My Untold Fears of Traveling

Learning they say never ends. We learn both the good, the bad, and the ugly. We pick up various ideas and believe in different things as we progress in life, while some of the things we learn can change our lives for good, some can mess with our brains and cause us unnecessary stress.

Traveling used to be fun for me when I was younger, I loved the long trips, I loved the sleeping and waking up thingy I and my siblings did while traveling, I love the thought of trying different types of snacks on our trip and most especially I loved the breath of fresh air in a new place but that all changed when I became older.

I became really scared of traveling. I wanted to be in different places, take in the view, and experience new things but the process of getting to these places terrified me the most.

The older I became the more I consumed more violent content, via TV shows and social media. Contents like; a car somersaulting triple times on the road, or a plane crash that killed everyone onboard and so many other scary stuff that goes on whilst traveling.

It wasn't just the content I had seen on TV shows or social media but it also included stories that were shared by different people. Such stories like people being kidnapped or robbed while traveling. I had heard of motor accidents that had ended the lives of many or left victims disabled for life.

The fact that I am a very visual person did not help at all because I’d allow all these scary and bad scenes and events to play in my head and after watching it I would be so scared of going on any trip. I'd rather postpone or compensate for my absence to whomever I was supposed to see or whichever occasion I was supposed to be present at.

If I had my way back then I would have rather paid heavily to be able to teleport than pay cheaply to take a bus for a long trip.

The moment I relocated to my state of residence, leaving my family behind in another state was a different ball game as it was so hard to go see them. When they ask me “Aren’t you coming for the Christmas break?” I’d tell them that the road was too busy during the Christmas season for me to make a trip while in real sense I didn’t have the guts to board a bus or a train to go see them. Nobody in my family knew that I was scared of travelling and I didn't tell nor show them that I was.

This kept happening for years until an acquaintance of mine counseled me. She discovered that I didn’t go back home like everyone else during the festive season and also during my annual leave, she was genuinely worried and asked if I didn't miss my family. Seeing her genuinely concerned about me, I decided to open up and tell her the main reason.

She was able to get through to me because she had the same experience before her life changed. This woman spoke like I had shared my fear with her before our conversation, since she had experienced such it made sense to listen to her and to also put into practice what she had said.

She made me understand that my fate and destiny were not the same as the people who had lost their lives through road trips and plane crashes. She shared some tips on how to get over my fears and advised me to get rid of every negative thought in my head about traveling.

Gradually I started making inter-state trips that lasted for hours, it wasn't easy as the fear kept creeping in whenever the bus driver made a bad turn and whenever we had to pass trailers and oil tanks, I would shift whenever we get to pass them as though my little shift was going to make an impact in the vehicle😂

One of my coping mechanisms was trying so hard to fall asleep and refusing to wake up until I got to my destination. If sleep wasn't forthcoming I'd try to down myself in a big novel or a movie, anything that would divert my attention from the road was a welcome idea.

Surprisingly, traveling by air was less scary because I only took domestic flights with short flight times, allowing me to reach my destination swiftly, leaving little room to dwell on the "What ifs." However, air travel is still extremely expensive.

I am not 100% there when it comes to traveling yet but I can boldly say that I am not where I used to be years ago and to me that's a lot of progress😊

_{This is my entry to the #mayinleo monthly prompt, to find more details about it you can check it in this post.}

_{All images are mine except otherwise stated.}

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Loads of Love🥰🥰
XOXO

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