Extra Baggage: Traveling With Depression and Anxiety

The prospect of traveling to 
unfamiliar countries can be daunting. The same can be said about dealing with
 mental illness — in my case, anxiety and depression.

Combining these potentially volatile 
ingredients can, to those of us who may not have had much experience with 
any, invoke the taste of a potentially deadly cocktail on one’s tongue. Before heading out, I found myself nervously and honestly inquiring to 
no one in particular; “Can it be done”?

My answer, after careful
 consideration, is yes. Absolutely — yes.

To break it up, I’ve made a few points of things that have helped me 
along the road so you don’t have to resort to Google for answers that don’t
 entirely exist like I did!

1. Talk To Your Doctor.

First off, I am (obviously) not your doctor and cannot, therefore, tell 
you what can and cannot be done with regards to your specific condition. They 
will be able to help you whip up some coping strategies and, if necessary, 
figure out a plan for dealing with your medication abroad (if you are taking a
prescription).

2. Figure Out Your Drugs! 

This was probably my biggest cause of concern. Images of running out of 
or losing my medication constantly flashed through my mind. An emotional crisis 
in the middle of a foreign jungle. My poor dorm mates unequipped and unaware of 
how to deal with this black mass pulsing frightening energy from the top bunk
 (Obscurus, anyone?). Allow me to clarify the reality.

To begin with, my doctor was able to extend my prescription by six
 months – three of which were covered by health insurance, while the other three
 came out of pocket (amounting to about $60 CAD all together for a 50 mg daily 
dose of Sertraline, the generic brand of Zoloft). I kept about a week’s worth
in my day pack and the rest in two separate pockets in my main bag. That way, if
 I somehow lost one of my supplies, I would have at least a little bit of time 
to get to a pharmacy. That brings me to another little known point: you can
 easily get many types of prescription medication over the counter in Asia that 
you would usually need to see a doctor for in most Western countries, and for
 about a third of the price. The only thing holding me back from filling my
 entire backpack with a year’s worth of antidepressants was the thought of
 declaring it at customs.

3. Find a Safe Place and Wait It
 Out.

A wise friend and experienced traveler once gave me this advice, and I
 carry it with me as one of my most valuable and well-used tools in the
 box.

Wherever you are in the world, these places exist. Spend a few extra 
dollars and get a private room for a night if you need to. If you need to
 extend your stay in a certain place, do it. Don’t go throwing yourself into a
 New Delhi train station with a head full of stuffing. I once found a lovely 
little cafe with a cat named Moon, mulled wine, and a wood-burning fire place 
during a particularly dark period spent in Northern Vietnam, and I spent a 
large part of my time here waiting out the storm. You all know deep down that 
whatever it is in your head will pass – even when your backwards pain-loving 
mentality tells you it is permanent, deserved, and intrinsically you. Sit 
tight, allow your eyes to glaze over, drool if you must, and wait for the
 inevitably brighter days ahead.

4. Don’t Abandon Your Support.

I love traveling alone. I love being alone.
 Often, when I am experiencing the deepest reaches of my sadness, I believe
 there is no other logical way to move forward than to abandon those I love,
 thus sparing them from what suffering I cannot spare myself.

However romantic it might be to revel in your disillusioned
 independence, dependent on the nature and severity of your illness, this can be 
dangerous and reckless. If you feel as though you are healthy and ready to 
support yourself on that quote-on-quote
 truly-authentic-deletes-all-methods-of-contact-no-wifi-solo-mission, then by
 all means, cool. You be the judge.

Support can mean staying in regular contact with those at home –
something which has become so. incredibly.
easy. The development I can see in communication technology even looking
 back at my 2011 backpacking trip through Europe is in itself mind-boggling.
 Talk to them. Let them know you are okay. By doing this, you are also letting 
yourself know you are okay.

Support can also mean having a travel companion. Traveling with a
friend or loved one can be the best thing ever. It can also be very hard. I
 struggled with this for a while, constantly getting cold feet about leaving the 
country with a partner, before ultimately realizing there is no
”right” or “more authentic” way to travel, such as there is
no definitive “right” or “more authentic” way to live. 
Right now, I am traveling with my best friend. We have had incredible
 experiences, both together and apart, and we have had experiences that have 
tested our friendship. Inevitably, the latter only makes us more patient and compassionate
 with one another in the long run. Having someone with me who knows my
 history (medical and otherwise) has helped me in times when I could not help 
myself, and has been an important stepping stone in learning how to deal with
 my temperamental mind abroad.

5. There Is No Shame In Going Home.

You owe absolutely nothing to anyone. Not even that weird, angry,
volatile part of your brain that is telling you how much you suck for wanting
to “give up.”

Your trip is your own, and, most importantly, so is your health – mental
 and physical. Said you were staying for a year? Most likely, no one even 
remembers this (sorry). Afraid of what your friends and family might think? I
 believe the definition of friends and family quite possibly includes something 
along the lines of “people who generally prefer spending time with a 
physically-present version of yourself over a glitching, pixelated blob on
 FaceTime.”

More important questions: Are you in a constant state of distress? Do
 you need medical attention beyond that of a sketchy Cambodian pharmacy? Are 
you not enjoying yourself anymore? Dude. Get yourself on a 
plane. You can always go 
back on the road. Don’t ever think that you have backed yourself into a corner.
 Ask yourself if you would be blamed for flying home after breaking your leg in
 an unfortunate bungy accident. We all know the answer.

6. Travel.

Maybe — just maybe — traveling will help you in the way you hoped, but 
highly doubted (hey, anxiety!), it would. Maybe it will help your mind see in 
ways in couldn’t before, and help you find a place for the feelings that hurt you instead of burying them under a thin, translucent membrane of 
mundane routine.

Just try letting your mind wander when you are in the middle of a chaotic intersection in Ho Chi Minh City with motorbikes flowing around you 
like water. Crippling anxiety about your job? That you don’t have? Thought
 so. And how can you possibly be depressed when you’re eating the fluffiest 
rabbit-shaped pancakes you’ve ever seen!?!

First of all, you will be continually meeting people who will shine 
light on dark and angry corners you didn’t know you had, in ways you might not 
quite understand at first. These new connections, for me, have been 
integral in helping me recognize myself. You are seeing new things every 
single day. You are tasting foods you hadn’t even imagined existed, learning 
new languages, and deciphering the next currency exchange in this week’s country
 like it’s your day job (it is your day job, basically). Your brain simply 
doesn’t have time to build those black holes like it used to.

Believe me, it will try. And you will have your days. But there is
 something so naturally healing in surrounding yourself with a new environment,
 and new people, every day. You can no longer blame your mood on the dismal
 colour of your apartment walls. The quickness of it all, the force for thought 
beyond yourself, and continual processing beyond your menial daily tasks, 
ensures your mind is elsewhere.

Take a pill. Buy a ticket. Both. Neither. You will, over time, learn
 what works with your body and mind. There is — surprise — no right or wrong 
combination.