Memories are weird. They don't just sit in your head like a filing cabinet; they morph and change based on the music you were listening to or who you were dating at the time. For a massive chunk of people who grew up in the late 60s and early 70s, the phrase when we flew away isn't just some poetic line. It’s a literal marker of a time when the world felt like it was expanding at a rate humans weren't quite ready for. You had the jet age hitting its stride. You had the literal moon landing. Suddenly, the horizon wasn't the limit anymore.
It's funny.
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We talk about "the good old days," but those days were actually incredibly loud and chaotic. People weren't just moving; they were escaping. There was this tangible, heavy desire to leave the grounded, muddy reality of post-war suburban life for something... lighter.
The Cultural Weight of When We Flew Away
If you look at the charts from 1971, you'll see it. The Lennons and the McCartneys were dominating the airwaves, but underneath that, there was this folk-rock movement that obsessed over flight. When Neil Young or Joni Mitchell talked about getting high or flying away, they weren't always talking about drugs, despite what the pearl-clutchers thought. They were talking about autonomy. When we flew away, we were basically saying we didn't belong to the ground anymore. We didn't belong to the draft, or the 9-to-5, or the picket fence.
I talked to a guy named Mike last week. He’s 74. He told me that for his group of friends in San Francisco, "flying away" meant packing a VW bus and just... going. But it also meant that first time they took a commercial flight that didn't cost a year's salary.
The Boeing 747 changed everything in 1970.
Before that, flying was for the elite. It was for people in suits who ate lobster on real china at 30,000 feet. But then Pan Am started moving the masses. The "Ordinary Joe" could suddenly see London or Paris. That shift in perspective is what people mean when they get nostalgic about that specific era. It was the democratization of the sky.
Why the Metaphor Stuck
Why do we still use this phrasing? Honestly, it’s because "traveling" sounds like a chore. Traveling involves luggage, delays, and crappy airport coffee. But "flying away" suggests a total break from reality. It's a clean snap.
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Historians like David Farber have noted that the 1970s represented a "pivot of change." You had the end of the Vietnam War and the start of a more cynical era. In that context, the idea of flying away became a survival mechanism. If the world on the ground was breaking, the only logical move was to go up.
The Reality of the Jet Age Transition
Let's get real for a second. The actual logistics of when we flew away weren't always glamorous. If you look at the data from the FAA and historical airline records from the early 70s, safety wasn't what it is today. You could smoke on planes. The cabins were blue with haze.
- In 1972 alone, there were dozens of major aviation accidents.
- Security was practically non-existent—you could walk right to the gate to wave goodbye.
- Tickets, while cheaper than the 50s, still required a significant investment compared to today’s budget carrier prices.
People forget the grit. They remember the stewardesses (as they were called then) in their stylized uniforms and the excitement of the "Air Age," but they forget the engine noise that made conversation impossible. Yet, the emotional impact outweighed the physical discomfort.
It Wasn't Just About Planes
Sometimes, when we flew away refers to the great migration of the counterculture. Think about the "Back to the Land" movement. Thousands of young people literally "flew" from the cities to communes in Vermont, Oregon, and New Mexico. They were flying away from the system.
It was a social exodus.
Sociologist Eleanor Agnew wrote extensively about this in Back to the Land, describing how people felt an almost biological need to escape the urban sprawl. This wasn't a vacation. It was a permanent flight. They wanted to see if they could survive without the "grounding" of modern electricity and grocery stores. Most failed. Some stayed. But the intent—that's what lingers in the collective memory.
Addressing the Misconceptions
People think this era was all peace and love. It wasn't.
When we look back at when we flew away, we tend to sanitize it. We ignore the fact that the "flight" was often fueled by a desperate need to avoid reality. Economic stagflation was hitting hard. The oil crisis of 1973 made everything, including flight, suddenly precarious and expensive.
There's a common myth that everyone was doing this. In reality, the "flight" was a privilege of a specific demographic. If you were working a factory job in the Rust Belt, you weren't flying anywhere. You were watching the world move while you stayed put. This created a massive cultural divide that we still see today—the "mobile" class versus the "rooted" class.
The Music That Captured the Escape
You can't talk about this without mentioning the soundtrack.
- "Fly Away" by John Denver (1975): This is the literal anthem of the movement. It captures that yearning for the mountains and the sky. It's simple, maybe a bit cheesy now, but at the time, it was a heartbeat.
- "Wooden Ships" by Crosby, Stills & Nash: While it’s about a boat, the sentiment is identical. It’s about leaving a dying civilization behind.
- "Learning to Fly" (later, but relevant): Pink Floyd caught the tail end of this sentiment, focusing more on the technical and spiritual difficulty of actually getting off the ground.
How to Reclaim That Feeling Today
So, you're stuck in 2026. You’ve got a smartphone glued to your hand, and "flying" means sitting in a cramped middle seat on a flight where they charge you for water. Is the spirit of when we flew away dead?
Not necessarily.
The modern version isn't about physical distance. It’s about cognitive distance. We live in a world of constant noise. Genuine "flight" now is about disconnecting from the algorithmic feed. It’s about finding those pockets of silence that the people in 1971 took for granted.
Actionable Steps for a Modern "Flight"
If you want to experience that sense of expansion, you have to be intentional. It doesn't happen by accident anymore.
Audit your physical environment. The 70s flight was about minimalism (even if by necessity). Look at your space. If it's cluttered with tech you don't use, you're grounded. Clear the physical space to clear the mental space.
Engage in "Analog Travel." Try going somewhere without GPS. Use a paper map. It sounds "hipster," but the psychological effect is real. When you don't have a blue dot telling you where you are, you have to actually be there. You have to look at the trees, the landmarks, and the sun. That’s how you find the feeling of being "away."
Prioritize Depth Over Breadth. The jet age was about seeing the world, but the spirit of the time was about feeling it deeply. Instead of five 2-day trips this year, take one 10-day trip. Stay in one neighborhood. Learn the name of the guy who sells the bread.
Recognize the Limits. You can't stay "away" forever. The biggest mistake the Boomers made—and many Gen Z "digital nomads" make now—is thinking that flight is a permanent state. It’s not. Flight is a way to gain perspective so you can come back and be a better human on the ground.
The Long-Term Impact
When we look back at the historical record, the era of when we flew away served as a bridge. It took us from a world that was segmented and small to a world that was interconnected and, eventually, overwhelmed.
We learned that the sky wasn't actually the limit—our own ability to handle the "newness" was the limit.
The nostalgia for this period isn't just about the planes or the music. It’s about the feeling that the future was still an open door. Today, the future often feels like a closing window. By studying that moment when we first took flight—socially, physically, and metaphorically—we can maybe find a way to reopen that door.
It starts with acknowledging that the ground will always be there. But the choice to leave it, even for a little while, is what makes us human.
To truly move forward, look at your own "flight" patterns. Are you moving toward something, or just running away? The people who thrived after the 70s were the ones who knew the difference. They used their time in the air to decide where they wanted to land.
Next Steps for the Curious
- Research the 1970 Airline Deregulation Act. It’s the boring legal reason why the "glamour" died but travel became accessible. It’s a fascinating look at how policy shapes our dreams.
- Listen to the "Flight" Playlists. Go back to the 1970-1975 era on Spotify or YouTube. Listen to the lyrics. Notice how often they mention birds, wings, and horizons.
- Read "The Right Stuff" by Tom Wolfe. Even though it's about astronauts, it captures the "flying away" psyche better than almost any other piece of literature.