Travelling is stressful enough by itself. Whether you are a nervous flyer, it’s your first time travelling solo or if you love travelling in general, it can still be quite stressful to spend a day travelling. I personally love going away on holiday but always dread the flight. The overthinker in me can quite easily overanalyse everything about travelling, which definitely does not make it easier to travel. Throughout the years I have found a few things that definitely help me make my travels become more chilled.

Make a to-do list in advance

The first thing I always do whether I travel by plane, train or car, is make a to-do list. I like to write multiple actually. On one hand I like to write a to-do list with all the things I need to do before going away, such as what I still have to buy. My second to-do list consists of outfits I want to wear and all toiletries I need to bring with me. My third to-do list is usually everything I need to pack before leaving that I can’t put into a suitcase or bag yet, such as my phone charger, my passport, wallet and all that sort of stuff you like to have with you in your handbag.

Check all your travel documents far in advance

There’s nothing more stressful than discovering that your passport will soon be expiring. I thankfully have not had to deal with this kind of stuff, but definitely am paranoid about it happening though. That’s why I like to check travel documents and my bankcards as soon as I know I am going somewhere. This is just to make sure I don’t let anything expire or is going to expire while travelling.

If I am travelling somewhere I also always like to double check travel documents from the airline, train company, and the hotel or AirBnB I am staying at. This is just to make sure I don’t arrive too late and know when and where to be a certain place.

Wear something comfortable while travelling

I also prefer to wear something comfortable when travelling. If I am feeling a bit anxious, I hate to wear something that is uncomfortable. It can actually feel more suffocating when you’re wearing an uncomfortable outfit. So as straight forward as it might feel, always wear something comfortable when travelling. You don’t want to wear uncomfortable shoes when you’re walking around the airport and you definitely don’t want to wear a pair of super tight jeans when you are going to be seated on a train for a while when travelling to your destination.

Try to stay hydrated while travelling

One of the first things I tend to forget about when travelling is to stay hydrated. The main reason for that being I hate having to constantly pee everywhere. Even though I hate having to pee, it’s even worse to arrive at your travel destination with a headache or migraine because you have been drinking enough water while travelling. Nearly every year whenever I travel to Spain for my summer holiday I am met with a banging, almost migraine-like headache when I arrive at the airport. This is usually because we have woken up at the crack of dawn. Once we arrive it’s about 11 o’clock, but to me it already feels like 4 in the afternoon instead. A mistake I won’t be making this year, is that I will set timers for me to drink enough water throughout my travels to make sure I stay hydrated and not get any sort of headache.

Bring whatever calms you down with you

My final tip is to bring something that calms you down. I personally love to bring the This Works roller ball with me that is almost the same as the This Works Pillow Spray, which is one of my favourite products to help with my anxiety. When I am on the go it seems quite rude to be spraying that pillow spray around me without bothering other people. Instead I like to bring the This Works roller ball so I can roll it on my wrists or sniff it mid-travel when I am feeling a bit uneasy. Sometimes other things can bring comfort too, such as listening to a podcast on meditation or doing breathing exercises.

If you suffer with anxiety I would also advice you to avoid highly caffeinated drinks before travelling. This can actually make your anxiety worse and it’s super annoying if you can’t catch a breathe of fresh air when you’re on a moving plane or train.