Travel anxiety is a pervasive issue for many, but it's often misunderstood. As an expert in travel and mental health, I've spent years researching the myriad triggers of travel anxiety, from the obvious (delayed transport, overcrowded streets) to the less obvious (ecological degradation, cultural miscommunication). In my new book, The Years of Travelling Anxiously, I explore the insights of writers, philosophers, and psychologists who offer remedies for travel anxiety. Here are five key tips to help you overcome your travel nerves and embrace the journey.
Prioritise your urban wellbeing
Many travellers experience anxiety in modern cities due to a lack of 'neighbourhood cohesion', exposure to toxins or pathogens, dense traffic, and poor urban planning. The French cultural theorist Paul Virilio argues that the turbo pace, information overload, and vulnerability to technological and environmental disaster of the modern metropolis can result in psychological dislocation. To combat this, seek out green spaces, smooth-edged architecture, good sight-lines along streets, and natural light. These elements can help reduce the spikes in adrenaline, blood pressure, and heart rate that can occur when navigating urban spaces.
Educate yourself against communication breakdowns
Many travellers feel the pressures of 'cross-cultural communication'. The sociologist Debbie Lisle highlights the challenges of interacting with people from different identities, experiences, values, and habits. To mitigate these problems, get familiar with accounts like Edward Said's Orientalism, which critiques the west's disdainful and over-simplified portrayal of the non-western world. By acknowledging and addressing our ethical and political responsibility to others, we can reduce the likelihood of unintentional social faux pas and patronising or entitled remarks.
Accept anxiety as a fact of existence
The Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard argued that anxiety is a necessary condition for our freedom. If travel is too easy, with no obstacles or snags to contend with, we won't learn or gain meaning from it. Stories across human cultures devote much more time and space to the challenges a hero must overcome than to the end of the narrative when the hero has overcome such challenges. As Tom Waits sang, 'The obsession's in the chasing and not the apprehending / The pursuit you see and never the arrest'.
Address your eco-anxiety
Flying contributes to 2.5-3% of global carbon emissions, yet only 4-5% of the world's population travel by plane nearly every year. As the economist Alessandro Capocchi and colleagues have argued, overtourism brings ever more waste, pollution, soil erosion, and destruction of natural habitats. The eco-anxiety that can stem from these conditions can be usefully mitigated by climate activism and an awareness that humanity and nature are mutually dependent. As the radical ecologist Andreas Malm and philosopher Bruno Latour suggest, we must shift attention to our shared terrestrial condition by visiting sustainable tourist sites and minimising our carbon footprint.
Remember ignorance is not bliss
Playwright Alan Bennett contends that we feel reassured when we read a work of literature that articulates 'a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things which you had thought special and particular to you'. By reading the works of great minds who have grappled with the problem of anxiety, we can gain a new perspective and perhaps even a little less anxiety the next time we travel. Before you set off, consider reading Søren Kierkegaard's The Concept of Anxiety, Paul Virilio's Overexposed City, Alain de Botton's The Art of Travel, Debbie Lisle's The Global Politics of Contemporary Travel Writing, and Bruno Latour's How to Inhabit the Earth. These works offer valuable insights into the complexities of travel anxiety and can help you navigate the challenges of the road with a little less fear.
In conclusion, travel anxiety is a real and often misunderstood issue. By prioritising our urban wellbeing, educating ourselves against communication breakdowns, accepting anxiety as a fact of existence, addressing our eco-anxiety, and remembering that ignorance is not bliss, we can overcome our travel nerves and embrace the journey. So, pack your bags, grab your reading list, and set off on your next adventure with a little less fear and a little more freedom.
