Travel

5 Great Tips to Cure Travel Anxiety

By  | 

By Clancy Davies

 

While most of us enjoy holidays and traveling, many find the associated travel anxiety tough to bear. Travel anxiety isn’t a disease but it is rather the fear of the unknown. Fear of travel is usually caused by several factors. Some people may worry about their house and pets when they are away while others might have had unpleasant traveling experiences during their previous trips. Others are afraid of flying. Some fret that the trip will turn out to be a disaster and worry about all of the details. All of these are examples of worries related to travel that can lead to varying degrees of uneasiness. Regardless of the causes or intensity of your anxiety, it can really compromise the pleasure and excitement of your trip.

Although, travel anxiety is common in both experienced and novice travelers, most travelers have positive traveling stories to tell. Probably, they learned how to manage their anxieties and have regained the joy of travel. It is not too late; you can also overcome travel anxiety by following a little advice. The following five tips to stop travel anxiety could prove invaluable to you in planning your next holiday.

 

  1. Spend Time Making Preparations Prior to Your Trip

Use past experiences to try and think of the details and annoyances that bother you about traveling. For example, if you worry that your house will be in a mess once you step out of the door, hire a house cleaner to clean your home prior to your return. If flight travels frighten you, you can equip yourself with your iPod or your favorite book to keep you busy while you’re traveling. Simply make a list of those things you think you’ll require during your trip. You can also make a checklist of things you need to do before you leave such as locking all the windows and doors. The time spent organizing, planning and taking care of all the details well in advance will help to stop travel anxiety and ease your mind.

  1. Don’t Procrastinate

Some people are well aware of their travel anxieties, and they’ll often avoid taking care of the details such as booking a ticket, packing, etc. They will make excuses, avoid and procrastinate due to previous poor experiences with traveling. Just because you have travel anxiety doesn’t mean that avoidance will eradicate your fears. If you really want to take control over travel anxiety, get yourself involved in the action by preparing early and taking care of all necessary details. Knocking it out earlier will get that stress out of the way sooner rather than later.

  1. Learn How to Cope with Flight Phobia

For those people who worry about flying, you may want to dig a little deeper to find the root of this fear. Get to know exactly what frightens you. Are you acrophobic or claustrophobic? Perhaps the mechanical sounds bother you or air turbulence freaks you out. It’s important to try and rationalize these fears by researching the flight safety or even working with a therapist. And once you are aboard, it’s important to find something that calms you and distracts you. Whether it be music, an on-flight movie, a book or even a glass of wine, there are countless ways to cope with flight fears, you’ve just got to find what works best for you.

  1. Meditate

To effectively manage their travel anxiety, many individuals use meditation to gain control. Meditation makes use of a kind of self-hypnosis, so you can calm your nerves and mind down. Various self-hypnosis scripts designed specifically to ease travel anxiety can be found online. Meditate on these scripts, and see how your mind can be at ease during your time of travel. The scripts are great tools of converting people’s subconscious minds into a friend rather than a foe. Instead of having a subconscious mind that is deep-seated in travel anxiety, you’ll have a subconscious mind that is confident and relaxed with your travel plans.

  1. Get rid of the Unknowns

Illuminate your travel shadows by doing research prior to your trip. Research things you expect to encounter once you’re at your destination. Apart from visiting various travel blogs, you can also use travel guides to become well-informed with your destination point. Go online and check out your accommodation so you will know what to expect. Have you looked into travel from the airport to the hotel? What about meals and special dietary requirements? The little unknowns add up and will add to your travel anxiety. If you’re afraid of the monster in the closet, you have to open up the closet and see that it’s safe. It’s the same thing with travel and vacations. Get to know the unknown, and you can find that it isn’t so scary.

Observing the five tips listed above is a great way to start you on the path of happy travels. Enjoy!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *