Summer traveling can be exciting and an opportunity to create meaningful experiences with friends and family. There are also opportunities to practice skills learned during other seasons and generalize to new environments. Traveling together in a shared space such as a car, train, or plane can create or illuminate stressors that are otherwise not usually present such as sitting in the same space close to another family member or even a stranger for several hours, reduced bathroom access, motion sickness, or fear of being up in air or on water, or of being farther away from home. Parents learn how to help their children cope with changes they may be experiencing for the first time like getting on an airplane or ferry, trying new restaurants, or getting on a fast amusement park ride. Adults can experience anxiety provoking difficulties in many areas such as facing fears, managing food allergies for themselves or a dependent, organizing travel itineraries, coping with social interactions with difficult people and dealing with heavy traffic, delays, or cancellations. Coping with change is another top priority when traveling. Some people may struggle with adjusting to a change in routine or plans. These are just a small representation of the many challenges that can occur with traveling.
There are several strategies people can use to mitigate difficulties, including adjusting the mindset towards challenges as an opportunity for growth and learning new skills, and embracing the wild adventures that come from unexpectedly spending more time in another location or with people than originally planned. When traveling with food allergies, it is important and helpful to prepare ahead of time to help ease expected anxiety. Here is an excellent resource for navigating this issue: https://www.foodallergy.org/resources/travel-tips
For managing motion sickness, it is important to notice individual symptoms, prepare yourself or your child proactively for the trip with tools and strategies. See this article from the American Academy of Pediatrics for tools for managing car sickness with littles.
If traveling for a work conference/meeting or a sports tournament for your kids (as we recently were), consider using some of the time for spending time with family or friends, explore local historical places, go for a hike, tour a nearby area, rest by the beach or pool, or hop on a roller coaster. Choose what is fulfilling for you. You won’t be likely to find me on the roller coaster, but hiking or going to a museum, sign me up!
Traveling is an excellent opportunity for anxiety exposures and it is amazing to celebrate these completed milestones with others. For help planning exposures, contact me and we can work it out together!
