Tips for Traveling With A Mental Illness

If you or someone you know needs immediate help, please call 911 or call/text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988. The Lifeline provides 24-hour, confidential support to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress.

Travel is Scary!

The planning, the logistics, the new and unfamiliar places, the crowds of unfamiliar people… it’s enough to make the most sane of us stressed out and overwhelmed. For those of us traveling with a mental illness, it’s even scarier. 

Hi, I’m Sam, and I have generalized anxiety disorder. I’m also an avid traveler and the founder/owner/author of Discover with Sam, my travel blog, travel planning business, and social media pages. I promise these two things (travel and mental illness) can go together, for me and for you, too.

Travel brings out anxiety in, well, almost everyone. You’ve seen it: the parent of the toddler desperately trying to get them to sit still on the plane; the fighting couple in line at customer service because their flight just got canceled, again…; the panicked solo traveler realizing they just got on the train going the wrong direction. And that’s just the average travel stress, not even considering the deathly fear of flying that so many people experience.

Then there’s those of us who are anxious, or depressed, or distracted, or unfocused, or hyper-focused, or angry, or roller-coaster emotional, all the time, even when not traveling. This gets even trickier. We, too, have travel anxiety. It just happens to fit on over top of our already challenging mental illnesses, and creates a bit of a different dynamic.

Some people are afraid of flying, and I am too, but not in the way you think. I’m afraid of getting stuck, and lost, and paralyzed every single step of the way from my house to the plane. The only time my fear abates is when I’m actually in my seat and the plane takes off.

Jenny lawson, furiously happy

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in the United States alone more than 1 in 5 adults live with a mental illness. Over 1 in 5 youth (ages 13-18), either currently or at some point during their life, have had a seriously debilitating mental illness. And about 1 in 25 adults lives with a serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depression.

While data can be hard to measure globally, according to the World Health Organization, in 2019, 970 million people globally were living with a mental disorder, with anxiety and depression being the most common.

This is not rare, and we are not alone.

Whether you experience travel-specific anxiety, or you have anxiety, depression, or other types of mental illness and want to travel, the tips in this blog post are for you. I hope they help reduce the barriers to you traveling with a mental illness and experiencing more of the world in all of the ways that you want to.

Mental Health Risk Factors of Travel

I want to start off by saying it’s completely normal to have anxiety about travel, whether you have mental illness regularly or not. Travel creates a unique set of circumstances that can both cause and exacerbate mental health challenges. Traveling is a naturally stressful process, and even once you arrive at your destination, it’s often a new and unfamiliar place. 

Some mental health risk factors of travel to be aware of are:

Separation from Family and Friends

For many of us with mental illness, our friends and family are a critical support group. Depending on the type of trip you’re taking, both physical and time zone separation can make it difficult to connect with loved ones while we’re traveling (if they aren’t traveling with us!). Digital communications and social media have made it much easier to stay connected across distances, but time zone differences may still be a barrier to catching up.

Time Zone Changes 

Times zone changes aren’t just difficult for staying connected with people back home, but have a stressful impact on our bodies when we travel. If we are traveling to a time zone that’s different from our home base, our internal clocks need time to adjust. Affectionately known as jet lag, this adjustment period will leave us more drained and tired our first few days of a trip. This tiredness can add onto the exhaustion we may have from not sleeping much on the plane, train, or bus to our destination. Overall, feeling sleep deprived and exhausted will increase your stress levels and make adjusting to new places more difficult.

Disruption of Routines 

Travel rarely goes exactly as planned, and for those of us with anxiety and mental health challenges, changes to plans can be especially stressful. Flight delays or cancellations suck to deal with for everyone, and become even more challenging with added anxiety. Travel days themselves, even when smooth, are large departures from our everyday routines and environments, causing us to adjust to early morning wake ups and crowded airports. 

Unfamiliar Surroundings and People

Whether in the airport or at your destination, everything and everyone are new and unfamiliar to you. Many of us with mental illness ground in familiarity – the more familiar something is, the less anxiety it will cause. Meeting new people and being in large crowds is very discomforting for many of us, and we will very likely encounter these things while traveling.

Culture Shock and Isolation

Every single person experiences culture shock when they travel to a new place with a different culture than their own. Sometimes it’s as simple as reflecting on differences and taking time to adjust and learn the customs. Other times it’s an incredibly isolating experience, not knowing how to connect with the people around you and their culture and so choosing to sit out. 

Language Barriers

Adding to culture shock and isolation, depending on where you travel, you may have a language barrier. Here in the U.S., we don’t often learn second or third languages the way so many people in other countries do. While there are many destinations that see a lot of tourism where you can find English-speakers, that won’t be true everywhere and it’s best not to assume there will be. It’s important to learn key phrases in the language of your destination just in case.

Getting Sick While Traveling

It is super common to get sick when traveling. Between exhaustion and lack of sleep, stress, germ exposure, and new foods and bacterias, it’s really a miracle when we manage not to get sick. Falling ill will cause changes to travel plans and schedules, and if it’s bad enough may require you to seek medical care at the destination you are in.

This is very stressful and sometimes complicated (I HIGHLY recommend getting travel insurance before a trip). In addition, if you are traveling with a mental illness, you may have an increased risk of having an episode while traveling with all of the added stress from everything described here. 

Forgetting to Take Medication Regularly

If you take medication for your mental illness (as I do for my anxiety), sticking to your medication regimen can be confusing and difficult during travel days and in different time zones. Particularly if your medication is supposed to be taken at the same time each day, it’s important to map what that time will be in your travel destination and set alarms to take it consistently.

Tips for Traveling with a Mental Illness and Anxiety

Reading all of those risk factors may have you thinking “well, maybe I just shouldn’t…,” but fear not! There are strategies for dealing with all of these risks to help you travel to the places you want to go, regardless of language, culture, or time zone. Here are my top tips for traveling with a mental illness: 

Consult Your Doctor

My number one and most important tip: if you are preparing to travel and you struggle with anxiety, depression, or other forms of mental illness, be sure to talk with your treating doctor! Whether you’re working with your primary care, psychiatrist, neurologist, or therapist, they are the medical professionals who know your unique situation and will be best able to help you navigate your mental health while traveling. 

This post does not provide specific medical advice, nor am I a medical professional. As someone who travels with mental illness, I can provide some general strategies that help me and others while traveling, but if your doctor has other opinions, they know best!

Identify Your Triggers & Coping Mechanisms

By and large, those of us with mental illness know what makes us anxious, uncomfortable, or upset. We know our triggers, if we really stop to think about it. When we are preparing to travel, it can be helpful to think about which of these triggers we may encounter on our trip and how we can potentially avoid them. 

Think through the pre-trip and travel day (packing, flying/transportation, hotel check-in, etc), the trip itinerary and activities itself, and the travel day back, and identify your potential stressors and what could go wrong. Knowing the possibilities can help us avoid them, cope with them, and have a game plan in place if they do happen.

Just as important as knowing your triggers is knowing what coping mechanisms you have to deal with them. Some travel-friendly coping strategies are:

Grounding & Breathing Exercises

For many of us struggling with anxiety and mental illness, meditation and breathing exercises can be a very successful way to calm down and focus on the present moment. Lucky for us, these practices are very mobile. 

Whether you practice more formal meditation or not, breathing exercises can be short and simple ways to help calm nerves. Something even as simple as taking 3 to 5 slow, deep breaths can make a world of difference. For a variety of popular breathing exercises that are good for relieving anxiety, check out this article.

Another meditation technique is grounding. Grounding is an easy form of meditation that helps you move out of your head and reconnect with your body and physical environment. It often is about focusing on a sensation, like the feeling of your feet on the ground, of something you are touching, or of sounds around you. 

I travel with a “talisman” (a teeny tiny baby Ganesh statue) that I can hold in my hand and feel to use for grounding. All it takes is a few minutes of focusing on your chosen sensation to bring you out of an anxious spiral.

Even the simplest of meditation techniques can be difficult to do on our own. If you’re looking for some guidance, I use the Calm app. It has guided exercises for breathing and meditation, some as short at 2 minutes, to help you as you need it. And its free version has more than enough to get you on your way while traveling (plus the soundscape recordings make for great background noise if you’re trying to sleep on the plane)! 

Remember Why You Want to Travel

It can be easy when we’re stressed and overwhelmed to feel like what we are trying to do isn’t worth it. When it comes to travel, I promise you it is worth it. You just have to go back to basics: remember the reason you wanted to travel in the first place. 

Why did you choose this destination? What experiences do you want to have? Do some visioning of how amazing the trip can be, regardless of some hiccups, so you can be in a place of excitement rather than anxiety.

Sometimes tricking your brain is as simple as saying “I’m not anxious, I’m excited” out loud a couple of times – seriously, try it!

Having Your “Happy Place” Toolkit

When you do hit a trigger, a stressful day, or just a down feeling, it is helpful to have your happy place toolkit ready to go. Your happy place toolkit is a gathering of items that make you happy that you can bring with you on your trip. 

These might be a favorite book or movie, a photo, a blanket or pillow from home (if you need to use a bigger suitcase to bring them, use it!), your cozy sweats, your favorite (non-liquid) snack, your person ready and set up to call on Whatsapp, etc. Put together your happy place toolkit to pack along with you before your trip to help you unwind and re-center on bad days. 

Prioritize Preparedness, Familiarity & Ease

One of the best ways to reduce travel anxiety is to be prepared and know as much about your trip, activities, and destination as possible. I know a lot of travelers who don’t want to over-plan their trip; they want to ensure they have ample time to discover things while they are there and take recommendations from locals. 

While I personally love this approach, I have found it’s not always conducive to traveling with a mental illness. The more prepared you are, the more familiar you’ll be with everything once you arrive and it will seem less stressful and isolating.

Research Everything

No, really, I mean EVERYTHING:

• the layout of the airports you’ll be flying through;
• the best way to get from the airport to your lodging;
• public transportation and ride-share availability;
• the food that’s closest to where you are staying;
• what activities you want to do and how you will get to and from them;
• how to get internet and cell service;
• what key cultural norms you can expect in your destination (and especially how they differ from your home culture);
• and key phrases in the native language (like “excuse me, I’m lost, how do I get to X; where is the bathroom; I need help; I need a medical professional; and thank you”). 

This can be A LOT, and if it feels overwhelming, that’s okay. Start with your itinerary and what activities you want to do, and work your way out from there to learn all the details you need. Researching the history and culture of a destination can actually be a super fun learning experience!

Remember, designing your trip should be fun!

Create Familiarity

Another way to increase your sense of familiarity while you’re traveling, in addition to researching and reading about a place’s culture, is to bring parts of your routine on your trip with you. 

If you normally take a walk every morning at home, do the same while you’re traveling! Take a stroll around the area near your hotel each morning. It’s not only good consistency, but can help you get really familiar with your surroundings. 

Is Friday night normally pizza night at home? Take your Friday evening on your trip to scope out some local pizza, even if it’s super different than how it is back home. It will be both a familiar routine and a fun cultural experience!

And as I mentioned above, have your happy place kit with you for moments you need real, comforting pieces of home. 

Make Things Easy

A lot of travelers (myself included) like to prioritize things like packing in only a carry-on, being sure to take local transportation, staying in a hostel for the connection and experience, etc. When traveling with a mental illness, all of these things are totally possible, but they are just not worth it if they make things more difficult for you.

I LOVE taking public transportation, and I take it all the time at home in DC. But of course, I’m very familiar with DC’s public transportation system. Figuring out the trains and buses, mapping out your route, and determining how you pay, plus being around the crowds, can all be really overwhelming in an unknown city. You don’t have to be overwhelmed. You can just take an Uber (or comparable rideshare or taxi service). It’s totally okay.

Similarly, I really enjoy staying in vacation rentals (think AirBnB, VRBO, or house sitting in someone’s home) for the experience of “living” in a place. But sometimes the convenience, luxury, and services of a hotel is just worth staying in one! Especially when you’re experiencing anxiety, having the hotel concierge to make recommendations, set up tours, and call the taxi for you is what you need (plus they often have airport pickup and drop-off transportation). 

And honestly, pack as much as you need (especially for your happy place kit!). There’s no real reward for fitting everything into just a carry-on or a backpack, aside from being able to keep it with you in the airport and not needing to check it. Sometimes I prefer to check the bag and only have to carry my backpack with me. Do whatever is easiest for you.

Consider Your Daily Schedule

I remember the first time someone identified needing to schedule your days around your energy levels as a symptom of mental health challenges for me, and it blew my mind. But it’s so true: anxiety, depression, and all kinds of mental illness affect our energy levels and both mentally and physically drain us. This is really important when designing your trip itinerary for traveling with a mental illness. 

I like to have a rule when I travel to do one “big” experience a day, and leave the rest of the day open to smaller, organic exploring or resting, whatever I need. By “one big experience” I may mean spending the first half of the day at a museum, or booking a 4-hour walking tour, or going for a hike. I usually make sure to plan a meal out around that experience on either end of it. 

Then I let myself use the rest of the day however I need to. Sometimes that’s by doing some exploring closer to my hotel or rental; sometimes it’s checking out that spot that my tour guide recommended but I didn’t know about before; and sometimes it’s completely crashing and watching a movie in my hotel for the rest of the afternoon. 

Plan your trip with your energy levels in mind (especially the first few days to account for jet lag!) to set yourself up for success. You do not have to be go-go-go and see every single thing in order to have a successful travel experience.

Take Your Medications & Therapy On The Go 

Many of us who experience mental illness take medication and go to therapy, and travel can disrupt these treatments for us, but it doesn’t have to. 

Therapy

One “benefit” of the pandemic has been the proliferation of telemedicine, including for mental health care and therapy. If you see your therapist in-person, they may have a telehealth option for you to use while you travel, either via video calls or, depending on time zones, at least through secure messaging. 

If they don’t have this option, there are a lot of services that do that you could use temporarily (many even have a 7-day free trial you could take advantage of!). I use Betterhelp for my regular therapy, so when I travel I can still have sessions with my therapist (again, depending on time zone) and journal and message with her throughout my trip. Some teletherapy services include:

• BetterHelp
• TalkSpace
• Breakthrough
• Lantern

And remember, regardless of time zone or contact method, your therapist typically makes themselves available for emergency calls any time of day when you’re home, and they’ll do so when you’re abroad as well. Just be sure to talk through your travel plan with them ahead of time!

Medications 

If you take medication for your mental illness, definitely be sure to take it with you! Make sure you have enough and extra to cover your trip before you leave (most doctors can give additional or early refills due to travel). 

Always keep it in your carry on – NEVER put your medicine in your checked bag in case it gets lost or delayed. 

And do your best to keep the timing of your medication consistent across time zones. If you normally take it at a certain time at home, figure out what time that will be at your destination and set an alarm for that time to remember to take it.

It’s also important to research your destination country’s drug importation laws to see if your medication is regulated. Many medications for treating mental health conditions are highly regulated and different countries may impose restrictions on the amount and type of medication that you can bring with you. Before your trip, be sure to:

• Check if your medication is restricted at your destination.
• Get a letter from your healthcare provider to bring with you that describes your health condition, the details of your prescription medication, and its dosage.
• Contact a doctor or mental healthcare provider at your destination to ensure that your medication is available and that it can be prescribed to you in-country in case you need a refill for any reason.

Start Small

A lot of the risk and anxiety of traveling with a mental illness comes from there being so many unfamiliar things all at once, but that doesn’t have to be the case. You CAN practice traveling and adjusting to new surroundings in tiny bites by starting with smaller travel experiences. 

Take an afternoon exploring new sites in your home city to start. Whether it’s the museum you’ve been meaning to visit, that new restaurant that just opened up, or the park with walking trails on the other side of the city, exploring new things in your home town will help you practice traveling while being able to go back to the comfort of your home easily.

Next you can take day trips to places within easy driving distance that you want to visit, or a weekend trip to the big city one state over (make it a long weekend and fly!). These are short stints away from home that can help you practice travel logistics, being away from home, and testing your coping mechanisms during stressful situations. 

You don’t have to start with that 7-10 day long destination trip; travel experiences are all around us! You can practice your traveling, get more familiar with the logistics, adjustments and stressors, and then go for your big trip with more familiarity and tools for success when you do. Practice makes perfect (or at least less panic).

Have Someone To Check In With

Whether you’re traveling solo, with some friends or family, or on a group trip, it’s good to have someone ready to check in with back home when you’re traveling with a mental illness.

At home, we’re used to having our support group. Even if someone from your support group is with you on your trip, it can be nice to have a person who doesn’t have their own perspective of the trip to talk to and that you can vent to about various things to. 

This person could be your therapist, or a sibling, or a friend. Someone who, regardless of the time difference, is willing and able to pick up a call or text you back while you’re traveling and be a sounding board for stressful moments.  

Consider Your Trip Type

When we’re traveling with a mental illness, it’s important to consider the type of trip that will work best for you. 

Group trips are nice in that they come with the itinerary all planned out for you, a guide to lead your way, and a built in social group. However, they can have very busy and full schedules and often don’t leave a lot of room for rest time.

Traveling solo can introduce a whole slew of anxieties having to do things on your own for the first time and having to plan it all out for yourself, but you’re beholden to nobody else’s schedule.

Traveling with family or a small group of friends can provide some comfort as you are with people you love, but it’s important to check in on your group’s travel styles to make sure they mesh. Additionally, there is still the responsibility of planning the trip, but you can split it between the group or let your friend who loves to plan handle it.

You can also always get planning help from a professional travel advisor, particularly ones who specialize in accessible travel and traveling with a mental illness.

Know Where To Get Help If You Need It

In addition to contacting your therapist while you’re traveling (as mentioned above), there are additional resources you can take advantage of to get mental health assistance while you’re traveling if you need them. 

You can locate medical resources abroad by contacting the US embassy at your destination. They can help you locate medical services and will notify your family and friends in the event of an emergency.

You can also rely on your travel insurance provider for connecting you to medical assistance. Mindful Meggie recommends InsureMyTrip or World Nomads for travel insurance that includes mental health coverage. Read her post about it here for more information!

If you need a helpline where you’re traveling, you can find one at Find a Helpline or Befrienders, which both have international databases (though note that they may be in the local language).

Additionally, Crisis Text Line is a free, 24/7 service where you exchange messages with a trained Crisis Counselor. They will help you to calm down and continue your trip, or figure out how to get connected to additional help if needed.

Your Mental Health Travels With You 

Lastly, I want to address the narrative around using travel to run away from life’s problems. If you’re having a hard time while you’re at home, traveling will not magically fix it. 

Travel can provide us with a bit of a breather from our everyday struggles, and it can give us a new perspective on the challenges we are facing, but it won’t make those challenges disappear. 

Your mental health travels with you.

And it is OKAY to be struggling! Stress, anxiety, depression, OCD, ADHD, and all kinds of mental health challenges are a regular and common part of our lives. You are not alone. 

I struggle with anxiety every single day. It affects what I’m able to do and how I’m able to do it, including traveling with a mental illness. It gets worse, and better, and worse again, and there are days where I feel completely defeated. But I know better days will continue to be ahead of me, and I use the resources and support and people I need to get through it.

I repeat: You are not alone.

If you or someone you know needs immediate help, please call 911 or call/text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988. The Lifeline provides 24-hour, confidential support to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress.

Additional mental health resources (from the National Institute of Health) include:

Veterans Crisis Line
Use Veterans Crisis Chat on the web
The Veterans Crisis Line is a free, confidential resource that connects veterans 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with a trained responder. The service is available to all veterans and those who support them, even if they are not registered with the VA or enrolled in VA healthcare.

Disaster Distress Helpline
Call or text 1-800-985-5990
The disaster distress helpline provides immediate crisis counseling for people who are experiencing emotional distress related to any natural or human-caused disaster. The helpline is free, multilingual, confidential, and available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

If you are worried about a friend’s social media updates, you can contact safety teams at the social media company. They will reach out to connect the person with the help they need. 

View the 5 action steps for helping someone in emotional pain infographic to see how you can help those in distress.