Objective: Travelling with Social Anxiety
You scroll down your Instagram feed and watch people travelling to every corner of the world. Looking anxiously at your screen you might think “Damn If it wasn’t for my anxiety, I’d travel all the time”. Well, today is your lucky day. I will tell you how to travel the world from the comfort of your social anxiety.
Should I travel alone?
Short Answer, yes. Long Answer depends on the situation. There are certain places that travelling alone might not work. These would be places that are crowded such as Cancun Mexico, London UK, Las Vegas USA.
In these places you might feel like you stand out like a sore thumb. Because they’re centered around public events like: concerts, sports stadiums, nightclub raves. Which most people that have social anxiety would not be too fond about anyways.
Many people with social anxiety tend to realize that travelling alone is the best way to travel. What does this mean? It means that when they’re in large groups, they tend to get overloaded.
What if I don’t want to go alone?
More people? No problem, this is the safest way to go travelling. A major bonus to go with a few people means that you don’t need to do most of the talking.
Some people feel social in spurts, but always do not feel like talking. Travelling with outgoing friends, works well for when you just want to go along for the ride.
The best strategy is to go with 2-4 friends. This means you have enough people to entertain each other; yet, not enough to get left-out/ignored the whole trip.
Who should I go with then?
Outgoing socially active friends.
Life-long friends
Friends that share your same interests: Hiking, nature etc.
People that are not exhausting for you to be around
Choosing a Country to Vacation to?
I can’t choose a specific country you should go to. What I can do is telling you specific ideas.
Go to Countries That are From Different Cultures
Being in a foreign country makes it easier to interact with locals. This is because you’re not as worried about following the norms. Why? because you don’t even know they exist.
When I visited Ghana, Africa. Greeting people was easy as 1-2-3!
I did not mind just saying what’s up to different people or sounding weird. Why? Because I had no idea how normal people acted in their culture.
On top of that locals are more lenient and receptive to tourists. Firstly, because its always refreshing to meet new people. We always want to make a great first impression to visitors.
Secondly, the stereotypes of all tourists being loaded with cash might not hurt either
Countries Where People Don’t Speak Your Language
Many claims that being in a foreign country and not speaking the language is awesome. This is because the focus of your conversation is more on communicating your point.
Compared to being in a country where they speak the exact same language. Now your worried about how they think of what you said, and if they found your jokes funny etc.
Find Object/Event Focused Activity
Social anxiety gives people the “don’t know what to say syndrome“. Sometimes you feel like you know what to say, other times you don’t to learn more about speaking publicly with anxiety, check out my guide on public speaking with social anxiety.
Event Focused Activities
Museum
Opera
Napping on the beach
Take Pictures
Explore Nature: Hiking, scuba diving etc.
Pick a Tour Guide:
A tour guide makes travelling with social anxiety a breeze. Their job is to guide you through fun experiences and do the talking and schmoozing for you. You can learn more about choosing the perfect tour guide here.
What if I can’t find a professional tour guide?
No problem. You can always choose activities at a resort with instructors. Having an instructor is the simplest way to enjoy a new place without knowing the ins-n-outs. Plus, I’m sure they would not mind giving you some tips on local places to explore. Especially if you ask nicely (give a nice tip!).
What If I don’t want to give a tip?
Never enough for you huh? Alright then, why not catch up with an old friend? The best tour guides are people that have been living in that city for years, and that you know personally. Not only will they know the city well, they will know what you prefer!
Conclusion
So those were my tips on how to travel with social anxiety. Remember to just take your travelling plans one wave at a time. Your “job” as a tourist is to have fun. The standards are set low for you, to be honest. Being respectful and polite already puts you ahead of the pack. Safe travels, … and wait. Don’t forget to bring me a souvenir.
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