Navigating Travel Anxiety: Tips for Nervous Flyers and First-Timers

Some people get excited when they travel. For some, it makes them feel very uneasy. Maybe this is your first flight. You might feel like you haven’t moved in years because you haven’t done it. Or maybe you’ve always thought of the worst thing that could happen before you even pack your bag.

Anxiety about traveling happens to a lot of people, and anyone can get it. There are useful methods that can help you feel less stressed during the process, so you can concentrate more on your goal and less on what might go wrong.

Figure out what stresses you out.

Not everyone gets scared when they travel in the same way. Some people are scared to fly. For some, it’s going to new places and being afraid of getting lost or being stuck without a plan. You can get ready faster if you know what drives you.

It could be the real transportation, the crowds, the unknown, or just being away from home. To handle it better, you should know where it came from.

Plan some things, but not too many.

Getting ready might help with stress, but making too many plans can make things worse and cause more stress.

When you fly, make sure you know what time your trip is, how to check in, and how many bags you can bring. Keep all of your information in one place. A simple note on your phone or an app like TripIt can do the trick.

Don’t plan your whole trip minute by minute, though. Allow for some wiggle room; it’s less stressful when things don’t go as planned.

Read up on how to fly before you go.

• It can help to know what’s normal if your fears are related to flying.
• Turbulence is just changes in air currents, like bumps in the road. It makes you feel uneasy, but it is rarely dangerous.
• If you’ve never been in an airplane before, noises like the landing gear dropping or the flaps moving might seem strange. But these sounds are normal parts of flight operations.
• Even though flight crews are trained for situations, they don’t happen very often.

Sometimes, fear is just a response to things that are new to you. It feels less strange the more you understand it.

Learn how to calm down during travel.

Learn how to breathe properly before you get on the plane. Take four deep breaths in, hold them for four counts, and then let them out for six counts. This makes the calm response happen in your body.

You should also bring something to pass the time, like a book, a radio, or music. Pick something fun and light instead of something heavy and stressful.

If the rough weather is making you feel bad, tell yourself that it will pass and focus on something else. Look through photos, play a simple game, or talk to someone you’re traveling with.

Give yourself more time.

A simple way to ease the stress of traveling? Take your time.

Get to the station or airport before you think you need to. When you have a gap, you don’t have to worry about traffic, security lines, or finding your gate. When booking a link, do the same thing to avoid booking the shortest layover possible.

Smartly eat and drink.

A lot of the time, travel days mess up patterns. If you skip meals or drink a lot of coffee, you might feel jittery and anxious.

Before you go on your trip, eat something healthy, and bring snacks with you. When you’re on a plane, especially, drinking water can help you stay hydrated. Limit your drink intake because it can make it hard to sleep and make you feel more anxious.

Take small steps along the way.

Think “First I check in” instead of “I have a 12-hour flight ahead of me.” After that, I go through safety. After that, I find a place. After that, I watch a movie.

Your trip will feel less overwhelming if you break it up into doable chunks. You’ll also get little wins along the way.

Tell someone you’re scared.

Saying something like, “Hey, I’m a little nervous about flying,” can help ease the stress. The cabin team hears this all the time and will often go out of their way to check on you.

Tell a friend or family member ahead of time if you’re going with them so they can help you stay calm or find something else to do.

Bring a comfort kit with you.

Noise-cancelling headphones, a neck pillow, gum or mints, a favorite blanket, or even a small scent roller are all good things to bring with you. These little things make you feel at ease in places you’ve never been before.

Get used to traveling with smaller doses.

Take a short, easy trip before a longer one if you haven’t been on a trip in a while. Learn how to pack, use public transportation, and adjust to living in a new place. Your trip experience will become more comfortable as you do it more often in manageable ways.

Pay attention to “Why.”

Fear makes you think about “what if.” Remember why you’re going in the first place.

Think about the people you’ll meet, the food you’ll eat, the views you’ll see, or the feeling you’ll get when you walk into a new place and know you made it. That picture is what makes the journey worth it, so keep it in mind.

If Stress Rises During the Trip

There may be times when worry hits hard, even if you are ready. When it does:

• Take a moment to breathe and tell your body it’s safe.
• Take a moment to notice five things you can see, four things you can touch, three things you can hear, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste.

Just keep in mind that it’s only temporary, planes land, buses come, and trains stop. This emotion will pass soon.

Last Thoughts

If you have travel nervousness, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t travel. It means that your body is on high alert when you are in a new setting, which is a normal reaction.

You can make the process a lot easier to handle by planning, knowing what to expect, and having ways to calm down. Each trip makes you feel more sure of yourself. You may find that the thing you once feared is now just a part of the trip when you look back on it.