a decade with his now wife Kourtney Kardashian for a trip to Cabo in Mexico. He has since returned to flying by plane.
The rock star has now put his boarding pass up for auction, priced at $8000. The pass is from a flight he took from Sydney to Perth in Australia with Qantas airlines. He was seated in row 7.
“I know I got angels watching over me…”
On the piece of paper, Barker has written some heart-felt words, “I know I got angels watching over me…” This is something he has always written on his boarding passes, even before the 2008 crash. However now the meaning feels incredibly poignant. Below the note the drummer has drawn the image of a cross.
A cut of the proceeds made by the pass will go to Lost But Not Forgotten, a charity that aims to help families and teenagers in financial crisis, especially around Christmas.
The boarding pass is listed on the artist’s website, and is being auctioned through the site Trophy.
The description on the website reads: “A true one of a kind item for the ultimate Travis Barker collector. Having not flown for over 13 years following his near fatal plane crash, he was finally able to tour again overseas recently. This extremely rare commercial boarding pass is not just a piece of music memorabilia, it’s a true piece of Travis himself, complete with original hand-written note and cross drawing.”
Barker told the Los Angeles Times that he credits his wife Kourtney Kardashian for helping him overcome his phobia.
“I think the power of love really helped me,” he said. “Kourt made it so I fly. My kids fly now. She healed us.”
“I don’t like having things from my past control my future.”
However the drummer says he still finds the experience of flying incredibly stressful and anxiety inducing, saying “It takes a little piece of my life every time,”
“Sometimes I’m like, ‘Is this worth it?’ But I don’t like anything having a hold on me, either. I don’t like being afraid, and I don’t like having things from my past control my future.”
