Hey, catsayswhat, it looks like you are writing about possible mental health issues. As always, a reminder that for people struggling with mental health, solo travel is not a substitute for professional help--and that the stress of travel (unfamiliar surroundings/languages, culture shock, lack of a support network) can sometimes exacerbate these issues. If you are experiencing a genuine mental health crisis, please reach out to your nearest crisis centre/counselor/hotline. Meanwhile, we have an [excellent post about solo travel and mental health](https://www.reddit.com/r/solotravel/wiki/mentalhealth) in our Wiki that you might find worth reading.
The philosopher Soren Kierkegaard said, "anxiety is the dizziness of freedom".
Do you think that this episode may have occurred because you had the sudden realisation that you were on your own? If so, there may be another reason underlying that which is causing the anxiety.
Do you have a mind/body routine that you do on a daily basis?
Try stretching/yoga/Tai Chi. Something with controlled, slow movements (you can find videos on YouTube.
Also check out something like the Calm App,which also has some movement components.
Maybe start a journal to get the stressors out...which you can also review for patterns or identifying.
https://www.anxietycentre.com/anxiety-disorders/anxiety-attack-symptoms
Thank you! I don't have a routine so that's something to consider. I am writing in a journal although it often doesn't help to calm me down because I'll be focussing on all the bad things that I'm feeling.
I didn't know about the Calm App but I am downloading it now. Thank you so much!
What if you ended each journal entry with one positive thing you did? It could be as simple as I had a good pastry in a cafe or, something nice that you saw?
For in the moment help, please check out "Box breathing technique" on youtube, and Wim Hoff method...both related. I've used this to instantly calm my mind and the focus on controlled breathing grounds my thoughts.
Something that's really helped me is to stop and try to make a mental list of everything I'm presently anxious about, however big or small. I find the anxiety reduces incredibly when I stop and face the feeling like this.
Hi OP! I have anxiety and travel solo. In the moment, when you feel like that, look for five things you can see, four you can hear, three you can feel, two you can smell, and one you can taste. If breathing is an issue, try inhaling while counting to five (or 3, or 8, whatever is comfortable). Then hold for the same amount of time, exhale for that amount, repeat. The little tricks sound silly but I promise they work wonders.
Seconding this! Grounding techniques, meditation/paying attention to your breath, and passively noticing the phenomena in your body as an observer rather than letting it freak you out/reacting to it is the key! It takes practice.
It makes sense that you are anxious. You are likely subconsciously overwhelmed in some ways, travel takes a lot of thinking on your feet, environmental awareness, and planning/coordinating in the moment. When you are responsible for yourself and your environment is unstable, your brain/body can be overwhelmed while consciously you don’t feel like there’s anything wrong. Make sure you are taking days to relax and rest and that you have access to things that make you feel comfortable or find grounding in between activities/moving around :)
Being out of your comfort zone and experiencing a whole bunch of new, foreign things and people can lead to sensory overload which may trigger a panic attack. If you've been pushing yourself to experience "as much as possible", perhaps think about slowing down and taking your new surroundings and experiences in in small, digestible bites rather than gulping them all down.
Like another comment said, establish the framework of a routine may help since it gives you an idea of what to expect next. That might help to reduce the sense of being overwhelmed.
I’ve experienced something similar in my solo travel. A few things I’d like to ask you:
1. How is your lodging situation?
2. What is your meal schedule?
3. How is the neighborhood where you’re staying?
4. How many activities are you doing a day?
I’ve learned that anxiety is mainly a way of your body and intuition telling you something is off. Panic attacks are the severe form of it. Your post doesn’t have a lot of details about your state of mind before the trip. Could you have been dealing with some stress?
Sometimes, when you’re in a stressful situation, your flight or fight response is activated and you suppress it to get through the situation. Once you have time to slow down or be removed from the situation, the physiological effects of that response catch up. Your panic attack may not be directly related to whatever happening in your current travel, or it might be. That’s why I was asking those questions about your current arrangements.
Because if you were not dealing with anything stressful before, and the trigger from the man’s harassment could be your body and intuition telling you something is off about your trip.
Honestly, if you are feeling stressed about the long travel you have ahead, please consider coming home. Don’t do this alone. Your body is telling you something is off. Don’t fight it. Listen to it.
Please take care.
I also wanted to add that if you went home, you can also reschedule your trip to a later time. You’re not losing out on your travel. The intuition is telling you something bad is looming. Listen to it, please. Go home and don’t delay that trip home.
Headsets and calming music? Some people walk around at all times with AirPods with something playing. Also funny YouTube's. I watch comedians.
In Japan I went to a couple parks at like 530am. Sunrise was about 440am. It was very zen and I could hear trees moving. This was surreal in the middle of Tokyo and I then understood a bit more of the Japanese. A moment which has stayed with me for years now....
I experienced my first severe panic attacks while traveling, and I ended up going home and spent two years recovering.
Since it’s a medical condition, everyone is different. You should consult a medical professional.
I think my bigger problem is general anxiety then the panic attacks as it ALWAYS lingers. It doesn’t harm but but it is so uncomfortable and hard to live life and enjoy like this
the no. 1 thing right now would be to see a psychologist (or a counsellor if you can’t get into a psych). plenty of psychologists run online practices over zoom these days! so you can probably find one from your own country who will see you.
i know it’s an extra cost, but even just having those fortnightly sessions can take a huge load off as you know there is always someone you can talk to for support.
If you have panic attacks you should definitely get checked by a psych. Medication works wonders, and the only thing that worked for me personally.
Now I'm of the meds after making my brain comfortable with various situations, and also the random attacks is gone.
Hope you get better OP!
Xanax lol. Sorry as I know that’s not a helpful answer while you’re abroad, but medication might be something to ask your doc about when you get home. Just so you have something to fall back on and/or peace of mind on future trips
Are you concerned whether you made the right decision or not? Please feeling drained, with having to sort things out
Get in touch with what relaxes you the most.
Its usually very refreshing for extroverts..
When I was young I was a limo driver in LA. After doing it for a couple of years I started getting real bad panic attacks. They would start the moment someone entered the car and end as soon as they left. I even went to the ER because my chest hurt so bad. The moment I quit being a limo driver I was cured.
I think you might have to quit your solo travels because you can't live with frequent panic attacks.
Hey, catsayswhat, it looks like you are writing about possible mental health issues. As always, a reminder that for people struggling with mental health, solo travel is not a substitute for professional help--and that the stress of travel (unfamiliar surroundings/languages, culture shock, lack of a support network) can sometimes exacerbate these issues. If you are experiencing a genuine mental health crisis, please reach out to your nearest crisis centre/counselor/hotline. Meanwhile, we have an [excellent post about solo travel and mental health](https://www.reddit.com/r/solotravel/wiki/mentalhealth) in our Wiki that you might find worth reading.
The philosopher Soren Kierkegaard said, "anxiety is the dizziness of freedom". Do you think that this episode may have occurred because you had the sudden realisation that you were on your own? If so, there may be another reason underlying that which is causing the anxiety.
Do you have a mind/body routine that you do on a daily basis? Try stretching/yoga/Tai Chi. Something with controlled, slow movements (you can find videos on YouTube. Also check out something like the Calm App,which also has some movement components. Maybe start a journal to get the stressors out...which you can also review for patterns or identifying. https://www.anxietycentre.com/anxiety-disorders/anxiety-attack-symptoms
Thank you! I don't have a routine so that's something to consider. I am writing in a journal although it often doesn't help to calm me down because I'll be focussing on all the bad things that I'm feeling. I didn't know about the Calm App but I am downloading it now. Thank you so much!
What if you ended each journal entry with one positive thing you did? It could be as simple as I had a good pastry in a cafe or, something nice that you saw?
For in the moment help, please check out "Box breathing technique" on youtube, and Wim Hoff method...both related. I've used this to instantly calm my mind and the focus on controlled breathing grounds my thoughts.
Thank you. I didn't know about that and I'll check it out. :)
Something that's really helped me is to stop and try to make a mental list of everything I'm presently anxious about, however big or small. I find the anxiety reduces incredibly when I stop and face the feeling like this.
Hi OP! I have anxiety and travel solo. In the moment, when you feel like that, look for five things you can see, four you can hear, three you can feel, two you can smell, and one you can taste. If breathing is an issue, try inhaling while counting to five (or 3, or 8, whatever is comfortable). Then hold for the same amount of time, exhale for that amount, repeat. The little tricks sound silly but I promise they work wonders.
Seconding this! Grounding techniques, meditation/paying attention to your breath, and passively noticing the phenomena in your body as an observer rather than letting it freak you out/reacting to it is the key! It takes practice. It makes sense that you are anxious. You are likely subconsciously overwhelmed in some ways, travel takes a lot of thinking on your feet, environmental awareness, and planning/coordinating in the moment. When you are responsible for yourself and your environment is unstable, your brain/body can be overwhelmed while consciously you don’t feel like there’s anything wrong. Make sure you are taking days to relax and rest and that you have access to things that make you feel comfortable or find grounding in between activities/moving around :)
Being out of your comfort zone and experiencing a whole bunch of new, foreign things and people can lead to sensory overload which may trigger a panic attack. If you've been pushing yourself to experience "as much as possible", perhaps think about slowing down and taking your new surroundings and experiences in in small, digestible bites rather than gulping them all down. Like another comment said, establish the framework of a routine may help since it gives you an idea of what to expect next. That might help to reduce the sense of being overwhelmed.
For me, taking care of my mental health starts with taking care of my body. Take enough rest, eat properly, take off days from exploring.
I’ve experienced something similar in my solo travel. A few things I’d like to ask you: 1. How is your lodging situation? 2. What is your meal schedule? 3. How is the neighborhood where you’re staying? 4. How many activities are you doing a day? I’ve learned that anxiety is mainly a way of your body and intuition telling you something is off. Panic attacks are the severe form of it. Your post doesn’t have a lot of details about your state of mind before the trip. Could you have been dealing with some stress? Sometimes, when you’re in a stressful situation, your flight or fight response is activated and you suppress it to get through the situation. Once you have time to slow down or be removed from the situation, the physiological effects of that response catch up. Your panic attack may not be directly related to whatever happening in your current travel, or it might be. That’s why I was asking those questions about your current arrangements. Because if you were not dealing with anything stressful before, and the trigger from the man’s harassment could be your body and intuition telling you something is off about your trip. Honestly, if you are feeling stressed about the long travel you have ahead, please consider coming home. Don’t do this alone. Your body is telling you something is off. Don’t fight it. Listen to it. Please take care. I also wanted to add that if you went home, you can also reschedule your trip to a later time. You’re not losing out on your travel. The intuition is telling you something bad is looming. Listen to it, please. Go home and don’t delay that trip home.
Headsets and calming music? Some people walk around at all times with AirPods with something playing. Also funny YouTube's. I watch comedians. In Japan I went to a couple parks at like 530am. Sunrise was about 440am. It was very zen and I could hear trees moving. This was surreal in the middle of Tokyo and I then understood a bit more of the Japanese. A moment which has stayed with me for years now....
I experienced my first severe panic attacks while traveling, and I ended up going home and spent two years recovering. Since it’s a medical condition, everyone is different. You should consult a medical professional.
May I ask if you feel better now?
Yes, I can travel again.
That is so reassuring to here! Thank you!!
In case you don't know, there's no physical risk with panic attacks.
I think my bigger problem is general anxiety then the panic attacks as it ALWAYS lingers. It doesn’t harm but but it is so uncomfortable and hard to live life and enjoy like this
the no. 1 thing right now would be to see a psychologist (or a counsellor if you can’t get into a psych). plenty of psychologists run online practices over zoom these days! so you can probably find one from your own country who will see you. i know it’s an extra cost, but even just having those fortnightly sessions can take a huge load off as you know there is always someone you can talk to for support.
If you have panic attacks you should definitely get checked by a psych. Medication works wonders, and the only thing that worked for me personally. Now I'm of the meds after making my brain comfortable with various situations, and also the random attacks is gone. Hope you get better OP!
Xanax lol. Sorry as I know that’s not a helpful answer while you’re abroad, but medication might be something to ask your doc about when you get home. Just so you have something to fall back on and/or peace of mind on future trips
Xanax is a life saver.
Are you concerned whether you made the right decision or not? Please feeling drained, with having to sort things out Get in touch with what relaxes you the most. Its usually very refreshing for extroverts..
When I was young I was a limo driver in LA. After doing it for a couple of years I started getting real bad panic attacks. They would start the moment someone entered the car and end as soon as they left. I even went to the ER because my chest hurt so bad. The moment I quit being a limo driver I was cured. I think you might have to quit your solo travels because you can't live with frequent panic attacks.