We all have certain fears in life. Ones that prevent us from achieving things and hinder great possible experiences. Lately we’ve been reading and thinking about travel fears. Some have a fear of flying, others fear for their safety while some simply suffer anxiety of feeling loneliness in solo traveling.
Now before you get the wrong idea about what where this article is going. It’s not about fears that stop us from traveling altogether or that they are exclusively related to travel. Rather it’s how certain phobias hinder us from fully experiencing some aspects of our trips.
The interesting thing is that since we share none of these, we often help each other deal with them. So here they are:
Kanika’s Fears
1. I hate Cockroaches and lizards
This is much as a fear as it is a disgust towards cockroaches and lizards. I can’t even look at one in a picture. You might call it one of those irrational fears. (I actually had to get Shayan to put the photo in for me).
Thankfully he is also quick to shoo them away or grab them with a roll of tissue and throw them outside.
How it hinders travel: when we stay at cheap hotels or hostels and even some resorts that are way off in the jungle, cockroaches and lizards can be a bit of a problem. There are more than just a nuisance for me. I just can’t sleep knowing they are in the room.
2. Heights
I have a slight fear of heights. My knees buckle, anxiety kicks in and palms start sweating. Sometimes I’ll even feel woozy. This is unfortunate because Shayan loves to climb rocks and mountains.
Even at our apartment, which is on the 37th floor, I try not get too close to the railing and make sure my eyes are set to the horizon instead of looking down.
How it hinders travel: although Shayan has really forced me to break out of my comfort zones in this matter, I still struggle when I go hiking and climbing places. When we went to Sigiriya in Sri Lanka, my legs were literally shaking at each step going up. So it took almost twice as time to go up than it should have. Usually Shayan would be a couple hundred meters ahead of me and I know he was still holding back for me.
Shayan’s Fears
Shayan considers himself an adventurous person and will partake in all sorts of physical activity like cliff jumping, hiking, climbing, doing some parkour and other extreme sports. But when it comes to certain things, he can be a real scared-y cat.
3. Ghosts & Places that “look” haunted
Paranormal activity seriously scares the shit out of Shayan. He is absolutely terrified of ghosts and places that “might” be haunted. It’s strange because it’s not like he has ever experienced it. I have but that’s another story.
I guess my horror stories and love for the paranormal has had an adverse effect on him.
“I think if I went in a large group, I would be fine. I would feel safer” he says.
How it hinders travel: similar to my problem, Shayan can’t sleep at places that look and feel the slightly bit like it would be haunted. So we always have to search for accommodation that don’t look scary and also won’t have cockroaches. This can really affect some travel experiences like camping in the woods or staying at some remote areas in the mountains.
We can imagine some of you shaking your heads but this is us being real with you.
4. Dogs
I would rather come across a pit of snakes than a single dog. Maybe it is because I think I can outrun or sidestep the snakes but a dog could probably chase me in seconds. It has also to do with the face that when I was younger, I got chased by a dog.
Now I’m not scared of all dogs. Kanika has a husky and I love to pet it. In fact most pets I’m cool with, especially those cute fluffy ones! As long as they don’t jump on me or make sudden movements.
It’s the street, aggressive and territorial dogs that scare me.
How it hinders travel: I’ll give you an example. We were in Koh Tao and Shayan heard about a viewpoint. So he went to check it out. Now he can’t ride a motorbike and taking the local taxis cost too much so he had no choice but to walk. About 20 minutes up the trail, he sees a bunch of dogs. Obviously it stopped him right in his tracks. After contemplated for 15 minutes if he should cross their path, he decided to tuck tail and head back to my resort.
5. Fear of the fear
As cliche as it sounds, this all comes down to one thing. We both are afraid of fear itself. Instead of facing it and getting over it, we are consumed by it. We accept it and say that is who we are. So instead of doing things necessary, we revolve our trips and planning around our fears and comfort.
Nomadic Matt even mentions some of these fears and how travel pushes you to get over them. Somehow that hasn’t happened for us yet.
This is not to say that we are completely hopeless. We love going on plenty of other adventures and have gotten out of our comfort zones in many ways. Hopefully one day we will face these fears and past it allowing us to have some epic travel experiences.
What are you fears? What stops you from fully experiencing a destination on your trips?
Goodness me! It must be very stressful being you. I must admit to not being frightened of much, bungee jumping maybe. I think the best way to overcome these fears it to just get out there into the world and you will soon become brave and adventurous. Promise.
It’s a good thing being fearless. We have tried it. We have tried facing them and going out in the world as you say but it hasn’t worked so far. We are adventerous too. Just in some ways we’re not.
Haha for some reason the fear of ghosts and haunted places made me giggle! I wouldn’t be scared unless a local or someone told me YES this place is haunted or weird things happen here. My imagination would run wild and I would pysch myself out. I find myself having an irrational fear of spiders and snakes. If I am with a bunch of people the fear goes away, but when it’s just the two of us and I think there may be snakes or spiders somewhere I get a little irrational! I coped with this a bit when we lived on a small island off of cambodia for 2 months where spiders the size of my hand would be chilling on the wall while you shower…I had a bit of anxiety but I was able to deal with it better after facing it! Best of luck to you and hope you can overcome some of your fears!
I have stayed at scary places but I just don’t sleep or keep the lights on. Everyone looks at me funny when I tell them these fears, especially the ghost ones so yea not surprised you giggled too haha I don’t know if I have to come across a ghost to get over it. That would probably scare me more and I would never go anywhere.
Thank you.for your wishes.
Ha. I love this post. I have a fear of heights that definitely hinders some travel experiences. In New Zealand, I went sky diving to try to overcome my fear of heights but being attached to a skydiver made this adventure not so scary.
So now are you able to climb things without being attached to someone? I don’t have a fear of heights per say but I haven’t tried bungee jump or skydiving yet. The thought of not being in control of the chord snapping scares me, not the height. I used to do parkour and climb all sorts of things.
A little fear is okay I think. Keeps us on our toes and weary just enough to hopefully notice when something is off. However, if something “looks” haunted, I don’t know if that would be enough for me to walk away.. that sort of gives it a cool mystique, doesn’t it?
You’re right and I’ll probably check it out too but only during the day. Come night, my mind plays tricks on me and I start hearing things and I can’t sleep.
Haha yes this is true. It’s not like I fear heights or cockroaches, but hey I am not jumping off cliffs or staying in a roach infested hostel either lol. So in a way, there are a lot of “hindrances” to traveling but its worth it in the end.
I love jumping off things. Did my first cliff jump in Chiang Mai. I wouldn’t stay in a roach infested place either, not because I’m scared of them but it’s just not sanitary I would think. But I would still travel of course, but that is not what this post is about. It’s about not experiencing everything a trip could offer because of certain fears.
Oh ghosts!! I love ghost stories so much because of all of the movies I watch haha! But same, would feel better if I am in a larger group too haha
I think if you know your fears you can surpass them. Especially because you travel together it helps you to deal with them more easy. The other person can help you with the ‘problem’ and if you just try to be okay with it you can travel anywhere you want.