Anxiety Dreams

OK - pretend you are sleeping on an overnight train and need to sleep with your moneybelt on...for a full week before your departure date. Be completely packed at least 2 days before your flight. Get everything else done days before your departure. Refer often to your completed and checked-off packing list to remind yourself that you truly are prepared for your trip. THEN RELAX!!!

This is your mind's way off preparing you. Someday, you ARE going to lose you passport, so plan now what you will do.

Lisa, you are not alone. I had the same dream or nightmare about a month ago. I dreamt that we were getting ready to board the plane and went into a panic thinking I forgot my son's passport. After he pulls it out of his pocket, we board the plane. Somewhere during the flight, I remember that it wasn't the passport that I forgot, it was that I had no money and forgot to make any reservations for hotels. I woke up in a complete panic. My trip is still 5 months away. Our original trip was going to be over Christmas, but changed until March (Spring Break).

For a while I had this recurring dream where I was in Europe, had been there for some time, and I had accumulated a lot of new "stuff". It is just about plane time and I an sitting in my room wondering how I am going to get all this new stuff into my suitcases. Maybe that is why I am now a compulsive light packer.

Well, it is better than dreaming that you get to the aiport and have forgotten to put on your pants! I often have dreams that I am packing the morning of the flight, and just cannot seem to get ready, not leaving the house until almost time for the flight and then keep hoping they will hold the flight for us. I agree about packing ahead of time, with a physical written list that you just glance at to see if all is there.

I thought I was the only one who did this. About a week or so before I leave on a trip, I dream something comes up that prevents me from going. I just got back from Germany and already I've had a dream about my trip to Italy next year. I'm in Italy but I've forgotten my itinerary and don't know where I'll be on what day and what hotel I'll be in. I can't call my kids and have them tell me where I'm supposed to be going because they're at work so I'm going to lose an entire day just waiting to find out my next destination. In the dream I'm stunned that I could have forgotten to bring my itinerary. This is really funny because I'm compulsively organized when traveling and have copies of itinerary, reservations, etc. in my bag for a couple of weeks before I leave.

I get very OCD with my passport as well. When I'm in my car on my way to the airport I have to physically see my passport (and credit/debit cards) before I pull out of my driveway. When I get to the airport I do the same routine before I board the long term parking bus to the terminal. When I'm in the security line same routine again...again right before I board the plane, and yet again when I exit the plane. When I'm abroad transiting from one city to another same routines etc etc etc:) I swear this is the only time I get nuts like this, in everyday life I'm the opposite of OCD:)

I do the same that Michael does, and the same with my tickets. Plus we have the added anxiety of flying standby, so we're constantly checking the load on the flight, making sure we have plan B and C set up (and that our ride to the airport knows we might call him back in 2 hours to come and get us). But the plus side of that is that it helps us be more flexible and accepting of other curveballs that might be thrown our way. I make TONS of lists before the trip, things to pack, plans that need to be made, things to do around the house before we go. That helps. And I know that I'm going to forget to pack SOMETHING. Usually I realize what that was on the flight over, then I can rest easy.

Smarter people will double check things. You never know what you can forget.

As an example, a friend of mine is going to Ghana in three weeks for a six month stint volunteering. She's first making a trip to Canada. Before that, she's applying to grad school and studying for the GRE.

Off hand, I asked if she had checked to make sure her passport and visa was up to date. She had forgotten all about her visa and had get it via expedited service for an extra $200. Now, don't think she didn't know. This will be her third trip to Ghana.

Sometimes, using lists and double checking is very wise. I do it before every trip no matter where I'm going or the length.

I have the dream about not having my passport the day of my trip and not being able to go on my trip too. My other dream is that I am in whatever country I am going to and I don't have my passport with me so I can't go home. Maybe these dreams are why I also compulsively check my passport daily for a couple of weeks before my trip, on the way out the door, before getting in the car, in the car...

Hello Lisa. You are not the only person who has anxiety dreams just prior to a European trip. For most of my trips to Europe, it was necessary for me to depart from my house (in the U.S.A.) at a very early time in the morning (6:30 A.M.) for me to travel to an airport, for travelling to Europe. I remember : one morning, the day of my flights to Europe, before I awoke in my house, I dreamed that I awoke at a time that was later than the time when I needed to depart from my house. That dream was emotionally disturbing to me, I immediately awoke. I looked at my clock. The time was 8 Minutes before the time when I wanted to awake. (The clock's alarm was set).