There needs to be a world wide gathering of people who hate traveling. They probably would not RSVP though. I am one of those people that hate traveling. For me it is not so much of a hate as it is a fear. The fear is a psychological condition called “Hodophobia“. I do not have a problem once I am at my new destination but the act of getting there whether it be plane, car, boat or other gives me anxiety and sometimes physical issues like stomach aches and nausea. And it does not always happen, sometimes I can go a distance without any symptoms. I do however get motion sickness if I do not sit in the front seat but that is another matter.

Usually when people tell me of their adventures to far away places the first thing I think is “You ain’t going to see me taking that plane ride.” For me, “far away places” start at trips exceeding three hours. But I was not always that way. In my early years I would travel all around with my parents. We drove to Florida for one of our vacations and it did not phase me. When I got my license I would drive from Pittsburgh to Scranton every so many months and I would enjoy the trip. Even in my early twenties I would drive hours to see a concert. At some point this enjoyment of traveling stopped. The thought of traveling to a concert would make me sick. Visiting friends across state no longer appealed to me.

It was hard to pin down the cause. At first I was certain that my stomach had issues. After a few gastrointestinal tests we found that my gallbladder was not functioning anymore and needed to come out. This certainly seemed like a cause for getting sick before I had to travel. Usually I would stop at McDonalds or local bagel shop to get a breakfast sandwich or two before making my trip. If the gallbladder is not functioning correctly it could cause the stomach issues when you eat fatty foods. Within a few months we contacted a local surgeon Dr. Smedley and went on the St. Anthony’s diet which for me eliminated fatty foods from my diet. While on the diet I did not get sick but neither did I do a lot of traveling. After the surgery I believe I had a new found confidence. I traveled to my future inlaws which was a four hour trip and occasionally I would feel hints of sickness but mentally I told myself, “It’s all in your head.” I do not think the surgery actually resolved my Hodophobia but it certainly took away one excuse.

Lately I have been doing well with traveling. We have made a few trips here and there and I may get a small anxiety attack but nothing that would inhibit taking the trip. One huge help when I feel the stress building about a trip is to meditate. Read my little write-up about it Dealing with Stress. It is still a little frustrating to look at traveling like it is the end of the world sometimes. That’s something I will have to overcome. But once you get your brain around it you really do realize there is nothing to fear.

Some freaky way to overcome stress: Intro to EFT. Judging by Carol’s hair she has been giving herself too many whacks to the head. Still there may be something to this…afterall some people stick a bunch of needles into their body.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 12th, 2009 at 9:24 pm and is filed under Daily Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.