First I should tell you that I am European, or the dream won’t make sense. I live in the Netherlands, although I am English. I recently met a really sweet American girl who lives here too, and things are progressing slowly, but I think well.

In my dream I am getting on this huge plane bound for New York. It’s really important that it’s run by KLM, the local operator, as I’m aware of this the whole way through the dream. The flight departs, but I’m sat in a seat on my own. I know my friends are on the flight, but not nearby.

The flight lands after no time, and I’m surprised at how quick the journey was. I get off the plane, which is more like a ship now, and head down the tower that it’s “moored” to. The tower stinks. It’s big, dirty, concrete, and ugly. When I get to the bottom I look round the street I’m in. The light is terrible (but I put this down to time difference). My watch tells me the time difference from London is “COMPLETE” (in red).

The street is full of rough looking guys, and I’m wishing I could just stay on that ship. I’m not comfortable at all in this place, but I really want to stay. Suddenly it’s as if I snap into focus, because some of these tough guys have spotted me and are running after me. I run into a forest, thick with foliage on the floor. The leaves on the ground are brown and wet. I think the safest thing would be to head back to the ship, so I decide to run down this hill to it.

The hill is steep and I come to a fence—big, iron, and rusty with spikes. It’s high, but because of the downhill gradient I can hop over it. As I do so I see another behind it. I’m sure I will fall on it, but I don’t. It seems no effort to jump the next, and another and another. The guys chasing me don’t stand a chance, and I relax, enjoying jumping these dangerous fences. I finally get back to the tower but can’t find the door. In the end I find it and the last thing I remember before waking was thinking how luxurious my ship looked inside.

—Anonymous, Netherlands

Hi Anonymous—

Airplanes in dreams are consistent metaphors for attempts to reach significant destinations in our lives. The plane you board is headed to America, which lets us know that the destination you have in mind, most assuredly, is your relationship with your American girlfriend.

On the plane you are seated alone, though you sense the presence of your friends seated around you. Is this a reference to your current living situation? As a Brit living in the Netherlands, your dream suggests your friends in England are close in your heart, even if they are not physically nearby.

You arrive quickly, and when you check your watch, it tells you the time difference from London to America is “complete. ” (Are you surprised how quickly you “completed” your decision, to fall for this American girl?) The airplane also metamorphoses into a boat, which informs us that your journey to this destination (relationship) has been heartfelt. Water in dreams is a consistent metaphor for emotions.

As you step off the boat, a host of uncertainty awaits you. The “terrible light” is a reference to difficulty “seeing the future.” The dirt, the rough men, and the bad area of town all are representations of fears you possess as the reality of entering into a committed relationship (the “plane has landed,” “you have arrived,” your “ship has come in”) settles upon you. You are nervous, and soon encounter obstacles (fences) that you have to surmount (hurdle) on your path, but in the dream you are pleasantly surprised at your own strength and power. As you observe, you begin to enjoy jumping the hurdles, and soon realize the men chasing you “don’t have a chance.”

Is there any doubt that this dream represents an emotional journey of the heart, toward a very significant destination (committed relationship) in your romantic life? At the end of the dream, the luxurious interior of the boat is a metaphoric expression of the feelings you hold for this American woman. After overcoming your fears, you feel safe and confident, and find yourself in a rich and warm emotional environment. Is this a place you would like to call home?

Dear DreamDoctor—

Thanks for the interpretation, it certainly rings very true. Knowing that my subconscious is optimistic about my abilities gives me confidence about this and a number of other issues. Perhaps this was my mind’s way of telling me to give myself a break more often?