Travel preparation is about packing, getting your documents together, and planning your trip. But rarely are the emotional sensations given much attention. This article is talking about travel fears, especially those fears that you are facing before your travels, and how to deal with them.
So, that your travels aren’t guided by your fears but by your wished outcomes. Even if you don’t know what your fear is yet. Stick around and hopefully, you will find out. I will start with my personal experience of my travel fear.
My travel fear came true
On my first backpacking solo trip, my biggest fear was getting incredibly homesick. I was aware of this fear and wasn’t paying too much attention. Nevertheless, it was very present in my unconscious. During the first few months in Tanzania, thousands of kilometers away from home, working and living in an orphanage – I got incredibly homesick. I did not feel at home at all. I escaped from the feelings that came up by watching movies. Eventually, I found good friends in the city, which was only an hour’s drive away. So I spent almost every weekend there. During my gap year, there were a few more moments when I felt very homesick.
Five years fast forward, my next extended living abroad experience was in front of me: my exchange semester in Mexico. The same fear arose, but this time I tried to look at it. What would make me feel less homesick? It was people, not any people, the meaningful friendships I form. I created a vision board and told myself I might get homesick, but it was going to be OK. I will deal with it and will form friendships that make me feel at home.
Guess what happened? Exactly that! After a rough start, I met amazing people that made my stay in Mexico my most memorable living abroad experience. ❤️
I simply redirected my focus. So, with my personal experience, I also want to help YOU to transform your fear and have the travels or living abroad experience of your lifetime!
What scares you the most about traveling? – Identify your fear
Most important is to know what you are afraid of. In case you are someone who’s struggling with that, it may help to ask yourself some questions or do a little visualization. Questions are, for instance: What do you hate doing? If you know that that (x scenario) will happen on your trip, you would not go? Is there something that terrifies you while thinking about your trip ahead?
For visualization, you can imagine what could go wrong on your trip. And then break it down from there to identify your fear.
Of course, you could go as far as looking at where the fear comes from. But for now, it is just important to know your travel fear.
List of travel fears:
- fear of missing transportation
- fear of danger
- fear of getting robbed
- fear of getting homesick
- fear of getting sick
- fear of running out of money
- fear of not being with family/friends back home
- fear of feeling lonely
- fear of uncertainty
- fear of getting harmed by other people
- fear that the accommodation isn’t the way you expected
- fear of not getting enough out of your trip
- fear of other people’s judgement
- fear of not being able to communicate with locals
- fear of getting lost
How to ease the fear?
There are all kinds of different fears. To know what you fear about your trip, you can work on it. It may be a fear that you can already work in your daily life, for example: If eating out alone freaks you out. Exercise it at home, go to different restaurants, and dine alone. It will be easier once you are abroad.
If you have a financial fear that you’re running out of money during your trip, it’s important to have a backup. Either a buffer of savings or a person who could lend you money in case it’s getting tight.
If you are afraid of missing your flight/bus/train, practice showing up to appointments earlier than usual. Nevertheless, maybe you are a very punctual person, and you have this fear anyhow. Some travel fears are just in your head and far from reality. You can find solutions to a lot of things to feel more secure but it. BUT, it is also very important to shift your focus.
“Your life is controlled by what you focus on“, a quote by Tony Robbins. You don’t want that your fear controlling your travels, do you?
Shift your focus away from your travel fear – The vision board
How do you shift your focus away from your fear? Let’s stick to the example of missing the flight. Not missing your flight is the ideal outcome, right? What will you do that will achieve your ideal outcome? How does it feel to achieve your ideal outcome? You arrive calmly at the airport, wait at ease in the lines and then sit relaxed back on your seat in the airplane. Close your eyes and visualize how it is going to be. You can do it as detailed as possible and pay close attention to your feelings.
To support this visualisation, you can create a vision board. So, with the ideal outcome in mind, find some pictures, print them and glue them on paper, and write down words that give you comfort. A vision board is helping you to shift your focus away from fear toward your ideal outcome. Keep it close to you and tell yourself whatever you need to hear. Don’t do it half-heartedly. For instance, I could not say “on this trip I’m not going to be homesick, not once”. That would be a huge lie. I told myself “I’m gonna be homesick, and it’s gonna be ok, I get over it and will find the people that make me feel at home”. Keep it real and authentic!
It’s ideal to shift your focus before your trip. I started doing that a month before my Mexico trip.
Your fears don’t kill you
Also, when your fear comes up while traveling, remember it won’t kill you. Tell it to yourself. You will be ok. That makes the fear less strong (at least that’s what I experienced). Sometimes you have catastrophic scenarios. We all do that. With mindful practices, you train the mind to stay positive and it might show you that your worst-case scenarios are probably not THAT bad.
Tons of other fears that aren’t directly related to travel but to the activities on your trip. Like diving, zip lining, eating unknown dishes, etc. Traveling constantly pushes you to step out of your comfort zone and do what you are afraid of. And at the end, you not only get rewarded with the most amazing memories but also feel empowered.
Let your travels be encouraging, not fear-focused. 💪🏼
The author of the blog
Lisi is an adventurous, mostly solo traveler from Austria. She likes to travel slowly, discover underrated countries/regions, and of course, learn about cultures. She has been traveling the world and creating travel content since 2016. With a degree in tourism management and a passion for travel and cultures, she wants to tell stories that inspire her readers and help them travel more consciously.
