Holiday Anxiety - cannot get excited!

KatieDee

Hello everybody,

This is probably going to appear like a huge "first world problem" and I know the most appropriate answer to my issue is "get over it" so I apologise in advance.

My partner and I are due to travel to Iceland next week, with a plan to travel on to Canada and America. Everything is booked, it took a lot of planning and has cost a lot of pennies.

I'm sure you have all read/heard of this humongous Bardarbunga volcano which is currently spurting out lava all over the place. Amazing to watch, enthralling to read about...not so fantastic when you're due to fly to the island on which it is based in a few days time!

As such, I'm finding it near on impossible to get excited. Normally by this point, I've packed and unpacked fifty times, written hundreds of lists, counted out my money and planned every inch of getting to and from the airport, taking into account all eventualities. However, because of this volcano sitting on the fence, I'm worried that I won't be able to take the disappointment if it does decide to explode just before we're due to leave. It's easier to just not think about it.

I do have insurance to cover this but we all know what a pain in the bum it can be to claim anything on insurance.

I am the type of person who absolutely cannot deal with uncertainty. It drives me crazy! I have read a lot about the volcano and I'm trying to stay away from sensationalist websites who make out that we're all going to die...but even the scientists and those monitoring the volcano don't know what is going to happen. As it stands there are four possible outcomes...which pretty much cover all eventualities anyway!

I should add...I'm also a terrible flyer and although I just want to get there now, the recent events in air travel had already unsettled me.

Although I know this is travel related...it doesn't seem to fit in with the mood over at the travel board, so I've come to you lot. I just want to be excited about my holiday which I've worked really hard for Is anybody else feeling the same? Has anybody else dealt with a similar situation where something out of their control threatens to ruin their holiday?

whitewing

Decide that your holiday is going ahead and get excited.

KatieDee

whitewing wrote: »

Decide that your holiday is going ahead and get excited.

If only whitewing...if only! I do understand how sensible your advice is and I'm sure, if nothing goes wrong, I'll think back to your post and laugh at myself. I just have a terrible feeling that something is going to happen before we fly and then all the excitement I've built up will be wasted.

Reading back, I do understand how insane that sounds. Still can't help it though! The mind boggles...:rotfl:

barbiedoll

I think you're being very sensible and pragmatic, you're coping well with an uncertain situation and you're not making a big drama out of it. There's nothing wrong with that!

You know that if the worst happens, you're insured. If you can't fly, you can reschedule your holiday and no harm done. I think you're just mentally shielding yourself from the possible disappointment and that's no bad thing.

I'm sure that it will all be fine and you'll have a wonderful time. These volcanoes in Iceland (and elsewhere), can rumble on for years before they erupt so you'll probably all be good to go next week.

Fingers crossed for you and your family, have a lovely holiday!

Person_one

Is the anxiety helpful? Will you feeling anxious and worrying have any impact at all on what happens to a massive volcano? Is it doing you any good, or making you feel better in any way? No.

Have you ever had any experience of CBT? If not, there are some really quick little 'self help' exercises that some people find very useful for dealing with unwanted stressy thoughts.

SavingPennies_2

I've been looking into visiting Iceland recently (before the recent eruption)and I keep getting emails from one company I signed up to about going to Iceland to see the volcano erupting! So you see some people actually want to visit now, the volcano is a selling point! Also it's not like the last time when they stopped all air travel as they now know more about the ash and how safe it is to travel near it.


Id just get it in your mind that you are going and get excited, in the unlikely event you cant go there's nothing you can do anyway, you'll just have to unpack and re-book, annoying but hey ho.


Oh and by the way Iceland, Canada and America in one holiday sounds amaaazzingg!!

[Deleted User]

You are powerless over the volcano, stressing and worrying won't change the volcano and the volcano will do what it wants to do.
Forget about the volcano and think about all the other things you want to do on your holidays.
Enjoy!!!

dirty_magic

Don't worry about it, it's not a huge eruption and the Icelanders themselves seem to be quite excited about the fact that it's erupting! If they're not worried and they live there I'm sure your holiday will be fine!

I think because we don't live in a volcanic country it seems like a big deal to us, but they're used to occasional eruptions so they just get on with it. Your holiday sounds amazing and I'm sure you'll enjoy it when you're there!

trolleyrun

First of all, your holiday sounds very exciting!

Secondly, Bardarbunga is currently not throwing out any lava or ash. It's another volcano nearby that's trying to show a bit of muscle (possibly feeling left out ). The lava is sort of dribbling along a crevice. Bardarbunga is covered by a massive glacier, so the eruption (if it happens) will have to fight its way through many metres of ice before reaching the surface.

Do try to get excited about your holiday. Pack your bags, several times if you feel the need. Concentrate on all the things you'll see and experience whilst you're away.

In regards to your dislike for flying, try to identify what it is you don't like. PM me if you like, I'm quite good with helping people with worries about flying. Just remember that the crew (both pilots and cabin crew) will not go anywhere if it's not safe. They all have families and friends to go home to and wouldn't jeopardise that. They're not super humans

BarryBlue

Iceland is a wonderful, spectacular country. It will amaze you. Enjoy it for what it is, just like the locals do. You will have a great time there, we did.

FBaby

OP, I know how you feel. I just want on the most amazing holiday of my lifetime. I knew it would be, but even it was booked more than 8 months before, all that time building up to it, I couldn't get excited about it, and that's because it was a very long haul flight and then another in between....and I am absolutely terrified of flying. I stopped all together for about 10 years, then managed to built it up again with the help of prescribed drugs, but I haven't been long haul for over 15 years.

Like you the recent events just made me feel sick and all I felt was that I wanted to stay home and safe....but I knew that if I chose that route, it meant never experiencing the joys of discovering new places and people and that prospect was even more terrifying, so told myself I had no choice.

In the end, I was surprised that both ways, I found the long haul flights easier than the shorter ones, because the size of the plane made it less 'real'. I did have a flood of tears moment when we were informed once sitting in the corresponding flight that we would make a stop in between, hence two flights from my perspective, but again, I made it and what I experienced during this holiday made it all worth it.

Don't worry about not getting excited. The moment you will land, the excitment (especially after the relief) will take over and you will be so happy to be there.