15 ways to help travel and anxiety get along
For a long time, I refused to let anxiety make my life choices for me. I felt defiant. I wanted to tell it to bugger off.
Perhaps predictably, that came at a price — whether in the breakdown of a relationship, falling out with my family or panic attacks. With hindsight and a lot of practice, I realise things don’t need to be binary. It’s not anxiety or life.
As I write, I’ve been travelling for three months. And it’s been unforgettable. As an aside, I hope I never take it for granted. Only a tiny proportion of the world’s people ever get this opportunity.
Anyway, anxiety doesn’t mean you can’t travel. There’s just a few more things to take into account.
I think it’s worth saying that travel isn’t going to be an escape from anxiety. You can’t run away. Anxiety is from within. External factors exacerbate your symptoms, but they don’t cause them.
These things work for me. You are different and will find your own way, but I hope you find it useful.
1. Plan to travel slow — think deep, rather than broad
I don’t enjoy constantly hopping between places. I guess there is a certain sense of accomplishment as you check off destinations. But I don’t find it particularly fulfilling.
For anxiety, slow travel is valuable. A week, even a month lets you start to get a feel for the place and its people. You can begin to create routine.
Long-term travel (especially if you’re going to work) can’t be full throttle every day, any more than it can be in your ‘normal’ life.
2. On medication? Now is probably not the right time to stop
Swapping routine for the unpredictability of travelling can push all your buttons at once.
Adding a chemical shift by getting off medication might backfire. So talk to your doctor about your plans and see about getting an extended prescription.
Also, clear up is when they want a medication review. Get a commitment they won’t call one until you’re back — especially you’ll be a long way away.
3. Get the Calm app on your phone
Calm has guided and unguided meditation, a breathing timer and sleep stories. The latter sound a bit weird, but are mini-audiobooks designed to help you relax. There’s enough free stuff to see if you like it.
Another good one is Headspace. There is a free ten-day programme that’ll help you get the hang of it — and there’s a lot more if you subscribe.
4. Spot when your reactions are unreasonable
A while ago my doctor cancelled my prescription without warning, saying I needed to go in for a review. I explained I was in Czech and about to run out, and the callousness of the response threw me, “Well, can’t you just buy some out there?”. That made me really angry.
In one sense, that was rational. Going cold turkey on antidepressants is a bad idea. But the thing is, difficult situations usually produce a rational response from me. My emotions in the day or two after were not.
Looking back, I should have known something was underlying it — I wasn’t doing as well as I thought.
5. Accept that sometimes you need to stop for a few days
Like at home, occasionally you push yourself too hard and have to stop. It’s important to recognise when that happens, and do something about it.
Otherwise, you’ll arrive at new places without that sense of wonder. And that is a great waste of the privilege of this opportunity.
Check in somewhere comfortable and rest for a few days. Have a flexible schedule and don’t plan too far ahead, so if you need to stop, you can.
6. Practice diaphragmatic breathing, and make it a daily routine
Diaphragmatic breathing is when you expand your diaphragm downwards, pushing your stomach out instead of your chest.
Lying on your back, put a book or something on your stomach and push it up high when you breathe in. Then let it fall naturally.
Use a timer like in the Calm app until you get the hang of it. It’s great for diffusing stress. Try to do it twice daily for ten minutes and you’ll get lasting calm.
7. Read a book, not Facebook, before bed
Screens are usually blue-tinted, which our body recognises as time to wake up. Evening light is red, which tells us to get ready for sleep.
That’s why staring at your phone or computer right before sleeping keeps you awake. Try to turn off and read a book or Kindle.
8. Planned spontaneity can help you through the wildest of times
I know planned spontaneity sounds like a contradiction in terms, but it’s an approach I used a lot in the past.
Predictability — something to ground you — is often a key thing for people with anxiety. But to live life fully, you also need the exhilaration of chaos. My way around that is to plan, consciously, for times of spontaneity.
I know that sounds counter-intuitive but if I decide, in advance, that the five day holiday with the guys is going to be totally spontaneous and unplanned, that’s not going to cause me any problems— because the lack of a plan is the plan.
So plan to go with the wind. And then book yourself a place for ten after that if you need to.
9. Make time to exercise
Getting exercise is a cornerstone of managing anxiety, depression and any kind of stress. Travelling complicates things.
Sticking to your old routine is hard. I’ve failed to get any decent exercise. My semi-valid excuse has been my knee injury — but I do walk all the time, even if it’s half an hour around the town before bed.
10. Find somewhere you can sit in peace
In Holland beer, parties and dwindling funds had pushed me. I’d paid no attention to my head and was now paying the price.
Arriving in Alkmaar, I checked into the hostel and went out. Along the canal, off the central square, I found a bench. I sat, opened a beer and watched the world go by. Within a couple of minutes I felt my muscles relax, my shoulders sink and my breathing ease.
I returned to that bench several times while. Find a place like that. It doesn’t need to be secluded, just comfortable. Go there to unwind.
11. Take fewer things with you — hand luggage only
You don’t need as much as you think. Having less is liberating, and makes you feel lighter. Moving your stuff is less stressful and you’ll have less to lose.
Take only the essentials and know you can fill in the gaps later on. I wrote here about what has made the cut for me.
12. Whenever you drink, drink a bit less
Hangovers are an anxiety factory. They mess everything up. Of course, part of the joy of travel is meeting interesting people. You’ll have opportunities for a night out all the time.
The impact of a bad hangover can linger for days, even a week. They can put you in a downward spiral of frustration towards yourself.
Cutting down the volume to avoid a bad day is important. And that lets you increase the frequency.
13. Talk to people about it
Even if you’re travelling solo, you’re rarely alone. Talking to people about how you’re feeling (or about anything) helps to pull you out of your own head and give you a sense of perspective.
There’s something irreplaceable about talking face-to-face. Also, friendships made while travelling are liberating. The relationship is usually fleeting. Somehow, it’s often easier to open up.
14. Take advantage of the euphoria after the storm
You might recognise this feeling — that moment when rising anxiety gives way to calm. It’s as though a storm has cleared. The sun forces its way through the clouds and the air becomes still. You feel clarity.
Use that time well and make a plan. You probably need to stay somewhere for a few days of rest, decent food and zero expectations.
15. Don’t let it stop you going after what you want
As I said at the start, I don’t think anxiety should keep you from doing anything. It doesn’t need to either — but the gung-ho approach of my younger years didn’t actually work. Treat it as your travelling companion, consider its needs — and have an amazing time.
I’d love to know if you found any of this useful. Leave me a comment!
