HOW do you Cope with/DO/Survive Vacations?

As the title says…

My girlfriend (neurotypical but, lovely all the same…) wants to go on vacation and weirdly, it doesn’t make her go all funny in her tummy and build up with intense anxiety at the idea of a 3 and a half hour car journey. Weird right! She’s been wanting to go away for a while and I foolishly gave in and now in a week’s time we’re off to Devon. But now the anxiety is increasing and I know it’s going to be a tiresome anxious filled week ahead.

The ridiculous thing is I DO enjoy vacations…..When I get there. Anxiety takes the edge off things leading up to the event but when I finally get there it all floats away and I enjoy the time away.

My main anxious thought is needing to wee all the time. Anxiety affects me like that, unfortunately, though better that end than t’other TBF! I’m just painfully aware I’m going to be on the road for 3 or so hours on easter weekend so know the motorway will be heaving…. That said, I have at least convinced Lisa for us to set off at 8:00 a.m. so we should beat most of the heavy traffic.

Enough of my woeful ramblings though, how do you prepare and survive these awful things!?! The anxiety is crippling me already and yet it’s only traveling 130 miles. I need to chill out, prepare as best I can and pray to Allah’s cat that I’ll survive the ordeal.

Parents
  • 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 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.

Reply
  • 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.

Children
No Data