Antidote for travel stress and anxiety 

On July 17, 2022, an aeroplane arrived in Lagos, Nigeria, and as all passengers passed through passport control towards the carousel area to get their suitcases and luggage, one passenger realised his suitcase was nowhere to be found. No one has ever said I wish I never had to travel. However, travelling can sometimes be stressful for various reasons.

Stress on the other hand is something everyone feels so long as you’re alive. Sometimes stress can be a positive force, motivating you to perform well at your piano recital or job interview. But often—like when you’re stuck in traffic—it’s a negative force. If you experience stress over a prolonged period of time, it could become chronic—unless you take action.

A year ago, during the covid pandemic on a working trip, I arrived in Lagos, Nigeria via Ethiopia, but before getting back to my base in South Africa, I had changed my flight five times due to unforeseen challenges that I experienced.

Do we need to rethink or relook the logistics and supply chain systems globally? Has there been a disruption since the emergence of the Covid Pandemic? Choi Jenn, according to a report in the UK Guardian newspaper, packed her family’s bags as she feared for the worst after hearing horrific stories of checked airline luggage going permanently missing, and she invested in tracking devices for their suitcases to ensure she wouldn’t have to rely on a critically understaffed aviation industry facing what could be its worst meltdown in history.

Her entire family’s suitcases, sadly, remained almost ten thousand kilometres (10,000km), some six thousand two hundred miles away in Germany, when they had arrived in Cancun, Mexico. “Our bags have still not been found and we will be without them for at least a week,” she said. “I feel like it’s part of travelling these days as it is becoming so common. Many people expressed arriving on their vacation in Mexico without their bags. It’s a mess and I’ve never seen anything like it.”

The rate of baggage mishandled across the world is also on the rise: up 24 percent last year, with 8.7 suitcases per 1,000 international passengers arriving on time, prior to which there was a 67 percent rise in the same month of 2021 after almost 30,000 flights in, out and within the US were also cancelled this summer.

Several lost or missing suitcases stories were shared by colleagues who had travelled from the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada from holidays, some of which are still missing as I write this piece; and painfully pulling people into disruptions. So, I would like to invite you on a journey, one I have called, an antidote for travel stress and anxiety.

Firstly, less is more, we don’t need a lot of suitcases, so pack less (one hand luggage and check-in luggage). Looking back on the last 14 days without my missing suitcase, if I had to redo this trip I would have my toiletries, basic needs in hand luggage and at least a belt, shirts, work pants, shoes.

Food is fuel as my late mentor – Dr. Myles Munroe – used to say to me, ensuring I had a proper meal prior to the trip, paid off as the plane didn’t take off on time, which meant I did not need to buy food, snacks or water as I had my own water bottle. This has seen people missing their flights while going to either use the bathroom or feeling too comfortable in the premium lounges leading to discomfort, and getting travel plans disrupted.

Airport queues, the standard procedure for everyone wearing belts, wrist watches, and shoes in some airports, which are expected to be removed and placed into a collection box and placed on the conveyor belt that passes them through the scanners; stressing the pace of the person ahead of you would only lead towards stress. Since I travel with a backpack everything stays in the front compartment of my backpack and I bring out my laptop and iPad and place them in the box provided so I am not missing any item on the other side or delayed in getting out of the way after being scanned.

Since I lost two travel passports during a work trip over a decade ago, all my travel documents (South African identity document, permanent residents’ certificate, passport, yellow card, driver’s licence) are all backed up in iCloud and google drive.

Lastly, sleep is important; so I have noise cancellation earplugs and eye face masks which should be provided by the airline. However, so one is not feeling stressed if not provided, I pack mine which helped lower my stress level and possibly formed part and parcel of my recipe for feeling less anxious aboard the flight for everything is part of everything.

Here are my reflective questions for you to consider in conclusion: What darkness is clouding your day or journey? How can you allow light and love to bring joy and hope enroute your destination?

Wishing you the very best wherever life’s journey leads you. To your rise and flourishing.