The Shackles of Fear Can Stay At Home: Travel Anxiety
“I couldn’t do it alone”
“I can’t fly by myself”
“Who would I go with?”
“I would love to go, but I am scared”
These are all whispers of fear I’ve heard myself from very capable and confident people. They are independent in the other areas of their life and when it comes to this it slips away.
I want to say I am unsure why, but it is like anything new, it is scary. It is the unknown. The unknown of doing things, especially alone, feels heavy.
Traveling alone, making plans, navigating airports… so many steps. Each step matters, right? What are the steps exactly, and how do I do them just right so the stress is minimal? And foreign countries, what are they really like? I hear horror stories. Is it safe? How will I get around? What if I don’t speak the language? What if I don’t like the food? What if something goes wrong?
Something can always go wrong. And honestly probably will.
Have you ever solved a problem before? Probably yes. Do you have an emergency fund? Some safety nets? How often are our fears truly about money?
People think, “That will be too much stress. I won’t handle it.” But what makes you say that? You haven’t even tried yet. You might be able to handle much more than you believe. It might not be as hard as you expected it to be.
Maybe you didn’t travel much when you were young. Maybe you didn’t have the chance, or the support, or it just wasn’t something your family did. Approaching something new forty years into life can feel scarier. There are expectations, doubts, comparisons to what others have done. But there’s research showing it’s absolutely possible, deeply rewarding, and more people are traveling alone than you might think.
A recent study of middle-aged and senior solo travelling women in Brazil found that although concerns about safety and health are prominent, many still decide to travel alone driven by a strong sense of independence, personal growth, and autonomy.
Are you going to let fear get in the way of living your dreams?
Love always, not your therapist
Novem Travel offers: Travel Help
this service is very important to us. We want to address people’s fears to get them out of their house and onto their next adventure. Book with us and let’s talk about what those fears are and contemplate what a trip would look like for you. Ash is a trained therapist, but not your therapist. Although this talk can target travel anxiety, it is not therapy.
