Managing Anxiety

I have anxiety-- after years of trying to 'manage' it, and after having done some other work talking with a counselor, I'm also taking medication for it. That has helped immensely and made life 100% better for us all.

Remember, you can only control yourself. Don't ruin your trip trying to control everything else. Stuff happens.

well, you get help, right? that's what you'd do with any other problem that was interfering with the quality of your life.
your anxiety may be able to be managed with some good coping tools, mantras or meditation or yoga or prayer or visualization or tea. and it may be that it's not. or that it mostly is, but some of the time you need meds.
but you need to speak with an empathetic professional and work out how your own individual unique anxiety can best be managed.
good luck!
khairete
S.

I have a few anxiety disorders that I currently manage without medication. I recently(a week ago)had a horrible almost life-threatening reaction to a medication for anxiety so that did wonders<sarcasm>for my anxiety.

Anyhow, what I mainly focus on is breathing and reminding myself that whilst whatever the issue is I have gone through much worse and in the end it is for the best. I'm not saying I have my anxiety under control completely but especially when it comes to travel I find that my focus is on the destination and fun. I try not to obsess over what I can't control and remind myself that in spite of my anxiety I will get through it and come out better for it. Needless to say I talk to myself often, sometimes out loud, yes I am certifiably that type of messed up.

Enjoy your travels! :)

I planned the entire trip every single time. I planned the time we left the house, the time we stopped for dinner and where, what time we'd stop for the night, where we'd be staying, what we'd do when we woke up, what time we'd be on the road, where we'd be by lunch time, and so forth.

I planned each and every stop, I knew what towns we just north of I-80 and if they had medical treatment facilities or if they were just small towns with bigger towns nearby with stores, hospitals, and hotels. I knew every aspect of my trip.

I knew that the wagon trains going west had been able to make it, on a good day, 18-20 miles per day and as more and more people went west some started staying behind and building towns every place that the wagon trains would make it to the next day.

So when you go down a highway and know that within 5 minutes you can be in a town and out of your car walking around it really helps.

I was frantic going on trips before I started doing this. I'd see mile after mile after mile of highway and get to thinking I was out in the wilderness and all alone and anything could happen and OMG!!! If I had a wreck I'd die before someone could come in an ambulance and OMG there weren't any doctors for a hundred miles and OMG!!!

I could drive myself NUTS!

So planning the entire trips was wonderful. IF you get lost in the space of interstate highways then I suggest you try mapping out some of the old highways that go parallel to the newer busier interstate roads. I stay off I-35 if at all possible. I have driven all the way to Omaha Nebraska up....1-77? or 77? I don't know, it's the one that goes through Stillwater and Winfield Kansas.

I enjoyed seeing so many different landscapes and being able to stop and see new places. We stopped in a fabulous park somewhere just over the state line into Kansas that was surrounded with a little creek. The animals wandering around was so much fun! We loved playing on the huge playground there too. It was made of some sort of fiber that felt nice under our hands, like wood, but it wasn't wood.

Then we stopped at the SAC museum in Lincoln. I loved that trip and was able to breathe easy.

I loved having control over all of it. Knowing what's next and next after that and so on for the entire trip is a wonderful relaxant.

If you're flying then I can't be of much help because if I was going to fly I'd go to the doc and ask for some Valium to take before I boarded and then to take another if I woke up before landing. I don't fly.

Have fun on your trip. It can be much easier if you figure out what makes you feel insecure about traveling. Is it the unknown traffic? The highways and possible breaking down? Being out in the wilderness?

Once you have that down you'll figure out what you need to do to alleviate that issue all together.