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Travel anxiety

L

I went through a bad mental health experience a few years ago, largely caused by anxiety and masking due to my lack of understanding of my autism. I've come out the other side now and things are good, mentally.

Since my episode I've had terrible travel anxiety and for the last 5 years I haven't travelled further than 30 miles of where I live. It's made travelling to see family all but impossible unless they come to me.

For the lats 3 years my mum has gone away on holiday with my sister, they invite me each time and I say yes but the nearer it gets my anxiety spikes and I get panic attacks.

I'm fine with going in town but it's only 5 minutes down the road, it's further afield that triggers the anxiety and for 5 years i havent been able to get past this.

I'm 30 in a years time and it scares me that so much time is passing and I'm not able to do the things I want to do.

Parents

  • I feel like I can relate to this, being someone who was diagnosed with autism very late. I'm going abroad for the first time ever in September with my partner, and Ive been having so many panic attacks about it. We're taking the Eurostar to Paris, as I had a massive phobia of flying. I constantly have thoughts, what if I get lost at the train stations, what if I have to ask someone who speaks no English a question. train stations are busy enough.  I've wanted to cancel the trip so many times. I'm really glad you feel confident enough to share your story. having travel anxiety is the absolute worst. I really hope one day you get to go somewhere nice. x 

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  • I feel like I can relate to this, being someone who was diagnosed with autism very late. I'm going abroad for the first time ever in September with my partner, and Ive been having so many panic attacks about it. We're taking the Eurostar to Paris, as I had a massive phobia of flying. I constantly have thoughts, what if I get lost at the train stations, what if I have to ask someone who speaks no English a question. train stations are busy enough.  I've wanted to cancel the trip so many times. I'm really glad you feel confident enough to share your story. having travel anxiety is the absolute worst. I really hope one day you get to go somewhere nice. x 

Children
  • in reply to Lealo2002
    Lealo2002 said:
    what if I have to ask someone who speaks no English a question.

    I travel a lot and found the best solution is to make sure I have my mobile phone with me (with an e-sim for the country in question or a generous roaming data plan) and use apps such as Google Translate which can translate either what you type in or what you say into the language you select.

    I found it excellent when I was travelling around south east asia and south America.

    The other thing to do is spend some time to learn the basics of the language if you want to be seen as more than just an entitled tourist - I used the free version of the app DuoLingo to learn some basic Spanish, French and Italian for my most recent travels and it meant I could speak some basics with the correct pronunciation.

    Lealo2002 said:
    We're taking the Eurostar to Paris, as I had a massive phobia of flying

    Are you OK with being in a confined space under millions of tons or rock with a sea above you? I find the nagging concern over this more worrying than the proven safety aspects of flying. Phobias are irrational though so I understand why you avoid it, but you may prefer a ferry crossing instead as it is safety that is the trigger for you.

    Lealo2002 said:
    what if I get lost at the train stations

    The Eurostar exit is pretty straightforward to navigate - have a look at this YouTube video which explains the journey end to end with lots of tips and unfortunately quite a few promotions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3DwZsnQ3Ww

    There are loads of similar videos on YouTube so watch a few more to be sure you know your way around the station and do a little translation practice for if you need to ask to buy tickets for the metro.

    Gare du Nord can be really busy and one one or two occasions I have felt a bit intimidated by the large groups of people hanging about there with no obvious reason to be there - one two occasions they were verbally aggressive towards the group I was with but it never was more than racial abuse towards us (we were caucasian).

    This is pretty uncommon and security is typically effective so I had no real worries other than due the size of the group (20 plus young adult males) and the volume of luggage may have been a focus for them. We were going to a fashion trade show and had the clothes and accessories for our respective stands rather than returning from an extensive shopping trip..

    I don't say this to put you off, but to inform you so it is less of a shock if you encounter it. 

    You may also enjoy using Google Street View to see the layout of the station and walk the route in advance:

    https://www.google.fr/maps/@48.8805687,2.3544733,2a,75y,9.25h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sJramUoAl0jOHaVeODFOT_w!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D0%26panoid%3DJramUoAl0jOHaVeODFOT_w%26yaw%3D9.24577159049005!7i13312!8i6656?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDcwOC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

    Likewise the return is straightforward too - it is the same group of platforms as you arrive at and it is well signposted in English. You do need to look for when your particular train is boarding as the waiting room is a buffer area for one train at a time so you may have to wait outside the gate if you are early. 

    There are some nice restaurants that are good to pass time and enjoy French food if you do turn up early though, and they are not overpriced such as you get in airports.

    It can be a load of fun - I hope you enjoy the trip.