Travel anxiety-anyone else have this?

I'm so sorry to hear about your travel anxiety! It sounds like it's really impacting your life and holding you back from doing the things you want to do. It's understandable that you would feel so anxious and guilty about backing out of the journey with your dad this morning. One thing you could consider is looking into digital nomad visas. For example, Malta offers a digital nomad visa [link removed by moderator] allowing you to live and work remotely in Malta for up to a year. This would give you the freedom to travel without the anxiety of a long journey, as you could stay in one place for a more extended period of time. You could also take regular breaks to explore the country and take part in activities that interest you.

Im so sorry your going through this. I do understand. I have had some form of travel anxiety my whole life. When I was a kid if I knew my mom n dad were planning a trip to the seaside I would spend days looking forward to it but then the night before we went I would be lying in bed hoping it would rain so we wouldnt have to go. I didnt know I was autistic back then so I never knew what it was. Even if me and my mom went to London to a museum or something I would spend the whole day plagued with anxiety attacks. Wierdly, the more I looked forward to something and the more I wanted to enjoy it the more it would happen

I am so interested in different countries and history and the world around me but I have bookshelfs full of books about places I have never been able to go to because of my travel anxiety. I am facinated by German culture and almost see myself as a German cos it is my special interest and I identify with it so much but I have never been able to go to Germany

As for practical tips that can help, do you find it easier to go places on your own or with someone? Sometimes I find if its a short trip on my own is easier because if theres someone else there then I have to worry about them as well as me if that makes sense. Although, saying that, I had a panic attack in the shopping centre the other day cos of all the Christmas shoppers and had to call my wife to come and get me. 

Best advice I can give is you don't need to feel guilty about not being able to go places. It is a perfectly OK part of autism and there is nothing wrong with you. The more pressure you put on yourself to go places and the more you think you "should" be able to the harder it will be to do something.

I find doing things on the day rather than planning them in advance helps too as then I dont have time to build up anxiety about it. Not sure maybe that would help you

If I can think of anything else I will put it here 

I’m looking at coaches and trains from Manchester to South Wales, especially Pembroke and Fishguard, for the ferry to Rosslare - from there, getting the train to Dublin would be a doddle by comparison to Manchester, Chester, Holyhead Dublin (North Wall) which is a real hassle - flying from Manchester or Liverpool to Dublin is a real pain too, as it takes an hour even outside of rush hour to get out of Dublin Airport 

I'll head to Manchester, in March, via Coach - from Belfast - but the first Coach is towards Glasgow. The old service between Cairnryan and Carlisle is gone; now.

Given the current climate change related travel disruptions to both air travel and including rail strikes, going forward, it’s far too risky and dangerous to travel without a chaperone any longer distance over 20 miles on any forms of travel - before my later in life diagnosis and before Covid, I would have happily travelled alone on SailRail, overnight coach (via Holyhead) and air travel between the U.K. and Ireland (Dublin) but I’d have to think twice now especially after being stranded in Holyhead for 2 days on my return from Ireland 

I don't travel, period. I haven't been more than 20 miles from home since 2018. I have a chronically overactive digestive system so I physically can't travel unless I take immodium, which has side effects like tiredness, headache and nausea. There's nothing I want to do enough to put myself through that.

I do get a bus out into the nearby countryside sometimes and go walking, usually by myself. Being alone massively reduces the anxiety. It also helps to stay within a distance where I could walk home if I really had to (<20 miles).

Anxiety in my life has been reduced enormously by giving up travel and only doing short trips if I genuinely want to. Pushing yourself to travel if you're not enthusiastic about it leads to resentment and you'll end up hating and fearing it even more.

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My issue is motorways... over the years I've developed a fear of travelling along motorways and if I have a long journey ahead of me, I will work out with military precision the best route to take to avoid them as best I can. I'm fine on other roads, I saw a previous post upthread about the fear of being stranded and I think that nails my fear too. Utterly irrational but we are where we are...

I get major travel anxiety up until I’m at the airport - once I’m through TSA I’m fine. But 48 hours before I’m stressed, making sure the house is clean, all our laundry is done, all the bed sheets are washed, packing and not forgetting anything. My house has to be absolutely spotless before I go on a trip so that I’m not coming home to any chores to do. I’m traveling this Tuesday and the anxiety kicked in about 7 am today.

I have similar experiences it can be crippling.

I have big anxiety but I love travelling. I do always have at the back of my mind how I get home if it all goes wrong. When I go on holiday I always like to stay not far from the airport, I would hate to be 2 hours away. I am a nightmare at the airport, there hours early, just sit there staring at the screen until the gate comes up, i wish they would give you it when you get there. Always anxious I have booked the wrong date, time, everything really and I hate travelling with others who are really relaxed about timings etc. The diffrence is that being diagnosed late I was never allowed to be diffrent, I was just to get on with life, no matter what.

Yep. Odd though because I HAVE travelled all over Europe quite alone.

Bizarrely the daily commute causes more issues for me than international travel. I hate crowds, the packed damp bus with screaming babies and teenagers who think the whole world wants to listen to their grunge music and the stench...the commute is a traumatic sensory bombardment. I literally do need a lie down in a darkened room by the time I get to the office. And I have 2 hours of that each way.

Internationally, I find this easier if I pick non-busy times and plan to the nth degree and arrive super early for everything.

I have though never been to a country where I don't speak the language. France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, US, Ireland, French Canada...I HAD to know I could absolutely buy a ticket, order a meal and find the loo alone before I'd ever dare go. Mercifully, I got a BA Hons in Modern Languages. Would I go to Japan? Love to, but I would have to take a course in Japonese first.

Reported as abusive.

I have this problem for a few reasons. 

I have a massive thing about becoming stranded somewhere (it’s mobility related more than anything) 

I also don’t like trying to decipher what people are going to do next. Going out into town there are a lot of what Seem to me to be boisterous people and people like this scare me a lot. Teenagers terrify me. Children stare at me. People try to talk to me and I don’t know on any given day how i’ll Respond. Some days I seem fine and able to communicate back but mostly I find myself shutting down and not able to communicate in a ‘reasonable’ manner. 

I no longer go out unless with a support worker or parents. Which limits me a lot. 

I know what you mean. It it serious and very life limiting. So far everything I've tried hasn't worked and now I hardly go out at all.

I'm sorry you have this as well. I totally get how you feel about missing opportunities and events.

To date my travel anxiety has caused me to miss out on my cousin's wedding and also my grandparents funerals, though I hardly saw them before that anyways because of the anxiety.

Leaves me feeling very guilty.

I hope you can find a solution to yours.

Xx

Yes, I have a big problem with this - it's very rare that I go anywhere further than I can walk there and back, and not unusual that I don't feel able to leave the house at all. I avoid travelling in vehicles as much as I possibly can - even if it means walking miles cross-country in terrible weather in the middle of the night.

When I do absolutely have to make a journey, the anxiety starts as soon as I begin to even make plans for it. I obsessively check the timetables over and over again, go along the route in Google street-view to make sure that I recognise every single step of the way, and get into a total panic if a bus or train is even a few seconds late. Being stuck inside a metal box with other people is horrible for my senses, and I have to fight the urge to just get off to be away from it for the whole journey. I especially can't abide going anywhere if I don't know exactly how I'll be getting back, or if I have to rely on someone else to get home. I miss out on opportunities to see people very often because of it.