Hey guys! In my last post, I wrote about High functioning anxiety, what it is and how it affects me, so today I wanted to write about how I deal with the effects this has on my life as there are so many AMAZING ways to deal with this, so it’s definitely not the end of the world!
Leading up to this trip, I have to admit my anxiety has been through the roof. Part of this is human nature and completely normal, but it is still a lot higher than I would prefer - especially when I should be overwhelmed with happiness and excitement. If like me, you are not at the stage that you feel you need to use prescription meds then this little blog is perfect for you to gain some tips as I will go through what works best for me. Disclaimer - I was on anti-stress meds for about a year and I felt they didn’t allow me to reach any potential during the day and instead of feeling calm, I felt spaced out and not fully with it 100%. Completely my own opinion and for others these may work perfectly for you. So, how do I cope on a day to day basis?
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 High-functioning anxiety - Essentially silent anxiety hidden behind a smile.
So, as mentioned a few times already, I have anxiety – SURPRISE!! However, it’s not the stereotypical anxiety where the person gets too scared to leave the house. Quite the opposite actually. If you were to meet me in person, and to an extent get to know me through this blog you will realize that I am a go getter. I have worked in management for years, set up my own clothing line, run a freelance photography business and I absolutely froth off exploring, adventuring and getting myself bang in the center of the action. On paper I am what most would call a successful business woman - HAHA! See, I told you…#lifegoals. However, behind this facade of confidence, 90% of the time I am internally freaking out. I mean that. My phone rings…I panic. The door bell goes, I panic. Opening my inbox in the morning, I panic. The worst for me is talking in front of people, especially groups larger than 2 humans - I literally start to sweat, my heart rate goes through the roof and my breathing (when I can actually remember to breathe) is next to non-existent and so shallow you would think I was in a life or death situation. It’s not fun. I tell this to Leo most days as it’s not something I can really control either which makes it worse as anxious people are also control freaks.  ‘’You never change your life until you step out of your comfort zone. Change begins at the end of your confirm zone’’ – Roy T Bennett. I have always been someone who pushes themselves (sometimes too far and to the point of breaking) but, I do love experiencing new and exciting moments. However, I have been in my comfort zone for nearly 2 years now and the reason is simply because I love my life. This is not something I even feel guilty about saying out loud in a society where so many of the population complain about hating their lives and feeling depressed, stuck in a rut and just unexplainably sad. I feel that throughout life when you find a pocket of happiness, don’t try and change it unless it needs to be changed . . . and that's been the past 2 years for me. I have loved my daily routine of getting up at sunrise and starting the day with a good solid three hours of work before going to the gym for a couple of kick ass classes, seeing one of my amazing girl friends for lunch, working in the arvo and cooking something yummy for me and Leo. OK, so reading this back it looks like I have turned into a housewife, but my point is I love these little things in life. This is all about to change, and I ask myself . . . am I ready? At this point, I am not overly sure. The mixed emotions that come with change are creating a weird imbalance and it's not the best feeling in the world if I'm honest. Apparently when you leave your comfort zone you experience 5 feelings. These are :
I guess by what I have just written, I am in the between stages of 2-3 ...with maybe a little of 4 and a smidgen of 1. An important lesson I have learned over the past few years is to never lie to yourself – we have to be honest about what we want and take risks rather than lie to ourselves and make excuses to stay where we are. When you are outside your comfort zone its when you are able to experience yourself the most - it's true, there have even been scientific studies to prove this. Humans love being comfortable, why wouldn’t we? It’s the little pocket of warmth that allows us to feel safe . . . but is it where we are at our happiest? I'll let you think that one over and come to a decision as everyone is different. I love hurling myself into the unknown and we are about to do just that. During these scary moments and these unsure steps that we are about to embark on, I actually fully expect to illuminate magnificently - maybe slightly over exaggerating here but still plan to become the best version of me as daunting as it may seem. However, I currently have this feeling which is a cocktail between un-explainable excitement and anxiety jumbled into one which allows me to have no control of my emotions – great! I touched on this briefly in my last blog post, but I have decide to explore it further as it interests me. ‘’The further you get away from yourself the more challenging it is. Not to be in your comfort zone is great fun’’ – Benedict Cumberbatch According to science, Getting out of your comfort zone from time to time creates just enough good stress to ramp up your focus, creativity, pace, and drive, and it helps you respond to life stress when unexpected things happen. Getting out of your comfort zone is hard because humans are wired to expect the worst-case scenario. Your brain wants to keep you safe, so you have a natural negativity bias — a stronger reaction to actual or anticipated negative events. When you’re evaluating whether or not to take action and you receive negative information, it influences you more strongly than equally positive information. You’re capable of dreaming up a lot of gloom and doom in your head, and a lot of the time, you expect the worst. Most of the time, taking a calculated risk produces a favorable outcome. When it doesn’t turn out as you’d hoped, chances are, everything’s still a-o-k after it all shakes out? I think it’s like everything in life, the whole fearing the unknown, but I know in my heart that as soon as I step out of this comfort zone, I will blossom into my truest authentic self. It will be the combination of bliss, confidence, courage, and gratitude all wrapped up into one life-altering experience. (Well at least that's the plan) Anyway that's my ramble of all the thoughts in my head for today done...now off to make dinner!   ''You don’t have to be positive all the time. It’s perfectly okay to feel sad, angry, annoyed, frustrated, scared, or anxious. Having feelings doesn’t make you a ‘negative person.’ It makes you human.'' - Lori Deschene This morning, I got up and felt like I had to write. It is now 5 weeks until we leave on this brilliant and beautiful adventure, however, I think we have both been feeling the pressure. In fact, I know we have, and it’s started to take a toll. Imagine, coming home from a holiday where you start to feel those ‘holiday blues’, we’ve all had it right? Well, in stead of feeling this after our trip we are feeling this beforehand. The pressure of packing up our lives, getting rid of practically everything (as neither of us own a house that we can leave stuff in), the financial strain a trip like this can bring and the overwhelming panic of feeling like we have not planned enough or that we have forgotten something, is hard, in fact it’s really bloody hard. We both feel flat. We are in this weird time frame of just waiting to leave after constant planning for the past 6 months and it is causing a strain on everything. Don’t get me wrong, I love where we live, I love our friends here and I actually love my routine of working, going to the gym and socializing with the amazing humans I have met in Taupo. Last night in fact, I cried watching TV , for no other reason than I was feeling sad that I would miss people. I guess it’s just that feeling of emptiness and to really having a place to be that has put us both on this weird discourse of uncertainty. Then the anxiety takes control and the negativity starts to seep through into my thought imagining the worst-case scenario about EVERYTHING…It has been an incredibly stressful weekend. Side tracking for a minute- Did you know that according to figures by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 18.1% of the population every year. Anxiety disorders cost the U.S. more than $42 billion a year!! It is defined as an experience that causes fear, worry, apprehension, and nervousness. In some cases, anxiety can affect your life and interfere with your daily activities such as schooling, work, and relationships – DING DING DING, yes, of course it does and I have it all. However, anxiety is a normal experience and I have learnt to live with it for many years. At this point I actually need to give a shout out to Leo as he has to live with me, and that’s not easy, but for anyone with high functioning anxiety will know – it’s not easy for us either. It’s not a fun existence when you have the feeling of constant panic about pretty much everything and feel like if there is no plan for even the smallest activity then life as we know it will fall apart. I am focusing on being more present and taking each day as it comes, looking forward to everything in day to day life as well as the big trip ahead. For me, I love going to bed as I know that in the morning I will make breakfast. For most people that’s the norm, but for me I actually love it. I make the best peanut butter porridge and it is my go to each day. To be honest, I look forward to every meal as I love food, but that’s not all. I look forward to the gym each day, to my favorite TV programme, to washing my hair and sitting reading a few chapters in my book with a cup of tea. I have found that looking forward to even the smallest parts of my day can not only make that day more enjoyable, but it can also improve my outlook on how I am feeling about life, helping to appreciate what I have and keeping me from getting stressed out (too much). Looking forward to each day I have the ability to realize the millions of silver linings that I have been ignoring, because I have been skimming past them for so long and not living life in the present. Overall, I need to stop thinking about everything. I need to just live as I have a truly wonderful life, we both do. If I’m writing an email or immersed into my work, I hone in on how good it feels to be typing. If I’m driving, I crack up the music, let me hair down and sing my heart out making sure to appreciate the scenery with extra attention to detail, especially in and around Taupo where we live as we live in NZ paradise. The trickiest one for me is I stop trying to control everything. It’s so hard for me to not be in control, I panic but I know in order to improve my mental health I just live in the moment. ‘’You don’t need to travel the world or do big things to live an extraordinary life. Be present. Notice the beauty around you. Be curious. Try the things that interest you. Be brave. Start the things you’ve been putting off. Create something. Learn something. Teach something. And do it all for the love of it’’. Anyway, that’s me off to go watch Vanderpump rules and be a potato for the next hour!   ” Travel makes a wise man better but a fool worse.” – Thomas Fuller I will start this by letting you all know to PLEASE get you vaccinations before traveling. I will also start this with the disclaimer that I am not a doctor…by any means and everything I have written here is strictly my view on vaccinations and our own personal experience along with some tips from World Nomads insurance. Now, I am about to tell you a sad story which actually happened to us and will really push you into getting those vaccinations. Two years ago we traveled to Brazil and on top of that planned a 10 day trip to the Galapagos. As we were traveling from NZ which is a safe country we didn’t need any vaccinations for Ecuador or Galapagos – SWEET. Upon arriving in Brazil however, there had been an outbreak of yellow fever in - THE STATE WE WERE IN! and a lot of people were dying from it. So, upon checking in for our flight to Ecuador we were informed that we, because we had been in an infected area, could not board the plane without our certificates of Yellow fever and proof of vaccination. WTF?? What the actual F**K? …we lost that full 10 day trip, and travel insurance will not cover that just an FYI. On top of that, we were actually not allowed to then leave Brazil if we were flying to any other worldwide country that was a yellow fever risk, even Australia! Safe to say, I freaked out and cried a lot, but after many tearful phone calls we were informed that NZ was safe. (It really is the best country to live in) So, with this said, DO NOT LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU! Please get your Yellow Fever vaccination, it is a little expensive usually about $180-250NZD but 100% worth it. **We have ours now and get them at the start of the year. Some other vaccines that are definitely advisable are:
Backtracking, over New Year 18/19 we traveled to Thailand for a week to spend time with my brothers as they both still live in the UK so we hardly ever get to see them. It was truly awesome, in fact one of the coolest holidays we have had, BUT this is where my tip #1 comes in handy as I got poisoned on the second last day. Yes, it's pretty normal, I have had food poisoning in the past and to be honest usually get it in S.E.Asia but after being there 9 times – it doesn’t stop me from returning. I just love the food, culture and people! Anyone who has been will 100% agree. However, this time I ended up being hospitalized as my condition became more severe to the point I couldn't lick an ice cube without projectile vomiting out pretty much every orifice in the head - how's that for a mental image? The doctors couldn’t pin point the source of the poisoning, only that it was most probably water born. 1. Do not drink the water I would recommend that you assume that all water is contaminated, it may be extra cautious but well worth it. Drink and brush your teeth with bottled or treated water only and keep your mouth closed while taking a shower – I AM A SHOWER SINGER AND AS DIFFICULT AS IT IS DON’T DO IT! World Nomads have written this article which really helps if you need more info - water safety while traveling.) 2. Be that annoying compulsive Hand Washer Not just because it’s the right thing to do but when traveling it’s the safe thing to do. Always carry a bottle of hand sanitized in your handbag/day pack and especially if you go on any treks. Prevent yourself from being hospitalized like me or catching some god-awful disease which will not just ruin your holiday…but could potentially ruin your life and use sanitizer before each meal, after handling paper bills and coins and always try and not touch your face or mouth! 3. Avoid Mozzie Bites Ok, so mozzie bites are gross, they are not only super annoying but they are ugly, itchy, if you are anything like my mum, can make your face swell up and look like Quasimodo (her words not mine) So as much as each day you will be having so much fun and feel you don’t have time for a quick spray of repellent, stop what you are doing and do it! I continuously tell any of my travel clients to use DEET and permethrin, wear long sleeves and pants when you can, and mozzie nets in bed to prevent insect bites. “Life is a journey. Make the best of it.” Are you a seasoned traveler and have some must do tips and tricks for staying safe? Let us know so we can add these to our list!   Digital Nomad and travel blogger…best job in the world, right? Get paid to travel the world and write all about it – sounds wonderful, l where can I sign up?? Yes, I am sure this is a wonderful job, but that’s not what I am or what I do. Sometimes, I wish I was, but I actually have a wonderful job that allows me to travel and most importantly, maintain traveling cheaply, while also keep this diary up to date. When we are traveling this year, we are using a company called Work.Away. If you haven’t heard of this company before, check out the link above as it is truly a wonderful organisation. Myself and Leo are ‘workawayers’ which means we are travelers interested in cultural exchange and learning but will help out for a few hours a day in exchange for food and accommodation, with visits lasting anywhere from a few days to a few months. So far, we have secured work in pretty much the most magical place on this planet - the Galapagos islands where we will work there for 1 month. We are also in the process of finalizing Colombia and Costa Rica for June/July this year before we start the process again for Africa in November on wards. This allows us to travel cheaply and stay for free, whilst making a difference to the communities we visit. We can utilize our existing skills in Tourism and help various companies along the way. I whole heatedly think this idea is wonderful as I know there are so many people in the world who just need help and if we can be more than just tourists then why would we not go balls deep and give this opportunity 100%! The next travel experience that we will have is House and Pet sitting through Trusted House Sitters. If you love animals & adventure, then for just $130.00NZD a year this platform allows you to sign up as a house and pet sitter where you can apply to look after people’s pets and homes all over the world! We have a lot of friends who have used this site and after much research this one, although slightly more expensive, gives the most comprehensive support and information. If this sounds like something you would like to do, then use this code RAF246957 and you will receive 25% off your membership – you are welcome! It also helps us out too as it allows us to travel for longer and will help to increase our membership validity, so we thank you in advance too! These are 2 fantastic ways to travel cheaply and stay for free along the way while making your experience meaningful and not being your average tourist. So, moving on to my actual job; I work for a company ‘Stray Travel’ as their digital sales co-ordinator. For the past 5+ years this has been my passion and I am blessed as I work remotely and plan other people’s travels! This is the only time in my life that having ‘high functioning anxiety’ comes in handy as it always allows me to put in 100% effort to a job that’s not based in an ‘office’. See, sometimes anxiety can be a good thing. It can motivate you to finish your tasks, work harder for a goal and it can alert you when in dangerous situations - hence why I describe myself as 'thriving'. Oh ...and It helps that this truly the best job in the world! ''If you are in thriving mode, you are focused on your big dream goal and you keep making baby steps towards it. Your big dream is clear and even if you don't know the exact path, you can see what the next step is. You don't let obstacles get in your way. You simply find the easiest solution and keep moving towards your big goal.'' - Rachel Kate Rose I can plan and book all your New Zealand, East Coast Australia and South East travel through our adventure bus network focusing on 'off the beaten track' locations and true travel experiences. So, if you have any questions then get in touch! It’s actually the one thing I can say I am an expert in and you can check everything out here. Are you traveling the world and working while at it? What do you do? Let's share stories!   So, in most of flights we have 23kg’s which is great but for Iceland we have a maximum of 20kg’s unless we want to pay a horrific amount before or at the Airport to add on baggage – don’t you just love low cost Airlines? In fact, Delta is the worst as you can’t even add on luggage at time of booking… but that’s a story for another day I feel as it’s still a raw wound that needs time to heal first. Packing wise, we are both pretty economical when it comes to packing for trips as we just don’t own that much stuff – Minimalism is a dream! However, I recently bought a new Mac Pac 80L backpack which is amazing but is HUGE! I guess it will be good if we get stuck for accommo as we can both sleep in my luggage, but still…I don’t want to take too much. After much chat about what company to get our gear from we opted for both Mac Pac and Kathmandu this year for our packs, for no other reason than they are both great quality and we got them on a brilliant sale. TRAVEL TIP : Never buy full price Kathmandu! If you have any friends that work in Kathmandu, ask them when there is a friends and family day as they get MEGA discounts so that is the day to buy your travel gear for sure. I managed to buy Leo’s pack reduced from $699 down to $290NZD – that mark down is unreal! My bag was slightly more expensive, but I still got it for $310 reduced from $690NZD. Clothes wise – what do you pack for a trip where we will be hiking Glaciers, relaxing on the beach, camping, spending time in sweltering deserts? Honestly…we don’t know either, but active wear is always a hit right? So, I plan to pack as lightly and sporty as possible. As for Leo he is pretty much doing the same along with our Merino’s and Puffer jackets (if you are from NZ you will understand these are a staple in everyone’s wardrobe) Now, the most important, integral, space saving hack we have came across is packing cells! You can get these from Kathmandu and they have saved our lives on so many trips. Instead of packing all your clothes straight into your pack and then on the 2nd day realize you can’t find anything and it’s a complete mess – BUY PACKING CELLS. I cannot stress this enough; these little beauties allow you to arrange and pack your clothes in cells essentially and from there provide a fantastic space saving hack as well as saves various anxiety attacks daily when the mess takes over. Anxiety attacks…really?? YES, if anyone has met me then you will know that I am crippled with high functioning anxiety. More to follow, I promise. Camera equipment – This is the fun part, right? I cannot live without taking photos so in our kit bag this year we have: - Go Pro 6 - Go Pro Dome (this was my best buy of 2018 for sure) - 2 x tripods (selfie stick, and Gorilla Pod) - 1 x Floaty - DJI Spark drone - Canon 6D Do you have any packing tips/ must’s that we should know about? Please let us know as we welcome any tips to make packing less stressful and would appreciate it so much!  |
AuthorHey! I'm Ally. I left the UK in 2011 to move overseas and ended up in New Zealand - my new home. This year we are taking a gap year to loop the world stopping in some AMAZING destinations - and I'm passionate about sharing these adventures with you! 
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