Does anyone else get holiday dread?

[hopeishere]

We are going away this week. Instead of feeling excited I just feel like I'm dreading it and thinking things like 'this time two weeks we will be on our way home'.

I don't like leaving the dog. I worry about getting sick while we are there. I've done loads of research but I still can't relax into it.

Yes, I get that.

I was a bag if nerves before our holiday in June.

Had I declared everything on the travel insurance?

Hope we don’t have an accident getting there (self drive to France).

Hope we don’t get stuck in the Eurotunnel train.

Hope tge dog is okay - first time in dog boarders

Hope the house isn’t broken into?

etc

When I’m there, I do relax. However, stayed in a house with a spiral-type staircase, with a rope banister, so that didn’t put me at ease, as it felt dangerous.

Ha! Yes I'm also fretting about the house we've rented.

DS has special needs and I'm wondering if the door locks are secure!! I've gone so far as to google the address, found a video from when it was for sale and so have done a virtual walk round of it!! It does look lovely so that's good.

There was a thread in this recently. Glad I’m not alone. I’m beginning to wonder if it’s worth going on holiday at all these days.

The only time I regret getting a dog is when I go on holiday. The guilt weighs on me as if I’d dumped the bloody dog up the mountains rather than left her with my parents 😂.
But as long as they are being looked after the dog will miss you and then adjust and will be fine. Enjoy your holiday op

I hate holiday prep - packing / shopping / tidying / organising etc. - find it so stressful. But once away it’s all good. Any chance stress of prep is overwhelming you and colouring view of whole thing?

Yes, I’m exactly the same. I miss our pets, I find it all incredibly intense eating 3 meals a day every day with all members of my family (introvert) and when we went away last week, my husband and I both did get incredibly sick 🤦‍♀️ the beds were beyond uncomfortable and every night I would lie in bed and think “Only X more sleeps until we’re home”

Me too. In my case it's because I can never sleep well on holiday. I worry a serial killer will break in and murder us. I worry the accommodation is haunted. I worry I'll get up to use the toilet in the night and see someone or something peering in the window. It goes on and on.

I'm a sane and rational adult but Holiday Me is a raving loon!

No. I really wouldn’t waste money on holidays if I felt like that. Is it worth it?

Yes me too, and we're a blended family who muddle along normally. My sd hates me and my daughters so doesn't speak to us most weekends either so I am worried about how our week will be. She's so challenging we've avoided them for years but this year decided we'd try again! I'm not really looking fwd to it all

Yes, me too. I was never like this before Covid.

Oh god, that’s me! Going away next week for a few nights with a large group of friends and even though I love seeing them all, I sort of dread it too! I’ve already this morning done the “this time next week I’ll be back home” scenario.

Same here - and thank you for being honest enough to post this.
I’ve always been like this. DH absolutely loves going away and wants to talk about it for months in advance, I spend the week leading up to going away wondering why I agreed to going, whether all the preparations are worth the effort, hating the packing and planning (and I no longer have young children to consider either!) and the self inflicted thorough house clean I feel I need to do. I’ve even secretly hoped there might be an ATC strike that might force a holiday cancellation.

However, when I’m sitting on a beach, cocktail in hand and my only decision is what to wear for dinner, I finally relax. I think it’s the travelling I’ve always hated, not the final destination.

Looking back though, I seriously wonder how and why we did long haul when the DCs were younger and why we made the whole travelling experience so stressful, but they have such positive memories, it must have been worth it.

I forgot the self-inflicted house clean and getting all the washing done and put away.

I just overthink everything. It's so draining. I know I'll have a nice time when I get there.

Oh God yes. I am virtually having a nervous breakdown by the time I leave the house.

I'm on holiday now, I worried myself sick before hand that:
The taxi wouldn't turn up (it did)
I wouldn't fit in the Ryanair plane seat (I did)
My bag would be too big/heavy (it wasn't)
The hotel would be awful (it isn't)
It would be too hot (it is!!!!)
I would lose my passport (not yet)
One of us would get seriously ill (healthy so far)

So many fears turn out to be groundless but it's really no use telling yourself that before you go is it?
I hope you have a wonderful holiday.

I don't go on holiday for this reason. The most I will do is 3 nights away somewhere.

I’ve just been mulling over a wildfire evacuation plan for our upcoming holiday.

I’ve also found the villa we’re staying in on about 10 different websites so I can look at pictures of the interior at different angles to assess child safety.

We’ve been packed for about a week, including a carbon monoxide monitor, just in case.

I am an otherwise sane member of society. You are not alone OP

We go on holiday in the UK. I find it very unsettling and get in a tizz packing everything, but DH is very helpful - he always says, 'All we really need is our housekeys and credit cards. And if it's really bad, we'll just come home.'

I do find it hard work, though. DD has all these issues around food, so eating out is a nightmare. The bedlinen is never as nice as my bedlinen. DH routinely falls asleep at 8.30, whereas DD (12, ASD) is still bouncing off the walls at midnight. DH is, naturally, awake at 5.30 am every morning having fallen asleep at 8.30, and seems to think I want to chat, when I want to sleep as I've been up late with DD trying to coax her to bed. DD and DH also argue continually. I never seem to have a moment to myself and the whole holiday is spent mediating between the two of them and trying to keep everyone happy. I am getting like Shirley Valentine - I want to sit by myself in the sunshine, looking at the sea, drinking a glass of wine.

A child with SN does add to the worry mix! My son is also has a limited diet. But he's never nog been able to eat nothing on holiday.

I love holidays and am desperately counting down the weeks until about one week before. Then the panic kicks in. Mainly about leaving my work in a state that it can be left or picked up by someone else in an emergency. I have found myself working right up to leaving the house. But also packing, buying stuff I need and tidying the house because we have a pet sitter coming in (and we’re normally messy). In the day or two leading up to a flight I’m also wracked with flying fear, which is nice.

Me!
going away next week and feel sick with anxiety.

Supposed to be on leave now but still have a few hours worth of work to get up to date. As per previous poster I worry about colleagues having to pick things up while I’m away.

but I think it’s more that we’re going abroad for the first time in many years. Not keen on flying so getting the ferry but feel just as worried about that!
Mostly that it will be rough , but also that I’ll become claustrophobic in the middle of the crossing on the realisation that we’re 2 hours from land in any direction.
Like others I also worry about the thought of any of us being ill or having a medical emergency while away.

Me too.

Mostly I enjoy them when I get there but the run up seems like such a hassle of worry. Probably why I only tend to go once every other year.

Last night I found myself watching YouTube videos of rough ferry crossings just to see what I could be letting myself in for!
I’ve been on a couple before many years ago, during a time when I was much less anxious and carefree!

I wouldn’t go away if I felt like that. What’s the point! Are you the same if you holiday in UK rathe then abroad? Presuming you’re in the UK.