Ivy

leaving on Tuesday for long awaited trip to Italy (florence and Venice) and I am having my typical last minute panic. I do this every trip (we average 2 a year). I start thinking, What am I nuts? What if the plane goes down and I have left my dog an orphan? what about spending the thousands on my mortgage instead of on a vacation? What about all the leave your using? etc. . . Of course, I love the trip once I am there and I always end one trip by planning another one (travel is my passion!) but this happens to me every trip! Weird huh? does this happen to anyone else??

SalB

No. I usually panic when we have to go home. LOL

Scarlett

It used to happen, so we did things that would help:
make out a will or something that names the person who will take care of your pup. I did that right after we got ours, it does much to relieve ones mind when you go somewhere and know that the children/pets/house are taken care of.
At the end of 30 years, do you want to look at that house and say, I stayed here all this time, and never went anywhere, so I could pay for you..?
You could never take a vacation from work and still get fired, don't you want to live too? or just work and pay the mortgage?
I find that one has to be a big selfish, with oneself. That you need these trips or whatever you do with your vacation time to make you happy and a fulfilled human being. And when you are happy and satisfied, the rest just falls into place.
JMHO~
Now go make a list for what to wear

RufusTFirefly

I panic most mornings on my way to work.

Scarlett

LOL Rufus!

marty

It happens to me every time I go to Europe, and I usually go three times a year. I am really excited, and then at the last minute I start thinking--"Why am I doing this? It would be so much easier to just stay here." If I am going with other people, I starting thinking that we won't even like each other when it is over. I think I just wear myself out planning and lose sight of the fun. When I get in the car the day of, I forget every bit of it!

lyb

Ivy,

Most definitely! I start having mini panic attacks and claustorphobic about being in the plane for so long. I live in California, so unless it's a short trip to Colorado, it's either 4 - 5 hours to the East Coast or Hawaii, 9 + to Europe or the Pacific. Packing really sends me into a panic, even when I've started preparing the packing a couple of weeks in advance. I start seeing "signs" in everything. If my closest friends happen to call the week before I go on vacation, I start wondering if it's because they have a feeling that they won't talk to me again. Then luckily on the day I fly out, all those anxieties fly right out the window, and I'm just excited about going on vacation, especially if it's a new place. Also, a little Xanax always help.

ira

>...does this happen to anyone else??<

No Ivy, in a world of 6 billion plus people you are the only one.

>...I do this every trip (we average 2 a year). <

Poor Baby. It must be so stressful.

StCirq

I agree with SalB. My panic starts a few days before the END of a trip. I have to will myself from counting down the hours to the return flight. I've been known to dissolve in tears at a final dinner in Europe - but actually, that was years ago, before I found the means to keep going back fairly often.

I do have the customary moment or two of panic when I get in the car to go to the airport, and have this compulsion to double- and triple-check that I've got the passports and tickets and credit cards and train tickets, and car rental vouchers, andwhatever, but beyond that, no panic upon departure. It's coming home that kills me.

Ivy

Thanks everyone! nice to know it's not just me.

Ira: how dissapointing. you were always one of my favorite posters. How unlike you to be mean and nasty. Do you feel good about making fun of me?

Ivy

Oh and Lyb, your post cracked me up. I do the "signs" thing too! How funny!!

carolynk

We also leave on Tuesday (Normandy, Brittany, Ireland--5 weeks), and I, too, get jittery (though panic may be too strong). Much as I love the planning and the actual traveling, there's something about the transition beween them that is particularly stressful. The actual plane and train stage is no fun, of course, but the what-did-I-forget/should-I-have-packed-differently/what-if-all-the-hotels are overpriced disappointments worries do churn the stomach (at least mine, probably because I do all the planning and so feel responsible). I know from past experience that it's temporary, and then I remember why I keep doing this!
Carolyn

Lady

The last time I got paniky before a trip was the first time we went out in our new motorhome for six weeks. I was afraid one of us would end up dead and at least one of us in prison for homicide. Since we made it fine through that one, nothing since (including more than 6 weeks in Europe (as a family) has phased me.

Scarlett

LOL, the "signs" !! I try not to mention to the Yankee that I see signs in things or else he will leave me home

One thing, sometimes when I have those anxieties (believe me, I know anxiety!) I think that a lot of it is because we are sort of giving ourselves up to fate, pilots, hotels, strange places and people...that sort of thing..so to be in control..(it is all about control) I make sure to remind myself that if I forget something, I can go shopping, if I get lost, I can take a cab, if the hotel sucks, I will change hotels..that sort of comforts me when I am going out into the "unknown"...hope this helps..
Actually, it helped me a lot to just talk about it ... LOL, FodorTherapy~

lyb

Yes, I think it is definitely about giving up controls. That's why, even though I'm not going to London until the end of August, tonight I'm sitting down with my guide books and maps and planning my 8 days in London. Of course, I can change my plans depending on the weather or how much time I end up spending somewhere, but it makes me less out of control. Also, this time around, I'm going to stay at a hotel that my best friend recommended, so it's not a total unknown. And though she told me to take the tube from the airport to the hotel, not being familiar with the tube, which I feel would make me nervous after a 10 hour flight, I've opted to make a reservation with Just Airports to come and pick me up.

I'll do anything to have control, less anxiety and less "signs".

MzPossum

Ivy, I leave for Germany/Switzerland on Thurs. and I'm having a panic attack as I write this! A lot of it's due to the fact that I've contacted 7 or 8 inns/ b&b's in the Cochem area and they're ALL BOOKED UP!!! I hope this isn't a "sign"! I'm beginning to envision all 4 of us sleeping in our rental car (and this is the first overseas trip for one of us--hope it doesn't become his last!) I keep taking deep breaths and reminding myself I've never had a problem finding a place to stay and hope we'll stumble onto some quaint little pension where the owner makes their own wine and isn't listed on the internet!
Anyway, best wishes for a wonderful trip, Ivy, and to all the other Fodorites.

ira

Ira: ....How unlike you to be mean and nasty. Do you feel good about making fun of me?<

I apologize. It was a carryover from another post.

Do enjoy your trip, and remember if you don't post a trip report your computer will be destroyed.

lyb

Ira,

Very funny! I've often caught myself about to be unnecessarily sarcastic to some poor poster for no reason at all...or like you, because of another post that annoyed me. I'm sure Ivy will forgive you.

mcgeezer

Thank you for posting this. Yes, I can hardly believe myself when the panic committee sets up shop in my mind about a vacation. But there it is.
I look at the "jitters" as a reminder to get centered and meditate because usaully I'm so wound up making sure that everything is ready I forget to do what is most important to me. It's a nice opportunity to visualize my trip and know that "I am a part of all that I have met"
(I also think the suggestion to have your affairs in order is a very good one, even if one doesn't go any further then the post office.)
Have a splendid time in Italy.

suze

Ivy, Sure (it happens to others)... 25 international trips later, I always have strange rollercoaster emotions a few days before departure, though mine are a bit different than yours. I don't worry about death or plane crashes, money spent, or my pets. My concerns go more like ... who thought of this?, what a stupid idea, I could have stayed home reading a good book, 10 hours on a plane? yikes, and extraordinary concern over my packing and wardrobe. Once I'm in the air & there's no looking back, I'm fine.