Our Own Travel Anxiety Triggers

Our own triggers have definitely changed and shifted over the years. In some ways, this is reassuring –  a testament to the fact that travel anxiety isn’t simply just one ‘thing’.

Some personal highlights of our travel anxiety triggers have included:

• Fear of flying (a sudden, overwhelming preoccupation with the idea we are all ‘floating’ miles up in the air, causing a sense of panic and vertigo)
• A sense of claustrophobia on a plane
• Worries about having a panic attack on the plane and having to make it land
• Fear of airport security (worrying about panicking in the line and not being able to escape)
• Fear of the large, crowded spaces found in airports (agoraphobia)
• Worries about having panic attacks while being abroad and not being able to calm down
• Concerns about ‘going mad’ while abroad and being sectioned 
• Fear about getting unwell abroad and being homesick

We can look back on some of these triggers now and laugh, something that’s incredibly comforting. However, we appreciate just how real and utterly overwhelming they felt at the time.