How To Handle Travel Anxiety

Traveling when having mental health issues can be dreadful. I, for one, probably have the biggest love/hate relationship with traveling. We all travel some time in our lives for many reasons. The first time I traveled was in 2006 and I went to Disneyland. Recently, I found myself in a nine month long-distance relationship. My boyfriend had flown to me before, but I have never flown to him. In October, my time to fly had come. I was going to be flying for the first time in ten years with barely any remembrance of my first time flying.

My anxiety was the absolute worst it has ever been even two weeks before I left. My insomnia became completely horrid. I was going to bed at 8 A.M. and not waking up until the evening. My hair was falling out more than it usually does. Then, my diet was also an absolute mess. People might be thinking, “Why is she saying all this?” Well, because these were the effects of my travel anxiety. I was watching Youtube videos back-to-back on tips and tricks to help me, but nothing got through to me. I wanted to hear from someone who didn’t have 3 million subscribers and flies first class everywhere. I went to my doctor to see if there was anything I can do for this and the most they told me was just to keep taking my medication, so that didn’t really help either.

While doing more research at 4 A.M, due to insomnia, I stumbled upon an article: 31 Tips for Dealing with Travel Anxiety.

These articles helped me tremendously. Certain things like: bringing snacks, wearing super comfy clothes, creating a to-do list prior to going to the airport, and acknowledging your anxiety and confronting it first hand. Security was actually the most stressful for me because of all the stripping of certain clothing items and taking out my liquids and computer. Luckily, I met a girl on the plane and had someone to talk to the whole time I was flying. I didn’t even realize I was 30,000 feet in the air! Sometimes when going through these struggles, you might want to read tips and facts 24/7 and just read experiences similar to what you go through. I hope this helped!