Well folks, I’m leaving for Argentina today, which means that after about 20 hours on a plane I will be in Argentina!! I honestly can’t believe it. I mean after a night full of anxiety dreams that reflect the fact that I’m going, I still can’t believe I’m going. On that note though, I want to talk about reasons why I feel I was less anxious in this circumstance than I have been in the past while waiting for something big. I know pre-event jitters can be killer so I just want to share some of the things you can do to become mentally prepared.
- Start packing early- You don’t want to wait until the last minute to pack because that piles on the stress and makes you feel like you probably forgot something (which you probably did). Additionally, waiting until the last minute means you don’t know that you don’t have something until the last minute. Or if you are like me, your suitcase will break at 7:30 the night before you’re supposed to fly out. Thankfully, I was already packed so it was just a matter of borrowing a friend’s suitcase and transferring the clothes, but if I had waited until the last minute to pack, I wouldn’t have even know that the suitcase was broken until way late into the night and I wouldn’t have been able to borrow a suitcase or buy a new one.
- Have a goodbye party- In the last moments before you leave, you don’t want to regret not getting to say goodbye to someone–or several someones. Trying to make time to see each person you know individually, though, can be a time-consuming inconvenience. Having a party is an easy way to get most everyone together at the same time so that you don’t have to go out and track them down instead of doing other important things (like packing…seriously). Additionally, having several people with you all showing their support for you is really empowering.
- Try to stay calm and relaxed as the departure date arrives. That seems like a no brainer, but I don’t just mean that in terms of not feeling nervous. For me, I can’t even let myself feel too extremely excited because any extreme on either side of the feelings spectrum leads to anxiety. Anyway, you can be excited, just try not to freak out. Do some yoga, exercise, take a bath, drink chamomile tea, watch a funny movie, hang out with friends. Just do whatever you need to in order to feel at peace.
- Practice the language you’ll be speaking if it isn’t your first language. Again, the more prepared you feel, the less anxious you’ll be.
- Finally, if none of those things work, the night before you leave, try to go to bed early so that you at least get a little sleep before it’s time for you to get up.
Alright guys, the next time I post (which may or may not be tomorrow) I’ll be in Argentina so look out!
KiaraDSmith 
Safe flight and good travels! Great advice. My suitcase zipper wasn’t working before I left to Costa Rica, so I had to switch suitcases an hour before I had to leave. Not too stressful because I was lucky enough to have another one available, but it would have been stressful otherwise!
Thank you!! I made it safely and the whole trip went smoothly 🙂 I’m glad that you had another suitcase! It would’ve been a nightmare trying to get a new one that late!