Travelling with dyspraxia
It can be daunting to book travel, so ideally make al your bookings with another person. My mum pointed out to me that going on a big group tour might be safe, but I might not want to go partying, or that I might love to volunteer with the elephants but that maybe a whole week of hard work would be tricky to manage energy levels! It might be that you find alternatives that work for you – I found withlocals.com useful for sightseeing safely, without being in a big tour group. The research is the fun bit! But it is easy to want to do everything and get overwhelmed, another reason for going through it with someone. Give yourself plenty of time for research and planning. It may be more challenging for dyspraxic individuals, but that does not mean we cannot do it! We can totally travel, go long-haul and even travel solo – we just need to give ourselves a little extra time.
Planning can be challenging as a dyspraxic individual.
However the process of solid planning plays to our bottom-up thinking and means that we will be less muddled and anxious in the long run. By being so methodical in my planning, I remembered more elements of the trip and therefore felt less anxious. This was my approach:
- Get a double ring-binder and a plastic wallet (the kind with the popper close that you can put multiple documents into). The folder is to give to a friend, the wallet for you as it can go in your luggage.
- Label Poly pockets for every stage of your journey. For instance, I had a Poly pocket labelled ‘Home to Bangkok’, another ‘Bangkok to Chiang Mai’, and so on. Do this twice – a set for your wallet, a set for the folder for your friend.
- Print everything– al e-tickets, boarding passes, hotel bookings, etc. twice and put them into the corresponding poly pockets. Do this methodically so that you do not get mixed up – start by only printing your flight tickets from the UK to the flight destination, put one set in your wallet and one in the folder for your friend, and only then move on.
- Print copies of your travel insurance and the back page of your passport and put these in the wallet/folder too.
Itinerary
I also typed out an itinerary of al my activities and had a copy in my wallet and gave a copy to my mum too. I listed what I was doing and when, but also bullet pointed the info like flight number, check-in time, gate number (if known), any reference numbers, etc. underneath as well. I found this helped to alleviate my anxieties and by doing this step-by-step procedure I had a breakdown of the journey(s) in my mind. If I did blank on a certain part of the trip, or felt muddled, it was very easy to check and put myself right. Make sure that this is easy to read for you. This is time-consuming, but it not only means that you can be sure that you have everything in hard-copy form should anything go wrong with your phone, but that someone at home has al the info too should you need to contact them for support.
Think of the Future You…
I use Brain In Hand, but if you cannot access this, you can still use the ‘Unplanned!’ function for yourself. This means thinking about the kinds of things that might cause you anxiety and planning for Future You. Then, if a pesky ‘Unplanned!’ crops up, whip out your ‘Unplanned!’, look at what Past You advises, and follow their guidance. Slow down. Breathe. What is the next thing you can control? Ensure that you sip a drink and eat something. Etc. Past You is so wise! You could have this in Notes on your phone or index cards. Or both. I found this super empowering because on more than a few occasions when I might previously have contacted my mum, I was able to help myself by listening to Past Me.
Packing
- Write a list and get someone to check the List! Only then begin packing…
- Try to pack the things you will need for the final portion of your trip first so that they will be at the bottom and work backward.
- Have extras of important things you might misplace like phone chargers.
- Check off the list as you go!
- Have an ‘On The Day’ list for the things that will need to go in on the day you set off (e.g. toothbrush, phone charger, deodorant) and check them off as you go on the day too.
With all of this in place, the next thing is self-belief. You got this! Remember it’s ok to ask for help, and Google is a wonderful thing. I hope these tips help you to enjoy travelling!
Written by: Bryony Joy Kirkpatrick
