Dealing With Travel Anxiety...

Hello everyone! What's happening? You guys all having an amazing day? Well, I hope you are having a nice day today! Today's post is going to be about dealing with travel anxiety. As I mentioned in my travel essentials post, I said that I get anxious around travel and I also said that I would make a post about it, so today is going to be about my process of how I try my hardest to stay calm and some tips that will change your attitude about travelling if you don't love it already. Warning, this post is long and it might seem a bit boring but I want you guys to try your hardest to read this all because it is quite important- well at least I hope it is! I hope you guys enjoy reading this post so lets get started!

Travel anxiety is something that I have to deal with and it's a bit hard to talk about. Not because it's personal but just the fact that I don't know what everyone is like and I'm not too sure how to explain it from my point of view or anyone else's. I think you will only really understand if you go through it as well. But I will give you some tips and just reminders and my experiences for you to remember and to stay calm about. I will be telling you about things that I learned while going through my anxiety. I will be telling you this in the order from a week before my flight to arriving at my destination, basically chronological order of how I get ready.

The first thing I learned is that getting into a calm place starts before you even start getting ready to travel. I always try do to as much as I can before I go away just to put my mind at ease. To help this I recommend making a list of what you need to get or do and then put your schedule next to the list. This really helps. Before I go away, on my list I write; what I need to pack and how much of it, what I need to do like cleaning my house or go to the doctor. That way I can check off what I have done and the more I do the more that my mind is at ease. This makes me prepared and organised and trust me, it feels so good ticking off things from the list and it actually makes you a bit more comfortable about travelling because you have less things to worry about. 

Second thing is making sure that a week in advanced, I start packing or at least getting clothes prepared. Starting a week before hand makes you have more time to get things and also you know what you need to get. I put my clothes in my suitcase the night before I leave no matter what time my flight is the next day. I do this because then I know that I fully have everything. With my carry on, I start a week before hand and then finish 5 mins before I leave. That might seem last minute but it's not. Like my suitcase, I make sure the main things are in my carry on ready to go but my electronics, I unplug making sure they are fully charged and then I pack them 5 mins before I leave.  When you are frantic, you don't have time to breath and relax and generally you get stressed. I also ask a friend to check if I have everything that I might need. This is actually  a very useful tip and normally I get my mum to help but anyone works really. It is a super helpful tip and I recommend using it. This is why I start a week before hand. 

Third thing is that making sure the space I leave is clean and tidy and ready for when I get back. My mind is always more comfortable when I do this.

The fourth thing that I learned is that to lay out what I'm going to be wearing on my flight. I lay out everything from my bra to my underwear to my socks then my actual clothing, my shoes and my jacket. I recommend to bring a thickish jacket to wear on the plane if you are going somewhere hot and a thick one if you are going somewhere cold. My go to outfit, for where ever I travel to is almost pyjama like. I wear sweatpants or something similar to sweat pants and then a pyjama shirt.  The outfit I wear always has to be comfortable as much as possible. This is because you also need to know how your body reacts when you travel. I get tired when I travel so why not wear pyjama like clothes? The pyjama shirt I wear is something I wear rarely to bed because I like to know that it is always prepared for a flight. Then I wear trainers ( or sneakers and sometimes running shoes because I feel like in running shoes I get around a lot quicker)  because they are much more comfortable and easier to get around an airport in and they are easy to slip off and on when I'm on an airplane. I don't know about you guys but I never wear shoes on a flight. I also lay out my products or anything that I use to get ready so that they are ready to go and I don't have to be frantic and look for them. I get those ready also the night before I leave because the day of my flight I am just a very nervous person and I like to relax.

The Fifth thing I learned is to get comfy and relax and even sleep before you get ready to leave. This will make you calm and refreshed. 

Ok, now its the time where you get ready. I say get ready slowly so you are aware of what you are doing and you what you have done. I learned this really quickly and it helps a lot. Make sure to give your self enough time to do this and never procrastinate, it will make your anxiety worse. 

Now it's time to leave. I learned that to make sure to order a taxi or get someone to drive you and make sure that they are there exactly when you need to leave. Even if you have to tell them to wait 10 mins before you actually leave. This will make you more comfortable knowing that they are there ready and that they don't mind waiting just a bit to help you. It might make you stressed thinking 'oh no they are here! I need to hurry up!' Trust me I'm not trying to sound rude but you come before anyone at that moment so just make sure you are prepared. I also learned to give your self 10 minutes to make sure you have everything and that you won't be leaving important things behind. I also learned to leave at least 3 hours before your flight. This gives you more than enough time to check through security and to be at the gate and maybe do a bit of shopping. 

It's the ride to the airport now and I learned that downloading your fave shows and music get you so calm and relaxed that you don't even know it. Plus it is a distraction! Make sure to save battery though. This is why I recommend a mophie or a portable charger so you know you will always have battery on you. 

Now you have arrived at the airport and now you feel a bit better knowing that you have got everything with you but you are still getting those butterflies in your stomach. I learned that once you check in you will feel so much better so check in at your own pace and just be comfy and calm. Once you have checked in you now have to go through security and immigration. This is the hardest part for me. It's overwhelming especially if you don't travel all the time and you think that 'Oh my gosh these people have done it so many time how are they so calm?' You see people who travel all the time and they are kind of pushing you to go faster and you are rushing and getting anxious but what I learned is that just to block them out and go at your own pace and don't feel rushed. Just make sure you are paying attention to what you are meant to be doing at that time. 

Congratulations! You are now passed security. You now have two options. One of them is to go to the gate and chill, use the wifi to do whatever you want and the second option is to go through the shops and just look around and maybe even go and sit down somewhere to eat. I learned by just doing what you feel like doing when you have extra time is calming and stressed free. 

Now it is time to board the plane and again- do it at your own pace and find your seat at your own pace. This will make you feel calm and once you sit down, do whatever you have to do to make yourself ready for take off and the flight. Be patient and just do things slowly. 

People experience different things throughout the flight. I love to travel on long haul flights because that gives me time to just be with my self and to have me time. I just hate the thought of turbulence and if something goes wrong like a bumpy takeoff. Those frighten me so much to the point where sometimes I will be crying. One time I actually had to go to a flight attendant and ask if everything is going to be ok. She ended up going to the pilot and asking the pilot. The pilot then told her to tell me that everything was going to be fine. What I try to do now which is something I learned is to take deep breaths, close my eyes, listen to music and just be as calm as possible and sometimes, treat the turbulence as a roller coaster ride even though I hate roller coasters. I hate turbulence so much and it just scares me so what I do is listen to music, take deep breaths, watch something, read a book and generally I get so distracted that sometimes I don't even nice the turbulence any more. That is something I learned and it's just making distractions for my self.  Its learning to take the negative into a positive. I also think about the end result. Where I'm going, what I'm going to be doing and that generally makes you feel so calm. I also think about how everything is going to be ok and how there are so many flights happening right now and how they are dealing with this as well. What I learned is not to over think about it and remember that everything is under control and it's not something for you to worry about. I know that might seem hard but it is something you have to try and think about. One of my biggest fears was 'Oh my gosh if this plane goes down, I'm going to be on it and I'm not ready to leave the world yet!' As I said before, it is really about taking the negative into a positive and shifting your mind set. If you are travelling with  a friend of yours or a family member, take advantage of them! Talk to them and just make sure that you are comfortable with talking to them and them just being there. 

The flight is now over and congratulations! Your flight is done now again- go in your own pace and be aware of what you are doing next whether it's getting your luggage or going through immigration. A thing that I learned is that if I am feeling lost, just follow the crowd and then eventually while following them, they will take you to where you have to be next. 

Yay! You are now officially done with travelling. Now you can go to your hotel or where every you are staying at and just relax and enjoy the time of where you are going. One thing I learned is to either make sure you have something picking you up or if you are really familiar with the place that you are going to, get a taxi to take you to where ever you are going to. You are now done with the actual travelling part!

Thank you guys so much for reading this post. Sorry it was quiet long, it took me a while to write it because I was trying to put as much help as possible so that I can really help you guys. I hope you enjoyed it and it helped you in any way. Please check out my last post which was about my travel essentials because it definitely links with this post. What are your tips for getting through your travel anxiety? Comment them down below! Thank you so much for reading this post or really any of my posts! See you guys soon!

xoxo It's Just That Girl