So it’s been about 5/6 months since I last wrote a post which is terrible of me! (Apologies, I know you’ve probably missed me đŸ˜‰ )
I’ve been super busy working, finishing my course in Magazine Journalism and basically just not really having a massive spurt of inspiration to write.
I thought now it would be a great time to write something, but more importantly something that unfortunately effects me everyday and a hell of a lot of other people.
Dealing with Travel Anxiety…
It’s only been in recent years that I’ve really struggled with travelling, when I was younger my family would go on holiday every year to places like Spain and Cyprus, and I remember actually looking forward to flying – it never phased me whatsoever. Then gradually as I got older I started to get more and more panicky when I travelled. This could be from a bus, car or train. It didn’t really matter what mode of transport it was. The main thing for me is how ‘busy’ it is – so if I’m travelling on a train thats full I will straight away go into panic mode because I feel like I’m being closed in, that I can’t get off, that I’m around people I don’t know – the list goes on. I’m VERY good at thinking the worst in every situation so I’ll automatically think the worst when I travel which reeaallly doesn’t calm my nerves.
When I moved to London I really chucked myself in the deep end as it’s just a little busier than a small farmers village I grew up in, even now I really struggle to catch the tube and will only take it if I have too, thankfully where I work is only a bus ride away which I prefer but even that is a struggle sometimes. I fly to New York in the next week for a holiday, and as much I’m looking forward too it I’m freaking out because we have to fly there. In my head I’m just about putting every single scenario together that could go wrong.
But looking back to when I first moved to London I’ve become a hell of a lot better dealing with travelling. Yes, a lot of the time I will try to find alternative routes if one route is busier, but sometimes I literally just go ‘Screw this, why am I letting this control me?’ and force myself into that situation – and you know what? Everytime, I’ve come out the other end absolutely fine.
I know an awful lot of people that deal with anxiety and honestly it really needs to be talked about more – as I’ve said before in previous posts, theres a massive stigma around mental health and the more it’s talked about the more that stigma fades. I’m still learning what helps me with my anxiety and finding new tricks and tips to help me deal with it, and slowly but surely I can see a gradual improvement and that in itself it amazing. Daily achievements whether dealing with Anxiety, Depression or any other mental Illness should be celebrated.
If you suffer just know that It does get better – It won’t always feel this hard or tough.
So while it’s still a daily struggle, I take each day as it comes and always do what is comfortable for myself – It’s scary and uncomfortable but there is always light at the end of the tunnel, it never stays dark for too long…