Vacation Anxiety
 

I have a situation I cannot explain that has me really scared. My hobby is travelling and I enjoy architecture, art and different cultures. During my last trip I went to Europe to tour several cities. One night when I started having anxiety over details of my trip it spiraled out of control. I started worrying I had scheduled my return flight for the correct day. After I verified the date was correct I started getting nervous that I had the correct airport. After I verified the airport I started getting nervous that I booked the hotel in the correct city that was next on my itinerary. It was absolutely soul crushing anxiety. I could not sleep the rest of the night and was on the verge of tears.
It is completely inexplicable. Even though I realized I was completely bat **** crazy I could not stop it. I am 6' tall and 200 lbs and I was crying in a hotel room over nothing. Here is the thing, the trip was absolutely perfect in reality and nothing went wrong. Every night the rest of my trip I had a variation of this until I returned to North America. Then it stopped. Has anyone had any issues such as this?

I travel a lot too and just remember that if you make a mistake, they can be fixed. Book with a travel agent so you have support and someone to ask these questions to.
Some people are just nervous travellers. I totally understand where you’re coming from. I always worry I’m going to lose my passport.

Keep everything on your phone or ipad, like an itinerary.
Consult it when you get anxious.
Works for me.

I had a nightmare I lost all my travel documents. It was just a dream but it messed up my head. Speaking of which, time to obsessively check my purse :)

There is some distorted thinking going on here.

Catastrophizing. Anticipating that the result of an event will be far worse than it actually is. The truth is...you'd get a new hotel, you'd rebook your flight, life would go on.

All or nothing thinking - the trip is either perfect or it's a total disaster.

And a host of others. Cognitive behavioral therapy teaches you to recognizes your thought distortions and correct them. It's very useful in dealing with anxiety. If things like this are happening more frequently CBT is something to look into.

Sounds very much like anxiety to me too. Traveling/driving used to be one of my big fears and I would Catastrophize about something as simple as driving past a particular spot on the highway where I felt anxious once, or worrying incessantly about planning ahead for trips,etc.

Your size and age really is not relevant, anxiety can strike people of any walk of life. Have you ever sought help for it through counseling by chance? It's a very treatable/livable affliction that many have overcome.

My wife and i do a pretty good job of firming up and handling what's in our control and leaving the rest to the airlines, hotel and rental car company.

Sorry you're having these issues.

Your travel is international and more complex.

But i recommend evaluating what's in your control and whether you have properly made all arrangements and then accepting that the part of your travel plans which aren't in your control do not merit your worrying about them.

Travel has always required an ability on our part to roll with the punches and keep in mind that certain things (e.g. connecting flights) are entirely outside of our control.

I hope this helps.

The vacation anxiety i experience is going to a fun venue and having to work via cell phone and internet for a good bit of our trip.

Appreciated
 

Hey guys I appreciate all of the positive thoughts. What I was trying to get at was I actually travel a lot for business and personal. It is actually something I enjoy. Thats what makes it so inexplicable. Also I thought I had left the crazy anxiety behind long ago since I have been sober almost three years. Thanks again.

I get what you mean Talkin - but anxiety knows no bounds!

The beauty?? of anxiety is that it is not rational or logical.

I would suggest you do get help, as Scott said it's very treatable.