Calm Your Travel Anxiety: Tips, Tricks & CBD
Have you ever found yourself wishing you could discover new places, but the thought of leaving your boundaries of comfort and placing yourself amidst inevitable hassles leaves you overwrought? Well, chances are, you might have a case of travel anxiety. But, good news — you’re not alone and, even better news — we have some tips to help you overcome it.
What Is Travel Anxiety?
Travel anxiety is a common and complex issue in which a person feels anxious and depressed while preparing for a trip and the subsequent weeks leading up to the trip. Some people might have an open fear of flying, riding or moving in vehicles. For others, the roots of their anxiety can be traced to a past experience that provoked anxiety. Some have heard travel horror stories that scared them from exploring for themselves.
Or anxiety could simply manifest itself from worrying about things like packing and missing home. Whatever the cause might be, travel anxiety makes it difficult to travel for work and leisure.
How To Manage Anxiety
If you are a person who is anxious often, even when you are not traveling, then you might be more likely to experience travel anxiety. Travel anxiety, to a certain extent, is necessary, because acknowledging that things might go wrong is actually the first step in making sure they don’t. But if it is overwhelmingly high, here are some tips to help you manage it:
Don't Just Avoid It
Don’t avoid buying your tickets or postponing the dates, expecting the anxiety levels to take a dip. The act of avoidance actually increases the future fear. You’ll negatively reinforce travel anxiety by avoiding the dates. In order to manage travel anxiety, you have to put yourself in the situation and face it, so don’t fall prey to the avoidance trap.
Figure Out Your Fears
Although it could be difficult to figure out the exact underlying cause of your anxiety, it would be beneficial to try and identify what your fears are. Whether it is fear of flying, fear of traveling alone, the stress of planning, or fear of getting lost in an unfamiliar place — knowing what your fears are can help you navigate them and allow you to plan accordingly.
Be Prepared
While you can’t always control what happens when you reach your destination, you can prepare to the best of your abilities. Pack in advance, arrange for a friend to look after your home, research your destination, make sure you have the ability to navigate your location — even if your GPS fails. Planning will not only reduce your stress but will also make your trip all that much smoother.
Phone-A-Friend
You may want to consider having someone at home whom you can call whenever you feel like your anxiety is kicking in. Knowing that there’s someone who knows about your anxiety and is available to talk you through it, can provide a level of comfort when you’re away.
Take A Vacation From Your Vacation
In case you feel like your anxiety is acting up while on the trip, don’t feel pressured to partake in activity after activity. Instead of roaming around, ridden with stress, book a massage, stay in and catch up on your Netflix binging. If you try to subdue anxiety by pushing through, it may backfire and build-up, increasing your stress levels.
Plan A “Chill” First Vacation
If you have a fear of traveling in general, then plan for short trips or visits where the entire goal is to do nothing but get used to the idea of traveling. Mini visits can help you relax and actively engage yourself so that you can face similar situations in longer vacations much more carefree.
Flying High
Feeling anxious before boarding a plane is perfectly normal. Some people might opt for a calming cup of hot tea, while some might prefer wine to calm their nerves. Apart from a calming beverage, there’s another option that can provide some jitter-relief before and during your flight: CBD. CBD is an effective solution for anxiety, stress to help calm the nerves.
With a number of products in the market, infused CBD edibles are a convenient option to overcome flight anxiety. You can choose from desserts, like chocolates and gummies; beverages, like coffee or tea; savory snacks, like popcorn or nuts; or even CBD tinctures.
For some people, flying discomfort is not only psychological but physical too. The anti-inflammatory properties in CBD topicals, oils and bath salts are said to help reduce the kind of minor pain and muscle tension that could make an otherwise pleasant flight uncomfortable.
As with any drug, natural or otherwise, follow the directions on the package carefully and be sure to consult a medical professional should anything feel amiss. If you want to be sure CBD will work once you’re sky-bound, give yourself a trial run at home a few days before your flight.
Choosing a CBD consumption method depends entirely on personal preference. If you choose to use CBD edibles or tinctures, stay away from alcohol so that CBD can do its job without any interference. Though there are no known health risks involved in combining the two, each body is different and the last thing that you want is an unexpected experience during an already stressful situation. Keep your anxiety treatments separate and discuss your options with a trusted doctor.
Learning how to reduce anxiety from an overwhelming tidal wave to a manageable quiet buzz is a huge win in itself. Despite experiencing travel anxiety, you don’t need to let it stop you from traveling, exploring and living.
Bon voyage and happy adventure-ing!
We’d love to hear your stories. Share your travel anxiety stories — both your wins and your opportunities to grow and learn — with us in the comments.
Michelle Miller is a Florida-based writer and graduate of the University of Florida. Contact her at MichelleMillerOfficial@outlook.com and follow her at @cbdoilbenefits on Instagram.
