Do you really worked up before a trip? Everyone knows about the fear of flying. What about pre travel anxiety? The moment that spans between booking your trip and actually going away on vacation can be fraught with anxiety. Pre travel anxiety is where you have a desire to travel, actually booked the trip but you have starting to get really nervous about going away from home. I am going to come up with some efficient tips and tricks that can help you overcome your pre travel anxieties.

• KEEP UP A HEALTHY ROUTINE BEFORE YOUR TRIP:

My first tip is to try and keep up a healthy routine before you go for travelling. I mean to say that eat healthy, exercise regularly, sleep well enough, follow a good hygiene, and drink plenty of water. Following these will help you feel less worried if any challenges arise during your travel plans. If nothing else, getting enough sleep is probably the most important thing to help you feel less stressed before your travel.

• KEEP AN ONGOING LIST OF THINGS TO DO:

Keep a running list of what you need to get planned and prepared before your trip. If you do not write them on paper then you will forget things. Keep a list and inventory of all the things you have to plan before you go for a trip because we do have to plan a lot more and by the way there are plenty of other people’s packing list to work off. If you Google “packing list” or if you look on Pinterest, they can be very helpful.

• START A TRAVEL JOURNAL BEFORE YOU GO AWAY:

Start a travel journal before you even go away on your trip and if you have children with you; get a travel journal for each one of them too. You can even draw there. At the end of the trip you can make it a really nice journal to hold onto for years to come and not only that when you are nervous or even excited, it is going to helpful to put those experiences down on paper because it helps us work through our emotions and process situations more easily. So, do not just use your travel journal while travelling, use it in your run-up for planning for the trip as well.

• PLAN WORK EMAIL SCHEDULE AHEAD OF TIME AND SET AN AUTOREPLY:

When it comes to work make sure that you know if you have email for work. Make sure that you set an auto reply for the days that you are away. Also; if there is no way you can get out of answering emails while you are away, make sure you plan a certain time during your trip.

• SEARCH INTERNET AHEAD OF TIME FOR AMENITIES:

Make sure you use internet as a source of information to help you out. So for the first couple of days you might feel disoriented not after your big travel day, you may not feel like going very far to a restaurant. So, make sure you have looked up some cafes, some local stores and how to get there and the times of opening and everything so that you have a couple of days to kind of catch your bearings and know where you are going. This also gives you that element of control of knowing you are going for the first couple of days.

• TAKE PHOTO’S OF YOUR FINAL CHECK BEFORE YOU LEAVE HOME:

On the day of your trip make sure you use your cell phone to take photographs of everything in the house. In the flight it will prevent you from saying did I turn off the iron? Did I turn off the stove? Now as we have smart phones we can actually make videos ourselves. This will give you peace of mind when you go away.

• SMILE REGULARLY, IT CAN MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD:

A smile can help you make feel good initially; you can actually help yourself to feel happy and less worried. Before you go on your trip, you will feel happier and much relaxed while putting a smile on your face.  

• MINDFULNESS HELPS RELIEVE ANTICIPATORY ANXIETY:

You are imagining events that could possibly go wrong in the future. These are the bad events that may or may not happen and this is where mindfulness is your best friend. You are not trying to avoid the negative thoughts here but gently bring yourself back to the present moment. Tune into your breath; ask yourself questions about your senses. What sensations you are feeling in your body at this present moment? That will surely help you bring back to the present.

• DO NOT EXPOSE YOURSELF TO SENSATIONAL NEWS STORIES BEFORE YOUR TRIP:

Do not watch any sensational news programs. They are dramatic for a reason. They are trying to get ratings only for giving dramatic news. They will take your emotion on a wild ride and that is the last thing you need before going on your trip. Try to watch things that are going to keep calm.

Once you have started travelling just think about good things. Go for shopping as it will reduce your stress and anxiety during travelling. Try to remain in budget keep looking for discount coupons, vouchers, promotional deals and promo codes to remain in budget. I hope these tips will help you overcome your pre travel anxiety.