Scared to travel after Covid-19?

Are you scared to travel after Covid-19? You’re not alone. There is tremendous uncertainty around how various industries will operate as the world slowly emerges from Covid-19 quarantine. The travel industry is not immune (see the recent Psychology of Travel post on how the travel industry will change and what it means for you). All this uncertainty has many of us nervous about resuming travel activities. Should I buy buckets of sanitizer or a legit travel-friendly first aid kit? Should I travel at all? What will it be like? Will I be safe?

The message in this post is not that you shouldn’t have any anxiety about traveling after Covid-19, but rather to help you consider how your thoughts may be affecting your travel anxiety and decisions.

What Can Psychology Tell Us About These Travel Fears?

Psychology can offer some suggestions on how uncertainties affect us. We do our best to fill in the gaps and make predictions. We don’t know every factor ahead on our drive to the grocery store, but we quickly input our past experiences about driving conditions, the current weather, traffic during this time of day, and make an educated guess. This calculation usually happens in the snap of a finger and often below our conscious awareness.

So, there are uncertainties in almost all aspects of life, but not all uncertainties are problematic. Usually without consciously thinking about it, we fill the gaps of uncertainty with our history of similar experiences. When we have no previous experience with new kinds of activities, sometimes we infer from the experiences of others (first-time flyers rely on descriptions from seasoned flyers regarding how it will “feel” to fly).

Did you pick up on the dilemma then for resuming travel after Covid-19? Since a primary way we deal with uncertainties is by borrowing from our past experiences or those of others, that means we (or at least someone) needs to have gone through a Covid-like experience before. Uh oh. Precisely no one on planet earth can pull from experience because no one alive today has ever seen a travel-pausing event like Covid-19 before. The thoughts we have about this uncertainty lead to emotions like fear and anxiety.

Automatic Thoughts

Enter what psychologists call “Automatic Thoughts”. Automatic thoughts are the very first thoughts, words, and images that pop into our minds when we think of something or need to make a decision. These thoughts often operate without our conscious awareness. They are connected to our emotions, and emotions can influence our decisions and behaviors.

Let’s use the example of booking a vacation flight for the first time since Covid-19 began. In this example, an automatic thought might look something like: “I’ll definitely get Covid-19 if I go to the airport”. This thought contributes to emotions like anxiety and fear. When anxious, you are less likely to do that particular activity, so you choose to stop booking your flight. Automatic thoughts aren’t inherently “good” or “bad”, but they can lead to you feeling scared to travel.

Automatic Thought Example
Thought	“I’ll definitely get Covid-19 if I go to the airport”
Emotion	Fear/Anxiety
Behavior	Avoid going to the airport

So, what can you do to deal with being scared to travel? There’s plenty of options in this case, including talking with mental health professionals about your concerns, following the latest CDC and travel advisories, and practicing relaxation strategies like yoga or diaphragmatic breathing exercises to manage anxiety.

However, to address the automatic thoughts in our example above, there’s a basic strategy that can also be helpful. First, consider the evidence that supports your automatic thought. This should come rather easily as it was your initial inclination. Next, make an effort to identify evidence that does not support (or at least does not fully support) your automatic thought. Now, combine the evidence for and the evidence against your automatic thought to create a new, more balanced thought.

Challenging Your Automatic Thoughts on Travel

Let’s use the example again to help make this more clear. The evidence in support of the automatic thought “I’ll definitely get Covid-19 if I go to the airport” may include the very real lingering possibilities of Covid-19 exposure. However, evidence against this automatic thought includes improvements in sanitation at airports, your own increased situational and safety awareness (e.g., how you take care of yourself using social distancing and washing hands), access to safety resources like masks, gloves, travel hand soap, and clearance for travel by health experts.

Thus, a more balanced or “combined” thought would be: “Going to the airport still feels somewhat dangerous, but with improved sanitation, better self-awareness, and approval from health experts, it seems more safe at this point despite the lingering concerns.” With this more balanced thought, you would likely have less anxiety (not “zero” anxiety, but less). In turn, you may be more likely to follow through with booking your flight.

A More Balanced Approach
Thought	“I’ll definitely get Covid-19 if I go to the airport”
Evidence for	Covid-19 exposure is still a possibility
Evidence against	Sanitized airports, improved self-awareness and situational awareness, safety gear, health expert advice
Balanced thought	“Going to the airport still feels somewhat dangerous, but there are improved safety precautions”
Emotion	Less fear/anxiety
Behavior	More likely to follow through with booking flight

Do your thoughts affect your travel fears?

What are your automatic thoughts about getting back to traveling after Covid-19? Try to become more aware of your automatic thought process and practice coming up with more balanced thoughts. You may find that with the new more balanced view, things may not feel quite as scary as you had initially felt. It’s not a magic trick that can guide you in all travel decisions, but this process may help if you’re one of the many who are scared to travel after Covid-19.

Is there anyone you need to share this information with? Can you come up with other examples where your “automatic thought” about traveling may have needed a bit of perspective? Consider sharing below.

Also, remember to sign up for the Psychology of Travel newsletter for more travel insights like this.

Happy Travels,

-Dr. L Founder
PsychologyofTravel.com

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