HOW do you Cope with/DO/Survive Vacations?

TheCatWoman said:

I can't be bothered, all that hassle and fuss, the stress and anxiety and horror of horrors airports!

I have become much more adept with air travel since I found myself being shipped to Latin America by my employer to be their IT person for the whole continent, so ended up travelling around almost every other week to a different country.

It paid really well and had loads of other perks so was worth learning to tolerate.

I try to get access to the lounges in airports whenever possible as it is a much more civilised place with free food and drink (often quite decent including wine) which often have showers, clean bathrooms and other facilities that the great unwashed don't get to see.

I plan ahead in detail how to get to the airport, book a taxi from a reputable company (or Uber in a pinch) and give myself about 5 hours before the flight to leave - typically about an hour for me to get to an airport, check in well ahead of the rest of the passangers and plenty of time to chill in the lounge while enjoying the food and drink (much better than you get on the flights).

Planning my packing and carrying a portable weighing device avoids anxiety about luggage being overweight and I have the hand luggage down to a fine art.

The gate is always a bit stressful due to the random lines forming and people stressing everywhere, but being patient is needed - a bit of meditation helps here.

I'm off in 2 hours for a 6,000 mile flight now and everything is clicking into place. I can't say I'm looking forward to trying to sleep on the overnight flight though - I probably need some wine to help me sleep.

I can understand your situation, I have never been a fan of holidays, not really understanding why until recently when I am became aware that I am autistic. I am a little bit like you I struggle with the travelling part a lot, very rarely the journey goes to the plan...and I struggle to deal with it, usually resulting in me losing the plot. Then I like my home comforts and you have very few of these when you are staying away from home. The food is challenging, the accommodation, etc....probably not helping you...sorry. I can sympathise with you. I tend to go on holidays to please the family, there are parts I do enjoy mainly spending time with the family or seeing some new things but I would rather be at home

Food is a big problem for when going away, I have so many allergies and intollerances, it's a nightmare, I don't even eat out or have takeaways at home, luckily I enjoy cooking and am good at it.

I love galleries and museums, but they're always so crowded, I've come to the conclusion I prefer watching stuff about them on tv, you get to see the stuff better and have expert insight into the objects. I can do without seeing a Graeco-Roman temple again, once you've seen one it feels like youv'e seen them all, I went to the Temple of Apollo in Didym and the most interesting thing were all the wild tortoises. It was a bit freaky at first, wondering if I really did see a rock scuttling off, and then I realised it was a tortoise and there were hundreds of them!

Apart from planned breaks, I look up places to visit whilst we are away, so I roughly know where we will go. I also look up possible places to eat and where toilets might be located.

That way I can also count down the number of days till we come home and sometimes find towards the middle I begin to enjoy it more.

I live on a beautiful island, although it's cold wet and windy most of the year, I don't really feel the need to go on holiday, I supose for me a holiday would be a city break, but to be honest I can't be bothered, all that hassle and fuss, the stress and anxiety and horror of horrors airports! I can cope with being on a plane but all that faffing around at airports drives me crazy.

I see and understand. I don't think my brain has ever allowed time to properly think about anything. So much time over-thinking and never properly focusing and thinking, no wonder we autists are always so exhausted!

At least you have an Allah's dog though. These small pieces of Heaven are what make life so precious and worth living, IMO.

That’s a good idea and one I think we may incorporate in to our own travels here on. From what I can see on the map there’s a few places we could stop off for a mini break/sightseeing session, Lisa is interested in quickly visiting Wincanton as Terry Pratchett came from there, so I think this might be something fun for us to do – and an ideal pit stop for me to use the loo, grab a latté and let Biscuit take me for a quick walk.

I very rarely go on vacation. 

If I do plan a vacation travel, like you, I like to leave really early and then have a waypoint of somewhere interesting to pause the journey part way - and have a bit of a walk about / look around somewhere - before a coffee with a light snack ...then onwards to complete the remainder of the journey.

Fuzzyair said:

where do you like/want to go on vacation to?

I've lived in a cities before, so that's out.  I've not even begun the process of thinking about it, and my ADHD infested brain hasn't yet allowed me the focused time to think about it properly.   Yet I tend to over-think when I do start.  You see why I haven't got around to it in a while? 

I have an Allah's dog too, so that's another holiday consideration I suppose !!

Out of curiosity, where do you like/want to go on vacation to? They say a lot of people who live in a vacation destination want to go somewhere further away that isn’t typically a vacation place, like the inner city. I personally like places with beaches or mountains and woodlands. I like seeing the wildlife in mountain regions and the peace and quiet is always nice too.

Thanks for the tips. Great suggestions, I have already studied AA route planer and Lisa has pointed out some alternative routes for us to take too. I’ll be pumping up the car tires on the morning, that way I know they’re full and good to go on the day. You’re right I really must get to a GP but the idea of being in medical places makes me feel even more ill than I do already. In the meantime I have physical exercise and distraction techniques and my dog to keep the anxiety at bay. I’m going for a checkup though, in August so maybe I can ask about my anxiety then.

That's something I have NEVER understood about anxiety, how it makes you worry, feel like rubbish about things you WILL actually enjoy. The human mind is a strange thing... I have never understood it.

It’s 50/50 with Allah’s cat… The fact I own a dog, and not a cat, he may frown upon that and use it against me. At least I have positive thinking with me though – off to a great start!

I haven't had a holiday in ages, and I do feel I need one.  In fact it's been so long that I don't really know where to start.   That said, I do live in a holiday destination, so it could be said that perhaps I don't need one as much as most.  

Sometimes I do read these posts and think how fortunate people must be to have these problems, but then I must (try to) remember that all things are relative, and that anxiety is very real no matter the subject it concerns.

I do suggest you approach your GP if your anxiety is getting too much to handle.  I do suggest you plan your journey properly (AA Route Planner or similar) and look for suitable places to take a break on the way.  At least you KNOW you will enjoy it when you get there. 

I don't know if Allah's cat will be much help, but you can let us know how you get on with that one !