Do you feel a panic attack coming over when you’re planning for a cruise vacation with your family or friends? 

Trust me when I say that I can totally relate. 

I suffered from an anxiety disorder that would kick in every time we thought of going somewhere as a family. 

At the very mention of an offshore vacation or even a flight to the neighboring state, i’d break into a cold sweat and look like I have seen a ghost! 

A bit of stress can be a good thing; it gets your heart pumping, prepares your body for the change in environment. That’s what we call excitement, anticipation even! 

But ill-managed stress can lead to anxiety and panic attacks. You’re left ill-prepared to take on what’s to come. 

What do you do if you suffer from such anxiety pangs at the mere utterance of travel, flight or cruise? 

Well, here are a few things that I did to overcome travel anxiety. 

I’m sure you’ll find some combination of these steps or tips helpful in your future voyages…

6-Step Tips To Make Your Trip A Trippin’ Success!

A bit of anxiety is natural before or during a trip, whether it is for business or pleasure, in anticipation of what may happen! But you need to prepare yourself to cope with such situations before they overwhelm you. 

Try these simple steps: 

1)Identify the REAL Cause for your Travel Anxiety: You need to find out what exactly makes you anxious on a trip. Do you usually forget your tickets, passport, or even your toothbrush? Plan your trip properly. Make a list of everything you’d need on your trip and keep it close by when you pack. Start planning your trip (if it’s a long one) a week in advance. This way, you can be sure you don’t forget to pack anything essential (that includes your phone charger. You never know where you get stuck!). 

Make sure to pack the things you’ll need to keep close to you in your

handbag or a handy sling bag that will be on you at all times. 

If you’re traveling to a new place, then read up everything you can on

that place, their culture, their language (download an app if need be!),

their approach towards tourists, places to stay, visa requirement,

update your passport if you need to, places to exchange your currency,

etc. Be ready! 

If you’re worried about missing your flight to the port or getting

delayed, make sure to set several reminders and alarms. So that you’re

reminded of the time and place two days in advance! 

2)Prepare Yourself: Apart from doing all the things mentioned above, there are ways you can prepare for your journey. Pack things you may need for contingencies, like a panic attack (like comfort food or drinks that can help you through an episode). 

Among other things, train your body to calm down on cue. For

instance, start meditation and deep breathing exercises days before the trip. 

3)Keep ready distractions: You may need to pack distractions along with your other belongings. For example, books, soothing music (that you enjoy, like romantic songs or trance music, whatever makes you calm). Bring some onboard activity props, like board games, that you can engage in with your co-passengers. 

4)Feeling overwhelmed? Don’t Fight Your Emotions: Give in to your symptoms, and keep telling yourself, “It will soon pass”. And, they most likely will! If you fight them, they may aggravate, increase your heart rate and may even make you collapse. 

5)Don’t Travel Alone: It’s always best to travel with someone else – even if you don’t suffer from a panic disorder, especially if you are traveling abroad.

6)If Nothing Else Works, Consult a Doc! If you think your problem is too much for you to handle on your own, consult a professional. He/she will be able to give you a little something to manage your symptoms a bit better. 

How to Curb Motion Sickness…if you have any

People who experience motion sickness often do so because they’re not in control of the motion. 

On a cruise or airplane, unless you’re piloting the ship or plane, you can’t be in control. Such situations create anxiety that soon gets escalates, with symptoms like:

• Dizziness,
• Headache,
• Nausea,
• Sweating,
• Churning sensation in your stomach,
• Vomiting, or even
• Hyperventilation in some extreme cases.

Some even lose consciousness as a result of all these symptoms taking hold of their body. 

So here’s what you should do if you have ever experienced such issues: 

1. Do you have the option of going by car? Then drive it yourself, instead of traveling on the passenger or back seat. 
2. Don’t eat or drink too much: These cause vomiting tendencies even among first-time travelers and some children. Curbing your food or drink intake can help stabilize your bowels, and prevent your stomach from acting out at the slightest turbulence. 
3. Position yourself better: If you’re traveling on a cruise ship, try to get a cabin on the lower levels towards the center of the ship. These cabins experience much less motion compared to those on the upper decks and towards the proximities. Avoid people who talk about motion sickness or are experiencing it. 
4. If you’re already feeling the symptoms, try syncing your sensory cues. Sometimes, lying down and breathing deeply helps, but, if not, then place yourself on a front-facing seat. This way, your line of vision will be in tandem with the motion of the ship, i.e. you will be moving forward, instead of backward or sideways. The images will be relayed to your inner ear (responsible for balance during motion), thus stabilizing your sensory cues and your body will not fight the motion but will fall into the rhythm. 
5. Talk your way out of it: Sometimes, a bit of self-encouragement helps. Tell yourself, aloud if need be, that you’ll not fall sick. Sing your favorite inspiring or enthusiastic song to pep yourself up. 
6. Pressure points & Meditation: Remember, I mentioned about lying down and deep breathing. This is an extension of that. There are certain pressure points in our body that controls our feelings of nausea, anxiety, etc. Learn about them and activate them when you’re on a cruise vacay, clubbing that with short/long periods of meditations. Start these meditations before you leave on your vacation. Your body will learn to mimic the peaceful headspace you are in during such meditations even when you’re on your trip. 
7. Herbal remedies: There are some natural remedies you can try too. These are essential for people who often experience panic attacks during travels. You can try out some Essential Oils or CBD oil to overcome your symptoms of anxiety and/or motion sickness. 
8. Ride it out: With time, your body automatically adjusts to the change. If you’re on a long cruise, your body WILL adjust. At most, it takes about a day. 

So don’t worry, if you’ve felt panicky before. You will overcome it. My sister used to get extremely agitated and could be a handful when she gets travel anxiety pangs. But, these simple things helped her to a great extent. 

Essential oils to curb anxiety pangs & motion sickness

For some people, additional sensory cues may be necessary to soothe their nerves. While meditating and listening to music help, I often found aromatherapy could be quite effective. It can be accompanied by meditation and ambient music too! 

Some essential oils I found useful in fighting seasickness are:

1. Lavender: Most popular and effective mood regulator, curbs nausea, relaxes the body, improves sleep. Inhale, add to your bathwater, rub on your temples (for a headache), mix with other essential oils and herbal extracts for a fine moisturizer or massage oil. 
2. Chamomile: Famous for making a blend of tea, this essential oil can also be infused in your bathwater (warm), or massage oil. Its strong, intoxicating aroma has relaxing and mild sedative properties. Remember, it has to be used in a diluted form. 
3. Patchouli: Its musky aroma can help a lot in curbing seasickness and anxiety. It can be used in any form – inhalation, infusing it in your bath water, or used in a room diffuser. 
4. Ylang-ylang: Its floral aroma relaxes the body and eases the nerves. A blend of ylang-ylang, lavender, and bergamot lowers anxiety, blood pressure, heart rate, and even serum cortisol. You can apply ylang-ylang in diluted form on your skin, or infuse it in your bath water or massage oil, or inhale it directly. It’s good for your skin too!
5. Frankincense: This essential oil is extracted from the resin of the Boswellia tree, which native to Somalia. Its sweet, musky smell soothes the nerves and alleviates anxiety. Use it in a diffuser, bathwater or massage oil. 
6. Bergamot: The citrus aroma of bergamot oranges is good mood regulator and anxiety reliever, as it directly lowers stress hormones. Add a few drops to a cloth and inhale from time to time. It’s one of the best natural oils for managing travel anxiety. 
7. Jasmine: Unlike most other essential oils, this floral extract calms the nerves without making you sleepy at all. Inhaling this oil promotes feelings of wellbeing and romance, and alleviates anxiety. You can rub a few drops of this oil on your wrists and ankles, drop a few drops in your kerchief and inhale it, or mix it into your massage oil, along with grapefruit and ylang-ylang essential oils.
8. Clary Sage: Acts like jasmine, but with a stronger effect, especially for women. Its woody aroma eases tension and helps regulate cortisol (stress hormone) levels in women. It also increases dopamine levels in your brain, thus promoting activities and feelings of pleasure. You can inhale it directly or add to your massage oil. 

There are many more essential oils that you can try out, like those extracted from Sandalwood, Rose, Orange, Valerian, Jatamansi, Vetiver, Holy Basil, Sweet Basil, Geranium, Lemon balm, Marjoram, and even Fennel. 

So, carry a small bottle of your preferred essential oil on your next trip. 

CBD Oil – A Natural Option To Fight Anxiety & Nausea 

There is yet another oil-based herbal extract that can help you curb your travel anxiety; something that is just as easy to carry around like a bottle of essential oil. 

It is CBD oil. Several studies have shown how CBD, a non-intoxicating, non-hallucinogenic component of cannabis plants, can help curb alleviate anxiety and nausea, as well as promote a good night’s sleep and feelings of wellbeing. 

You can use a tincture sublingually, infuse it in your preferred cold drink, apply it on your neck to release tension, or inhale it with the help of a vape pen. You can also take a CBD soft gel capsule (if that is your preferred mode of administration). 

Parting Thoughts

Anxiety is often caused by the daily grind of our stressful life. But addictions make it worse. Our dependence on certain substances can snatch the control of our senses away from us. 

For instance, drinking a lot of coffee can cause severe damage to the nerves. Some of us feel that we can’t function without a cup of this brown liquid first thing in the morning. What we don’t realize is that our dependence on such strong nerve stimulants only makes it weaker as time goes on.

Another addictive substance – alcohol – which people often take when upset or stressed out. Enjoying a drink or two when you’re happy has a good effect on the body. However, depressed drinking only makes us addicted to it, and eventually makes us weak from within. Smoking has an even worse effect on our body. 

If you want to enjoy traveling, you must give up such habits, and start eating healthy. Add to that proper sleep and exercise, and focus more on our inner energy. 

These will not only help you live healthy lives but also ensure that you are in complete control of your nerves, your mood, and your wellbeing during your travels abroad! Additionally, don’t forget to keep a bottle of CBD oil, essential oils, or a blend of both, close by as a precaution. 

In this new age of an entire society that is shifting more towards natural therapies rather than pharmaceutical options, one of the most popular products that have taken the spotlight is CBD oil. Though it certainly sounds terrific to have access to therapeutic relief using elements that are easily accessible without a prescription, it is essential to understand all the possibilities that might occur from making such a decision. Here we will talk about what CBD is, where it comes from, it’s potential as a medicine, and the risks to consider before taking CBD oil or considering using it for your kids. All while clearing the air surrounding some of the most detrimental and incorrect myths that have been spreading the globe about this exciting chemical compound. 

What is CBD?

Cannabidiol (CBD) is one chemical component from the cannabinoid family that is extracted and used for both recreational and medical purposes. It exists in the natural oils that some plants produce, and it harvested using several different methods of extraction. 

What type of plant species is CBD extracted from? 

CBD is one of well over 100 cannabinoids and terpenes that are produced by marijuana plants, but it is found in the highest concentrations amongst industrial strains of hemp. These plans are the ideal base for the extraction of this cannabinoid since they produce minimal traces of THC, which is the psychoactive element that provides the euphoric high that is so often associated with recreational marijuana use. Though cannabis plants used to also produce reasonable levels of CBD, it has been bred out of the genetics from generations of growers whose primary customer base consisted of recreational consumers. 

The felt effects of CBD

When you ingest CBD, the results might not be exactly what you were expecting, especially if you had initially assumed that CBD oil was extracted from cannabis plants. Since industrial hemp strains contain such small amounts of THC, chances are you won’t feel too much of anything right away, as it is not psychoactive so it will not interfere with operating a motor vehicle, or other daily parental responsibilities. When you do notice new sensations, they will be light and enjoyable, and for the most part, by the absence of a feeling rather than a whole new one. The pain will diminish as the inflammation dies down, which is one of the main reasons that patients turn to CBD oil, but the effects can take days, weeks, and even months to truly be felt. 

How CBD is used

CBD can be used in many different ways, from taking measured doses when a problem or symptoms suddenly arises or multiple times a day as a supplement and preventative measure. It is taken in various amounts, and there is no one size fits all dosage recommendation because each person will react differently to the same dose, and they will often have varying severity in felt symptoms. This makes the adventure of learning the perfect treatment a bit of an experiment, which is why microdosing is almost always recommended for beginners. Smaller amounts will be less likely to cause any type of adverse effects, and larger doses can affect the consumers quality of sleep if taken too late in the evening, so it’s a good idea to start slow and gently increase the amount that is used until you find the ideal dosage for you. 

The benefits of CBD 

Cannabidiol (CBD) is similar to compounds that our bodies already naturally produce to control normal bodily functions such as hunger or sleepiness. This is why it works so incredibly well to relieve a broad range of symptoms from conditions including but not limited to those that are listed here below. 

– Anxiety

– Addiction

– Heart health

– Diabetes 

– Appetite 

– Acne

– Chronic pain

– Epilepsy

– Glaucoma

– Insomnia

– Loss of appetite

– Nausea 

– Parkinson’s disease 

– Muscle spasms 

Possible adverse effects of CBD oil

Though CBD can be incredibly beneficial for treating many different conditions and diseases, it is possible to experience side effects. Typically, this is caused by consuming large quantities of the cannabinoid, so it is rare but possible to see less than ideal results. However, CBD is non-toxic, so though it may cause some uncomfortable feelings, you will not overdose, and these sensations are generally short-lived. Here are all the reported possible adverse effects that you might encounter while using CBD. 

– Mood shift

– Diarrhea

– Changes in appetite

– Dizziness 

– Dry mouth

– Drowsiness

– Vomiting

– Nausea 

The different kinds of CBD products 

CBD oil is by far the most popular treatment option, but many others can suit different needs. These are all the most common CBD products that you might find on the market today. 

CBD oils 

There are three different types of CBD oil to choose from, and it is vital to recognize which one you buy so that you know how to use it appropriately as well as knowing what CBD oil feels like. One is CBD infused cooking oils that are meant for making CBD edibles and other delicious infused dishes. The second one is a thick and highly concentrated version that is intended for oral ingestion, and the third is also thick and meant for smoking or vaping. 

Smokable CBD concentrate  

CBD concentrates can take many forms, but in this case, we are referring to smokable options like budder, wax, and shatter. All of which can be smoked or vaped for quick and easy ingestion.  

CBD vape juice 

CBD vape juice may come in a small squeeze bottle, or inside of a cartridge, and no matter which one you try, these should not be used for anything other than vaping. The CBD oil is mixed with another agent to liquify it to the point that it is efficiently consumed are typical vaping temperatures. If you buy this CBD product and don’t own a vape than there isn’t much that it can be used for. 

CBD edibles 

CBD edibles are made using CBD oils or tinctures and can take any form. Though CBD candy is one of the most popular options, you can make anything into a CBD infused edible. From popsicles, smoothies, and baked goods to elegant three-course meals. The possibilities are only limited by your ingredients on hand and imagination. 

CBD tinctures  

CBD tinctures are made by using alcohol to extract the cannabinoid from the plant materials. These cannot be smoked and are typically taken pure or mixed into cocktails or juice. 

CBD capsules 

CBD capsules are taken orally with liquid and are generally filled with pure CBD oil. 

CBD spray  

CBD spray is often taken orally, but there are now some options that are meant for topical use, so be sure to inspect the instructions before you make a purchase. These are often made by adding water or other supplements to THC oil so that it liquifies to the point that it can be used in a spray bottle without clogging it up. 

CBD beauty products 

CBD bath bombs, sun lotions, makeup, face wash, facemasks, and more are now being made with CBD oil. 

CBD ointment

Ointments and salves that are CBD infused are meant for topical use. This provides consumers with an excellent option in situations where the pain is only in one area, and a sort of spot treatment would be more beneficial and direct than oral ingestion. 

CBD crystals

CBD crystals are the purest CBD isolate available on the market today, which also makes them the most potent. Though you won’t find these made in some guys basement due to the extensive process required to form them, they make the perfect addition to any CBD consumers collection as they can be smoked, vaped, eaten pure, or easily mixed into drinks or recipes with no preparation necessary. 

Is CBD safe for children?

Now that you know about the most popular CBD products that are on the market today, it is time to ask the difficult question you have all been waiting for. Are CBD products safe for kids? The truth is that the answer will depend on who you ask. Children are just as susceptible to possible adverse effects as adults are, and smaller, so it takes a lower dose to produce the same results, but in general, CBD products are non-toxic and relatively safe except for tinctures that come paired with high alcohol content. 

Should you give CBD oil to your kids? 

This is an incredibly personal decision that should be overseen by a medical professional, and the answer will depend on the type of issue that your child is facing. Often a dose of CBD is much safer than many of the pharmaceuticals that are overprescribed today, but it is always recommended that you speak with your family physician before starting a treatment with CBD products, as they do have the potential to affect the efficacy of some other prescription medications. 

Tips for buying high-quality CBD oil 

Now that you know how to use CBD oil, and the possible effects that this element might have, it is time to focus on the quality of the products that you buy. Whether it’s CBD oil, CBD edibles, CBD creams, or any other type of concentrates, you should always follow these three basic rules to ensure that the ingredients inside are exactly as they appear. 

Third party testing 

When choosing a CBD product supplier, one of the first things that you should look for is quality testing scores that have been provided by a third-party company. Most reputable vendors will willingly provide this information, as it is required by federal regulation and peace of mind for potential consumers. 

Type of plant materials used in its making  

It is essential to recognize that much of this industry still operates in a sort of a grey area. Where they aren’t precisely following standard protocols, which can influence your experience with a CBD product. Though pure CBD oils should always be derived from hemp plants, some companies will process cannabis oil instead, and leave out the THC content label. This is not an issue you should ever run into when dealing with trusted vendors, but it is a possibility that you should be aware of, as these oils can get you high and produce unexpected sensations and effects. 

Buy regulated products

Whether you buy CBD online or in store, you should always be careful to select companies that have thoroughly regulated and approved products. This is especially important because though hemp strains do generally produce much less THC, regulated CBD oil will contain no more than 0.3% which ensures a psychoactive free experience.