Meg Goes Global

TW: mention of sick

I don’t know about you, but when I hear about backpackers’ travel truths, their stories are often plagued with images of food poisoning, travel sickness, hangovers and sea sickness, which for me, starts the alarm bells ringing. Travel has the potential to put you into a load of situations where anxiety can begin to rear it’s head, but that doesn’t mean it is reason enough to avoid it all together. The trouble with emetophobia is that ‘no one likes throwing up’, as I have heard one too many times when explaining my struggles to people. And while I don’t doubt that this is true, a phobia is a different ball game, and one that presents itself differently in each person.

For some, it is only the fear of catching a sickness bug that weakens the knees, and seeing others throwing up from alcohol etc. would not bother them. Whereas another person may be triggered simply by the word vomit itself. One of the really fun parts of this phobia is that a symptom of anxiety is often nausea, which feeds into this viscous cycle. Only making the anxiety, and therefore the nausea, worse.

I’m not going to exaggerate and say that I have as debilitating emetophobia as the next person, but my struggles have been discernible. I’ve found ways to cope in the minefield that is long travel days, new food and shared spaces. Travel might not be for everyone, but if you have the desire to, it is possible with emetophobia.

How to cope on the road

This is not going to be your generic advice on food safety because if you’re an emetophobe reading this, then I’m sure you already know the best things to do to avoid getting ill. You can find a plethora of information on the internet telling you what to do to avoid getting sick, but for us, it’s a mind game as much as any.

First thing to do is find your peace that can bring you back to centre. Whatever it is, that you know will make you calm if you begin to panic, and can ground you again. Maybe a specific playlist, listening to guided meditation, playing a game on your phone, reading a book, using pressure points or just closing your eyes and doing breath work. Make sure you have these means downloaded and on you all the time. This is the space that you can always come back to in times of stress, and will get you through the worst if you so need it. But we’re going to aim to not have to get to this coping mechanism.

Get yourself some trusty headphones and an eye mask. Extra points if they’re noise cancelling. For most of us, the sound and sight of someone being sick is a major trigger. If you’re on a boat, a plane, a coach, anywhere that you might be exposed to this, I find it best to just block out my surroundings and zone in to something more enjoyable.

Gum/ mints are my best friends, especially if you start to feel nauseous or anxious, then chewing on gum helps distract me, and the minty fresh helps with nausea, or any funny taste in your mouth. I also find smells are a big thing for me, so I load up on perfume or body spray on the sleeve of my clothing, and often bring some extra with me. I can smell it if I’m feeling anxious and I find it to help ground me again, or get away from any uncomfortable smells.

Join a food tour. While this might seem counter intuitive and you may feel like avoiding eating anything new is the best answer, I would really encourage you to do this. Food tours or any walking tours can introduce you to ‘safe’ food places you can go to in an unfamiliar city. The whole premise of their business relies on the fact that they won’t make you sick, so you can count on them to be trust worthy. Don’t let everyone else enjoy the delicacies while you miss out on the opportunity. There’s been far too many times I’ve missed out on trying local dishes because anxiety has left me with no appetite. So be patient and kind to yourself.

Be your own pharmacist. I’m sure as an anxious person you probably already are, but make sure you’re stocked up. My life saver while travelling Thailand, and what I have recommended to so many are CHARCOAL TABLETS. At the first sign of food poisoning or an upset stomach, just take some of these and they will help get rid of that nasty stuff. Also if you’re prone to travel sickness etc. then there’s pills you can take for this, or pressure point wrist bands. (Please ask a professional for advice if you’re not sure. You can probably tell, I’m definitely no doctor.)

Speak to whoever you are travelling with, before you do, so they can be aware of your triggers and help you through. If I’m feeling anxious the last thing I want to be doing is explaining what’s wrong to my friends. Or even coming across as rude if I go quiet when I am dealing with anxiety. I find discussing before gives both them and I peace of mind. Let them know how they can help you and what to expect so that takes one thing off your plate.

If you are travelling by yourself, one thing not to worry about is what other people think. Trust me they’re way too worried about themselves to think about what you’re doing. And as much as it feels like everyone can tell that you’re freaking out and you have panic written across your forehead, you don’t. No one’s even going to bat an eyelid, and this feeling will pass: as it always does.

Whatever you do, take other people’s horror stories of ‘Bali belly’ (I hate this term) and so forth, with a pinch of salt. It’s only going to freak you out more if you listen to how much X person got sick or what Y person ate that made them feel this way. Everyone’s different. Just because you’re in a different country, doesn’t mean that suddenly no one here knows how to cook safely, and that you are going to get sick. I was in Bali for a month and was completely fine, but no one can garuntee either way. As I’ve said many times, you don’t need to mentally prepare for the outcome, your mind and body can cope with more than you know.

Most importantly: remember you can do it scared. The fear will only lessen the more you practice sitting with it. Where I once would panic at the thought of going somewhere without my bottle of water, just in case I started feeling ill, I think about it less and less with each day.