Have you ever had fear or anxiety because of a trip you have coming up? That could be travel anxiety, the fear or exhilaration of seeing new faces or going to a new place. It can also involve the stress that comes with planning your travels.
Travel anxiety can ruin a vacation and make planning for vacations stressful. Even if you have no history of anxiety, the idea of being outside familiar territory can throw you into panic mode. Imagine you are about to travel to Hawaii but instead of feeling excited and happy to visit such a beautiful place, you are scared and have a weird feeling in your stomach because of the anxiety of going to a new place.
Travel anxiety as Healthline explains it, is not an officially diagnosed mental health condition, for certain people, anxiety about travelling can become serious, stopping them from going on a vacation or enjoying any aspect of travelling.
Dorcas Ishimwe, a travel enthusiast and sign language interpreter, says that while travelling she expects two things—a good and bad experience—and knowing that a bad experience can happen makes her anxious.
"I get anxiety too, when you are going somewhere you have never been before, you don’t know anyone, or even the place, you feel that anxiety. Some bad reviews from a place can make a person anxious, like being raped, robbed or even language barrier,” she says. Although it does make her anxious at times, exploring new things helps her a lot, having that free time without work, and being in a different environment helps her let go of stress and come back feeling fresh. Whether it’s a bad or good experience, it’s all about learning as you get something from both.
For most people, travel anxiety ruins their trips and vacations. Alan Manzi, an occasional traveller, says that being anxious has made him cancel trips numerous times. "I love travelling and it is what I do on a daily basis, but I can’t hide the fact that even though I travel a lot, I also get anxiety. I have cancelled so many trips and regret it after. I would plan and set everything and two days to the trip or vacation, I would cancel,” he says. He adds that he has come to realise that if you let anxiety stop you from having a good time it will always be like that, and so he started letting go and going on vacations with a blank mind about what could happen.
How to cope with travel anxiety
Although Teta Akaliza, a travel enthusiast, is not one to be anxious about a trip, she has a few tips she uses before travelling. Make sure you have a checklist for everything you will need on your travel, she says.
"Think about the positive experiences you will get along the journey, the people you will get to meet, the food you get to taste, and then relate to the kind of feeling it will bring to you, it works for me,” she says.
If you love music, make a selection of playlists that can distract your thoughts but don’t miss out on the beautiful scenery on your way.
If you’re into books, grab one that will keep you turning pages. And also look outside the window once in a while.
"Travelling is a kind of therapy for some people, knowing that at the end of the day it is helpful in one way or another makes me go for it. I make sure that I enjoy each and everything to the maximum while travelling,” Akaliza says.
"Try new things, travelling is always fun, please do it. You will be happy. People are nice everywhere, according to my experience, this world has beautiful people, no matter what, you will meet nice people while travelling,” she adds.
Do research before going to that place, visit travellers’ pages and see reviews from different people of that place.
"Plan activities before you start the adventure when you have a plan you do what you want and you spend wisely,” shares Ishimwe.