This week we are talking about travel because even though we can travel anytime, I do think that is something that happens a little bit more in the summer. We just have more of an opportunity (and maybe more pressure) to go on these vacations, to book plane flights, to take long road trips in the car, to navigate to places that we’ve never been or that we don’t go to often. That can be really stressful for anybody, but especially when you have anxiety and maybe even OCD wrapped up in there. Let’s talk more about travel anxiety today.

Today I’m sharing:

• My Personal Challenge of Facing Unknowns
• The Trap of Safety Behaviors
• Empowering Strategies for Travel Anxiety
• Embracing Travel with Values-Based Decisions

My Personal Challenge of Facing Travel Anxiety

This summer, as I planned my trip to Pennsylvania, the familiar pangs of anxiety crept in. Thoughts of everything that could go wrong on the journey, especially with the swirling controversies around Boeing airplanes, nearly overwhelmed me. And as much as it was anxiety provoking and uncomfortable, I made the decision not to change my flight.

I made the decision to continue with my plans as though I had not had that anxiety and had not had those intrusive thoughts. There was a moment in time where I could have changed my flight, I could have canceled my plans, I could have stayed home, but what would that have done for the future?  It would have made the next time that I wanted to fly feel that much scarier.

The Trap of Safety Behaviors

The urge to engage in safety behaviors—like excessively researching flight safety or changing travel plans—is a common response to travel anxiety. However, succumbing to these behaviors can reinforce anxiety over time, making each travel experience increasingly daunting. This can lead to a cycle where anxiety dictates your life choices, significantly narrowing your world. Having worked with so many people who have OCD and anxiety for years and years now, I know that it doesn’t take much for your life to get smaller and smaller once you start to make decisions out of anxiety and fear. Because of those intrusive thoughts, it doesn’t take long for that anxiety to take hold and make your world feel really small. 

Making Value-Based Decisions Instead

Let me walk you through what this looks like. It starts with you avoiding travel, you going down the Google rabbit hole, you changing your flights out of anxiety. Then, you cancel travel plans. It might make you feel better temporarily, but it makes your anxiety worse over time. Plus, those fears are going to generalize. It is not going to be just with planes. If you cancel a plane flight, it is eventually going to be with cars too. If you avoid going into the city, eventually, it’s not just going to be the city that you have a hard time driving in. Avoidance and other safety behaviors reinforces the anxiety over time and it prevents you from being able to enjoy new experiences and new opportunities.

The OCD And Anxiety Blueprint

And while we are on this subject of managing anxiety, I want to take a second to dive deeper into what my digital course, the OCD and Anxiety Recovery Blueprint is all about. It’s more than a course, it truly is a ticket to freedom on the other side of that awful, awful ocean that you feel like you’ve just been treading on forever. No more endless cycles of anxiety and scary thoughts holding you back. No more feeling like you’re tiptoeing around a real life haunted house.

With the OCD and Anxiety Recovery Blueprint, you are finally going to break free from the chains of your mind and be able to step into a life of clarity, freedom and confidence. This course isn’t just about managing your symptoms. I believe that we are not here to just get by. It’s about reclaiming your power, your joy, and your sense of self, and saying saying goodbye to the pain and frustration of living with OCD and anxiety. You’re going to learn how to prevent rituals, prevent mental compulsions, and prevent physical compulsions that are holding you back. You’re going to learn how to do the hard things, how to expose yourself to what used to be absolutely terrifying, and you’re going to emerge stronger, braver, and more resilient than you could have ever freaking imagined. Join me inside now!

Empowering Strategies for Travel Anxiety

If you are out there and you are struggling with travel anxiety, I see you. Your typical go-to strategies or coping skills that you might see on social media (like deep breathing, breathing into a bag or meditation), might be helpful temporarily, but it’s not going to radically transform your relationship with travel. It’s not going to radically transform your relationship with travel anxiety. My resources and what I’m teaching you to do is going to help you thrive (and again – for more support, join me inside the OCD and Anxiety Recovery Blueprint).

Gradual Exposure 

First, start with short, manageable trips and then move on to progressively tackling more challenging journeys. Reducing reliance on safety behaviors and confronting fears directly, will help you learn to navigate anxiety, rather than letting it navigate you. Here’s the kicker, you don’t have to wait to feel no travel anxiety before you travel. You can bring that anxiety with you. Additionally, you can absolutely allow yourself to feel anxious and still do the things that scare you because you can do something while you feel something at the same time. That is what it’s all about. 

Reduce/Eliminate Safety Behaviors

Next, I want you to identify those safety behaviors that you’re doing ritualistically and compulsively. They temporarily make you feel like you’re going to feel better, but they actually just make things worse and reinforce anxiety for the next time. I want you to learn that you can travel and do scary things and push yourself outside of your comfort zone without having to do all of these safety behaviors before, during, and after.

Mindfulness 

Be mindful, be present during travel, allow yourself to have an anxiety provoking thought or to have a scary thought, and then you do not have to do anything else about it. Literally just allowing that thought to be there, being aware of it, not giving it too much more attention, not analyzing it, and moving on to the next thing. Accepting those moments of anxiety without judgment, not criticizing yourself, not trying to wish it away.

Values-based Actions 

Make sure that you’re focusing on the purpose of your travel, and keep that front and center. Remember that you value visiting family or exploring new places, rather than the anxiety. Tuning into your values is a really great way for you to move past that fear. Then, you can pay attention to what matters most to you overall versus just paying attention to what matters right now.

Embracing Travel with Values-Based Decisions

Travel anxiety is a formidable opponent, but it’s not insurmountable. By making decisions based on values rather than fears, and gradually confronting our anxieties, we can expand our horizons both literally and metaphorically. This summer, let’s challenge ourselves to travel in alignment with our values, embracing the journey with all its imperfections. I hope that you take all this into account and really start to challenge yourself. 

You’ve got it. It’s worth it. Until next time, keep doing all the hard things.

Keep doing all the hard things. Bye for now.

👏 Unlock your free 40-minute video on “5 Must-Know Strategies for Handling Anxiety and Intrusive Thoughts”: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://jennaoverbaughlpc.com/strategies⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

🧠 Start your transformation today with the Mental Compulsion Mini Course referenced in this episode: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://jennaoverbaughlpc.com/mental-compulsions⁠

💪 Ready to conquer OCD/anxiety? Explore The OCD and Anxiety Recovery Blueprint – with or without a therapist: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://jennaoverbaughlpc.com/blueprint⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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