Solo travels are all about exploring what’s out there, one step at a time, all by yourself. While travelling solo is fun, it gets heavy when you’re an anxious person, to begin with. You are devoid of what can trigger you out there, and how to overcome it, when you’re travelling all alone.
I still remember that tinge of anxiety I had when I embarked upon my first trip. I was scared of being out there, talking to people. Social anxiety is real. My second solo trip too, gave me an anxiety episode because I was not comfortable with a few things other people were doing around me. Anxiety was no different on my third and fourth trip, and on my fifth, I had a panic attack, later with lasting effects of anxiety and a jittery feeling in the heart. However, none of it to date has deterred me from travelling!
The thing is, you cannot control anxiety. At least for the record, I cannot and that’s because despite being very mindful about things, I end up in the driver's seat, with a broken belt and no destination to go to.
So how do I deal with anxiety every time I travel?
The Company
For the organized person that I am, I do things very systematically. Even though I might not plan my days, I am very mindful of the company I have around me and for this reason, I prefer to stay in Travel Hostels. They’re safe because you have people around you, contrary to Hotels/Motels where you do not have easy access to conversing with other people. The first time I interact with a person, I notice how the person responds, the gestures, behaviour with other people. I am not saying this out of a book I read in Psychology. I am saying this based on my personal experiences.
Solo trips are fun when you have the right company, and it can be a nightmare if you don’t. You can go on a solo trip without having to interact with anyone, or make any friends, but I’d suggest you don’t do that. You do need people around you when you’re in a new place, especially when you are prone to anxiety. I have been lucky to have found the best of people in all my solo trips to date who have helped me overcome my anxiety to an extent.
How I choose people and the company is based on how they respond to me. I am very random when it comes to conversations. If they respond to it positively, they’re good to go. I have come across people who don’t understand the context of what I say sometimes and have a hard time following my references and statements. When you have a hard time keeping up conversations with a few and there are a few awkward silent phases in the first few minutes itself, consider this a red flag and back out.
It may seem like an assumption of sorts, or maybe generalising but based on a few minutes of conversation with the gazillion people I have met, I now don’t need a lot of time in understanding whose company I want, and whose, I do not. Again, no matter how careful you are, creeps and perverts can mark an entry into your boundaries. Make sure you carry pepper spray for your safety. Can be helpful in uncomfortable situations, although I’ve never had to use it to date.
I am aware how a lot of you may disregard the whole “See how they respond to you” theory I follow. I don’t blame you for it, because we are conditioned to believe that talking to strangers is bad, and what’s worse is meeting them in a place you aren’t familiar with. I hundred per cent agree with this notion because I used to think how risky it was to be out there, surrounded with strangers, whose stories you don’t know, whose background you aren’t aware of. To the world, we’re strangers. To us, the world is a stranger. What makes up for both is how you connect with the world and vice-versa.
There is a lot of risks involved when you travel solo, in terms of safety, privacy, and personal belongings. Many a time, you may lose a thing or two, get lost in the woods or mountains, or worse yet, encounter bad people who’d make you regret your decision to travel solo. I am not ruling out any of the possibilities, but how long can one stay indoors, all nestled up into the comforts of home, its people? Life today, after the Pandemic is all about living it, one day at a time, and if travelling solo gives you the thrills, then so be it. Just make sure you choose the people you hang out with, very wisely.
Don’t go overboard with travelling
When I was a newbie traveller, I took it in myself to not rest and always be on the go. Whether it was waking up early in the morning to catch the sunrise or waking up till late at night to stargaze. I did not stop roaming around, walking, going on trails, and sitting on the beach under the scorching sunlight because I thought I had to make the best out of my trip. That’s what I shouldn’t have done, because I ended up exhausting myself, thus leading to a lot of anxiety. After all, I lacked sleep and rest. When you travel solo, you have the responsibility of taking care of yourself. Do that! The days are not going anywhere. Learn to take a chill pill and plan easy days with lesser exhausting plans. The more you’re relaxed, the better it is for your mental health, and the best it is, for your anxiety.
Learn to say a NO
As a traveller, we’re more than often pumped about doing everything that we can. We have a whole list of places we want to go to, a bunch of things we’ve planned to do. The people we meet also have a lot of influence on our travel plans but because you’re a one-man army, learn to say a No. You aren’t obligated to anyone on your trip, other than yourself. If you don’t want to be a part of someone else’s plan, be vocal about it. The more we end up doing what others want us to do, the worse it gets for our anxiety, because we have not got any time to anticipate what may be on the other side for us.
Sometimes, it is okay to not complete a whole bucket list, because what matters at the end of the day is your mental health. If there’s a pressure of sorts in completing all the things in your to-do or to-go list, take a step back and maybe cancel a few things. No matter how much we do, we’ll always miss something! It’s a universal rule we cannot change. What works for me is I am not very ambitious when I travel. I don’t plan a lot. I don’t have a list I follow. I take it one day at a time because it becomes easier on the mind. No pressure, no anxiety!
Be prepared, medically
You never know how your body might react to the change of place, people. It is advisable to carry basic medicines that treat fever, cold, cough, headache, muscle cramps to avoid a situation where you can get anxious because you do not have medicines to treat yourself. It gets difficult to get a decent doctor, or a pharmacy to help you out when you are out there. Sometimes, late-night trails can exhaust you, or a sprain in the ankle can deter you from enjoying your trip. Anxiety peaks in when you do not have any aid to treat an illness, hence stocking up on medicines (after doctor consultation obv) can be helpful. I remember how I was a medicine dispensary at one of my solo trips, where I was distributing Vicks Vaporub, Soframycin, Dettol, bandaids, Gelusil to other travellers! Was a fun night. When you are prepared for yourself, you’re also prepared for others and there’s all peace and no anxiety when no one around you is unwell and ill.
Share your updates with close friends, family
Sharing your live location whilst going to an unknown destination, can be helpful for your anxiety, because you know you’re not alone, just in case things go haywire. Mentally, you are aware of the fact that there’s someone who’s keeping a tab on you, so you can travel tension free and hassle-free. Preparing an itinerary for your trip is useful for people to track you when you are not in the network zone (something prevalent in higher altitude areas). Constantly updating family and friends about your whereabouts is so easy on your mind, and I can certainly vouch for that!
BREATHE.
When we travel, we get very enthusiastic. I can speak for myself because that little kid in me, who wanted to be on her own comes to life. I seldom forget that the whole point of travelling, getting out of the house is to breathe new air, that smells like liberation. We breathe to live, that’s a given but do we breathe for ourselves? Whenever you’re left alone amidst nature, take deep breaths. Slow deep breaths help you cleanse your mind.
My most recent trip had a surreal setting with snow-capped mountains on one side, a river stream flowing on the other with green hills surrounding me. I took the best out of that moment and lay on a rock next to the stream. While I had my playlist playing on my earphones, I shut my eyes and hummed a few songs. That feeling was so unreal, because I could after the longest time, feel the rush of air going in! I was alive at that moment and a panic attack that hit me two days before this was nowhere in sight.
We’re so occupied with our daily lives that we forget to appreciate the things around us. We’re so stuck in the ways that we fail to see how insightful travelling can be, for those who’re constantly battling in the mind with themselves.
Anxiety is real. But there’s nothing that can stop you from gaining new perspectives, new experiences. If a person like me, who gets anxious at every setting can go out there and travel, make memories, there’s nothing that can stop you from doing the same. I would be lying if I said I don’t get anxious anymore when I think of travelling! I do, but then, what’s in store for me is also gazillion chances to live again. How you deal with Anxiety is your choice, but I’m now accustomed to living and travelling with anxiety because I’ve learned to embrace it than fight it.
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