Anxious About Driving Away From Home

[gk]

Hi there everyone. I have a ski trip coming up and I really want to be excited for it but it's really hard for me. I am going to be the one driving my friends and I up to the mountains (it's a 4.5 hr drive), and I'm just freaking out about it. I have never driven that far before, not in the winter at least, and I am just so scared of getting anxious on the highway or getting a migraine or whatever else. I would absolutely love to be able to drive there and back calmly and safely, but my mind just won't let me think that way.

Does anyone have any tips for driving anxiety, staying distracted and calm while driving, and just trying to change my mindset so I can actually have fun? (PS I am driving 2 friends so I will not be driving alone). I already get anxious leaving home as it is, and health anxiety is my worst enemy; I really don't need another thing to worry about

Thanks in advance!

[nomorepanic]

Have you read this:

http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/articles/coping

There is a bit about driving

[Carys]

Could you perhaps add another friend or two to your insurance for a few days? Not that they HAVE to drive, or that you'd ask them to, but it would make you feel less anxious maybe if you knew there were other people who could take over. Its a 'security/coping strategy' type of thing, but I can see that for you, with not having driven so far and even having trouble leaving home, its a big task for a first time of doing it. To be honest it would make sense to have another person who could drive anyway, that is quite a distance to be driving in one go as the sole driver.