Travel Anxiety

This may seem odd to some people that for the last four years off me travelling I have been suffering with Travel Anxiety which sucks, big time. Travel anxiety means I get anxious and scared to travel making it very hard to get from point a to point b, this isn't just abroad for me it's going on a train for 20 minutes or even getting a bus and lately it's been getting worse so I wanted to share with you how I cope and some of the strange things I do.

One thing I seem to do is to turn up at least 30 minutes before my train/bus has to leave and if I can't stand by or near my stop I get nervous and being to panic, this causes people to think I'm odd as no one like to wait 30 minutes for something but for me I feel like I'm going to miss my train or bus and I like to get there on time to make sure I leave on time. This is the main cause for my travel anixety as I get so worked up that when it comes to getting onto my bus or train I panic and have panic attacks before getting dizzy and jittery to the point where people look at me funny.

Another thing that happens it that I will check departures times all the time, a week before or even a month before and I will always know what platform or where I need to get my bus/train. This is a form of ocd for me and it gets very annoying for some people but if I don't check I will panic and more then likely not leave the house.

A thing I can't stand is when a bus changes route half way through the journey this will cause me to panic and I will automaticlly think I have the wrong bus and I will start to get extremly anxious. This also means I won't try new buses or routes as I have no idea where to get off or where the bus will go, this makes it impossible for me to sometimes visit a new place.

So I wanted to share with you some tips on how to over come a fear and travel anxiety -

• Do not avoid travel - this will make you worry even more and you will have such a big buildup of anxiety that it will make it impossible for you to travel
• Have someone you can call or text - always have someone available so in a difficult situation you can call and get reassurance everything will be ok
• Find a distraction - if calling or texting someone isn't an option give yourself a distraction such as reading a book or playing music as this will relax you and make you forget about the situation you are in

So hopefully this post has been interesting for you and you have also learnt some more about travel anxiety, let me know your tips below in the comments. On Monday I shall be posting about What travel has taught me!

Jess XoXoXo