How to Overcome Your Fears to Travel

If you have ever felt afraid to go somewhere you wanted to go, I know the feeling too well. Every traveler, no matter what stage of travel they are in today, has overcome a personal fear at some point before or during their trip. Maybe you want to visit a country that is viewed as unsafe in your local media. Or maybe you have no one to travel with, but are too afraid to go alone. All travelers have fears and we all had to find a way to overcome them. There’s an amazing world out there on the other side of your fear. So, I’m here to help. Here’s my experience and advice on how to overcome your fears to travel.

My Biggest Fear About Travel

Before I became a full time traveler, I had a secret that was holding me back. Ok, secret may not be the right word. Everyone who knows me definitely know what I fear most in the world. But what they didn’t know, was to what degree this phobia affected me. I wanted to avoid it so much, I almost considered that I couldn’t travel to certain places that I may encounter my fear. Some days I even felt I wasn’t cut out to travel at all.

Alright so out with it. My biggest fear in the entire world is…..

spiders.

You read that right. I am arachnophobic, which means that a (usually) tiny creature is my biggest irrational fear, and has been since I can remember.

The first time I visited Thailand, every time we would sleep in a beach bungalow, or walk through the jungle, I refused to do so without my friend checking for spiders first. The fear was always on my mind.

Fear Causes Self Doubt

But my big dreams of long term travel meant that I’d be traveling mostly alone, and wouldn’t have the safety net of my friends to protect me from my fear.

I had big dreams of going on safaris in Africa but every time I looked up “spiders in Africa” on google it made me sick. I daydreamed of trekking in the jungles of Central America. That is, until my boss who had lived in that region for years told me there are tarantulas everywhere, even crossing the roads.

I started to doubt myself and my ability to do something so big alone. How can a small girl who’s afraid of a freakin spider really travel the world alone? If I am already incapable of not losing my sh*t when I see a tiny bug, why do I think I can do something as big as becoming a digital nomad. Who am I kidding?

Overcoming the Fear

So what did I do? No joke, I literally tried everything. I read so many forums and threads about places in the world not to go to avoid giant spiders. I religiously read blogs from authors who spoke up about traveling with their irrational fears. Unfortunately, although these blogs gave me comfort in knowing other people have equally debilitating phobias, they also made me more anxious.

Most of these articles confirmed in my mind, that I would in fact encounter a huge spider at some point on my trip, and that surely I’d wake up in in the jungles of Indonesia with a spider on my face.

I tried self induced exposure therapy. I forced myself to spend at least 10 minutes everyday watching videos of gruesome spiders the size of plates on Youtube. I made myself google search the ugliest spiders ever in the hopes I would just get used to them.

Hell, I even considered paying for hypnotherapy. I was so determined to get rid of my fear so I could have the best trip ever, and not be afraid of anything.

Traveling Without Fear

So, fast forward to today. It’s now been years since I went after my dreams of long term travel, and I have been living happily on the road with no regrets.

I’ve trekked in the mountains in Africa. I’ve slept in open grass huts in the countryside of Vietnam. These are the types of places I had previously been anxious about, since they are where I had imagined having lots of gigantic spiders.

So how did I do it? How did I overcome my fears to travel?

Here’s the secret: I didn’t.

I am still afraid of spiders, but I decided my dreams are way bigger than my fears, and went for it anyways.

I decided that I can trust myself enough to get through any situation life brings me.

That’s it. I didn’t cure my phobia, I just made a conscious decision to choose life over fear.

What is Your Deepest Fear?

I know my fear is something irrational and plain stupid, and I accept myself for it. But some fears run deeper. Ask yourself, what fear is holding you back from travel?

Is it being alone in a foreign country? Is it the fear that something will go wrong? Or, is it the fear that you’ll have a bad time?

Whatever it is that you fear most, you must understand first that it’s normal. Every traveler has been afraid of something at some point. The only difference is that they got to a point where they decided to trust themselves and go for what they wanted, regardless.

Do you think solo travelers were born to be comfortable alone? Most aren’t. But, overtime the leap of faith we take to travel alone, gradually turns into self trust with each day that goes by, where we prove to ourselves we can do it. Self trust turns into confidence. And having confidence in ourselves to handle any situation, in turn, makes us no longer fear being alone.

There are even experienced travelers out there who are afraid of flying. They face their fears every time they change countries! But the key thing is, the fear doesn’t stop them from traveling.

Why Avoiding Fear Doesn’t Work

Back to my situation with the spiders. Although I had anxiety in my head about certain destinations, because I thought I’d be more likely to encounter huge spiders there, those proved to be useless.

I never saw a big spider, even after one month of living in a jungle hut in Thailand (I did find a snake on my door though).

I never saw a single spider in all of Africa, even though I camped and spent ample time in the wilderness.

In fact the only time I did see a huge spider, was when it jumped on me in the bathtub in Mykonos.

Yes, my fear did come true in a way, but the way it did completely blindsided me. I never thought that Europe would be the place where huge spiders lurked (news flash: it is). And I certainly did not expect it to happen in my nice and modern hotel room.

What you can learn from this is that you simply can’t avoid your fears. It doesn’t work. If I had avoided all the jungles in the world or every rustic shack on the beach, it would have been for nothing.

Accepting Fear

So, what can you do to overcome your fears to travel? You simply need to accept them, while simultaneously choosing life over them.

You absolutely may encounter your worst fear while traveling. And you know what? You will be fine.

Everyone told me that being afraid that a spider would ever jump on me was irrational, but against the odds, it happened. And I am fine, I lived to tell the story and in no way did it ruin my trip.

In fact, that evening I still went out dancing with my friends. For the rest of the trip I drank cocktails by the pool. I had amazing Greek food in beachside tavernas. I saw the most incredible sunsets that I still think about today.

Imagine giving up these kinds of experiences because of your fear?

Does Travel Help Overcome Fears?

I wish I could say that now that I’ve traveled the world, I am no longer afraid of something as ridiculous as spiders. Unfortunately, thats not the case.

I am still afraid. However, travel taught me how to manage my fears, and to not let them take over my life.

If you are afraid of feeling lonely, you may not get rid of that fear. However, travel will teach you that you are your own greatest companion, and you learn that loneliness and being alone are two different things.

If you are afraid of flying, the fear may not ever completely go away, but with every flight you take, you will see how strong you are to face your fears.

Final Word

The message I am trying to send is, that it’s ok if you are afraid to travel.

As long as you accept your fear, and choose to travel anyway, it means you are ready. It never feels like you are, and you may still want some end all solution to overcome your fears to travel, but you don’t need one.

Just know we all started somewhere, all it takes is that leap of faith, and trusting in yourself that everything will be fine. Trust me, travel is worth it.

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