This is Panic 7 - holiday

Hey everyone, sorry for the delay to part 7. As the title may suggest, I'm currently away at my secret remote location (the in-laws) on a relaxation mission at the moment.

Holidays are something we all need. We all need a couple of days away from the norm of our lives and that means going away somewhere nice (hopefully, it depends on what you want to do) to "relax".

Now I've put "relax" like that because, as I've mentioned before, relaxation for some of us is really hard. Just because we're in a different place away from our normal lives doesn't mean that we can forget what causes our anxieties or escape our triggers so what are we supposed to do with ourselves? Once again as I am in the middle of a situation, I wanted to throw a couple ideas out there as to what I do to avoid holiday stress, both before and after:

1. Be organised: Now hear me right, I don't mean organise every minute detail of every day but have all the major points organised; where you are staying, how many nights, how much, what planes/trains/coaches/buses need to be caught and tickets booked appropriately. There is nothing worse for me than realising I need to get a mode of transport and having no idea where to go and what to do.

2. Planing the day: As above, it's not a case of minute organisation of every minute of every day. Holidays are meant to be loose and non constrained but if you decide on an excursion then plan it well. There's no point and will only cause arguments and stress to you and others if plans keep chopping and changing. Take some time to find out where you can go and what you can do, plan it out and go for it. Try and have a couple of days where you don't do something though. If you have holidays for the reasons I have them (because I am shattered from working so hard that I need a break) then a day or two of doing little more than reading is really needed.
Remember to be nice and make compromises though. You can't do everything you want all the time but make sure you get to do bits you want as well.

3. Travel packs: You know what I mean by that; the board games but in little versions that pack into small boxes to keep the kids entertained in the car or the plastic travel packs of tissues that sit in your pocket rather than having a ruddy great box. Well if you're going away and you are susceptible to attacks then think about your own travel attack pack. At the moment I am not too bad so my pack generally consists of a paper bag and a bottle of water at the moment but you may want to add more to that. If you have meds then definately add those and always make sure you have enough medication on you to last the full length of your holiday there and back. Other things like any self help books and Rescue Remedy/St John's Wart (again only use as directed, never more) should be included but only if you feel it necessary.

4. Enjoy yourself: A really easy thing to say I know but that's the point of a holiday, to have fun. I know if you're in the middle of a depression spiral or a cycle of really bad attacks then it can be soul crushingly hard to just "relax" but this is a week where all normal expectations on you are not what they were. You can just be who you are/want to be. Work can wait, everything else for those days can be put to one side and you can just forget about the world.

As ever not a complete guide but hopefully it'll give you some ideas as to what to bear in mind so you can have a good rest.

I've written enough for today, I think I need a break.