Please Remove the Following Dangerous Item from your Carry-On: Anxiety

Picture this: You’re lying in your bed the night before a 6 week adventure around Europe and every single worst case scenario is resurrecting itself from the deepest parts of your brain. You tell them politely, “Please stop. I’m supposed to be struggling to sleep from excitement, not this!” Alas, the thoughts keep rolling in and more severely each time. 

I’ll be the first to raise my hand and admit this was me a few years ago (sometimes still now). If you’re reading this and thinking:

Um, how did this random person just look into my soul?

Then let me firstly give you a big imaginary hug and say:

There, there, your feelings are valid and I love you. 

Okay, I can minus the grand declaration of love till you at least take me out to dinner first – but I know if you’re like me and experience serious travel anxiety, then we’re going to be best friends.

Let me start off by saying this; I LOVE TRAVELLING! I know if you’ve made it this far you might be confused, but it’s true. I’ve travelled to 20 countries and I still have a desire to see dozens more in my life. From experiencing the richness of cultures so different to my own, to tasting foods I didn’t even know existed, to exploring modern and ancient cities packed with so much to offer my mere mortal eyeballs. I’m obsessed with it all.

My brain also happens to be obsessed with:

• Overthinking

• Overplanning

• Orchestrating a myriad of terrible situations that MIGHT come true (even if there’s only a 0.0000001% chance). 

The anxiety and panic attacks usually start from the minute I book my flights; which is generally the first step months and months before I even step foot into an airport. For you this may be different and that’s okay. At the end of the day we’re all lovely, little, green peas in the same big, scary pod.

So Blog – Why?

I’ve decided to start this blog so I can document my experiences with travel anxiety and reveal certain tips/tricks that have helped me overcome seemingly impossible fears. Follow along if you think this may help you in your future adventures, or even if you just need some validation that you’re not the only one who feels like this. I hope we can be the start of something special ❤

I’ll leave you with 3 of my favourite quotes from The Untethered Soul by Michael Alan Singer:

If you spend your time hoping that it doesn’t rain tomorrow, you are wasting your time; Your thoughts don’t change the rain.

The truth is, everything will be okay as soon as you are okay with everything. And that’s the only time everything will be okay.

You are not your thoughts. You are simply aware of your thoughts.

Au revoir, Ahoj, Até já!

Priya x