How to Deal with Travel Anxiety: 10 Tips for Stress-Free Trips

Anxiety with traveling can ruin a trip if you let it.

Are you planning a trip but have some travel anxiety? Do you struggle to manage anxiety when you’re traveling?

Travelling can be an exciting adventure, but for many, it also comes with a heavy dose of anxiety. If left unmanaged, travel anxiety can overshadow your entire trip.

Whether it’s fear of flying, the stress of navigating unfamiliar places, or the worry about what could go wrong, anxiety with travelling is a common challenge.

Luckily, I have plenty of travel anxiety tips, so you don’t have to let it hold you back from exploring the world. 

When travel anxiety takes hold, it spirals down that ‘what if’ rabbit hole and makes you question everything about your trip. 

• “Did I book the right accommodation?”
• “What if I get lost in the airport and miss my flight?”
• “Will my luggage be overweight?”
• “What if I get ill with dengue/malaria/food poisoning and have to go to a hospital in a foreign land?”
• “What if I break my camera/phone and lose all my photos?”

Don’t worry, I have had ALL of these things happen on my travels, and I still found my way through — and so will you.

Never underestimate how resourceful you can be.

If you have any form of anxiety with travelling, you don’t have to let it dictate your trip or your long-term travels.

Even though there are many effective ways to manage general anxiety in the long term, in this post, you’ll learn simple, actionable steps that will help you specifically manage any travel anxiety

Some of them you can even start before your trip.

Travel Anxiety Tips: What is Travel Anxiety?

So, what is travel anxiety?

First, let’s start with what anxiety actually is.

Anxiety is a mental health disorder in which someone experiences intense and excessive feelings of worry and fear, which become persistent and strong enough to interfere with daily life. 

Everyone can experience a normal amount of anxiety or nervousness in certain situations, such as when taking a test, giving a public speech, or attending a job interview.

However, it’s when these anxious feelings persist after an event and become excessive, intensified, and impede on your everyday life, that it becomes a problem.

Travel anxiety is defined as having fear and anxiety about travelling to an unfamiliar or new place, and the stress involved in planning the trip.

When experiencing travel anxiety, sometimes people feel depressed and anxious:

• About the travel preparation involved
• In the weeks leading up to the trip
• Some people experience anxiety when flying
• Some get anxious at the airport
• Some persistently feel anxious when they’re on a trip

All this can make for a very sad, fearful and anxious traveller. And this is not what we aim to get from our trips; our travels should be enjoyable, not distressing.

I am a long-term sufferer of anxiety, and when it surfaces, it’s always at the most unhelpful times.

So I have developed a tried and tested arsenal of coping methods and practices to manage my anxiety and I simply apply these methods when I get a flare-up of travel anxiety.

These travel anxiety tips work for me, and I encourage anyone to cultivate and create their own set of coping methods and actionable steps, so you can too self-manage your own anxiety when you’re travelling.

Minimise travel anxiety with some careful travel planning.

1. Plan Ahead to Reduce Travel Anxiety (What Helps Most)

The best thing you can do to minimise your anxiety with travelling is to put solid plans in place for the what-if scenarios.

Not just on the trip but at home as well. 

Travel anxiety often comes from the fear of losing control. That’s why planning ahead and preparing what you can control makes a huge difference before takeoff.

Having plans in place also helps you feel more confident about things.

• Create a travel worry checklist
• Write down things that you would worry about happening on your trip and back home
• Create a plan for backup scenarios and potential solutions 

Worried about who would take care of your pets or keep your home secure?

Get a house sitter or pet sitter in to take care of everything. Try Trusted HouseSitters to find a great house sitter and get 25% off your membership using my link.

Anxious about getting ill on your trip?

Make sure you get travel insurance, get up-to-date on your vaccinations and have the name & number of a local medical clinic near where you’re staying.

Would you have a meltdown if your wallet or phone got stolen?

Get your phone set up to upload all your photos automatically to Google Photos or iCloud and back up everything to a flash drive before you leave. Consider using a decoy wallet in case you do get pickpocketed.

Would you worry about getting lost in a new place when you’re exploring?

Download Google Maps and MapsMe for general maps and CityMapper and Transit for real-time public transport. And try them out before you leave, so you know how to use them if you’re in a high-stress situation. 

It is also useful to have the tourist information numbers saved and the phone number of your accommodation.

By strategically planning for these scenarios (although they’re unlikely to happen), you’ll feel way less travel anxiety, knowing you’ve got these plans in place, and you’ll actually enjoy your trip.

2. Calm Your Travel Anxiety by Getting Travel Insurance

Yes – I know, there are other fun things you’d rather be organising for your trip, but getting travel insurance is the ultimate solution for your travel anxiety.

By getting travel insurance, you’ll be covered for most of those things you’re anxious about happening. Things like:

• Having your passport stolen
• Missing your flight
• Getting ill on your trip
• Having your luggage or belongings go missing

Whenever anyone asks me, “Is travel insurance worth it?” my answer is always YES, get it! 

When you’re in someone else’s country with different rules & regulations than what you’re used to, you never know what could happen. 

Even though I agree, most insurances in life are designed to rip you off; travel insurance is the exception.

Repeat after me: “I need travel insurance every time I go on a trip.” 

I used World Nomads when I was backpacking and I use Safety Wing Nomad Insurance when I move around as a digital nomad or if I’m travelling long-term. 

For shorter trips, I use Allianz most of the time.

Safety Wing Nomad Insurance

Safety Wing are specialist in travel insurance for ex-pats, long-term travellers, remote workers, or digital nomads.
Even if you’re currently outside your home country, you can be covered all over the world by Safety Wing.

And Safety Wing’s Nomad Insurance plans even cover COVID-19. Yay.

Allianz Global Assistance

From popular insurance provider ALLIANZ, their travel insurance plans provide excellent cover, plus features like a 24-hour hotline and a smartphone app called TravelSmart.

Travelex

Travelex is a world leader in travel insurance and has very competitive prices for its comprehensive coverage.  Travelex even covers some pre-existing medical conditions under some plans, which is rare in travel insurance products.
And do you have kids under 17 years old? Go with Travelex and get your children covered for free – no additional charges.

World Nomads Travel Insurance

World Nomads is a great option if you’re doing a lot of adventure activities or if you’re backpacking or having a gap year or three. They accept citizens of most countries.

And if you hate choosing travel insurance and never know which one to pick, TravelInsurance.com is the one for you.

You simply enter your trip details in the quote box and they’ll compare different travel insurance plans for you from top insurers, so you can choose one easily.

As a bonus, many travel insurance plans found on TravelInsurance.com will provide trip cancellation, emergency medical and other benefits due to a COVID-19 diagnosis.

3. Give Yourself Extra Time on Travel Days — Don’t Rush 

A few days before you leave, create a rough schedule for the day you leave and stick to it.

Rushing creates more stress, and once you’re running late, anxiety has a chance to take hold and derail your thought processes.

As a result, you might skip things you were going to do, you might forget to pack something and you’ll react negatively to obstacles that might crop up.

This will subsequently affect your decision-making, turning your otherwise rational, logical mind into an irrational one.

• Pack gradually a few days before and don’t leave everything until the night before or on the travel day. If you have a family, make sure everyone is responsible for their own packing 
• Have all your devices charged! And take a couple of power banks
• Have your travel documents and I.D. packed close to hand, you’ll be getting them out often
• Have some snacks pre-made for the journey, book your transport in advance and always allow extra time for traffic
• Add on extra ‘buffer time’ for each travel sector or connection
• Know every place’s name and departure time of your itinerary or trip, and keep digital and hard copies of it
• In the days leading up to your trip, have a household list and a packing list and check off each task as you go (the Trello app is a great free app for checklists)
• Set alarms for milestones, when you should have finished packing, when you should be leaving the house, etc.
• If you’re going to an airport that you’re unfamiliar with, check Google Maps to see the layout, how big it is, etc.
• On the journey, if you are rushing at any point, always check that you have all your belongings with you before you leave a place (I always do a ‘cat circle’ before I leave somewhere I’ve been sitting/standing for a while, to check I’ve got everything). 

Deal with your travel anxiety by giving yourself lots of extra time.

4. Combat Anxiety When Flying — Use Distractions on the Flight

If you have anxiety when flying, make sure you take things to distract yourself on the flight.

Nervous fliers can sometimes be ‘threat-focused’, meaning you’re always looking for any change that you deem a threat and then focusing on it, which further drives the anxiety.

For instance, on a flight, you’ll look for any small bumps or turbulence and laser-focus on it as a threat to your safety on the plane. The key is to trick the emotional part of your mind, focus on the facts and don’t act like the situation is dangerous. 

Doing something normal, like reading or watching TV, counters the anxious thought of “the plane is going to crash”. This is using the intelligent part of the brain to challenge the emotional part of the brain — the anxious part.

Keep your intelligent mind doing other things, immersing yourself in a book, mindfully writing or drawing, or just watching movies or TV shows that you love.

Focusing on something like writing is ideal, as it requires your full attention and takes your attention off the fear.

Pack a Kindle (or actual books), a notepad, music, a tablet loaded with movies, mindfulness colouring books, knitting or anything else you can mindfully focus on.

5. Calm Your Travel Anxiety When on Public Transport — Stay Secure  

On a plane, your luggage is stored securely in the hold, but when you’re on a bus or train, your luggage is often stored less securely.

On a bus, this is often in a compartment under the bus and on trains, you store your belongings on a luggage shelf or stash them near your seat.

Because of this, you may feel you have less control over how secure your luggage is, so here are a few ways you can calm your anxiety with traveling on public transport.

• Make sure you secure your luggage yourself and use padlocks on the zip closures if you can — especially if it’s going out of your sight
• Keep sentimental or valuable belongings in hand luggage and with you at all times
• Identify critical items and divide them between your bags – critical items being things you’d be screwed without — so if one bag goes missing, you still have some of the items
  E.g. I divide up some cash and pack it in different places and I pack my multiple hard drives & flash drives in different bags
• I keep copies of my travel documents in different places too. For example, copies of my passport are in multiple pockets and notebooks which are packed in different bags
• Stay awake if you feel you’re in a situation in which your belongings are at risk. Some bus or train journeys in Asia have a reputation in travel circles for being less than safe and posing a potential risk for pickpockets.
• I sometimes nap in airports, but I always tie or secure my bag to myself using the zip or a climbing carabiner. So, if anyone tries to steal it or cut into it, the movement will wake me up. This works well if you’re sleeping alone in an airport, train station or at the beach as well.

Keep travel anxiety to a minimum. We locked our luggage to the trolley, then tied the trolley to our chairs when we were sleeping in this airport.

6. Research the Basic Travel Specifics of a New Place

If you’re travelling overseas or to a new place you haven’t been to before, make sure you read up on all the logistics and do’s & don’ts before you go.

Outlining these things before you go will help you overcome the travel anxiety that comes with the uncertainty of entering a new domain. 

• Find out if you need a tourist visa (or a longer-term backpacking/working holiday visa)
• Learn how to say “Hello”, “Thank You”, “Where is” and “How Much” in the local language
• Some countries only allow passengers with return tickets or onward flights — check this out if you’re winging it on a one-way ticket
• Find out (and pre-order) the correct currency. Consider taking a blend of cash, loaded travel card & credit card for your funds
• Find out what voltage is used there and take travel adaptors
• Ask your doctor what travel vaccinations are needed
• Find out the current Covid-19 restrictions
• Discover how much your mobile provider will charge you for overseas roaming (a tonne probably) and consider getting a local sim card when you arrive
• Learn the location of your country’s Consulate or Embassy and store the emergency numbers on your phone

7. When Negativity Takes Hold — Have Confidence in Your Plan 

To stop your negative thought spirals in their tracks, be mindful and start recognising when your mind is catastrophising things.

Remember that you have put backup plans in place and your catastrophic scenarios will rarely play out.

Counter your anxiety with facts and take comfort in your planning and your ability to deal with diversity.

Remind yourself of previous travel wins, where you have been on a trip, and you’ve overcome some issues and draw on those experiences.

via GIPHY

8. Recognise Your Travel Anxiety Triggers

Anxiety about travelling can manifest in various ways, from restless nights before departure to overwhelming feelings during the trip.

It’s important to recognize these symptoms early and take proactive steps to address them. By understanding your triggers and preparing in advance, you can reduce the impact of anxiety on your travel experience.

In the time leading up to your trip, start to recognise your travel anxiety triggers — the things that trigger negative thoughts that lead to travel anxiety and try to stay away from them.

Don’t read only the bad reviews of places, don’t google ‘how bad is dengue fever’ if you have travel anxiety about foreign illnesses.

And DO NOT watch plane crash investigations or disaster movies if you have anxiety about flying!

Arm yourself with facts and gain enough knowledge to feel confident but don’t focus on the bad things. 

Remember, anxiety with traveling often stems from the fear of the unknown—new environments, cultures, and situations that are out of our control. While it’s natural to feel apprehensive, it’s important to remind yourself that each journey will offer opportunities for amazing self-growth and discovery. 

9. Practice Breathing Techniques and Meditation

Breathing is linked with stress, tension and nervousness. Being mindful of your body is being aware of your bodily sensations and changes.

At times when you feel anxious or afraid, focus your attention on your body and try to feel where you’re holding your tension or anxious feelings.

Then focus on slow breathing to try to calm down and regulate your breathing pattern.

Breathe:
1. Inhale through your nose for a count of 5

2. Then breathe out through your mouth for a count of 5

I know it sounds too simple to work but trust me this breathing, mindful technique is very effective. And you can do it anywhere.

Daily meditation also works for me, try starting with 5 minutes a day of guided meditations using an app like Calm or Headspace, which are both great apps for beginners.

Managing anxiety with traveling doesn’t need to something you tackle alone.

10. Don’t Suffer in Silence — Speak to Your GP

Anxiety with traveling is a very common condition, so visit your GP and tell them about the worries you’re having. They can help and support you to find a manageable solution. 

However, if your travel anxiety is starting to develop into more generalised, longer-term anxiety that interferes with your everyday life, then it’s time to visit your GP for a more long-term approach to treatment.

Medication is one option but there are many other approaches to treating anxiety if you don’t want to take meds.

The important thing is to know you’re not alone, anxiety of all kinds is very common but it is treatable and you don’t have to suffer in silence or let it stop you from living your life.

You can always email me for more depth on these travel anxiety tips, but ultimately, I am not a doctor. So work with your GP or another health professional to create a treatment plan that works for you.

Final Thoughts on Managing Anxiety With Traveling 

By developing your own coping methods and actionable steps, you can manage your anxiety with travelling before it spins out of control and ruins your trip.

TLDR? Here’s an overview of what we covered to manage anxiety with traveling:

• Put solid plans in place for the what-if scenarios
• Get Travel Insurance!
• Create a schedule and give yourself extra time
• Take things to distract yourself on the flight
• Stay secure on public transport 
• Research the basics of your destination before you leave
• Have confidence in your plan — don’t freak out
• Recognise triggers and try to reduce them
• Practice mindful breathing and try meditation 
• See your doctor if the anxious feelings don’t dissipate

Check out more mindful travel tips in my post, Travel Happiness: Does Travel Make You Happy?

That wraps up this post on 10 Tips for Managing Anxiety With Traveling.

I truly hope you have found something you can take away from this and apply to your own life.

Have you struggled with travel anxiety in the past and overcome it? Do you currently suffer from anxiety with traveling and if so, what do you do to manage it?

Share your own experiences in the comments below.

Happy and Safe Travels 🙂

Alial

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