Anxiety & Travel

[Prada47]

I sometimes wonder how much anxiety plays in life, when we are away from our familiar surroundings ?? I know I used to carry a packet of Mints and if I felt anxious I would eat one, ( I did think it should have been in a journal like the Lancet ) Mints cure Heart Problems..

For the first few months after an MI I used to look at maps to see the nearest Hospital on route if we needed to travel anywhere in the car, not rational I know but !!

Now we go to Australia without a second thought. I have worked in the desert in Yemen, and in China, Lebanon, Singapore and Mississippi ( Oil, Power Industry ) I really don't know why I can be so relaxed about it all now. I think maybe it's age, 72 this year, but mentally under 40 Don't get me wrong I don't want to die but I am not going to let Heart Failure, Blocked Arteries, and Stents get in the way of enjoying the twilight years. Travel without the Children is pretty Relaxed to what it used to be.

Now we are looking at Europe, Central Asia with a view to Overland travel, ( less stressful than Flying ) I just post this to try to show life goes on after Heart Problems I know we are not all the same with the same symptoms, but if you are well enough just go for it, what will be will be.

Brings me on to the issue does it matter where you are Home or Away, you are either going to die or recover just like you would here in the UK. That's not meant to sound as blunt as it does, but how many of us have been away from home and had anxiety, ending up in foreign hospitals which all adds more and more stress to the situation. We all need to understand our own mental capacity prior to undertaking overseas travel, but if you feel well enough to go, just go for it. Why would anything happen just because you are abroad,? you wouldn't be expecting it to happen if you had stayed at home would you !!

old quote " This is it not a dress rehearsal for the next time " so enjoy.

Just posting this to see if anyone else has faced and overcome this anxiety when travelling.

Now going to contact our best friends on Skype to see if they fancy a trip to Baku or Almaty, overland via Greece and Turkey, then Demark/Norway Not sure if that would reduce anxiety or increase it LOL

I wonder if there is a Travel Club for us Hearties ?? and did the BHF look further into Health Insurance thinking Group Cover for Hearties, just medical excluding all the added stuff like luggage, lost tickets etc !

[elliebath]

I envy your attitude Prada47 . For many years I was a travel agent and travelled without a care. Nowadays Im retired and have angina, which is quite acute when anxious. Just trying to get insurance just adds to the anxiety. Two years ago I had a scary attack of severe breathlessness while walking in Spain. Another time just taking a lift up a mountain in the alps caused an attack and that's when I started down the route of medical investigation. I'm due to go to USA in September but can't get insurance as yet as I'm "under investigation" awaiting another angiogram. There is no way I'd go to the USA without insurance.

I would love to have your outlook but I'm definitely not there yet.

[meadfoot]

I admire your stance and wish I was of a similar mindset sadly not. I love travel abroad but since cardiac issues holidays have been a trauma and anything miles from a hospital is not an option I could contemplate. I am a bit of a coward on that front.

Currently I am at my local hospital awaiting a chronic pain management appointment sitting in the dining room there surrounded by doctors and nurses. Now would I rather be here in an emergency or in the middle of nowhere with no help available and miles and miles to get to some help. Where I am now I am currently more likely to survive in an emergency.

Not an ideal mind set but hey that's where I am on the continuum of cowardice, right at the extreme where survival means more to me than the horror of being stranded desperately ill with no means of help.

Until I can change my mindset it's short haul flights to places with good hospitals within striking distance. I would love your approach good on yer, enjoy your holidays and thrive on them. Best wishes and all power to you. X

[Lezzers]

I love your positive attitude, I wish I could feel like that. However, as a carer I have twice seen my husband collapse on a plane & believe me it doesn't get more stressful than that!! as a result I can no longer bear to get on a plane. As I always say to my husband he's either out of it or so ill he doesn't care what's going on around him, whereas I'm having to deal with issues like "will he make it" will they divert/turn the plane around!!! Then dealing with medics, airport security, hospitals etc, whilst not speaking or understanding the language! That's without worrying whether the insurers will pay up as they're very good at wriggling out of paying a claim & I say that from the point of view that I used to work in the insurance industry including travel insurance & from the point of view of insurers not paying a previous claim because of get out clauses... all very stressful!

[judes]

Hi Hon

Totally agree what will be will be there is no point sitting at home wishing you were somewhere on holiday.

Can get ill anywhere at anytime,I got Ill in Italy ended up in ITU for a while but still here! I was on my own as I insisted that my family continued their holiday, not much they could have done, great translation on my smart phone