It took me a very long time to get the travel bug. Well into my late 20s in fact and since then I've done my best to put my feet on the soil of as many different countries and continents as possible.
Suffering from anxiety makes any travel experience challenging, some might even say miserable, but with no sign of instant teleportation appearing any time soon, travelling is what travellers must do, and all the tiny insignificant things that less anxious people find whimsical and amusing can turn into nightmare fodder for us sufferers,
We recently went on a very challenging trip to New York AND Iceland in the same holiday, which sounds idyllic right? But even with the best efforts of a really good (and understanding) travel agency, there were still things that ramped up our anxiety levels needlessly (I suffer from anxiety as does my wife to a lesser extent - but we both sweat over different things in different ways).
The whole airport thing
You know what? The modern airport travel experience is amazing. No really, everything's automated and you don't need to wave pieces of paper at anyone any more, you can book flights and get e-tickets, even self-check in your bags (and yourself) across many different countries which should be fantastic for anxiety sufferers everywhere. But the stress is caused by people. Plainly and simply, if you want to see the most ignorant selfish behaviour in human beings, go on a flight with a bunch of people who think your overhead storage bin is theirs for their massive amount of carry on luggage, and that their seat back has to be as near-horizontal as possible to cause you (the poor sod sitting behind them) the maximum discomfort. Honestly, I measured the distance between my nose and the entertainment screen in front of me after one old wanker did exactly that. 5 inches. 5 fucking inches away from some old wanker's flaky scalp. Great.
We always travel fairly light in terms of carry-on stuff but even on a short flight it was amazing how people got away with multiple bags, all the right size for those airport bins, but large enough to ensure that every single one of them would take up a whole bin to themselves. Just the shittiest behaviour really, selfish to a core.
Then there are those lovely people who think that your arm rest is their foot rest, and put their stinky feet up on your arm rest while travelling (usually with their shoes or indeed their socks off, ugh!)
The couples who can't stop fiddling with each other's prison wallets while sitting on the plane. Great.
Those with kids who think it's perfectly acceptable for their little darling to continually kick your seat back, or tap you on the head (get 'em back by watching all the rude bits of Oppenheimer on a loop, even if they're blurred out it'll make for some interesting questions from their little sweethearts later on!)
So yeah, flying sucks. Totally sucks.
Airport transfers
We didn't get these as part of our package tour, so imagine the stress of trying to find transport from the airport (in the middle of nowhere) to your hotel (in the middle of the city) late at night when your flight arrives at nearly midnight local time. So you're forced to grab a taxi and pay through the nose. Trust me on this one, if your holiday company offers you transfers, bite their hands off even if they do cost more!
Hotels
What the FUCK is wrong with the US? Why does checking into a hotel end up as some kind of sleight of hand show with the hotel paid up front, yet the hotel also still insisting that you pay registration fees, administration fees, destination fees, resort fees, security deposits and (for the sake of all that's holy) extra charges if you want wifi that isn't running at dial-up speeds. Amazingly we had nothing of this in Iceland, even though the country is so expensive to stay in that you will literally need a king's ransom to buy a pizza there.
Eating out - as a vegetarian or vegan
I always thought the UK was completely backwards when it came to vegetarian / vegan restaurant options but without exception, every single other country I've ever visited has done far worse. The US is hilarious, they still treat vegetarianism / veganism as some sort of quirky character flaw. If you're not eating 100%American beef, you're some sort of faggot. So we really struggled in New York even for something relatively simple like a pizza (what the hell is wrong with the Downtown area that it only has a couple of pizza joints?) Food wagons? Forget about it, I would rather not spend a week in New York pissing rusty water thanks.
The language barrier
Anxiety sufferer? Visiting a foreign country where English isn't a dominant language? Oh you're in for some fun. Until someone invents a real-life babel fish (no, google translate doesn't count), communication is going to be a challenge. I think this is one of the main reasons we've missed out on a lot of places we really want to visit (including Japan)
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