Depressed Traveler

I live in New York and although I am one of the lucky ones who has not lost family or friends, I have such feelings of sadness and anxiety. I went to see a movie yesterday and when I left the cinema I realized that I had not thought about the nightmare for more than two hours and it was a tremendous relief. As soon as I turned the radio on though, all the fear and sadness returned. My question to all of you is will we ever really be able to feel as excited and secure about traveling as we did before this happened? After my family travel and anticipating travel is the main source of my happiness and now I feel that possibly I have been robbed of this source. How does everyone else feel? Thanks for listening to me.

pat

What a sweet letter. We need to talk about this and not just be angry. I volunteer at a USO at a busy airport, and I was thrilled to be able to be there l3 1/2 hours on Saturday and 5 hours on Sunday, just being with people helps, and we had a chance to be nice to people who are so stressed. Pray for our military and their families. They are really in need of prayers.

pat

I am not stressed--I couldn't even type my email correctly. Two o's in Sophia???

Cindy

Dear Depressed Traveler, <BR>I know exactly how you feel. I live in New Jersey, not far from Manhattan, and I just keep reliving this tragedy. I'm dreaming about it, picturing planes crash into buildings at work, crying at the sight of the flags all over the place, etc. We need to get past this. Going to church yesterday helped. Talking to people helps. Just doing the routine things you always do helps too. Turn off the television. There's nothing new there, and you're just subjecting yourself to the same tragic photos over and over again. We will recover from this, but it will take a long time... If you feel its really interfering in your life, get some counseling. But give yourself time--this is still too fresh in our minds.

dan woodlief

I feel exactly the same way. For many of us on this site travel is one of the things that means the most to us. Along with the terrible toll in human life that resulted from last week's events, it also did assault our way of life in so many ways, and I am afraid what the future will be like. As I have said on previous posts, that is one reason I have decided I want to go ahead with my own planned trip; it will help ease my fear and show me that we can go on.

In Ohio

I also feel depressed. At first we were thrown into the events and adrenalin kind of took over. I was shocked and horrified, but not depressed. I watched the news anxious for even the smallest bit of information. Now I watch the news and don't even know why I am watching. I just kind of stare at the TV and the images flash in front of my eyes. The stories and photographs of the people who died make me cry and I wish there was something that I could do to change something... I know I have to find a way to cope and I wish that I had some great advice for the OP or anybody else who feels this way. Maybe knowing that so many others all across the country care ...

Erick

I can sympathize. Every time I feel I am beginning to recover a little I make the mistake of turning on the TV looking for new developments. It brings the whole flood of grief and despair back. I am leaving my TV off for a while and will try to focus on my trip to Italy this Friday. I am not saying in any way that I want to forget or slight the horrible events of last Tuesday, but I just want to feel something other than grief for the victims and anxiety for my relatives in the military for a brief moment or two. I think most of the people asking travel questions on this board feel the same way and are just seeking a momentary escape from the horror that all of our lives have become. If the self-righteous posters that are so quick to attack what they perceive to be "insensitive" posts are so very concerned perhaps they should not be spending their time on a travel board. Sorry to ramble on.

catherine

I wanted to go to England next year in the Spring and now I don't think I want to be on an overseas flight. Not only does it make one afraid to fly, but the repercussions on our economy is something which frightens me. There may not be any money to travel next year.

Capo

Sadness, yes. A profound sadness. And also a fatalism that says some kind of a terrorist attack on American soil may very well happen again. <BR> <BR>But I also know the risk I run of being in an accident, and dying, every day on the freeway, a risk that is, I'm sure, FAR greater than the risk of dying at the hands of a terrorist so no, I'm not really anxious about traveling, and I refuse to let terrorists rob me of this source of happiness.

Peter

"'m also from New York City and know exactly what you feel - we all feel that. But I also know we have been shielded from terrorism to some degree. Look at London, Paris, Rome car bombs etc. They have been deal with real issues for a long time now. As for USA there are already changes in place (INS is even involved), and we will come out of this stronger, better. As for flying and traveling my vacation is comming up and I'll be doing both since I do need it! Greetings from another New Yorker!

Sheila

I cried when I read these posts because I feel the same way. I cry whenever I turn on the tv or hear a song on the radio. I can't seem to shake the depression and I am pretty far away in TN. I am afraid I will never get over my fear to fly again. I can't imagine how the people must be feeling that were involved since I feel so bad and was not even there. I don't mean to sound like I am feeling sorry for myself because I feel very lucky. I am just hoping to shake this sick feeling.

Beth

Me too. I went to my "normal" Sunday activity yesterday and was feeling a bit better when I learned that two of my friends had lost close family in the Pentagon attack. All the horror came flooding back. Today, I am only here at work in body. I want to smile again. When will I be able to smile again?

Escritora

From another New Yorker: <BR> <BR>Ironically, in our immeasurable sorrow, we think of abandoning those things that gave our lives their greatest meaning. Prospective parents question whether they should bring children into such a world. Lovers of music or art doubt their ability to see beauty in a world gone ugly. Travelers who once were determined to see the world ask if instead they need to fear the world. <BR> <BR>The odds are with us. Of 5 billion people on this planet, 18 were so consumed with hatred that they committed this incomprehensible evil. Thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, more supported and in some cases aided their evil cause. But their voices are drowned out by those of literally billions more who share our outrage, our sorrow, our demand for justice, and who have reached out to us this past week with every imaginable display of friendship and love. <BR> <BR>I want to meet those people. I learned this week not only that I have enemies, but far more important that I have an awful lot of friends I need to embrace and thank. That's why I'll travel again. And that is one of the best cures I can conceive for my own depression.

Trying to Deal

I have had the same reaction as the others on this thread - staring at the tv, start crying while walking down the street and a feeling of hollowness. And, I too count travel as my favorite hobby. <BR>I don't claim to be an expert but I think it takes a while to feel back to normal after something like this. I assume that it is better to cry now then to keep it all inside. As for feeling anxious about flying, I sure do now, but am sure too that at some point I'll want to fly again. In fact I cancelled a trip to Europe for later this week. Since I already took the time off work, though, my boyfriend and I have decided to take a road trip up North to somewhere we never would have gone normally. We are trying to explore some places more locally (we live in New England) that we would otherwise overlook in favor of heading off to Europe. Clearly there is no "bright side" to what has happen but I guess we are dealing by trying to make the best of our situation.

minbrooklyn

We planned for our trip to Paris for over 6 months and were scheduled to take off this Thursday, the 13th. Tuesday I was getting ready to start work in my home office in Park Slope, Brooklyn, thinking of all the lose ends I'd need to tie up before we left, when the news came on and I saw the clouds of black smoke billowing up from the first tower. About twenty minutes later I heard the boom from the second plane hitting the second tower. TV reception and phone lines went dead. We still don't have the office lines up. <BR> <BR>We didn't lose familiy or friends in the disaster. I've been experiencing all the grief and anger and anxiety that you mention too. My father was in France, all this past week, he managed to get a call through to us on Thursday and he called the hotel in Paris for us and cancelled our reservation. <BR> <BR>Hopefully, we'll be able to reschedule our trip for the Spring, mostly depending on world events that unfold. Obviously, our loss of a trip in comparison to everything else that's going on is extremely slight and inconsequential. But these days when I thought we'd be in Paris (our first time there) and the idea strikes me, then I think of why we're not and I feel like I'm having to think of this terrible reality we're living through right now. <BR> <BR>M in Brooklyn

Ess

I feel very depressed, too. Someone I used to know called depression "anger turned inward", and that's exactly what it is. I've always felt lucky to be the type of person who could bounce back from anything. This one, though, is different. Something is irretrievably lost because of this, something we won't just bounce back from, and yes, it is our sense of safety and security. There is a certainty that we live in a world where things like this do happen. We can no longer kids ourselves that they are "out there" in TV land on the evening news, in some other part of the world; they happen "in here" in our own neighborhoods. <BR> <BR>I've been trying to go about my daily business and be as "normal" as possible. We were also very lucky not to have lost immediate family or very close friends. So I feel, in a sense, that I don't really have a right to feel so devastated when there are others who are in such worse circumstances. Yet, I am dumbstruck, and I feel like my heart has been broken. <BR> <BR>I've been going through the motions, mostly trying to be there for my boyfriend, keeping a close sort of emotional monitor on him, as he was downtown when it happened, and I can see how it's affected him, though he isn't as expressive about it. I feel worse for him than I do for me. But early this morning he had to shake ME out of a screaming nightmare. I keep thinking that to "do" is the best, the only, way to cope, because we can't just give up. But all I want to do is lie down and sleep. I feel very tired. <BR> <BR>This is going to take a long time to get over, if ever. And there is also, for me anyway, the knowledge that for all the flag waving and rah-rah America sentiment, there are going to be many more lives lost. And who knows what will happen next, and when it will be over. Maybe it won't ever be over. It is very depressing indeed. <BR> <BR>I have no plans for travel right now. Though today at lunch I said to my boyfriend - wouldn't it be nice if we were in the south of France right now, having lunch someplace pleasant. Escape would be nice - but there is no escape. We'll just have to wait and see about travel. The world will go on, and I'm sure we WILL travel again. But right now just doesn't feel like the time.

Thyra

I also have been feeling pretty depressed, then it swings to a sense of dread over what will happen next. <BR>I've found it good to be pro-active... trying to help. I've found it good to be around my family and friends. <BR>Yesterday was the first day I even felt mildly better, and less angy at folkes who seemed oblivious to the entire situation...(weird, but that's what I felt.) <BR>I have better days and worse days.Guess I am glad that our trip is not until March. I am still planning on going and that's all there is to it, unless they tell me I can't for some reason. <BR>But it's a very personal choice. <BR>If you feel sad, know that you are not alone, I think many MANY more people then you realize have anxiety... depression etc. One day at a time, one foot in front of the other, we will all get through this as best we can.

Cindy

Escritora, your note made me feel better and put this in perspective a bit. Thanks. We can all help each other through this... We're not planning on traveling until our trip to Italy next June, which I am going to get back to planning this week.

Rambling

Things like this can make you act and feel ways you normally wouldn't. Wednesday (9/12) I went to the grocery store and the person in line behind me was incredibly rude to me. The details don't really matter and normally I wouldn't have paid any attention to it, but it upset me so much that day. I felt like aren't we all going through enough without being mean to each other... Anyway, it has bothered me all week. I have spent a great deal of time this week contemplating human nature, not just the woman at the grocery store. I know that was nothing. But how people can hate us so much to perpetrate this horrible act and that there were people celebrating in the middle eastern countries over our tragedy. <BR> <BR>Let it also be said that I also have been incredibly impressed by the compassion and bravery of so many more people. I am trying to concentrate on that.

Judy

Me too! <BR>I was out doing errands on this gorgeously, brilliant late summer day, and my mind wandered a bit...and I felt, just for a second, a little bit of "God is in his heaven, and all is right with the world", sneaking into my reality. Then I stopped myself, and thought how I should not be feeling anything positive, when such dire events occur. Must be my Catholic guilt trip. <BR> This too shall pass. I hope!? <BR> Judy