Holiday Phobia

I have always hated flying, I don’t think the plane is going to crash or anything like that, it’s just when the plane door slams shut, I feel myself beginning to panic, because I’m trapped!
I spend weeks before dreading it, several days of holiday, with a migraine, then start panicking again for the return journey!
We’ve had some wonderful holidays, but I think I did it mainly for the children, so don’t feel the need to put myself through it anymore

I think I too worry about being taken ill while abroad these days. When I look at holiday destinations I always read up about the hospitals and then get frightened. I speak three European languages fluently, have lived and worked abroad but health issues knock one's confidence and I can't bring myself to book. DH is keen to travel, he won't go alone and I feel like I'm disappointing him.
The UK is beautiful so at the moment we are sticking put.

We really prefer to stay at home these days, been to all the places we wanted to go in the past, and the effort of packing/medication/etc., is too much, quite happy to sleep in our own bed and enjoy the garden.

Same here - I'm lucky in that I've probably seen all that I want to see. We had a few years of intense travel adventures but I always saw it as an adventure rather than a holiday and was always relieved to get home again. I don't mind short holidays in the UK now but really can't face airports any more. Also my husband isn't as healthy as he was and I worry about being taken ill abroad. I love my home!

My travel anxiety related symptoms got steadily worse despite me trying all sorts from aromatherapy/travel sickness tabs/calms etc evening starving myself (as one of the symptoms is to be very sick). None helped and it actually got worse, in the end we lost a whole holiday because I was too ill to catch the Eurostar. Luckily, with Drs help we managed to make a claim on the travel insurance. Its all the uncertainties with modern travelling, the crowds, the queues, the security and then the whole being confined to a tin box that you cannot get off when you feel especially anxious. For over 10 years I would loose the first few days of a holiday as I would be so poorly after the flight I would be confined to room being very sick and then very delicate and easily exhausted. After 2 or 3 days I'd be fine and could really enjoy every moment of being in a totally different environment.
Thankfully we have found a holiday that seems to suit, no-fly cruises, the ones where a very nice man or woman collects you in a large car and drives you to the port. Where the staff smile at you, briefly look at your documents and wave you on board and look after you beautifully for the entire trip - such a difference. I love visiting other countries and meeting different people - that was not the problem it was just the ghastly business of flying and latterly long distance train journeys in the UK when you have full blown holiday luggage.

Yes it looks as worry about sudden illness makes us wary of travelling. Perhaps a short break in the U.K. is the answer. You can always get home quickly or at worst be admitted to one of our NHS hospitals!

I wouldn’t say I have a phobia about going on holiday but recently I have become wary about arranging a holiday abroad. I think it is fear of dealing with a medical emergency since DH has had a couple of visits to A and E over problems with a fast heart rate and I have had breast cancer and problems with a low platelet count. We haven’t been away together for more than a couple of days for three years now and DH badly wants to go away for a week or more next year. If we do go I will make sure we are well covered by our travel insurance and our destination will be somewhere where the English language is understood. We both used to love our holidays abroad, especially to the USA where we had wonderful road trips and enjoyed every minute even the flights. Such a holiday seems very daunting now so we will have to be less ambitious. I think it is part of the ageing process to not want to be far from home, we are both 76.

The last time I went abroad was with friends who do all the planning, accomodation & restaurant booking etc (and do all the driving as me & DH can't drive) it was very nice but my main purpose was to visit a war cemetery and put flowers on a relative's grave.
My favourite holidays are in the UK, to be honest, either in a B&B or staying with friends. This isn't about xenophobia, more that there's so much of Britain I haven't yet seen.
Also I don't speak anything other than English whereas my husband speaks several languages fluently and I can't follow conversations, or he interprets which is long-winded. I know there are areas of Europe where there are mini-Englands, pubs etc but why bother with those?
The happy solution is that we now holiday seperately, and it works well. I hate flying too. I'm sure Hell resembles an airport. I always pick up some sort of ENT virus with all that recycled air on a plane and it also makes my ears painful for days.

Yes Ellan It's a wonderful world. We are lucky to have seen it. I agree that it's a lot to do with confidence. We lose our enthusiasm when bad things happen. I have no confidence now.

My passport has recently expired, and I don’t plan on renewing it. We’ve just had a few days away in the UK, but I longed to get home, my own bed, my own shower, I know I’m a bit pathetic, but for me, there’s no place like home.

And then I feel guilty for messing up and wasting time and money. Also when I think I'm lucky to be able to do these trips and not taking advantage of it!

BlueSky, I used to love the hustle and bustle of the airports and finding my way around without any problem. I was never " overwhelmed " by anything.

In fact after one long-haul flight landing at Heathrow, I remember running through the airport like an Olympian to get my connecting flight to Liverpool and on reaching the gates the staff had been amazed at the speed of me getting there as they didn't think I'd get that particular flight.

Why I'm reduced to a wreck,I don't know though I do now have some medical issues and had a mini-stroke just under two years ago but fortunately it didn't leave damage but I know my confidence took a battering.

KatyK, like you, I've been so very grateful and also fortunate in seeing and being in all the marvellous places/countries, Far East and Middle East and have hundreds of photographs of the wonderful journey's.

I have enjoyed the travelling I have done over the years and visited many parts of the world now I just can't be bothered to open a suitcase.
This year I have been away just once with my DD and we usually go at least twice a year together with the airport waiting and the transfers I find I just don't have the energy to cope with it anymore,I am just grateful at seeing the parts of the world I have over the years.

I'm not keen on going on holiday, especially abroad with all the palaver at the airports. My DH loves holidays so I go. I don't think it's a phobia, I just can't be bothered. Saying that, I'm very grateful for all the lovely places I've seen.

Glad I'm not the only one! EllanVannin I could have written your post. In my case I've just reached the big 70, but I haven't got any serious health issues so that shouldn't be a problem. Also I was with DH while in the past I have happily travelled on my own. Can't tell you how relieved I was when I managed to book the flight back for the following day!

You are not alone Bluesky. Holiday planning does not bring on the excitement of previous years. So I'm staying put. My last proper holiday was 2 years ago.....cruised with a couple of friends. Done nothing since. Except a weekend here and there with family.

I understand where you are coming from.
I think holidays are more bother than they are worth unless I am going to visit family.
We have had all sorts happen, car broke down on French motorway, a nut holding fan belt had come off and garage did not have a replacement. We had to leave the car in France. DH got called back to work during holiday abroad leaving me sitting like Billy no mates, twice.
Since being ill we have had to cancel trips away at short notice and still had to pay.
DH likes to go away and I have told him to just go and leave me but he won't.

BlueSky I can get where you're coming from. Take it from one who's flown thousands of miles in the past and my last holiday was in Cyprus 10 years ago which I thoroughly enjoyed in a villa with friends.
Since the years have gone by and as you age ( in my case anyway ) I've felt less and less inclined to venture anywhere ?

It's been in my head to visit Oz this time next year for my 80th, but-------the more I think about it my insides do somersaults, why ? It scares me ! I've watched the Emirates journey to Oz on video, which is superb, to give me the encouragement and sometimes I get quite excited, then other times I just feel damned sick. The latter is going to win I feel.

I have no answer to how or why this happens but it is real. I seem to think that the further I'm away from the safety/security of home the worse I am. It is an anxiety thing and probably nobody knows why it happens especially having spent a good part of your life travelling as I have myself. It feels like a confidence thing too and as I said as you age, thinking about your health and the things that could go wrong makes you panic more.

I need shaking !!

I do still like going on holiday, but it's the faff of getting everything in place, not so bad if we holiday in Britain, but certainly worse when going abroad, I'm generally glad we've made the effort when we arrive. I could understand the anxiety however of those Thomas Cook clients stranded around the globe and wanting to come home, sometimes the draw of home kicks in before the end of the holiday and I imagine being told, in their cases, that their scheduled departure was being pushed back, could well bring on a certain amount of panic. I imagine you are not alone in how you feel BlueSky.