07 Apr The Stress of Travelling

To some, the thought of travelling is so stressful it takes the excitement out of the actual holiday. Recently after having a conversation / argument with my husband about why we have to get the airport five hours before the flight takes off (well slight exaggeration, maybe three hours) I came to understand that this stresses him out way more than I realised.

We’ve been married twenty two years and have been lucky enough to travel to many places. I’d always tried to negotiate what time we should leave for the airport and getting myself cross that we’d have to leave so far in advance of the flight departing. My anxiety levels would skyrocket into orbit and I would find myself not enjoying the last day of the holiday as I felt cheated of the few hours I would not be enjoying in the sun. Selfish I know but I’ve always been a “fly by the seat of my pants” kinda girl.

It wasn’t until he sat me down (after twenty odd years, yes I know, don’t judge!) and explained that his anxiety related to everything running smoothly and the responsibility he felt for travelling with the family and me always insisting on leaving it till the last minute to leave. He is by the way a self confessed control freak and likes everything run a certain way even if that means getting to the gate an hour before take off. I hadn’t grasped that actually it was something that really bothered him, I just thought he was being a grumpy shit. It’s unusual for him to verbalise his annoyances as he is normally a very laid back person and non confrontational so the fact that he was telling me was enough for me to pay attention.

So I decided to take action and been a little more understanding of his ticks. We travelled to Dubai this week and I can tell you with hand on my heart that it was the least stressful experience we’ve had to date. I left the timings up to him and he was a totally different person to travel with. Having let go of my own needs and pushing him to the limits of stress the whole experience was really quite pleasant if you can call it that. Let’s face it, travelling isn’t what it’s all cracked up to be – that is unless you fly first class which sadly I do not !!

I’m not sure about you but in most cases, it takes me a couple of days of decompression before I fully relax, but this holiday has been so easy to just chill out immediately. I’m not sure if this is coincidence but the impact of having a stress feel travel day seems to have made me relax straight away. It’s amazing how a little honesty can create a massive shift in an outcome. Here’s to another twenty years of stress free travel!!