I’m an experienced traveller, but I still get anxious before a big adventure. Here’s how I find my way through the pre-trip jitters by taking it one step at a time.
I checked my phone. It was Sunday evening back home in Melbourne.
I knew exactly what I’d be doing if I were there: watching a movie, sweet treat in hand and only half a thought in mind about the workweek ahead. In other words, close to nothing.
But while that Sunday night was playing out for someone, somewhere, it wasn’t my current reality.
Instead, I was a few time zones removed, in the muggy heat of Hong Kong airport, trying to stay awake for a connecting flight to Kathmandu. I was on my way to take on the Everest Base Camp Trek – but after those daydreams about the comforts of home, I was struggling to remember why.
The adventure dilemma
Oh, yeah. I was travelling to step outside of my comfort zone. Which, surprise surprise, was making me feel a little uncomfortable.
Often in the days and weeks leading up to the trip, and right there standing at the airport gate, I stopped to ponder my decision. ‘Why am I doing this? Am I crazy? Why do I keep doing this?’
Don’t get me wrong. I love travelling. This wasn’t about to be the first stamp on my passport, nor was it my first time heading off solo.
Travel is exciting. But nothing’s ever one thing. It can also be daunting, challenging and exhausting. Home is home for a reason: it’s where my friends are. I know the lay of the land. I speak the language. I have a routine and stability. It’s easy.
But the comforts of home eventually become uninteresting. ‘There’s got to be more to life than this,’ I think as I visit the same cafe for the fifth time in a week. I start to picture what else might be out there; savings get set aside and something of a plan gets put together. In a blur, a trip is booked.
Rather than that being the end of the cycle, though, we’re only about halfway through.
In the time between booking a trip and setting off, that initial energy for an out-there adventure sometimes becomes nervous excitement, which might in turn become just nerves.
Sometimes, change isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. It’s hard, and it rarely starts out looking like you imagined it. Sure, a few weeks ago I was a bit sick of my surroundings, but now that I’m faced with leaving them behind for the unknown, were they really all that bad?
If you’re like me and tend to get caught in the push-and-pull of ‘travel loves me, travel loves me not’, these are the things I do to help get my A into G to get from A to B.
1. Book the trip
There’s nothing I love more than sitting on the fence. I often let the passing of time make my decisions for me. Sometimes, that applies to travel, too. There I’ll be on a Sunday night, scrolling through social media, and the algorithm will serve up videos of the Albanian Alps, cafes to try in Berlin and Nepal’s hiking trails. Tempting, yes. But then a few days will pass and I’ll take the easy option of sticking to what I know.
Getting out and seeing the world can easily become something you know you should do, but never get around to doing. There’s only one thing for it. Act on the impulse. Book the trip. It might sound obvious, but the first step to getting out the door is having something to leave for.
Get something locked in, down on paper and in the works right there in the moment that the inspiration strikes. Future you might not initially thank you, but post-trip future you definitely will. Plans made are a lot tougher to back out of than plans never made.
2. Have a plan for day one
Simply making it to your destination doesn’t always mean the hard part’s done. Arriving somewhere new can throw a whole bunch at you – unfamiliar sights, sounds, smells and cultures can be equal parts energising and overwhelming.
Once you’ve made it to your accommodation, it’s easy to slip into a mindset of ‘OK I’ve made it, I’m “travelling” – job done,’ and stay squirrelled away in your room for the rest of the day. You might convince yourself that since what’s outside those four walls is different to what you’re used to, you’re absorbing it – even as you stay removed from it.
My solution? Keep things simple with some achievable goals that will get you out and about. Do a bit of research in advance, find two or three spots to visit and just focus on making it there. It might be somewhere for breakfast the following morning, or even a simple lap around the block to ease yourself into your surroundings. Having a clear objective can help reduce the overwhelm of all those unfamiliar sights and sounds, as you focus on the task at hand.
3. Go with a group
As the saying goes, a problem shared is a problem halved, and there’s something to be said about the comfort of companionship.
Joining a small group adventure – like an Intrepid trip – helps manage some of the anxiety that comes with needing to figure out a new place because you’re surrounded by people on the same page as you.
It’s especially true if you’re travelling solo, and a reminder that that doesn’t mean you have to travel alone. Seeing for yourself that you’re not the only one doing this, that it’s not just you figuring it out as you go, can help to provide a sense of stability in the midst of everything else that’s new.
4. Chat to the locals
It’s not just your fellow travellers who can help to provide a safety blanket. The people who call the area home can also be a huge source of guidance. Your accommodation’s staff, the person behind the counter at that cafe you went to on your first day, the bartender who’s far too full of energy… they’ll all be used to fielding questions from visitors who come with a wide range of travel experience.
All it takes is a split second of courage to speak up and ask for their help, directions or a recommendation. Even if you’re reluctant to out yourself as a tourist, it’ll just be for a moment – then you can go right back to trying to blend in.
Plus, the benefits are twofold. You’ll (hopefully) get exactly the info you were looking for and your question will likely be met with kindness, providing a goodwill-fuelled pep in your step as you continue your adventure.
5. Take it slow
If all you can think of for the first few hours or days of your trip is ‘I just want to be home’, I’ve got good and bad news: soon enough, you will be.
The home comforts you crave will come back around. In fact, they’ll probably come around quicker than you think. Time moves fast when you’ve got so much new and exciting stuff in front of you to process.
To counteract this acceleration of time, make an effort to slow things down. If, after working up the willpower to ask someone for directions and spending the morning out and about, you need to break up the day with a cuppa tea and a lie-down, then do!
Do things at your own pace. Use that rest time to take stock and pat yourself on the back for giving it a go, before getting back out there again.
Because, if you’re like me, it won’t be long before you’re hunkered down at home on a Sunday night, another week of work stretching ahead of you, dreaming of stepping outside into a whole new world.
Follow Stefan’s advice and book that small group adventure today – Intrepid trips are the perfect exposure therapy for anxious travellers.
