Preparation Anxiety

Palms sweating. Jaw tight. Lungs hurting. Headache. Nausea. I’m about to travel to Barcelona. Strangely enough, I’m not in the least bit scared of flying. I live for the thrill of take-off – the exhilarating feeling of your stomach meeting your heart for just a split second. What terrifies me is everything before: packing, getting to the airport, checking in.

Naturally, I think of everything that can go wrong. Everything from the usual – forgetting my passport, misplacing my luggage, terrorist attacks - to the neurotic and extremely obscure – tripping over and cracking a tooth, losing a shoe to the infamous tube station ‘gap’ that passengers are so frequently encouraged to ‘mind’, spontaneously losing my vision.

I’ve had to develop specialised breathing techniques to deal with this stress – breathing in for 6, holding for 3, breathing out for 6. But, occasionally, in the midst of the 3 second holding period, I start to worry that my diaphragm has stopped functioning, and force myself to perform an emergency exhale.

Perhaps I am better to just hold my breath completely until I am safely buckled into my seat. And then a Gin & Tonic will definitely be in order. Adios.