Picture this:
You pull in the driveway after your last day of work before your long awaited vacation. You had to do about two weeks worth of work to be gone for five days but hey, it’ll be worth it when you feel the sea breeze and hear the waves hit the sand! You get to unplug from your everyday grind. It’s time for a little rest and relaxation and make some memories with your favorite people.
But have you ever gone on vacation and wondered to yourself, “I think it’s supposed to be more relaxing than this.” If you’ve ever wondered if you’re doing it wrong, you’re not alone.
There are two main pain points of vacation. And what makes them tricky is you don’t see them coming. They’ll catch you off guard and threaten to turn your R&R into a string of F’s.
A quick stress-free getaway to the beach? Not so fast!
If you struggle with anxiety, it’s possible that you also have trip anxiety.
That’s trip-related anxiety about some (or all) of the following topics:
- Packing
- For you and everyone in your family? Check.
- All the stuff for all the things and all the meals? Check Check.
- Transportation
- Missed flights
- Lost baggage
- Rental car mishaps
- Lodging
- Germs?
- Bed bugs?
- Two double beds instead of a king and a pull out bed?
- The Loo
- People freak out about bathroom stuff when they travel. Just ask anyone who’s ever traveled with me.
- Kids in diapers add another layer of complexity here.
- Your House
- Will you come home to a busted water pipe?
- Some other catastrophic “worst case scenario” fear your brain comes up with.
- Your loved ones.
- WIll you all die on your way to vaca? (Only if hearing your child ask “are we there yet?” can actually kill you.)
If you’ve ever stressed out over any of these travel anxiety items, you’re not alone.
How do you fix it?
Who knows. Take an Ativan and call me in the morning. (JOKE!)
Actually, my best tip for travel anxiety is to share your anticipated pain points with another adult that you’re traveling with. You can either come up with a code word for when anxiety is on the rise, or agree to share responsibilities for the things that are stressing you out the most. The buddy system does wonders here.
Most people do great while they’re on vacation, once they arrive and settle in. So let’s assume you’re able to unwind and enjoy yourself for the duration of your stay. Unless, of course, you have little kids. Then, the jokes on you. Vacation life is just like home, except less convenient.
Here’s the second pain point of vacation: re-entry.
- Your mood or the tone of your life picks up exactly where you left it.
- Regarding your partner or friends you traveled with, if you felt disconnected, isolated or depressed while on vacation, que that getting totally worse upon your return. Thoughts like, “My life/marriage/friendship is horrible. I couldn’t even be happy on vacation.”
- Feeling unhappy in your normal life is one thing. Feeling depressed when you’re supposed to be having an awesome time feels much worse.
- If you didn’t like your job before vacation, it could feel overwhelming upon return.
- All the stressors of normal life hit you like an eighteen wheeler.
- Do you have any groceries?
- Work emails and messages.
- Vacation laundry.
- Kids start back in with their same old bad habits.
- Financial considerations.
- Did you overspend on vacation?
- Did you dip into your savings or into your next pay check to afford the trip?
- I actually hear this a lot. People spend more than they anticipate (or budget) on their trip and then they get stressed out trying to make up for it, or make their regular bills.
- The relaxation you felt on vacation starts to feel like a distant memory as soon as you pull onto your street.
So what’s to be done about it? Should you not even go on vacation? Heck no!
I say, GO ON VACATION. As often as you can. Enjoy yourself! Make memories! Just be honest with yourself and your partner/friends about which of these pain points are the biggest for you. Plan for success around the things that have historically stressed you out so don’t regret the decision to enjoy your well-earned time off with your favorite people.
