rbnwdln

This happens every time. I wait and wait and wait for along planned trip and two days before I feel like it would be sooo much easier to just stay home! Yesterday, as I drove home from work with my annual pre-Italy canker sore and a list a mile long of what still needs to be done, I just felt....Well, I'm sure I'm not the only one. Am I? (Oh, and the mouth sore? It seems I get one the day before I leave for Italy every time!!! What's that about????)

caroline_edinburgh

I usually reach that point at about 3am on the morning of departure when I'm up & finishing packing ready for an 0630 flight ! But we both know it will be worth it, don't we ? Lucky you, to have your holiday still to come !

Brahmama

Me too. I do it every time, but usually get the cold feet a couple of weeks out and start talking about canceling. It drives my dh absolutely crazy!

But then I just kick in to fatalistic mood and get packed and leave for the airport totally resigned. Once I hit the airport, the adrenalin starts pumping and I'm on cloud (also literally!) until the return.

We always laugh about it afterwards, and when it "hits" he reminds me that this is a pattern.

The canker sore is a real pain. Does it heal up quickly once the trip starts?

Viajero2

Sorry, can't relate...I am usually pushing people out of the way and can't get to the airport fast enough! The sores is a clear indicator of stress to the point of anxiety disorder. Chemistry can do wonders for that stuff, you know.....?

girlonthego

I think we spend so much time preparing that it is natural to just fall apart right before. It is definitely stress related. I am the sole planner, packer and thought producer for vacations!
I remember one year we were traveling to Florida the day after Christmas. Well, I woke up at 4 am for the flight and couldn't straighten out my neck! I spent the day running through airports with little kids, dragging luggage and my head stuck sideways!! What a scene. I vowed to never fly the day after Santa and the whole christmas thing.

Don't let yourself get too crazy. You will have a great time once you are there. If it helps taking a sleeping pill for the flight and try to rest. You don't need to let yourself get too rundown before you even arrive!

ira

Hi rb,

>...the mouth sore?

Stress.

You need more ketchup in your diet. Ketchup contains mellowing agents.

Brought to you by the Ketchup Advisory Board

You'll get over it, once you get on the plane, or once you get to Italy, or once you get home.

Enjoy your visit.

kerouac

No problems with basic planning, but I have known myself to suddenly find myself in a wild panic on the plane to my final destination.

"What on earth am I doing on a plane to Hanoi?"
"What could have possibly made me decide to go to Havana?"
"There is a famine in Ethiopia. Why am I flying to Addis Ababa on holiday?"
"Was I crazy to decide to fly to Aqaba?"

Since I nearly always travel alone and rarely make any hotel reservations in advance, the adrenaline skyrockets until I find myself nicely tucked away in a hotel bar for rehydration purposes, after having had all of the cold sweat running down my back.

The thought of worrying about a simple trip in Europe amuses me no end, but I do recall when that was a big adventure for me too. Probably a bigger adventure for my parents, because I took a 3-month trip alone at age 17 long before the internet or mobile phones, and all they could do was wait for the mailman to even find out what country I was in.

highflyer

You're on your way to conquering this as you recognise what's happening.

Remember it's a pattern. It's stress.
Try to prepare for this by fitting in some relaxation before a trip (when? ha!). Can someone help with the list? Delegate if you can!

hdm

stress = canker sores

There's a product called Lipacton (or something like that) you can get over the counter at the drugstore. It comes in a small tube in a small box and if you apply it to your lip the first moment you feel that pre-canker 'tingling' you stand a good chance of avoiding the actual sore. It's a very effective product. I don't know if it does anything once the sore exists, though -- maybe it makes it heal more quickly. Read the box.

I understand that anxiety. We're just going away for a long weekend and already I'm thinking, gee, maybe we should just stay home.

jkdraper

I used to stress right before a trip too but now I just go with the flow. I always take the day before a trip off of work and that is when I begin packing. I throw some stuff into the bag, make sure the passport is in my purse and off I go. If I forget anything then I will just do without it or buy it at my destination. This is a vacation so don't sweat that small stuff. Leave a key with a friend or neighbor so that if you forget to stop the mail or leave the iron plugged in a simple phone call and they can take care of it. What's the worst thing that can happen if you forget to do something?
Try not to stress and remember how much fun it will be when you are there. Have a great trip and don't forget that trip report when you return.

GreenDragon

I stress a bit before each trip, as I'm always the one doing all the planning/organizing/etc. (husband is useless in these things). However, it's an excited stress, NEVER a second-thought stress. I am like Viajero - pushing people out of the way to get to the airport. Get to the airport 3 hours earlier than I need to? Fine, no problem, just let's start the vacation, woohoo! I'm off! Finally! Been planning two years! Whew!

suze

Yes I always think "who the heck thought of this stupid idea?" about 3 days before any big trip.

Cold sores are the herpes virus and they are triggered by stress. You should see you doctor and get a prescrition for Acyclovir.

MonicaRichards

I always wind up with a sore jaw before a trip from clenching my teeth too much. Now that I know what I'm doing I try to relax. Yes, it does seem like insurmountable work at some points (especially if, like me, you have to pack for your family too) but it's always worth it once you're at your first hotel and you can relax.

Vicky

It's kind of like the way I felt before auditions for a show in community theatre- the day of auditions i'd start to think, "I don't think i want to be in this show." But then i'd audition and feel good that i got through it and tried, even if I did not get in (and I mostly did). So I do feel that way with trips - plan plan plan, pack way ahead to make it seem closer then suddenly - cold feet! Only once did I cancel though and that was my planned trip last Thanksgiving to Innsbruck. For some weird reason i just didnt' get excited so I ended up cancelling - went to Santa Fe a few weeks later instead. it cost me big time too - the $200 change fee, $25 hotel cancellation and $130 extra for new flight... Now of course i wished I'd gone but it was such an alien feeling - not being excited - that I decided not to go (I still want to do that trip, but maybe not when it's cold and dark).

Poohgirl

It might be easier to stay home but probably not nearly as much fun! I think you're normal - a lot of people (me included) have those feelings, too. It sounds like you always manage to work past those feelings, fortunately. Have a wonderful trip.

rbnwdln

Well, I'm posting this at work now where I should be finishing up!!! One reason for the stress is that my husband was on a business trip all week and all the packing (lawn mowing, shopping, cleaning) was up to me! As far as the mouth sore, it's not a cold sore, it's a canker sore. I always get a product in Italy called corti-floro or something like that that clears up the sore, if it is not gone when I get there. Now that most everything is done I am happy and excited but there is still the lingering, this is sooo much work! But it's worth it!!!!!!!!!!

connecticutyankee

rbnwdln

I'm like you - a few days before I trip I always question myself. Usually, my husband has also been on a business trip so the bulk of packing, getting passports, etc has been up to me.

As for the canker sore, this may sound weird but I swear it works WONDERS for me. I swish my mouth and sore with sauerkraut juice a couple times a day. It even helps with immediate reduction in pain. Try to get the actual juice, and not just the juice from the sauerkraut itself. Works better. A little hard to find (in the canned veg section) but worth a try.
It has some properties that even has reduced the outbreak and I get only one or two a year now, instead of monthly.

Good luck, have a glass of wine and dream of Italy. Safe travels to you!

CY

annhig

hi, rbnwdln,

until our last trip I could not have related to this post. I always sailed through the arrangements and expected everything to be fine, which it was.

For some reason, our last trip really stressed me out. perhaps it was the cost, the distance, the unknown [though we'd done far away and expensive before], perhaps I was investing too much in its being "perfect".

anyway, i stressed, it was fine, we had a great time.

as will you.

regards, ann

Christina

I do the same thing before almost any major trip outside the US. I don't do it in the US, because being I know more what to expect and what to do if things go wrong, and there are no language difficulties. Also, if I really had a bad time or problems, I could just go home a lot easier.

I have almost cancelled several major trips due to anxiety and feeling -- why on earth did I plan all this, wouldn't it be more relaxing just to stay at home and relax, go to movies and go out to eat? My anxiety is about things going wrong, my baggage getting lost going over and ruining the whole trip, hotels not having my reservations, missing connections -- you name it. Last trip to Switzerland I was worried because I was doing a lot of train transfers on my own and I wasn't familiar with the Swiss rail system (and barely know German) or what to expect. IN any case, that all went very smoothly with no problems, and that train trip was one of the highlights of my trip.

The main thing that gets me going is reminding myself that I've felt this way before, and ended up enjoying the trip and everyone worked out. SO I just keep telling myself I will be glad once I'm there. And I always am. I don't usually relax until I actually arrive at my final destination and get my luggage retrieved.

scdreamer

Oh, me too! I don't get the canker sores, thank goodness, but about two or three days before we leave on a trip, I am always thinking how cozy my home is and how many events we will be missing when we leave.

But once I arrive at the airport, my excitement takes over and I am always ready for anything.