How to Take Care of Your Mental Health When You Travel
How to Keep Your Mental Health a Priority When You Are Traveling
Graduations and summer breaks are upon us shortly and that means only one thing! It’s almost time for summer vacations!
Traveling and getting in a good vacation is a lot of fun, even in times of stress and chaos with booking things and getting to and from destinations.
Sometimes traveling it can cause your daily routine to get out of whack, but it is important to remember you can still take steps to take care of your mental health, even when you are on the go.
In this blog, I’m sharing with you 5 ways you can continue to take care of your mental health when you are traveling.
I am a therapist in Wilmington, NC, and specialize in helping anxious go-getters and high-achieving women. I provide therapy for anxiety and other issues such as perfectionism and burnout.
My online therapy practice is located in Wilmington, NC and I offer online therapy in North Carolina and Maryland.
Click the button to secure your free 15-minute consultation with me where we discuss your goals and reasons for therapy.
Keep reading to learn 5 ways you can continue to take care of your mental health even when you are on the go!
5 Ways You Can Care for Your Mental Health When Traveling
Tip #1: Be Flexible
No this doesn’t necessarily mean boosting those yoga sessions while you’re on vacation, although that may also have some benefits for your mental health.
What I mean is to be open and flexible to change.
This can be challenging and rewarding if you can tap into it. So often travel plans don’t always go as envisioned but being flexible to change can help to reduce stress and anxiety levels.
Tip #2: Continue with Routine
Okay so I know I just said to be flexible, but staying with a routine can also be helpful for your mental health as well.
Sometimes routines can be really good to have in place.
Think about it, do you have a certain routine you do in the morning or at nighttime? These routines can be helpful to start your day or unwind from your day and settle in for the night. Do what works for you while trying to be flexible as well.
Tip #3: Get Some Sleep
This may be hard to do for many different reasons including time changes, pure excitement, and wanting to see and do all the things while you can. Sleep is essential for your physical and mental health. Getting up extra early or staying up extra late will throw your system out of whack.
If you are on a long trip try easing into any time change adjustments and allow yourself a few days on the backend of your trip to ease back into your home timezone.
Recently, I had a very short trip to Las Vegas for business. I tried to stay on east coast time as much as possible. While this was challenging it also allowed me to see some pretty awesome sunrises.
Tip #4: Practice some Mindfulness
The stress and anxiety of traveling can start to catch up with you before you even leave your home. Thankfully, you can practice some quick and easy mindfulness exercises from just about anywhere, even a mid-plane ride!
Engaging in mindfulness can help to bring you back to the present moment, ground you, and focus your attention. When you are on vacation, who doesn’t want to soak that in as much as possible?
Tip #5: Medication
This last one may not apply to everyone but it is really important. Make sure you have your medications with you and if you are flying, pack them in your carry-on bag.
In addition to this, make sure you have enough of your prescription medications before you leave home. Talk with your doctor, pharmacy, and insurance company if need to ahead of time instead of scrambling at the last minute to get refills or an extra supply.
Begin Anxiety Therapy in Wilmington, NC at Calm Waters Counseling
Taking breaks and traveling is much needed and I know it’s one of the things so many people value. As fun and as exciting as it can be, it’s also important to continue to take care of mental health needs at the same time.
If you’re interested in starting therapy at Calm Waters Counseling, find out how I use ACT for anxiety treatment.
Learn more about Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and how it can be helpful for you.
Get started in therapy at Calm Waters Counseling by following these 4 simple steps:
Click the button below to schedule your free 15-minute consultation
Complete the brief questionnaire sent to your email before the consultation
Meet with your ACT therapist
Start living your life with doing the things you love most while also taking care of yourself
Therapy for high achieving women in Wilmington, NC at Calm Waters Counseling
You can learn more about me and my Wilmington, NC online counseling practice here!
I work with anxious high-achieving women and often my clients will come to a session and talk about more than just anxiety.
Check out all services at Calm Waters Counseling, listed below:
Anxiety therapy in Wilmington, NC
Treatment for Perfectionism in Maryland
Burnout Counseling in Wilmington, NC
Therapy for Imposter Syndrome in Wilmington, NC
Online Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Anxiety in North Carolina
Online therapy is effective and can be easy to use. There are a lot of benefits of online therapy for anxiety treatment.
Online therapy can be used with acceptance and commitment therapy and therapy sessions are structured similarly as if you were in the therapy office.
Check out this blog post on using online therapy with ACT.
Click the links below to learn about online therapy where you live.
online therapy for anxiety in North Carolina
online anxiety therapy in Maryland
Still, have questions? Click the buttons below to learn even more!
Written by: Laura Rippeon, LCSW, LCSW-C
Updated 3/16/23