Travel Anxiety

[LlamaLlamaDuck]

Hi everyone!

I'm a bit late in posting this but someone broke TH again.

So tomorrow and Monday I'm going to be travelling. Tomorrow we're leaving early(ish) and driving around 300 miles to a Premier Inn near to my aunt's house so we can get a break from driving and spend some time with family down there. On Monday we're up bright and early and driving the last 110 miles to Suffolk. 410 miles. Blimey.
I've never been that far in a car before and I get serious travel anxiety. I used to get a bit carsick, and I don't now unless I try to read, but I still hate travelling. I've been running back and forth from the toilet for a couple of days because the idea of travelling that far makes me feel really sick and nervous.

Does anyone else experience this? How do you deal with it?
I always take a pillow and my iPod and try to sleep through as much of it as I can but this will take 5+ hours and even I won't be able to sleep through all of that!

Help?

Hi, Louise!

I don't experience travel anxiety but I'm sorry you do, especially with a long trip coming up. Even though I don't experience it, I still hope I can help you a bit!

Do you know what causes your anxiety revolving around travel? Writing down the causes and pinpointing what's causing it may be helpful. For example, are you worried about a pet that'll be staying at home? Figuring out what's worrying you is helpful because you might have control over relieving some of those worries, like, if you are worried about a pet then you could ask a friend or family member to go by and check on your pet. Just an example.

On the trip, distract yourself with reading and music like you usually do until you feel like sleeping. Perhaps you could bring something that comforts you, like a stuffed animal, blanket or pillow that makes you feel better? Small simple hobbies might be a good idea as well, such as knitting, playing a card game with a passenger etc. Bringing a notebook to write down thoughts and feelings going through your mind could be a good idea so that you have a way to express yourself.

Maybe you could also use some of this travel experience to ease yourself into feeling a bit more comfortable with traveling. Remind yourself that the trip doesn't have to go perfect to still enjoy it and that trips can be an adventure of some sort. Look out the window to do some sight-seeing, I'm sure you'll come across some pretty scenery that could be really relaxing. When you start feeling anxiety, look up at the clouds for relaxation and focus on your breathing (if it's not too sunny of course, haha).

Hope this helped. As for the trip, I hope that it goes well and still turns out to be a enjoyable experience for you. Best of luck and let me know how it goes!

[Dawn.]

For me when I've had a travel a long distance, I've taken with me books, exercise books to write, study things for Uni and music to distract myself. I also slept to pass the time haha.

I'm sorry that you suffer from travel anxiety.

[LlamaLlamaDuck]

Thank you both for replying.

The journey, although ultimately longer than expected, wasn't too bad. I didn't really sleep so I just cuddled up with my pillow and bear (way ahead of you, Ellie! ) and watched movies on my tablet. I am generally okay while travelling, it's before the journey I have the problem. I used to get travel sick and I think I'm mostly worrying about that happening again. It's over now which is good and I don't have to worry about travelling back (without stopping overnight!!) for a while yet.

I think the tips you gave will really help to make the journey shorter! I'm just disappointed that reading does make me sick when travelling or that would get me through easily!

Thank you so much again for replying, I really appreciate it.