How to travel with Anxiety
Traveling is stressful no matter who you are. But when you have anxiety, traveling is even more taxing. Whether you travel for vacation, business, or because of an emergency, you won’t have to worry about getting around while anxious if you come prepared.
Here are three easy ways to make traveling with anxiety much easier.
1- Consider Traveling with an ESA
An ESA will make your trip easier. An ESA, or Emotional Support Animal, alleviate your anxiety by providing therapeutic relief in stressful situations. Typically, people associate ESAs with dogs; but a variety of animals can become registered ESAs. ESAs are not the same thing as ADA protected service dogs, but they do provide immense comfort to their owners.
If you are interested in having an emotional support animal travel with you, don’t worry: ESA registration is a simple process. Registering your support animal allows them to travel on airplanes with you.
ESA registration letters come from certified mental health professionals. Traveling with your emotional support animal will help others understand the severity of your anxiety, PTSD, or any disorder without you having to explain it every time. Moreover, you get to enjoy the relief of having an animal you trust at your side to calm you down as you head to your destination.
2- Have Everything Printed Out
In the digital age, it is easy to dismiss the value of a printed agenda and physical tickets, but if you travel with anxiety, you’ll see the benefit of paper materials. Physical copies of these documents will ease your fears about losing them in your email inbox. You’ll never have to worry about a dead phone battery. The electronic copies are always there as a backup.
Physical copies of travel documents in multiple languages also alleviate any worries you might have about communicating with locals, especially if you are headed somewhere where you don’t speak the language. For example, if you’re headed to Thailand you might find it makes you less anxious to have your hotel address listed in English and Thai so you can quickly show it to taxi drivers and head back exactly where you belong, whenever you like. All in all, physical copies will ground you when you have an anxiety attack, as you have proof you know where you are going.
3- Plan a Chill Day for your Long Trip
It might sound silly that you need a “vacation” from your vacation, but you should plan some dedicated downtime on your trip. Traveling is exhausting, both emotionally and physically. If you have a long trip, it’s a good idea to build in a rest day or two here and there. When you travel you might feel the need to constantly be on-the-go and explore every inch you can, but if you never take a second to breathe, you won’t truly get to enjoy it.
Plus, the rush to do everything in an unfamiliar place can be an unexpected trigger for anxiety in a lot of people. When you’re tired and in an unfamiliar place, it can breed a sense of unease. So, remember to sit back and relax. Cut yourself some slack, the sights will still be there next time you visit, you don’t need to do everything in one trip.
In The End
Take advantage of all the resources available to help you manage your anxiety. From support animals to written plans to built-in rest periods, there are many ways to successfully manage your anxiety while you travel. You’re sure to find the right solution for you, and soon you will travel the world without a worry.
