Traveling: Anxiety Free

I hated to travel. I hated it for many reasons. One of the reasons was because I hated getting out of my routine. I had a specific schedule everyday (especially when I was in the depths of my eating disorder). I also hated it because I knew I couldn't control the food. I knew I would be forced to go out to eat. I hated traveling because I would be leaving my comfort zone. For a long time my eating disorder was my comfort zone and anything else freaked me out. However, I no longer associate traveling with so much hatred and negativity. So I want to share some of my advice.

1. Getting out of your routine: This was and still is hard for me. I do not do well with change and I am very much a creature of habit. I have a daily routine of waking up, getting ready, eating my regular breakfast, going to work etc. However, traveling doesn't follow a routine...traveling is learning to enjoy the unexpected. But guess what? That is hard to handle! So, here is my advice...keep doing it. Keep breaking your routine. A week before you go on your vacation, switch things up. For example, wake up and go for a run instead of sleeping until noon on Saturday. Or go out for smoothies with a friend for dinner (don't eat your "regular" dinner). Another piece of advice I have is when you get to your destination...let loose and LIVE IN THE MOMENT! RELAX. Vacations are TEMPORARY. Remember that one week of a different schedule wont kill you or make you lose ANY progress. It is TEMPORARY.

2. The control of food: This is REALLY where I struggle...even today. I'm not going to lie and say that I'm totally comfortable going out to eat every night when I'm on vacation...because I am NOT! I tend to get really anxious...I think about the portions, what the food is cooked in and the cleanliness of it all. I get myself really worked up to the point where I just want to restrict. However, when I start to enter that downward spiral I tell myself to STOP. Most times I get out a piece of paper or the note section on my phone and write this out....

"It is okay to be flexible, it okay to go out to eat, it is okay to enjoy yourself and make memories."

I also do my very best to pick an option off the menu that I am comfortable eating. I find it really unhelpful to look up the nutrition of the place you're going to because I strongly believe you should pick something you would like to enjoy eating and if it's pizza? Then eat the pizza!!! I don't think it is necessary to associate more negative feelings with going out by tracking the calories of the meal, trying to guess the portions etc. Personally, I find doing that more triggering and I get even more worked up. So my advice? Take a DEEP breath, tell the voices in your head to shut the F*ck up for an hour and enjoy the company around you. Focus on making memories and conversations...not tracking calories or thinking about the food.

This my ADVICE and it may or may not work for you. However, I strongly believe that you need to identify the factors causing your anxiety regarding traveling. Identify them and figure out HOW you can work through them. But please remember....life is so short. Life is not something we are meant to just "live in." We are here to do, explore, make mistakes and learn. We are here to make memories. Please do not let your anxiety or eating disorder control that. So go and make memories and live a little extra while you travel...I promise it will be worth it...and remember...it is only temporary.

xoxo,

Sarah