Travis Barker Credits Kourtney Kardashian for His Return to Flying

Just last month, Blink-182's Travis Barker set forth on his first plane flight since surviving a deadly 2008 plane crash that killed both pilots, his security guard and his personal assistant. Back in May, he spoke of his desire to eventually take the step to return to flying, and he credits his current girlfriend Kourtney Kardashian for giving him the inspiration to do so.

When he first revealed his hope to eventually fly again, Barker revealed that he had an agreement in place with someone close to him that they would inform him to be ready to go with 24 hours notice and that he would pack an overnight bag, get in a car and head to the airport to board a flight. This would be done with no prior notice, but he was prepared to go when that person set things in motion.

Reflecting on that first flight back, Barker told Nylon, “I didn't even know I was going.” But it turns out that Kardashian was the person who set the plan in motion. “I made a deal with her that she had just said to me, ‘I would love to do so much traveling with you. I want to go to Italy with you. I want to go to Cabo with you. I want to go to Paris with you. I want to go to Bora Bora with you.’ And I said, ‘Well, when the day comes you want to fly, I'm telling you I'll do it with you. I would do anything with you. And just give me 24 hours’ notice.’ And that's what she did.”

Barker says the flight itself was "the easiest ever," clocking in at just two quick hours. The musician, who sought therapy for PTSD after the initial crash, says that he and a friend did some breathwork prior to takeoff and that the mindful inhalation and exhalation definitely helped.

The drummer says he felt "awesome" after the flight, and admits, “It's still something very new to me, but having something that gives me the strength and hope to be able to overcome things that were so traumatic in my life, it just says a ton. She's definitely that for me. I'm invincible when I'm with her. It’s like I never dreamed, I never even considered flying again.”

Barker has also seen his love of music impact Kourtney and her family. According to Nylon, the Blink-182 musician and Kardashian recently gifted her 9-year-old daughter Penelope a pink drum kit, personalized with her name in script on the bass drum. The move came after Penelope's trips to the studio with her mother and Barker often led to her seeking out his drum kit.

“You can't be pushy, but you're like, ‘Oh, do you want to learn to play something?’ And she's always bright-eyed and like, ‘Yes, like I'm so excited to learn how to play.’ So she caught on really quick, like super quick,” says Barker, who has started teaching her to play  "When she wants to learn then, or learn something new, I like being there to fill that little space, that creative space in her head. I think next, she's just going to record something at the studio.”