Does travelling to new places scare the S*%t out of you?

How far is Manchester from where you live?

Definitely get hold of a GPS!

And a cell phone!!!

um….20 miles… i know… i’m a wimp!

No, I love it! I worry about all that stuff, but the excitement of being somewhere new always wins out.

And do a couple of practice runs before Saturday. 20 miles is less then a 30 minute drive.

It sounds like you worry just as much as I do. Just make sure to allow yourself extra time incase you do get lost.

@EmpressPixie yeeeeaahh…that’s excitement part: I don’t get it…at all… what’s that like?

@Mr_M good idea… i had thought about that…but then i did think that i was just being stupid and practising might be a bit anally retentive… but it does sound like a good idea indeed! would stop me worrying i guess!

ABSOLUTELY. And take a friend on these practice runs if you can!

And for someone like you, for future trips, invest in a GPS.

Take a friend and find something to do there, consider it a mini-vacation! Maybe eat out or window shop?

And you actually DON’T have to be alone for the trip. Is there someone you know who can STAY on the phone with you during the trip? You have a cell phone in the car and the other person is home talking on THEIR phone to you.

Are you afraid of the neighborhood you’re going to? If you’re afraid of that justifiably, DON’T GO if you have to go alone!

It does but I thrive on it. I never do well unless I am nervous as all shit beforehand.

I am terribly phobic about driving in any new situation, particularly since I had a terrible car accident 6 years ago. Now I pretty much avoid it; not something I really recommend. The rehearsal idea is a great one. Also, if you are afraid of the driving part, how about driving to a suburban station (on the ring road or somewhere) and then taking the train in?

And on the day of the actual event, get up extra early, leave the house an hour early.

And since it’s a Saturday and it’s only 20 miles, maybe you can get someone to follow you in THEIR car, then come home once you get there?

@Mr_M thank you for all your advice…it’s been EXCELLENT! I’m going to do a practice run tomorrow with my mum! thank you xx

@lynneblundell: I think Mr_M is going to get you through this. I’ll be using his ideas too. Very nice.

Traditionally, before any trip either big or little, I’ve ALWAYS< ALWAYS< ALWAYS suggested maybe it was a bad time, or the dog might be lonely, or it was too expensive, and we should cancel.
But once we were in the familiar car on the way to the airport, I would get all happy.

I hope all works out well. Keep me posted. Good luck!

I am never scared of traveling to new places, honestly I LOVE IT. I think I might just be one of those people that adapts quickly. It also helps that I have a good sense of direction so fear of getting lost isn’t too prevalent, but no…no fear. Only excitement!

On the way there, try to spot an interesting place that you would like to visit (park, pub, museum, shop, etc.). Then, reward yourself with a stop there on your way back.

NOT AT ALL. And if its a place with a different language or culture, im all in!!!!!!!!!

I hate going to new places!!!

You’ll be fine in Manchester :) it’s a big city but not so bad. I love travelling, especially after applying to university. Do you know why? I had to go to some visit days/interviews of which I had to go alone, so I got the train to Nottingham the first time around and then Liverpool the second and went in alone. It’s a great experience, very freeing, but maybe this is just in my case. I quite enjoy the idea of going to other cities, travelling, going to other countries and such, and I can’t wait to get a bit of money, and a bit of freedom (i.e. university) and then going aborad.

My tips? Plan ahead, double check, triple check stuff, stay calm, relax before you go, rest your mind, read a book, occupy your mind with something else, listen to music. But most of all, don’t panic! Seriously, things will be fine if you take things slowly and carefully.

I used to be scared of getting lost in weird places, until I got lost in Kolkata, India for over an hour. I was alone…didn’t know any Hindi, no cell phone, no map, and NO idea where I was. All these people were leering at me because I was obviously an American and waaay out of place.

But hey, in the end, I got back to the right place. I didn’t get raped, I didn’t get mugged, and my butt was not grabbed. Just walk tall and be confident!

Lynne, I thought you were American. thank God you’re not! lol

Ok, well first of all, to answer your question: no, not at all. I always look forward to travelling to new places, unless it is somewhere like Kenya, which I’d expect to be really hot, or Belarus, which I’d expect to be really dangerous.

But driving 20m down the road to Man should not be a problem. Getting stuck in traffic and getting lost probably is. Will you have your son with you as well? Can’t you take public transport instead? Or a taxi?

What I do if I have to drive somewhere and want to make sure I get there on time (as in the first day at work) is that I go there in the middle of the night a few days before, so that I get to know the route. And there’s never any traffic at night, so it’s easy. I get to know the roads around that area, plan alternative routes and so on. It makes it a lot easier and having visited the place before (even if you’ve just seen the building from the outside) makes it all more familiar and takes out some of the nervousness you might have.

I get butterflies from time to time in a new environment.. but with time and experience those are slowly dying.

There’s always books on tape but that might get you lost.

So, what’s wrong with getting lost? There’s just as much reason to think that good things will happen to you if you get lost as bad things. Have an adventure. At least you won’t be a bore at cocktail parties.

Be sure to go pee before you leave. Stop for a little gas along the way and talk to people…ask if you’re going in the right direction (even if you know you are).

I have a navigational system and don’t know how I functioned without it. I’m looking into navigational implants for my body since I get lost on foot too.

I’ll second the peeing
It’s one of the big lessons I learnt recently: always pee when you have to.

I think I’ll make that my new motto.

Update: I actually did the practice run… It went fine, I took a wrong turn at one point, but my mum was with me and we stopped and I looked at the map and found my way out of there and to my destination…So i stopped worrying too much. When i went on the Saturday for real, I took what i thought was the turning i should have took the first time and got completely lost….I mean COMPLETELY… I had no map of the area i found myself in, I had no SAT NAV, I was so close to tears, and if it wasn’t for the pressure of time and having to get to my lecture i would have just broken down.

I thought about just heading for the motorway and finding my way home and just crying all the way, but I didn’t… I kept on driving in the direction that my instinct took me and i saw a sign for a museum that i knew was in the same area…so i followed that sign and i ended up coming out on the road (albeit the other end of) that i was supposed to travel down to get to my destination…So I found it in the end… exhausted, fraught and nervous i made it there…

not without the necessary worry it seems. Some people thought i simply subconsciously carried out a self-fulfilling prophesy – to get lost. I beg to differ. Your thoughts; as ever, welcome. And thank you for ALL the advice… I’m more inclined to believe it was all part of predestination of some form.. than anything more sinister! x

ok, you’re probably just crap at navigating :P

…maybe take a cab next time? lol

(if you do any journey often enough, you’re bound to learn it eventually, so I shouldn’t worry about it too much – main thing is you got there in the end in one piece, right?)

This may sound heartless of me, but you got there and you got lost on the way and that’s almost better than just going! Why? Because you got lost, but you pulled yourself together, kept going, and made it in the end. Hopefully if this happens again, you can kind of look back on this experience and be like, “Whatever, I can totally kick ass—I’ll get there,” and feel more able to deal with the situation.

Plus you heard the lecture.