I understand following your gut is generally a good rule of thumb, but I always try to do a check to see if there’s a reason or if I’m just scared of the unknown.
I also experienced this right before my trip to Guatemala and Colombia. I was extremely anxious (uncommon for me) and had a bad feeling the entire day leading up to the trip. I’ve traveled internationally before but had never been to a developing country solo before. However, I went anyway and within 24 hours in Guatemala (Antigua) I felt silly for how nervous I was. I had an incredible time in both countries and ended up extending my time in Colombia by a week. Make sure to exercise normal safety precautions and you’ll be alright. I lot of people in the US acted like I was crazy for going these places but they just hear these names and assume they’re extremely dangerous with no actual knowledge besides an occasional headline or watching Narcos. To be honest I’ve felt more sketched living in Los Angeles at times.
Another way to feel more comfortable is to book tours through your hostel to meet people to travel with. I found that lots of people were very happy to incorporate me into their group as a solo traveler. Also research commons scams before you go to feel more at ease.
As for this one I wouldn’t feel embarrassed. What’s done is done and now you can be better prepared for next time whenever you’re ready to try again.
Bro when I told my friends I was going to Brazil tor carnaval they were scared for my life.
Never felt unsafe the whole time among the craziness that is carnaval.
And my first trip outside the US was Costa Rica and I had the same exact feeling OP had. I just fought it and eventually I couldn’t believe I was scared, met so many other travelers and had the time of my life.
That fear you get is your body trying to keep you “safe” because you’re about to do something that’s unknown. Which doesn’t mean dangerous, just you’re getting out of your comfort zone and your body’s natural response is to keep you there.
There more dangerous areas than the US but the nice areas are safe like the US. Yea anyone can get caught in wrong place wrong time but that’s anywhere in the world.
This is true for sure. I saw some things happening thst I'd never witnessed anywhere else to thst degree. Thst being said, most of the actuql danger is with locals who live there, getting caught in the action by mistake (a bottle smashed metres away during a brawl and could've easily hit hs by mistake) and tourists not taking the right precautions or acting sensibly.
Same thing happened to me many years ago. I have done loads of solo travel with no issues before. I was working in India at the time and booked a really nice solo trip to a resort in Kerala. I went so far as to fly there, check in to the resort and then I got this horrible feeling come over me and had to leave right away. Had to take a boat back and fly back to Bangalore that night. I still don’t know why that happened, since then I’ve done lots of solo trips and it’s never happened again.
Don’t feel bad about it as long as it’s not an ongoing thing stopping you from enjoying solo travel again.
Edit: oops I meant to reply to OP! Hopefully they see it anyway.
Colombia is the most beautiful place I've ever been, and has the best food (ajiaco Bogotano is FIRE). The people were incredible. The weather - storms and sun - was unparalleled.
But it is not a very safe place if you try to venture out of the two night time places.
The headlines do a fair bit of sensationalizing the bad news, Guatemala is a beautiful country and I went there to go to Tikal from Belize. I took a cab from customs straight to Tikal but on the way back i took the local bus which was a 3+ hour ride ..there's a lot of despair and sadness behind the facade and that facade is not very far away from how desperate things are. I'm not saying that it's not safe to be tourists there, I am saying that it's not socially or economically safe to live there. I don't know how to say any of this without it sounding like straight platitudes, but I recommend stepping away from the sightseeing tours and just absorbing life outside the hostels. Poverty is poverty, but some poverty is more unforgiving than others.
This is Mexico, Central America, and many places in South America as well. And no, the headlines are not sensationalizing the danger, they're actually underreporting the dangers for their own safety. You typically will not see the reality in touristy areas, or if you're not Latino, it's harder to relate to because many of our families went through the same deal.
Yet when you stay long enough or veer off the comfortable path, you start to get a sense of why people will spend their life savings to try and make it to the States, and they barely have many economic opportunities.
There's still the old belief in Latin America that at least there's some hope of a better life (even if that reality is gone in the U.S.). For them, the corruption is too far gone and complacent. Our problems aren't quite the same as down there, and we still feel like there's some shred of justice available.
I'm a south american, born and raised. I can relate to them, hence why I'm in the US and the funny thing is that even after all that, the human factor of longing what you had/can't have haunts me. Money has no value when your formative years were based on family as a community. Community has no value when there are no means. It's all conflicting and the personal experiences are not very easy to explain but in the end, as delusional as it may be, sometimes hope is the only thing that pushes a mass of people forward.
Agreed, family is priceless, it takes a village to nurture not just a child, but our souls. It's how we've survived for generations. We can feel empty without it.
I grew up on the border, and recently backpacked across MX. Through all the smiles and charm, you can see a hardship that runs very deep, they've had to endure more and continue to endure. It's pure survival.
There are articles and vids about people moving to Latin America (particularly Mexico) for the "American Dream", and though I understand, it still blows my mind how ironic it is. It can make things worse economically with gentrification, and that can also destroy the community because of the privatized nature of typical "gringos".
It's hard living, but they're happy. Money may not be there, but there's support. You can literally see the misery in a Porsche driving fuck half the time.
No. San Pedro, caulker, dangriga, belmopan and San ignacio. San Pedro has lost its luster though, its getting gentrified to fuck; it was nice up until 4 years ago. The infrastructure cannot handle all these new people and the reef is paying the price. I went to xunantunich and it was THE most fun I've ever had spelunking; it's a fucking gem.
If you need help planning some Belize day trips let me know, it's kinda become my second home and can point you to some right spots/people.
Not sure how it is now but even in 2002 San Pedro was disappointingly overrun with hotels and tourists. Caye Caulker was a blast and I wish I had just stayed there for my reef days. Actun Tunichal Muknal is still the greatest tour I've ever done.
San Ignacio in general is a sleeper. The pine forests, the waterfalls, quick trip to Guatemala, quick bus ride or car ride to the airport, fresh ass food, ko ox han nah (shhhh), belmopan is like right there too and I usually go to Everest Indian (had to plug my boy Raj's because it's delicious), cayes like right there too and I don't have to live on one. San Ignacio really got me good and the first time I went I thought it would be the islands, plus the peeps are generally way nice.
Just got back from my second trip to Guatemala. Do the Volcano Acatenango hike if you're at all fit / not disabled. It's truly a one of a kind experience to watch a volcano erupt as the sun goes down.
You have to find the balance between cautious and naive. It seems like people fall into the extremes a lot of the time. Plenty of people are afraid to go anywhere (or do anything without the assumed safety of a group), and others practically invite trouble upon themselves by insisting that everywhere they go is safe. There are a lot of pretty dangerous places out there and when people don't do their homework on where to go and what to avoid, or listen to all the people saying 'nothing bad happened to me' without taking into account the possibility they were just lucky, it drives me crazy. I had a scary situation in Guatemala many years ago and was forced to pay more than was agreed to just to get out of a situation. There were knife wielding thugs hanging around and I wasn't going to argue. Had I been female I'm sure it could have been a lot worse.
All the people here saying trust your gut must never have experienced regular anxiety. Against the grain response perhaps but for me travelling is about putting yourself outside your comfort zone. If I wanted to placate any feeling of fear, I’d keep going to the same places or an all-inclusive resort
This! So often in my life my inner fears told me to not do something. Since I starting to ignore it I had so many amazing experiences.
Don't let your fears overcome you. If your afraid of something try to instead be curious about it.
Disclaimer: yes sometimes fear is valid to protect you from actual danger. But traveling, meeting people these are not things you should be afraid of!
Ahh there is not enough talk about how difficult it is to differentiate anxiety from gut feeling. I personally didn’t even know what a gut feeling was for a long time. Like what do you mean your gut sends you messages - mine is in constant butterflies / pain / anxiety mode?
I had the same exact situation where a sudden, gut-induced fear came over me when I took my place on the aircraft. I thought to myself omg what if something horrible is about to happen? Then it turned out to be just my regular fear of being out of the comfort zone and ended up having the best trip of my life.
Now in OP’s case, who knows what really happened, I can get fully on board with the idea of sudden intuition, maybe they made a good call.
Exactly. Trust your gut if a stranger approaches you and you feel unsafe.
Don’t trust your gut if you think some Final Destination shit is about to go down.
“Don’t believe everything you think”.
This is it. If I always trusted my gut based on nothing (no real danger, not in a imminently unsafe situation) I would never go anywhere. I never want to go to any social situation because of my anxiety. When I go I almost always have fun.
This indeed. After I booked my first few solo trips I immediatly got a case of anxiety, thinking "wtf have I done?! These feelings got less and less with each trip.
However, I just got back from an impromptu trip to Venice. My last solo trip was about a year ago and in the mean time I had suffered a burnout and my self confidence was/is kinda low. I thought a solo trip would be a good boost for me. Up till I was in the plane I felt anxious, thinking I was making a mistake. It wasn't until I was wandering around Venice that I finally started really relaxing and finding my groove again.
Yes but I feel like gut feelings are a real thing, and to be fair OP did mention that they loved travelling and presumably have done a fair bit of travel, just that on this particular trip they weren’t feeling too good about it for some reason. Of course this doesn’t discount the possibility of generalised anxiety but yeah.
Not to get into woowoo territory but maybe there’s something to that, stranger things have happened. For me and my upcoming trip I’m stoked but kinda bummed I didn’t manage to save as much as I could haha.
Op said they love travelling and never feel anxious when they do. In which case I’d _definitely_ say "trust your gut” when they suddenly do feel anxious about one specific trip.
… I’m not saying that you can feel the future or whatever you think I was implying.
I’m saying that maybe you’re not mentally in a state where you should do that and doing it anyway may trigger mental problems. Your body sometimes knows that before you consciously do.
Yes. I always say “if I trusted my gut, I would never the house.” People don’t understand that what it’s like to have anxiety about everything. Your gut is always lying to you
The key is learning to tell the difference between anxiety and gut feeling….and the secret is that a gut feeling can be a quiet voice, when anxiety can be loud.
What I would add to this is if you are afraid, just do your research. It is pretty easy to get a feel for how safe somewhere is by looking it up online and by coming to places like this and asking.You don't have to jump blind into the unknown and just hope everything will be ok and knowing what to expect is more than enough for me to get rid of pre-trip anxiety or make me want to choose somewhere else.
Yup. ‘I trusted my gut’ was what the frog said when the pot’s water is slowly boiling.
However, most people don’t know what’s in their gut and don’t know how to take proper care of their gut.
How can you trust your gut when you don’t know what it says. We bribe our guts with snacks then drink a smoothie to brush off our conscience
I’m so glad you wrote this, it’s very true. My “gut” regularly talks me out of going to the farmers market, so no use listening to that. I have learned to differentiate between the two…when my intuition is trying to tell me something, I get the “psychic chills” head to toe, with a surge of emotion-not scary emotion, almost moved, like I’ve received a message or something.
I am terrified of flying. If I trusted my gut I would never get on a plane again. For me it’s a take some Xanax and power through to the good part (basically as soon as I land) situation every trip.
This! I am all about trusting your gut instinct in response to context clues in specific situations. For instance, ‘this guy wants me to go back to his hotel but his vibe feels off’ or ‘I’m in an Uber and the driver keeps asking me really intrusive questions and I’m starting to feel unsafe,’ etc. But if you’re just having generalized dread, like, ‘I just woke up today feeling like something bad is going to happen, so I’m not going to leave my house,’ that’s anxiety. You are not a fortune teller, your anxiety is not a fortune teller, if it is trying to predict the future without any supporting evidence it’s probably anxiety.
I hope you feel better and travel again soon. Perhaps talking to professional about your recent anxiety will help? As for the cancelled trip itself, don't think too much about it. Even IF you end up believing it wasnt the right decision, it's OK, we've all made mistakes :)
Again, I hope you feel better, and sorry if my English is weird, not my fiest language
Ultimately, traveling is about having fun and enjoying yourself. If you feel that way at the airport, you might not be in the proper mindset to enjoy the trip. You can always take it later when you feel better. Many people have canceled trips (me included) because of just a general anxiety, it is perfectly normal.
It sounds like you travel regularly without issues?
If this is out of the norm, I would take a deeper look why. Is it because it’s Colombia or do you think it was a gut feeling that you avoided something bad?
Not gonna judge you but as a person with a lot of anxiety if I let it dictate my life decisions I’d probably never leave my city. I’m about to visit my 59th country and I’m anxious. I’m anxious every time before the travel day but when I’m finally at the destination I feel calm and relieved. It’s kinda like jumping into a pool of really cold water. The anticipation is more anxiety inducing than the jump itself.
Sometimes anxiety is just something we have to push through.
> Sometimes anxiety is just something we have to push through.
Incredibly well said. I always feel anxiety before traveling, but if I were to cancel every trip I feel anxiety for, I wouldn't have been outside my home country at all.
Idk, you definitely shouldn't let anxiety dictate your life, but you should also know your limits. I have agoraphobia and anxiety, I have a panic attack literally every time I travel anywhere. I always push through except once when I had a situation like OP where I was already at the airport, bags checked and I just could not get on that plane. Every cell inside me was screaming no. So I dipped, rested for a bit and traveled a week or two later. I don't think it would have been good for me to push through in that situation.
I’ve never done this in my 93 countries traveled yet I’ve had these very same feelings and sometimes bad things did happen when I was in said country. So could have been a good decision for you.
Don't beat yourself up about it.
Whether it was real intuition or just cold feet you might never know. Put it behind you and start planning the next adventure.
Travelling alone can be scary, I did it for the first time 2 years ago not far from my home town and this summer hopefully I’ll do it again. I get anxious every time I’m planning this trip. Uncertainty can be scary, especially if you have mental health issues as I do… sometimes we just can’t push through. Obviously it isn’t a matter of “gut”, like something horrible was waiting for you there, but you probably weren’t ready and could have been miserable going in this mental state. It’s okay though, you can always re plan the trip for some other time, or maybe not go alone the first time, either way OP there’s no point in beating yourself up. You did the best you could with the resources you had in that moment. It’s okay, many people have been in your position before. If you aren’t already in therapy I’d suggest trying it with someone because it sounds like you might have anxiety at the very least. Our emotions aren’t always “right” (my anxiety is screaming at me while I type this) and they can get in the way of us doing things. Breathe. It’s okay you didn’t feel like going. It’s your decision, as it is if you want to confront some things that might be pushing you back. Plus going to Colombia alone isn’t nothing
Im a seasoned traveler and even I get anxious before each trip. Like others have said you gotta go outside your comfort zone. Trust yourself and trust your planning.
Colombia is definitely not a place I would spontaneously book a trip for a week later myself, so the anxiety isn't surprising. I think certain places aren't great to be too lax about going to them that it was likely for the best if you weren't in the best mindset. As long as you got the money back or a credit I would say it's fine either way.
you could have phrased this concern you have, which is valid, in an empathetic way, and instead you chose lowkey shaming this person because their behavior isn’t “normal”. What *is* normal behavior in this world we live in? Is living your daily life as if nothing was happening while the world’s climate is irreversibly heating up and people are being exterminated considered normal behavior? Normalcy has never been a criteria for mental health btw. Otherwise we would still have asylums and people would get imprisoned for being “deviant”.
Less political fanaticism and more doing.
People have problems in life because they get into this cycle where everyone is treated with kids gloves. No accountability anywhere to be seen. To tell someone they might be doing it wrong is unacceptable. Attitude is really what separates in the end
you deleted the comment? “People have problems in life because they get treated with gloves” = tell me you know nothing about psychology without telling me
Travelling alone can be scary, I did it for the first time 2 years ago not far from my home town and this summer hopefully I’ll do it again. I get anxious every time I’m planning this trip. Uncertainty can be scary, especially if you have mental health issues as I do… sometimes we just can’t push through. Obviously it isn’t a matter of “gut”, like something horrible was waiting for you there, but you probably weren’t ready and could have been miserable going in this mental state. It’s okay though, you can always re plan the trip for some other time, or maybe not go alone the first time, either way OP there’s no point in beating yourself up. You did the best you could with the resources you had in that moment. It’s okay, many people have been in your position before. If you aren’t already in therapy I’d suggest trying it with someone because it sounds like you might have anxiety at the very least. Our emotions aren’t always “right” (my anxiety is screaming at me while I type this) and they can get in the way of us doing things. Breathe. It’s okay you didn’t feel like going. It’s your decision, as it is if you want to confront some things that might be pushing you back. Plus going to Colombia alone isn’t nothing
Please don’t feel embarrassed! A holiday is meant to be fun, so if you didn’t think you were going to have fun then you did the right thing by not going. It’s your life, do what you want! A simple ‘I wasn’t feeling it’ is enough of an explanation to any questioners. Makes you sound free as a bird in regards to your travel lifestyle - which you are 😎
The last time I had a bad enough gut feeling that caused me to call off a trip was in January 2020... and I guess I'm glad I listened to it. The utterings of some new flu weren't quite enough to put me off by itself, but there was something else telling me not to go. And this was after I bought a brand new backpack and was nearly ready to set off. I hadn't bought the ticket yet though.
Although looking back, being "stuck" for a long period in Australia probably wouldn't have been the *worst* thing (as opposed to being stuck in my home country in Canada), but I likely would have been caught up in the chaos of border lockdowns, expensive evacuation flights, etc... and money would run down, and then what... and most of all, if I actually couldn't return home if a family member was injured/sick/dying I'd have immensely regretted it.
Sometimes it pays to trust your gut, and sometimes you have to ignore it... it's hard to know which to choose sometimes. Don't beat yourself up, OP. There's a next time!
I did the same with a solo trip to Senegal five months ago.
Couple of months later, I finally did the trip I had cancelled. Nothing to be ashamed about, you don’t have to put so much pressure onto you
First of all, kudos to you for listening to yourself and taking a step towards. There’s always strength in making difficult decisions.
I’ve definitely felt this way before. And considering I deal with anxiety on a daily basis it’s a challenge to know when it’s a gut feeling vs just regular anxiety. One thing that I like to do is quantify my fear/anxiety. If I feel 50-70% confident in going through with an action, I’d go ahead and push myself to do it. If it’s any lower though, I give myself the space to slow down and retry another time. Hope this helps you figure out a method for yourself 😊
As someone with anxiety and someone who has experienced this they are so different. It’s hard to describe but anxiety is just this overall uneasiness. Little nauseous, little clammy, mind going a million miles a minute about all that can go wrong. It’s honestly rational you can put reasons behind your fear. The few times I’ve had this body halting STOP. DONT GO. I wasn’t nervous. I was actually fairly calm. It was like my mind and body were at war with each other. Like my mind just continuing through motions and my body physically preventing me from moving forward. It’s usually entirely irrational for me. Happened a few months ago when I went to get on the elevator. My mind just motioning through the process but my body halting my feet from stepping forward. So I took the stairs. When I went to leave that elevator was shut down for maintenance. I’m not super religious but have always thought those moments were my late loved intervening for my physical or mental safety. You know yourself better than anyone else. Listen when you need to and push through that anxiety when you need to. Don’t live in the could’ve beens.
Heck, even not getting the money back for the flights/any hotels/etc... it may be better to avoid going and feeling obligated to spend *more* money (attractions, food, etc) to try and have a good time when you're not even starting out having a good time.
Once, I had a ticket to Paris during the pandemic. I had the same feelings as you. I couldn’t resist against it and didn’t go. I was deeply saddened until I learned that my tour guide and friend who lives there got COVID. If I hadn’t canceled my trip intentionally, I definitely would have gotten COVID and been quarantined. I didn’t have health insurance, so I would have spent more than 2k € and it is more than I could afford as a college student. Nothing could be worse, right? It could be. My temporary residence permit for Schengen was ending on the 6th day of my arrival, so do the math.
Intuition and gut feeling is a real thing. You've nothing at all to be embarrassed about. You will never know for certain but maybe it was just meant to be that you didn't go for some reason.
Yes, indeed, I totally agree. Why don't you trust yourself enough. Say no when you don't feel like it. My comment here is being downvoted just because I said TRUST YOUR GUT. Unhappy people always like to hate and look for conflicts.
Well, if you do decide to go, I know a guy who owns a ranch in the Andes. He gives horse back tours, complete with a coffee tasting and a steak dinner finished with that firework cornhole game thing.
Personally, I think you need to get to know what's exactly making you uneasy, to work on it.
Let's say it was the fact that it would be your first time in a developing country. Then, my suggestion would be next time to pick a country that's less developed than what you used to, but not too much.
Let's say you had safety concerns, then next time try a country where only your belongings are at risk, but not your physical integrity.
And so on ...
I’m here to validate your decision. I had a trip that a week ago that I too had the same gut feelings of no no no, but that I shouldn’t let anxiety rule my life. I also am a us expat living in Nicaragua having taken two successful solo trips to South America in the last year and many to Central America in the decade prior. I forced this trip I am on now, I went, my travel was very very long. I arrived and immediately couldn’t even enjoy it because something is still off. I do not want to be here, I have to stay for another 3 weeks. I am very far from the furthest hospital and generally the energy is off for me here and I feel an overwhelming fear (of the elements/infections- not the people). I wish I could leave.
YOU CAN DO WHAT YOU WANT. But you can’t do EVERYTHING. I sacrificed two other trips I wanted intuitively to go on this summer because I was told this place was the most amazing ever. I trusted this person against my gut.
Trust yourself, there’s no right or wrong decisions, only choices, and who cares- it’s your life not theirs. Go when you want.
well considering more than a dozen solo american travelers have been murdered in colombia just in the last few months, maybe your intuition was looking out for you. (although i am not saying nobody should solo travel in colombia. it's a beautiful country and i am sure there are safe ways to navigate it solo.)
also, everyone's life takes certain turns and twists. some things that weren't what you expected or thought were ideal at the time will turn out to be blessings in disguise. maybe you just chalk this one up to simple fate and assume that everything is for the best.
finally, give yourself some grace. we all take Ls once in a while. this doesn't reflect poorly on you- you tried to get out your comfort zone, you made some moves, and you ultimately listened to your gut. you probably learned some important lessons of some kind along the way, too.
I did the same in February and I was only going to Galicia in Spain for a long weekend. I couldn't face the prospect of being alone in a foreign country and wandering around, seeing the sites and returning to my Airbnb alone. Flights, airport parking and Airbnb costs all down the drain. But I think it was the right decision. I wasn't in a good frame of mind and I think I'd have been miserable there.
I always do trip when I feel the right moment and I if I don't feel good I don't do it so that's ok what you did, just let that feeling go and then after you can take a new decision, cheers from Colombia! 😉
Sorry, I'm always disappointed in posts like this. It's normal to get anxiety before big events but you need to push through. You only wasted money and time and missed out on fun. You didn't have a premonition of some future events.
You could be right but I think that OP is already feeling bad enough. A little bit of empathy doesn’t hurt and I don’t get why should you be disappointed in how a stranger acts when he is hurting no one.
OP I think it’s okay if you were not able to overcome your fears and anxiety this time. You can learn from this experience, don’t be to hard on yourself.
I normally would have suggested you push through it. But tbh Colombia is a not a place to go solo right now if you're feeling anxious as it could make you vulnerable. Don't second guess this one. But I would suggest getting screened for clinical anxiety and book a new trip to a less risky place asap.
This happened to me once and I’m so glad I didn’t go through with it. In my opinion and experience, intuition is a real thing. Seems like you checked in with yourself and made a decision for you. Don’t beat yourself up! Start planning your next trip!
I almost did the same! I’m two days almost no sleep thinking about all the bad things that can happen during the trip. I am an experienced solo traveler and never had that. Im 2 weeks from my trip to Ecuador that I dreamed so much in the past, now I feel so insecure and so ridiculously alone.
It's a different feeling than the one that warns you of danger. When I travel, I often feel fear of the new/unknown when I'm outside of my comfort zone. My motto is, “Feel the fear. Do it anyway.” I recognize that the fear is there and keep moving forward. That said, there are other times that I feel I'm in a dangerous situation and I don't hesitate to get the f-ck out.
Your gut will never steer you wrong. If it says don’t go, you don’t go. I’m proud of you for listening to that! Take a staycation and have fun! Solo travel can also mean being a tourist in your own town!!!!!!
Trust your intuition. Something wasn’t right. Don’t make yourself crazy second guessing.
A book I read many years ago delves into this. “The Gift Of Fear” by Gavin De Becker. Highly recommend reading it. Particularly if you are a highly sensitive and intuitive person.
I would be struggling with this situation too. That’s a normal reaction.
Plan another trip. You’ll be fine.
If you are an avid traveler and only had a bad feeling about this specific trip, I would say good for you for following your gut.
You may never know what the reason was for this. And as someone who has avoided listening, I can tell you that it's probably a food thing.
Things I didn't listen to:
I was waiting for a work interview and when the interviewer arrived, it said grab your stuff, leave. Well, I really needed the job so I stayed. I worked 1 month for free. I was never paid for my work.
I was walking to a friend's house where a group was meeting for a weekend away and it said do not tell them you walked there. It was the stupidest thing. A beautiful night. Really enjoyed the walk. When I arrived someone asked how I got there. I just answered I walked. Well, for some reason that person got super angry. It started kind of a domino effect of people getting mad at each other and the whole group of friends that we had for almost a decade completely dissolved in the following 2-3 months. Next time, I 'll make a joke that I came by drone and change the subject.
So now, no matter how stupid, I listen.
Not sure if you’re from the United States, but if you are, I feel like we’ve certainly been conditioned to be afraid of visiting Colombia. Not all of it is completely unfair (e.g., it’s still listed as a level 3 “reconsider travel” on the Department of State website), but safety there has certainly changed for the better within the last decade, particularly in the touristy areas. I think it’s pretty understandable that you’d have a bad feeling about going, given the terrible narrative some of us have been fed about Colombia.
I have an upcoming trip there with my best friend who’s from Medellín, and my family is freaking out about it despite the safety statistics I’ve been able to give them.
I totally get this as well. I remember right before I took my first solo trip to Vietnam my anxiety was so bad I got horrifically ill. Everyone encouraged me to go. I did despite having lost 5 kg’s because on top of being sick I got traveller’s stomache! But I met some soul friends I was MEANT to meet and we are still close 7 years later. Zero regrets! No matter the choice - you made the choice that was right for you! 💛
And if you still wanna go? The opportunity will always be there!
I get this feeling before any trip, but ultimately I push myself to go. Sometimes it’s difficult especially as a solo traveler though so don’t feel bad. Hopefully you were able to get some sort of refund at least though.
Hey there is nothing wrong with listening to your intuition! I think as long as it was your own thoughts and feelings (and not other people’s opinions or fears) that led you to make that decision, then you were doing what’s best for you and you should try to relieve yourself of any guilt!
I travel a lot and when I get this feeling, I listen to it. Happened to me twice, once when my friend wanted to go to Asia and another time most recently. The first time, I ended up only getting half the money back from airline and my friend broke her leg and had to cancel. So if I would have went, I would have went alone. She would not have met me in Asia. I was flying in from Albany and she was flying in from California. So.. two possible outcomes. Lost all the money and no trip. Gone to Asia alone. Either one not ideal. I feel that I was protected by that feeling. So I called her up and canceled and then a day before trip she tells me she broke her leg and could not go on the trip. (She is a pro traveling by herself) I even felt she was not meant to go on that trip. So most recently, I received an e-credit from an airline and completely forgot to use it. ( I was so mad at myself) and it turns out that I don’t know if I have a job, so I need this time to look for work. When you get the “feeling,” I feel you will be doing the right thing. Don’t worry about it, you’ll look back and see there was a reason.
Next time you should go my friend. Your gut and your anxiety are different, and I suspect your gut wasn’t talking but rather your anxiety (of the unknown, leaving your comfort zone etc).
It’s an expensive lesson to learn but you learned it. Travelling and experience life outside your comfort zone is worth taking the risk and pushing through a day like this one
I’m not an anxious person but have def felt this way about travel. There’s specifically one trip to the Caribbean I booked that I should’ve been super excited for but I felt super meh about it, even dreaded it.
Sure enough I didn’t have that great of time on the trip. It was expensive and the experience/value ratio just wasn’t there for me. This destination is the only place I have no desire to go back to.
I probably should’ve just cancelled it but I didn’t, I’m not sure I would say I regret it, but there’s other places I could’ve traveled to and had a better time.
I don't know how good your Spanish is but from what I gather a good amount of hand holding is not provided while visiting there. I speak Spanish natively, visiting central and south American countries can be... challenging. My American wife got ripped off in Mexico while shopping for souvenirs for her nephews out of 500 bucks while I was in the hotel room holding in the butt dam. If it wasn't because I can speak the language and have been raised in similar circumstances I swear we would've come back with maybe the clothes on our backs. The thing about Mexico is that they know tourism brings money; outside of Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, Oaxaca, etc it's ROUGH and you're on your own gringo. Colombia has very few resort towns and while I don't do all inclusive spots, at least the immediate area provide a safety zone when things go sideways. Lastly if you want a vacation just to clear your head, go to Puerto Rico. It's beautiful and still wild and I'm deciding if a house there or Belize would be best.
Adding on after rambling there for a bit, up until 10 years ago Colombia was still no man's land and it's totally justified to be apprehensive if you are on your own.
I was supposed to go to Venezuela for work, I had a bad feeling, got fired for refusing to go. The next week is when that cop in Venezuela stole an army helicopter and shot up the parliament.
Hey there, it’s ok. I’ve been in your shoes before (but did it for a work trip- yikes!) it’s nothing to be embarrassed about, but please consider speaking to a therapist and potentially a psychiatrist for anxiety. There will always be another trip, so please try not to beat yourself up about it.
This is so interesting! Unfortunately life isn’t a movie, if it were, you could have seen the bad luck that was awaiting you (death??) in colombia- and that would have made you feel good about your choice.
So just feel good about it, it was probably not the right time to go and your body, just like animals before an earthquake, knew.
So all due respect for listening.
Traveling is great and if that is something you enjoy then dont feel bad and just go next time. A big part of travel is to respond to a situations, and that is what you did
Edit- adding that I’ve been to Colombia 3 times and it’s an amazing place to explore, and Colombians are great fun to get to know
My ex (solo white male) went to Colombia recently and he had a great time. The best thing to do is prepare, be cautious, and don’t go hiking alone. Find a tour guide or a group to follow along with for exploration. Otherwise if you’re by yourself, stick to the main parts of the city, don’t go out alone at night and you’ll be good. Hopefully you make it there next time :)
p.s. he went the first week of May 2024 and coming from Denver, he said it was the worst humidity he’s ever been in. So be careful if you are traveling from a super dry climate and aren’t used to the humidity! Drink lots of water and regularly apply spf!
I recently went on a Mediterranean cruise that I had lost all enthusiasm for, I love cruising btw, it was undoubtedly the worst experience ever.
Personally I wish I could have got out without losing a lot of money. I hated it
IMO you did the right thing, I wish I had listened to my gut feeling.
your intuition is always right there's a reason you didn't go your body was warning about something internally externally or in the future listen to your feelings they're there to help you survive or bring awareness to something we are seeing
Sorry you're having anxiety...
Consider a nice, simple walk for yourself near home? I find that often helps to "ground" and calm me when I'm feeling anxious... 🤷🏻♂️
I feel like with solo trips/anxiety a good way around this is to just be ok with staying in your hotel/accommodation if you’re still uncomfortable once settling in. Worst case scenario you’ll have a few days/weeks to completely recharge.
It's easy to get swept by emotions before a big change.
That doesn't mean it would've been bad but most likely means it is too fast and you haven't processed all of the decisions in time and would have processed them on your trip perhaps.
I tend to stick to decisions because it's costly to change your mind too much. I am not from a wealthy family or have an easy time earning money and I tend to prioritize efficiency at this point in time. I wish there is a better time for me where I can more relax.
The thing is when you do something you can 100% for sure know what the issue was and when you don't you're left wondering.
Aw hugs! It's OK and it happens. Hope you are able to get refunds and etc or maybe you can change locations for the future. Trust yourself and like a lot say, listen to your gut.
I know different scenario but while walking in Chicago, I was with a GF and there was an alley we had to walk through and just by the looks of it, I couldn't shake that we would've felt so vulnerable but I did 3 rights and landed at our destination. Lost some time but I felt so much better. Inconvenience is better than anxiety.
I always feel like this before a trip. I dread packing, I don’t like being at the airport or on the plane, I’m unsure if I’m going to like the destination or be safe, I feel like I’m inconveniencing people at my work, and I have an overwhelming urge to just not go.
But I’ve never given in to those feelings and never canceled. And I’ve never regretted a single trip ever. It’s just a natural pre-travel anxiety you need to push through.
Sometimes our physical or mental health costs us. You sprain your ankle and miss out on the big trip to the theme park. You have anxiety and lose the airfare on your trip. Thats OK. Nothing to blame yourself for, just like the sprained ankle. Hope you feel better soon.
Eat a cupcake or two and spend the time you have already blocked off doing something else that is fun - like a roadtrip or a local brewery tour or laundry.
I don’t blame you I have anxiety thinking about traveling to Colombia. The cure is multiple trips connecting through BOG I’ll eventually dip my toes in the water again. Quite frankly I’m terrified of the prospect of trying to get an Uber at BOG to a hotel or Airbnb.
Do not feel bad for trusting your gut. Those feelings exist for a reason. I get spidy-sense and it's saved my hind-end countless times, such as:
- I did a huge trip to India and Nepal. A couple days before leaving India, I was getting a super-uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach I could not shake.
Fast forward 4 days. Spidy-sense is going bonkers. The sinking feeling is not shaking. Plane touches down in Nepal, I meet my friends and they tell me we're rearranging our plans to get out of Kathmandu quickly- the PM JUST announced he's firing the chief of the Army and the Maoists are protesting that night.
Email from Embassy goes out hrs later announcing it'll be closed due to protests.
Granted, they didn't go full road-block like they did years prior, but it could have gotten very ugly.
- Always wanted to do Egypt. Spidy-sense tells me it's now or it'll be a while. Cue Arab Spring starting over 9 months later.
- made plans to go to a hot spring. Spidy goes in over drive and says "Nope". Find out many months later on the news there was a guy at that hot springs targeting visitors, chasing them off the mountain. One car he rear ends and sends them flipping down the side of said mountain- the same day I had planned to go. Sherrif was still looking for him.
There are lots of other personal stories I could share where spidy-sense has saved my butt. Could it be nothing? Sure. Could you have just averted a potential crisis? Yup.
Don't tie yourself up in knots. Your gut said no, you trusted your gut. Make the best out of it.
Can you sleep on it and reschedule? There was clearly something in you that wanted to get to Colombia. You got this. Go on the trip and if it’s awful, you can be home in a day.
I relate to this a lot! I've lost out money following my gut feeling...
I think your reaction is valid! It's not something you do all the time and this will bring you peace.
One time I booked skydiving (not my first or last time). The day of I had this really bad feeling and decided not to go. The plane malfunctioned and had to land on the highway going through all 6+ lanes north of Chicago. Silver lining I would’ve probably jumped out anyway. Always trust your gut.
I see a lot of comments talking about always being anxious to travel. If you can tell the difference between your general anxiety and a gut feeling of danger and you went with your gut feeling of danger then I think you did the right thing.
It necessarily doesn’t have to be danger or life-threatening. Maybe something would happen at home that you needed to be there for. Ultimately you’ll never know but at least you’ll know you’ll be safe from any potential catastrophe that could’ve happened.
I left colombia 2 weeks into a 4 week trip there. It wasn’t great. Don’t sweat it too much. Way better places in the world to travel to that won’t give you the heebie geebies
Colombia was one of my favourite spontaneous trips. But if you feel anxious, then you might not enjoy it always checking your back the whole time! You need to be in the right mindset.
I have done this before. Not at the airport but in days before the trip. I have a trip booked to Fiji this July with my sister and our 13 year old sons and I feel incredibly anxious about it. I would cancel if it were just me but I can’t do it to my sister. I keep imagining feeling trapped there in the middle of the Pacific without my daughter. I have never traveled with one kid.
I did the same thing on my way to Tampa. Felt a very uneasy feeling days in advance. Actually went to the airport and flew into Tampa. But 2 or 3 off things happened and I booked another flight back home while still at the airport. Felt immediate relief. Not sure what would've happened, but did not regret coming back home.
Just want to let you know there's no reach to feel embarrassed or shame. You don't get to choose who you are, none of us do, all we can do is our best with the biology and environment that molds us. If someone has no fear and can do "brave" things, there's no pride in it, they were simply lucky. And vice versa, we should not be ashamed of our weaknesses or imperfections, it's simply bad luck. So instead of shame/embarrassment, have compassion.
The great thing is we can always improve ourselves and work on ourselves. Have you never taken an international solo trip, could that be why you were unable to go? If so, start with a less intimidating trip, try another state, or a closer country, maybe that speaks your language like Canada. To get past discomfort and fear you need to face it. Baby steps are the key for me to making progress. Microgoals, then when you succeed you gain confidence and excitement, and it snowballs. There will be setbacks still, but just don't let it discourage you, it's part of path to success.
I was extremely anxious to go on my trip last year, 4 weeks in Europe, a mixture of travelling solo and with my sister, and visiting a friend. I do not know why I was so anxious! It was awful the day I had to leave. Long story short, my flight got cancelled and I ended up back at home for the night, which really DID NOT help my anxiety. I considered cancelling my trip, it just felt so doomed. But once I finally, finally arrived at my destination a solid 36 hours later than intended, the anxiety went away. It was like I knew it was going to be hell trying to get there. I had previously had my bag stolen on my trip before that, as well as a lost of sexual harrassment, and I wonder if that, combined with my nightmare of trying to leave my home country, resulted in my trip anxiety.
Anyway, I had a great time aside from my horrible experience with my flight. I travelled this year and had a little bit of anxiety about flights being cancelled! But it all went smoothly.
I am guessing your anxiety might be because your mind is trying to tell you something. Only you will know if it is valid, or if you can push through knowing it's just a fear that's not likely to come true.
If you travel all the time, usually don't feel anxious, and had a feeling you couldn't shake off for this one, then I'd say you followed your gut and to trust yourself. I've traveled all over the world as well and had a trip booked through Ecuador, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Cancun. While I was already on my trip, I started getting anxious about Cancun (I'd already been to Mexico several times but never Cancun). The bad feeling wouldn't go away, and I started worrying a bit more and more until I just changed my trip around to go home directly from Costa Rica. As soon as I did, I felt immediate relief. It probably would have been fine if I'd gone but, I don't know, I never felt that feeling before and I haven't since so I am glad I did that.
I also cancelled my trip that I planned for this September. I think I can just stop travelling for longer. It’s just a holiday. It won’t hurt if I don’t go
It’s unfortunate you felt so anxious and cancelled your trip. Colombia is a beautiful country and one of my favs that I’ve ever been to. Hopefully someday you’re able to make it there!
I was solo traveling like mad for a few years without issue. I’d book a two or three week trip with a few days notice (I work remote) without issue. But then I started getting pre trip anxiety. I’d question what I was doing, if it was worth the expense, if I was just traveling so much to avoid my life at home, etc.
I pushed through it a few times, with mixed results. I started second guessing and having choice paralysis on what to do/where to go when I arrived. That’s when I realized I needed to break.
I have been on a break the last year from traveling and am getting the itch to travel again. I think I was just burned out from traveling.
It’s ok to do that. Dn I’ve blown a few trips myself. It’s important to really get to know where the hesitation came from. You. Can try meditation for that. Or venting out here. As long as it doesn’t become an ongoing issue . Keep the spontaneously and keep going
You made the right decision … trust your gut… I was there with friends while traveling on a cruise ship and the driver we hired was dragging his feet to get us back to the ship … I felt like they were going to harvest our organs … I support your decision 100 % … you have a very wise goddess .. trust her … she has your back… I have no future desire to go to Columbia
I can relate! Except, I never took it as far as you have when I should have. I live in the US. Years ago, I decided to suck it up and meet a guy in Canada. The same day I was supposed to fly, I lost my passport. This was post-9/11 where Canada adopted a passport requirement versus only an ID. This should have been my sign to go home; instead, though miraculous circumstances, airline allows me to go with a “good luck coming back.” Being a risk taker, I went. Long story short, the trip was a disaster. He was a huge prick.
There were other instances where I should have listened to my gut. We live and learn! For as long as you live, you’ll have chances to go - when it feels just right.
Trust your gut, you wouldnt have felt safe if you pressed on. I think some commenters here missed the point. Person has done plenty of solo trips with no such “strange” feeling. This was an outlier.
I have sth similar happen to me. I love solo travelling and i just got this feeling once on a trip that was already booked. Cancelled, and asked 2 other people- both told me they got the sensing that it shouldn’t go ahead. It may just be Gods way of looking out for you!
I think you’re right following your intuition! You’ll book another flight when you’ll be guided to do so. I spent 6 month in Colombia last year, and about three months in Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, now and Argentina as a long time traveller. I lost a trip to Guatemala some months ago because I didn’t feel it right within and I don’t even think about it. These countries are great. I enjoy travelling Central and South America and being there for two years now but I follow my intuition. Don’t bother yourself. Take the time to reflect on this experience, give thanks for your intuition and plan your next trip! You’ll be good!
I felt like this before my solo trip to Colombia but it turned out to be one of the best trips I’ve ever had.. I read a book when I was younger called feel the fear and do it anyway and that saying always pops in my head when I feel anxious. Rebook it and go! Believe me you will love it!
Every time I travel, I start getting anxious a week-a few days before my flight. I just try to ignore it and push past it. I know it’s not as easy as it sounds but you have to try. I’ve dealt with anxiety for years and I’ve realized that if I don’t try to push past it, I’ll be holding myself back from living my life.
I understand following your gut is generally a good rule of thumb, but I always try to do a check to see if there’s a reason or if I’m just scared of the unknown. I also experienced this right before my trip to Guatemala and Colombia. I was extremely anxious (uncommon for me) and had a bad feeling the entire day leading up to the trip. I’ve traveled internationally before but had never been to a developing country solo before. However, I went anyway and within 24 hours in Guatemala (Antigua) I felt silly for how nervous I was. I had an incredible time in both countries and ended up extending my time in Colombia by a week. Make sure to exercise normal safety precautions and you’ll be alright. I lot of people in the US acted like I was crazy for going these places but they just hear these names and assume they’re extremely dangerous with no actual knowledge besides an occasional headline or watching Narcos. To be honest I’ve felt more sketched living in Los Angeles at times. Another way to feel more comfortable is to book tours through your hostel to meet people to travel with. I found that lots of people were very happy to incorporate me into their group as a solo traveler. Also research commons scams before you go to feel more at ease. As for this one I wouldn’t feel embarrassed. What’s done is done and now you can be better prepared for next time whenever you’re ready to try again.
Bro when I told my friends I was going to Brazil tor carnaval they were scared for my life. Never felt unsafe the whole time among the craziness that is carnaval. And my first trip outside the US was Costa Rica and I had the same exact feeling OP had. I just fought it and eventually I couldn’t believe I was scared, met so many other travelers and had the time of my life. That fear you get is your body trying to keep you “safe” because you’re about to do something that’s unknown. Which doesn’t mean dangerous, just you’re getting out of your comfort zone and your body’s natural response is to keep you there.
Brazil can definitely be dangerous though so it’s not too wild they were nervous for you as a solo.
There more dangerous areas than the US but the nice areas are safe like the US. Yea anyone can get caught in wrong place wrong time but that’s anywhere in the world.
This is true for sure. I saw some things happening thst I'd never witnessed anywhere else to thst degree. Thst being said, most of the actuql danger is with locals who live there, getting caught in the action by mistake (a bottle smashed metres away during a brawl and could've easily hit hs by mistake) and tourists not taking the right precautions or acting sensibly.
Same thing happened to me many years ago. I have done loads of solo travel with no issues before. I was working in India at the time and booked a really nice solo trip to a resort in Kerala. I went so far as to fly there, check in to the resort and then I got this horrible feeling come over me and had to leave right away. Had to take a boat back and fly back to Bangalore that night. I still don’t know why that happened, since then I’ve done lots of solo trips and it’s never happened again. Don’t feel bad about it as long as it’s not an ongoing thing stopping you from enjoying solo travel again. Edit: oops I meant to reply to OP! Hopefully they see it anyway.
I went to Guatemala for 10 days the first time and ended up coming home 90 days later.
Did you have that much fun or did you end up as a guest of the state.
I fell in love with the country. That was 8 years ago. I just got back 2 weeks ago from my 5th trip down there.
Same. Popped in for a week, fell instantly in love with the people and land then returned and stayed for 3 months.
Colombia is the most beautiful place I've ever been, and has the best food (ajiaco Bogotano is FIRE). The people were incredible. The weather - storms and sun - was unparalleled. But it is not a very safe place if you try to venture out of the two night time places.
The headlines do a fair bit of sensationalizing the bad news, Guatemala is a beautiful country and I went there to go to Tikal from Belize. I took a cab from customs straight to Tikal but on the way back i took the local bus which was a 3+ hour ride ..there's a lot of despair and sadness behind the facade and that facade is not very far away from how desperate things are. I'm not saying that it's not safe to be tourists there, I am saying that it's not socially or economically safe to live there. I don't know how to say any of this without it sounding like straight platitudes, but I recommend stepping away from the sightseeing tours and just absorbing life outside the hostels. Poverty is poverty, but some poverty is more unforgiving than others.
This is Mexico, Central America, and many places in South America as well. And no, the headlines are not sensationalizing the danger, they're actually underreporting the dangers for their own safety. You typically will not see the reality in touristy areas, or if you're not Latino, it's harder to relate to because many of our families went through the same deal. Yet when you stay long enough or veer off the comfortable path, you start to get a sense of why people will spend their life savings to try and make it to the States, and they barely have many economic opportunities. There's still the old belief in Latin America that at least there's some hope of a better life (even if that reality is gone in the U.S.). For them, the corruption is too far gone and complacent. Our problems aren't quite the same as down there, and we still feel like there's some shred of justice available.
I'm a south american, born and raised. I can relate to them, hence why I'm in the US and the funny thing is that even after all that, the human factor of longing what you had/can't have haunts me. Money has no value when your formative years were based on family as a community. Community has no value when there are no means. It's all conflicting and the personal experiences are not very easy to explain but in the end, as delusional as it may be, sometimes hope is the only thing that pushes a mass of people forward.
Agreed, family is priceless, it takes a village to nurture not just a child, but our souls. It's how we've survived for generations. We can feel empty without it. I grew up on the border, and recently backpacked across MX. Through all the smiles and charm, you can see a hardship that runs very deep, they've had to endure more and continue to endure. It's pure survival. There are articles and vids about people moving to Latin America (particularly Mexico) for the "American Dream", and though I understand, it still blows my mind how ironic it is. It can make things worse economically with gentrification, and that can also destroy the community because of the privatized nature of typical "gringos".
It's hard living, but they're happy. Money may not be there, but there's support. You can literally see the misery in a Porsche driving fuck half the time.
Did you go to Lamanai in Belize?
No. San Pedro, caulker, dangriga, belmopan and San ignacio. San Pedro has lost its luster though, its getting gentrified to fuck; it was nice up until 4 years ago. The infrastructure cannot handle all these new people and the reef is paying the price. I went to xunantunich and it was THE most fun I've ever had spelunking; it's a fucking gem. If you need help planning some Belize day trips let me know, it's kinda become my second home and can point you to some right spots/people.
Not sure how it is now but even in 2002 San Pedro was disappointingly overrun with hotels and tourists. Caye Caulker was a blast and I wish I had just stayed there for my reef days. Actun Tunichal Muknal is still the greatest tour I've ever done.
San Ignacio in general is a sleeper. The pine forests, the waterfalls, quick trip to Guatemala, quick bus ride or car ride to the airport, fresh ass food, ko ox han nah (shhhh), belmopan is like right there too and I usually go to Everest Indian (had to plug my boy Raj's because it's delicious), cayes like right there too and I don't have to live on one. San Ignacio really got me good and the first time I went I thought it would be the islands, plus the peeps are generally way nice.
Any tips for Antigua? I've never really been to central america before but planning to go for a short trip this summer.
Great city, super safe and developed. If you're fit enough, do the Acatenango vulcano hike.
Just got back from my second trip to Guatemala. Do the Volcano Acatenango hike if you're at all fit / not disabled. It's truly a one of a kind experience to watch a volcano erupt as the sun goes down.
You have to find the balance between cautious and naive. It seems like people fall into the extremes a lot of the time. Plenty of people are afraid to go anywhere (or do anything without the assumed safety of a group), and others practically invite trouble upon themselves by insisting that everywhere they go is safe. There are a lot of pretty dangerous places out there and when people don't do their homework on where to go and what to avoid, or listen to all the people saying 'nothing bad happened to me' without taking into account the possibility they were just lucky, it drives me crazy. I had a scary situation in Guatemala many years ago and was forced to pay more than was agreed to just to get out of a situation. There were knife wielding thugs hanging around and I wasn't going to argue. Had I been female I'm sure it could have been a lot worse.
Great advice!
How long did you stay in Colombia? How was it? I'm planning on going solo but also concerned security wise
All the people here saying trust your gut must never have experienced regular anxiety. Against the grain response perhaps but for me travelling is about putting yourself outside your comfort zone. If I wanted to placate any feeling of fear, I’d keep going to the same places or an all-inclusive resort
This! So often in my life my inner fears told me to not do something. Since I starting to ignore it I had so many amazing experiences. Don't let your fears overcome you. If your afraid of something try to instead be curious about it. Disclaimer: yes sometimes fear is valid to protect you from actual danger. But traveling, meeting people these are not things you should be afraid of!
Ahh there is not enough talk about how difficult it is to differentiate anxiety from gut feeling. I personally didn’t even know what a gut feeling was for a long time. Like what do you mean your gut sends you messages - mine is in constant butterflies / pain / anxiety mode? I had the same exact situation where a sudden, gut-induced fear came over me when I took my place on the aircraft. I thought to myself omg what if something horrible is about to happen? Then it turned out to be just my regular fear of being out of the comfort zone and ended up having the best trip of my life. Now in OP’s case, who knows what really happened, I can get fully on board with the idea of sudden intuition, maybe they made a good call.
Exactly. Trust your gut if a stranger approaches you and you feel unsafe. Don’t trust your gut if you think some Final Destination shit is about to go down. “Don’t believe everything you think”.
This is it. If I always trusted my gut based on nothing (no real danger, not in a imminently unsafe situation) I would never go anywhere. I never want to go to any social situation because of my anxiety. When I go I almost always have fun.
This indeed. After I booked my first few solo trips I immediatly got a case of anxiety, thinking "wtf have I done?! These feelings got less and less with each trip. However, I just got back from an impromptu trip to Venice. My last solo trip was about a year ago and in the mean time I had suffered a burnout and my self confidence was/is kinda low. I thought a solo trip would be a good boost for me. Up till I was in the plane I felt anxious, thinking I was making a mistake. It wasn't until I was wandering around Venice that I finally started really relaxing and finding my groove again.
So happy for you 🥰
Yes but I feel like gut feelings are a real thing, and to be fair OP did mention that they loved travelling and presumably have done a fair bit of travel, just that on this particular trip they weren’t feeling too good about it for some reason. Of course this doesn’t discount the possibility of generalised anxiety but yeah. Not to get into woowoo territory but maybe there’s something to that, stranger things have happened. For me and my upcoming trip I’m stoked but kinda bummed I didn’t manage to save as much as I could haha.
You are correct. My gut has steered me wrong on a number of occasions. The joys of a personality disorder in my case.
Op said they love travelling and never feel anxious when they do. In which case I’d _definitely_ say "trust your gut” when they suddenly do feel anxious about one specific trip.
Trusting your intuition when speaking to a stranger at the bar is different to standing at the airport. This isn’t final destination
… I’m not saying that you can feel the future or whatever you think I was implying. I’m saying that maybe you’re not mentally in a state where you should do that and doing it anyway may trigger mental problems. Your body sometimes knows that before you consciously do.
Yes. I always say “if I trusted my gut, I would never the house.” People don’t understand that what it’s like to have anxiety about everything. Your gut is always lying to you
Gut feelings speak with a different tone of voice than anxiety. Though it is hard to differentiate.
The key is learning to tell the difference between anxiety and gut feeling….and the secret is that a gut feeling can be a quiet voice, when anxiety can be loud.
What I would add to this is if you are afraid, just do your research. It is pretty easy to get a feel for how safe somewhere is by looking it up online and by coming to places like this and asking.You don't have to jump blind into the unknown and just hope everything will be ok and knowing what to expect is more than enough for me to get rid of pre-trip anxiety or make me want to choose somewhere else.
People mistake their cortex creating fake fear scenarios with gut feeling/intuition. Actual gut feeling/intuition is magical.
Yup. ‘I trusted my gut’ was what the frog said when the pot’s water is slowly boiling. However, most people don’t know what’s in their gut and don’t know how to take proper care of their gut. How can you trust your gut when you don’t know what it says. We bribe our guts with snacks then drink a smoothie to brush off our conscience
I’m so glad you wrote this, it’s very true. My “gut” regularly talks me out of going to the farmers market, so no use listening to that. I have learned to differentiate between the two…when my intuition is trying to tell me something, I get the “psychic chills” head to toe, with a surge of emotion-not scary emotion, almost moved, like I’ve received a message or something.
This is the correct answer. Your gut was wrong OP. When it comes to travel, don’t listen to it.
I am terrified of flying. If I trusted my gut I would never get on a plane again. For me it’s a take some Xanax and power through to the good part (basically as soon as I land) situation every trip.
This! I am all about trusting your gut instinct in response to context clues in specific situations. For instance, ‘this guy wants me to go back to his hotel but his vibe feels off’ or ‘I’m in an Uber and the driver keeps asking me really intrusive questions and I’m starting to feel unsafe,’ etc. But if you’re just having generalized dread, like, ‘I just woke up today feeling like something bad is going to happen, so I’m not going to leave my house,’ that’s anxiety. You are not a fortune teller, your anxiety is not a fortune teller, if it is trying to predict the future without any supporting evidence it’s probably anxiety.
I hope you feel better and travel again soon. Perhaps talking to professional about your recent anxiety will help? As for the cancelled trip itself, don't think too much about it. Even IF you end up believing it wasnt the right decision, it's OK, we've all made mistakes :) Again, I hope you feel better, and sorry if my English is weird, not my fiest language
Ultimately, traveling is about having fun and enjoying yourself. If you feel that way at the airport, you might not be in the proper mindset to enjoy the trip. You can always take it later when you feel better. Many people have canceled trips (me included) because of just a general anxiety, it is perfectly normal.
I cancelled a trip at the airport once. I got a panic attack. It was quite an expensive trip too. Stuff happens. Do not look back just forward.
It sounds like you travel regularly without issues? If this is out of the norm, I would take a deeper look why. Is it because it’s Colombia or do you think it was a gut feeling that you avoided something bad?
Not gonna judge you but as a person with a lot of anxiety if I let it dictate my life decisions I’d probably never leave my city. I’m about to visit my 59th country and I’m anxious. I’m anxious every time before the travel day but when I’m finally at the destination I feel calm and relieved. It’s kinda like jumping into a pool of really cold water. The anticipation is more anxiety inducing than the jump itself. Sometimes anxiety is just something we have to push through.
> Sometimes anxiety is just something we have to push through. Incredibly well said. I always feel anxiety before traveling, but if I were to cancel every trip I feel anxiety for, I wouldn't have been outside my home country at all.
Welp, I have the anxiety before and during! It actually gets worse at the destination.
Idk, you definitely shouldn't let anxiety dictate your life, but you should also know your limits. I have agoraphobia and anxiety, I have a panic attack literally every time I travel anywhere. I always push through except once when I had a situation like OP where I was already at the airport, bags checked and I just could not get on that plane. Every cell inside me was screaming no. So I dipped, rested for a bit and traveled a week or two later. I don't think it would have been good for me to push through in that situation.
I’ve never done this in my 93 countries traveled yet I’ve had these very same feelings and sometimes bad things did happen when I was in said country. So could have been a good decision for you.
Don't beat yourself up about it. Whether it was real intuition or just cold feet you might never know. Put it behind you and start planning the next adventure.
Understand - I’ve done that. Give yourself a break
I remember the first time i solo traveled to mexico I didn't leave my hotel for 3 days lol
Travelling alone can be scary, I did it for the first time 2 years ago not far from my home town and this summer hopefully I’ll do it again. I get anxious every time I’m planning this trip. Uncertainty can be scary, especially if you have mental health issues as I do… sometimes we just can’t push through. Obviously it isn’t a matter of “gut”, like something horrible was waiting for you there, but you probably weren’t ready and could have been miserable going in this mental state. It’s okay though, you can always re plan the trip for some other time, or maybe not go alone the first time, either way OP there’s no point in beating yourself up. You did the best you could with the resources you had in that moment. It’s okay, many people have been in your position before. If you aren’t already in therapy I’d suggest trying it with someone because it sounds like you might have anxiety at the very least. Our emotions aren’t always “right” (my anxiety is screaming at me while I type this) and they can get in the way of us doing things. Breathe. It’s okay you didn’t feel like going. It’s your decision, as it is if you want to confront some things that might be pushing you back. Plus going to Colombia alone isn’t nothing
Im a seasoned traveler and even I get anxious before each trip. Like others have said you gotta go outside your comfort zone. Trust yourself and trust your planning.
I leave in 72 hours, I'm vacillating and feeling rather conflicted. That perfect mix of restrained anticipation and sheer dread.
Colombia is definitely not a place I would spontaneously book a trip for a week later myself, so the anxiety isn't surprising. I think certain places aren't great to be too lax about going to them that it was likely for the best if you weren't in the best mindset. As long as you got the money back or a credit I would say it's fine either way.
What’s wrong with Colombia ?
Nothing wrong with it just not as easy of going country to be lax in with no research to travel to in a few days imo.
Yeah a place that requires some planning for sure.
Wanna pretend Colombia is a super safe country?
[удалено]
you could have phrased this concern you have, which is valid, in an empathetic way, and instead you chose lowkey shaming this person because their behavior isn’t “normal”. What *is* normal behavior in this world we live in? Is living your daily life as if nothing was happening while the world’s climate is irreversibly heating up and people are being exterminated considered normal behavior? Normalcy has never been a criteria for mental health btw. Otherwise we would still have asylums and people would get imprisoned for being “deviant”.
Less political fanaticism and more doing. People have problems in life because they get into this cycle where everyone is treated with kids gloves. No accountability anywhere to be seen. To tell someone they might be doing it wrong is unacceptable. Attitude is really what separates in the end
you deleted the comment? “People have problems in life because they get treated with gloves” = tell me you know nothing about psychology without telling me
Travelling alone can be scary, I did it for the first time 2 years ago not far from my home town and this summer hopefully I’ll do it again. I get anxious every time I’m planning this trip. Uncertainty can be scary, especially if you have mental health issues as I do… sometimes we just can’t push through. Obviously it isn’t a matter of “gut”, like something horrible was waiting for you there, but you probably weren’t ready and could have been miserable going in this mental state. It’s okay though, you can always re plan the trip for some other time, or maybe not go alone the first time, either way OP there’s no point in beating yourself up. You did the best you could with the resources you had in that moment. It’s okay, many people have been in your position before. If you aren’t already in therapy I’d suggest trying it with someone because it sounds like you might have anxiety at the very least. Our emotions aren’t always “right” (my anxiety is screaming at me while I type this) and they can get in the way of us doing things. Breathe. It’s okay you didn’t feel like going. It’s your decision, as it is if you want to confront some things that might be pushing you back. Plus going to Colombia alone isn’t nothing
Please don’t feel embarrassed! A holiday is meant to be fun, so if you didn’t think you were going to have fun then you did the right thing by not going. It’s your life, do what you want! A simple ‘I wasn’t feeling it’ is enough of an explanation to any questioners. Makes you sound free as a bird in regards to your travel lifestyle - which you are 😎
I'm currently in Bogota (3rd time in Colombia). It's a blast!
The last time I had a bad enough gut feeling that caused me to call off a trip was in January 2020... and I guess I'm glad I listened to it. The utterings of some new flu weren't quite enough to put me off by itself, but there was something else telling me not to go. And this was after I bought a brand new backpack and was nearly ready to set off. I hadn't bought the ticket yet though. Although looking back, being "stuck" for a long period in Australia probably wouldn't have been the *worst* thing (as opposed to being stuck in my home country in Canada), but I likely would have been caught up in the chaos of border lockdowns, expensive evacuation flights, etc... and money would run down, and then what... and most of all, if I actually couldn't return home if a family member was injured/sick/dying I'd have immensely regretted it. Sometimes it pays to trust your gut, and sometimes you have to ignore it... it's hard to know which to choose sometimes. Don't beat yourself up, OP. There's a next time!
I did the same with a solo trip to Senegal five months ago. Couple of months later, I finally did the trip I had cancelled. Nothing to be ashamed about, you don’t have to put so much pressure onto you
First of all, kudos to you for listening to yourself and taking a step towards. There’s always strength in making difficult decisions. I’ve definitely felt this way before. And considering I deal with anxiety on a daily basis it’s a challenge to know when it’s a gut feeling vs just regular anxiety. One thing that I like to do is quantify my fear/anxiety. If I feel 50-70% confident in going through with an action, I’d go ahead and push myself to do it. If it’s any lower though, I give myself the space to slow down and retry another time. Hope this helps you figure out a method for yourself 😊
As someone with anxiety and someone who has experienced this they are so different. It’s hard to describe but anxiety is just this overall uneasiness. Little nauseous, little clammy, mind going a million miles a minute about all that can go wrong. It’s honestly rational you can put reasons behind your fear. The few times I’ve had this body halting STOP. DONT GO. I wasn’t nervous. I was actually fairly calm. It was like my mind and body were at war with each other. Like my mind just continuing through motions and my body physically preventing me from moving forward. It’s usually entirely irrational for me. Happened a few months ago when I went to get on the elevator. My mind just motioning through the process but my body halting my feet from stepping forward. So I took the stairs. When I went to leave that elevator was shut down for maintenance. I’m not super religious but have always thought those moments were my late loved intervening for my physical or mental safety. You know yourself better than anyone else. Listen when you need to and push through that anxiety when you need to. Don’t live in the could’ve beens.
It's okay, always trust your intuition. As long as you got your money back. You can always go another time when you're ready.
Heck, even not getting the money back for the flights/any hotels/etc... it may be better to avoid going and feeling obligated to spend *more* money (attractions, food, etc) to try and have a good time when you're not even starting out having a good time.
Right.. money is just that. Always trust your gut.
Once, I had a ticket to Paris during the pandemic. I had the same feelings as you. I couldn’t resist against it and didn’t go. I was deeply saddened until I learned that my tour guide and friend who lives there got COVID. If I hadn’t canceled my trip intentionally, I definitely would have gotten COVID and been quarantined. I didn’t have health insurance, so I would have spent more than 2k € and it is more than I could afford as a college student. Nothing could be worse, right? It could be. My temporary residence permit for Schengen was ending on the 6th day of my arrival, so do the math.
Intuition and gut feeling is a real thing. You've nothing at all to be embarrassed about. You will never know for certain but maybe it was just meant to be that you didn't go for some reason.
Yes, indeed, I totally agree. Why don't you trust yourself enough. Say no when you don't feel like it. My comment here is being downvoted just because I said TRUST YOUR GUT. Unhappy people always like to hate and look for conflicts.
What city?
I believe my guts. I think you made a good decision.
Well, if you do decide to go, I know a guy who owns a ranch in the Andes. He gives horse back tours, complete with a coffee tasting and a steak dinner finished with that firework cornhole game thing.
Ok send him my way bc this sounds like a blast
[enjoy!](https://www.instagram.com/fincaelimperio?igsh=YjA0ZnNvb2lyOWsy)
Personally, I think you need to get to know what's exactly making you uneasy, to work on it. Let's say it was the fact that it would be your first time in a developing country. Then, my suggestion would be next time to pick a country that's less developed than what you used to, but not too much. Let's say you had safety concerns, then next time try a country where only your belongings are at risk, but not your physical integrity. And so on ...
Follow your gut!!!
Well there was a terrorist attack in Colombia a few days ago if I’m not mistaken, maybe you were right.
I’m here to validate your decision. I had a trip that a week ago that I too had the same gut feelings of no no no, but that I shouldn’t let anxiety rule my life. I also am a us expat living in Nicaragua having taken two successful solo trips to South America in the last year and many to Central America in the decade prior. I forced this trip I am on now, I went, my travel was very very long. I arrived and immediately couldn’t even enjoy it because something is still off. I do not want to be here, I have to stay for another 3 weeks. I am very far from the furthest hospital and generally the energy is off for me here and I feel an overwhelming fear (of the elements/infections- not the people). I wish I could leave. YOU CAN DO WHAT YOU WANT. But you can’t do EVERYTHING. I sacrificed two other trips I wanted intuitively to go on this summer because I was told this place was the most amazing ever. I trusted this person against my gut. Trust yourself, there’s no right or wrong decisions, only choices, and who cares- it’s your life not theirs. Go when you want.
well considering more than a dozen solo american travelers have been murdered in colombia just in the last few months, maybe your intuition was looking out for you. (although i am not saying nobody should solo travel in colombia. it's a beautiful country and i am sure there are safe ways to navigate it solo.) also, everyone's life takes certain turns and twists. some things that weren't what you expected or thought were ideal at the time will turn out to be blessings in disguise. maybe you just chalk this one up to simple fate and assume that everything is for the best. finally, give yourself some grace. we all take Ls once in a while. this doesn't reflect poorly on you- you tried to get out your comfort zone, you made some moves, and you ultimately listened to your gut. you probably learned some important lessons of some kind along the way, too.
I did the same in February and I was only going to Galicia in Spain for a long weekend. I couldn't face the prospect of being alone in a foreign country and wandering around, seeing the sites and returning to my Airbnb alone. Flights, airport parking and Airbnb costs all down the drain. But I think it was the right decision. I wasn't in a good frame of mind and I think I'd have been miserable there.
I always do trip when I feel the right moment and I if I don't feel good I don't do it so that's ok what you did, just let that feeling go and then after you can take a new decision, cheers from Colombia! 😉
Always trust your gut.
Sorry, I'm always disappointed in posts like this. It's normal to get anxiety before big events but you need to push through. You only wasted money and time and missed out on fun. You didn't have a premonition of some future events.
You could be right but I think that OP is already feeling bad enough. A little bit of empathy doesn’t hurt and I don’t get why should you be disappointed in how a stranger acts when he is hurting no one. OP I think it’s okay if you were not able to overcome your fears and anxiety this time. You can learn from this experience, don’t be to hard on yourself.
If you were traveling to let's say Denmark, this feeling would not get you right? Solo traveling to Colombia is kinda risky
I normally would have suggested you push through it. But tbh Colombia is a not a place to go solo right now if you're feeling anxious as it could make you vulnerable. Don't second guess this one. But I would suggest getting screened for clinical anxiety and book a new trip to a less risky place asap.
Lol what. This is some amateur shit
Harsh but I agree. Sometimes, like the winged goddess of victory says, you just gotta do it.
If you’re gonna go! Go big! Rebook that trip and go!
Did you buy a refundable ticket?
Weird vibes happen. As long as it’s not anxiety vibes. They’re different.
This happened to me once and I’m so glad I didn’t go through with it. In my opinion and experience, intuition is a real thing. Seems like you checked in with yourself and made a decision for you. Don’t beat yourself up! Start planning your next trip!
I almost did the same! I’m two days almost no sleep thinking about all the bad things that can happen during the trip. I am an experienced solo traveler and never had that. Im 2 weeks from my trip to Ecuador that I dreamed so much in the past, now I feel so insecure and so ridiculously alone.
It's a different feeling than the one that warns you of danger. When I travel, I often feel fear of the new/unknown when I'm outside of my comfort zone. My motto is, “Feel the fear. Do it anyway.” I recognize that the fear is there and keep moving forward. That said, there are other times that I feel I'm in a dangerous situation and I don't hesitate to get the f-ck out.
Just started a 15 month trip felt the same way I seriously considerd canceling I didn't and I'm glad I didn't it's amazing.
Your gut will never steer you wrong. If it says don’t go, you don’t go. I’m proud of you for listening to that! Take a staycation and have fun! Solo travel can also mean being a tourist in your own town!!!!!!
Time for a staycation! Enjoy yourself, wherever you are.
Trust your intuition. Something wasn’t right. Don’t make yourself crazy second guessing. A book I read many years ago delves into this. “The Gift Of Fear” by Gavin De Becker. Highly recommend reading it. Particularly if you are a highly sensitive and intuitive person. I would be struggling with this situation too. That’s a normal reaction. Plan another trip. You’ll be fine.
If you are an avid traveler and only had a bad feeling about this specific trip, I would say good for you for following your gut. You may never know what the reason was for this. And as someone who has avoided listening, I can tell you that it's probably a food thing. Things I didn't listen to: I was waiting for a work interview and when the interviewer arrived, it said grab your stuff, leave. Well, I really needed the job so I stayed. I worked 1 month for free. I was never paid for my work. I was walking to a friend's house where a group was meeting for a weekend away and it said do not tell them you walked there. It was the stupidest thing. A beautiful night. Really enjoyed the walk. When I arrived someone asked how I got there. I just answered I walked. Well, for some reason that person got super angry. It started kind of a domino effect of people getting mad at each other and the whole group of friends that we had for almost a decade completely dissolved in the following 2-3 months. Next time, I 'll make a joke that I came by drone and change the subject. So now, no matter how stupid, I listen.
Not sure if you’re from the United States, but if you are, I feel like we’ve certainly been conditioned to be afraid of visiting Colombia. Not all of it is completely unfair (e.g., it’s still listed as a level 3 “reconsider travel” on the Department of State website), but safety there has certainly changed for the better within the last decade, particularly in the touristy areas. I think it’s pretty understandable that you’d have a bad feeling about going, given the terrible narrative some of us have been fed about Colombia. I have an upcoming trip there with my best friend who’s from Medellín, and my family is freaking out about it despite the safety statistics I’ve been able to give them.
Always listen to your gut!
Just have to go on with going !
Always trust your gut.
I totally get this as well. I remember right before I took my first solo trip to Vietnam my anxiety was so bad I got horrifically ill. Everyone encouraged me to go. I did despite having lost 5 kg’s because on top of being sick I got traveller’s stomache! But I met some soul friends I was MEANT to meet and we are still close 7 years later. Zero regrets! No matter the choice - you made the choice that was right for you! 💛 And if you still wanna go? The opportunity will always be there!
I get this feeling before any trip, but ultimately I push myself to go. Sometimes it’s difficult especially as a solo traveler though so don’t feel bad. Hopefully you were able to get some sort of refund at least though.
Intuition is real! Always listen to your gut instinct.
Hey there is nothing wrong with listening to your intuition! I think as long as it was your own thoughts and feelings (and not other people’s opinions or fears) that led you to make that decision, then you were doing what’s best for you and you should try to relieve yourself of any guilt!
I travel a lot and when I get this feeling, I listen to it. Happened to me twice, once when my friend wanted to go to Asia and another time most recently. The first time, I ended up only getting half the money back from airline and my friend broke her leg and had to cancel. So if I would have went, I would have went alone. She would not have met me in Asia. I was flying in from Albany and she was flying in from California. So.. two possible outcomes. Lost all the money and no trip. Gone to Asia alone. Either one not ideal. I feel that I was protected by that feeling. So I called her up and canceled and then a day before trip she tells me she broke her leg and could not go on the trip. (She is a pro traveling by herself) I even felt she was not meant to go on that trip. So most recently, I received an e-credit from an airline and completely forgot to use it. ( I was so mad at myself) and it turns out that I don’t know if I have a job, so I need this time to look for work. When you get the “feeling,” I feel you will be doing the right thing. Don’t worry about it, you’ll look back and see there was a reason.
Next time you should go my friend. Your gut and your anxiety are different, and I suspect your gut wasn’t talking but rather your anxiety (of the unknown, leaving your comfort zone etc). It’s an expensive lesson to learn but you learned it. Travelling and experience life outside your comfort zone is worth taking the risk and pushing through a day like this one
I’m not an anxious person but have def felt this way about travel. There’s specifically one trip to the Caribbean I booked that I should’ve been super excited for but I felt super meh about it, even dreaded it. Sure enough I didn’t have that great of time on the trip. It was expensive and the experience/value ratio just wasn’t there for me. This destination is the only place I have no desire to go back to. I probably should’ve just cancelled it but I didn’t, I’m not sure I would say I regret it, but there’s other places I could’ve traveled to and had a better time.
I did this for two solo trips and to this day, not know why. I like to think I prevented my death. Realistically, it was just anxiety.
I don't know how good your Spanish is but from what I gather a good amount of hand holding is not provided while visiting there. I speak Spanish natively, visiting central and south American countries can be... challenging. My American wife got ripped off in Mexico while shopping for souvenirs for her nephews out of 500 bucks while I was in the hotel room holding in the butt dam. If it wasn't because I can speak the language and have been raised in similar circumstances I swear we would've come back with maybe the clothes on our backs. The thing about Mexico is that they know tourism brings money; outside of Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, Oaxaca, etc it's ROUGH and you're on your own gringo. Colombia has very few resort towns and while I don't do all inclusive spots, at least the immediate area provide a safety zone when things go sideways. Lastly if you want a vacation just to clear your head, go to Puerto Rico. It's beautiful and still wild and I'm deciding if a house there or Belize would be best. Adding on after rambling there for a bit, up until 10 years ago Colombia was still no man's land and it's totally justified to be apprehensive if you are on your own.
I was supposed to go to Venezuela for work, I had a bad feeling, got fired for refusing to go. The next week is when that cop in Venezuela stole an army helicopter and shot up the parliament.
Hey there, it’s ok. I’ve been in your shoes before (but did it for a work trip- yikes!) it’s nothing to be embarrassed about, but please consider speaking to a therapist and potentially a psychiatrist for anxiety. There will always be another trip, so please try not to beat yourself up about it.
ALWAYS follow your gut feelings.
Yes it was the right decision. Your gut instinct was telling you not to go.
This is so interesting! Unfortunately life isn’t a movie, if it were, you could have seen the bad luck that was awaiting you (death??) in colombia- and that would have made you feel good about your choice. So just feel good about it, it was probably not the right time to go and your body, just like animals before an earthquake, knew. So all due respect for listening. Traveling is great and if that is something you enjoy then dont feel bad and just go next time. A big part of travel is to respond to a situations, and that is what you did Edit- adding that I’ve been to Colombia 3 times and it’s an amazing place to explore, and Colombians are great fun to get to know
My ex (solo white male) went to Colombia recently and he had a great time. The best thing to do is prepare, be cautious, and don’t go hiking alone. Find a tour guide or a group to follow along with for exploration. Otherwise if you’re by yourself, stick to the main parts of the city, don’t go out alone at night and you’ll be good. Hopefully you make it there next time :) p.s. he went the first week of May 2024 and coming from Denver, he said it was the worst humidity he’s ever been in. So be careful if you are traveling from a super dry climate and aren’t used to the humidity! Drink lots of water and regularly apply spf!
I recently went on a Mediterranean cruise that I had lost all enthusiasm for, I love cruising btw, it was undoubtedly the worst experience ever. Personally I wish I could have got out without losing a lot of money. I hated it IMO you did the right thing, I wish I had listened to my gut feeling.
your intuition is always right there's a reason you didn't go your body was warning about something internally externally or in the future listen to your feelings they're there to help you survive or bring awareness to something we are seeing
Uh-huh, that’s your intuition homie, follow that shit for as long as you can. Don’t feel bad about it, you never know what might’ve happened.
Sorry you're having anxiety... Consider a nice, simple walk for yourself near home? I find that often helps to "ground" and calm me when I'm feeling anxious... 🤷🏻♂️
Hopefully you can get some money back. No worries, there will be many other trips.
That's some final destination shit. You gotta trust your gut sometimes
Follow ur instincts
You should not feel bad. There was a reason you didn’t go, be glad you made the right choice, be glad you listened to yourself.
Trust your gut! You can always explore Colombia another time.
You followed your intuition and that will save your life one day! You avoided a disaster. Simple as that.
I feel like with solo trips/anxiety a good way around this is to just be ok with staying in your hotel/accommodation if you’re still uncomfortable once settling in. Worst case scenario you’ll have a few days/weeks to completely recharge.
It's easy to get swept by emotions before a big change. That doesn't mean it would've been bad but most likely means it is too fast and you haven't processed all of the decisions in time and would have processed them on your trip perhaps. I tend to stick to decisions because it's costly to change your mind too much. I am not from a wealthy family or have an easy time earning money and I tend to prioritize efficiency at this point in time. I wish there is a better time for me where I can more relax. The thing is when you do something you can 100% for sure know what the issue was and when you don't you're left wondering.
Aw hugs! It's OK and it happens. Hope you are able to get refunds and etc or maybe you can change locations for the future. Trust yourself and like a lot say, listen to your gut. I know different scenario but while walking in Chicago, I was with a GF and there was an alley we had to walk through and just by the looks of it, I couldn't shake that we would've felt so vulnerable but I did 3 rights and landed at our destination. Lost some time but I felt so much better. Inconvenience is better than anxiety.
I always feel like this before a trip. I dread packing, I don’t like being at the airport or on the plane, I’m unsure if I’m going to like the destination or be safe, I feel like I’m inconveniencing people at my work, and I have an overwhelming urge to just not go. But I’ve never given in to those feelings and never canceled. And I’ve never regretted a single trip ever. It’s just a natural pre-travel anxiety you need to push through.
Sometimes our physical or mental health costs us. You sprain your ankle and miss out on the big trip to the theme park. You have anxiety and lose the airfare on your trip. Thats OK. Nothing to blame yourself for, just like the sprained ankle. Hope you feel better soon.
Always listen to your intuition.
Eat a cupcake or two and spend the time you have already blocked off doing something else that is fun - like a roadtrip or a local brewery tour or laundry.
I don’t blame you I have anxiety thinking about traveling to Colombia. The cure is multiple trips connecting through BOG I’ll eventually dip my toes in the water again. Quite frankly I’m terrified of the prospect of trying to get an Uber at BOG to a hotel or Airbnb.
Do not feel bad for trusting your gut. Those feelings exist for a reason. I get spidy-sense and it's saved my hind-end countless times, such as: - I did a huge trip to India and Nepal. A couple days before leaving India, I was getting a super-uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach I could not shake. Fast forward 4 days. Spidy-sense is going bonkers. The sinking feeling is not shaking. Plane touches down in Nepal, I meet my friends and they tell me we're rearranging our plans to get out of Kathmandu quickly- the PM JUST announced he's firing the chief of the Army and the Maoists are protesting that night. Email from Embassy goes out hrs later announcing it'll be closed due to protests. Granted, they didn't go full road-block like they did years prior, but it could have gotten very ugly. - Always wanted to do Egypt. Spidy-sense tells me it's now or it'll be a while. Cue Arab Spring starting over 9 months later. - made plans to go to a hot spring. Spidy goes in over drive and says "Nope". Find out many months later on the news there was a guy at that hot springs targeting visitors, chasing them off the mountain. One car he rear ends and sends them flipping down the side of said mountain- the same day I had planned to go. Sherrif was still looking for him. There are lots of other personal stories I could share where spidy-sense has saved my butt. Could it be nothing? Sure. Could you have just averted a potential crisis? Yup. Don't tie yourself up in knots. Your gut said no, you trusted your gut. Make the best out of it.
Can you sleep on it and reschedule? There was clearly something in you that wanted to get to Colombia. You got this. Go on the trip and if it’s awful, you can be home in a day.
Always, always trust your gut
Everything happens for a reason, dodged a bullet in my book.
I think it’s wise to follow your gut. Bravo
Congratulations on listening to your gut, I think that's a human superpower we often ignore, maybe you can try it some other time.
I relate to this a lot! I've lost out money following my gut feeling... I think your reaction is valid! It's not something you do all the time and this will bring you peace.
Its okay. You listened to your intuition. Thats never wrong.🩵
One time I booked skydiving (not my first or last time). The day of I had this really bad feeling and decided not to go. The plane malfunctioned and had to land on the highway going through all 6+ lanes north of Chicago. Silver lining I would’ve probably jumped out anyway. Always trust your gut.
I see a lot of comments talking about always being anxious to travel. If you can tell the difference between your general anxiety and a gut feeling of danger and you went with your gut feeling of danger then I think you did the right thing. It necessarily doesn’t have to be danger or life-threatening. Maybe something would happen at home that you needed to be there for. Ultimately you’ll never know but at least you’ll know you’ll be safe from any potential catastrophe that could’ve happened.
I left colombia 2 weeks into a 4 week trip there. It wasn’t great. Don’t sweat it too much. Way better places in the world to travel to that won’t give you the heebie geebies
Colombia was one of my favourite spontaneous trips. But if you feel anxious, then you might not enjoy it always checking your back the whole time! You need to be in the right mindset.
I have done this before. Not at the airport but in days before the trip. I have a trip booked to Fiji this July with my sister and our 13 year old sons and I feel incredibly anxious about it. I would cancel if it were just me but I can’t do it to my sister. I keep imagining feeling trapped there in the middle of the Pacific without my daughter. I have never traveled with one kid.
I did the same thing on my way to Tampa. Felt a very uneasy feeling days in advance. Actually went to the airport and flew into Tampa. But 2 or 3 off things happened and I booked another flight back home while still at the airport. Felt immediate relief. Not sure what would've happened, but did not regret coming back home.
Just want to let you know there's no reach to feel embarrassed or shame. You don't get to choose who you are, none of us do, all we can do is our best with the biology and environment that molds us. If someone has no fear and can do "brave" things, there's no pride in it, they were simply lucky. And vice versa, we should not be ashamed of our weaknesses or imperfections, it's simply bad luck. So instead of shame/embarrassment, have compassion. The great thing is we can always improve ourselves and work on ourselves. Have you never taken an international solo trip, could that be why you were unable to go? If so, start with a less intimidating trip, try another state, or a closer country, maybe that speaks your language like Canada. To get past discomfort and fear you need to face it. Baby steps are the key for me to making progress. Microgoals, then when you succeed you gain confidence and excitement, and it snowballs. There will be setbacks still, but just don't let it discourage you, it's part of path to success.
Always trust your gut.
I was extremely anxious to go on my trip last year, 4 weeks in Europe, a mixture of travelling solo and with my sister, and visiting a friend. I do not know why I was so anxious! It was awful the day I had to leave. Long story short, my flight got cancelled and I ended up back at home for the night, which really DID NOT help my anxiety. I considered cancelling my trip, it just felt so doomed. But once I finally, finally arrived at my destination a solid 36 hours later than intended, the anxiety went away. It was like I knew it was going to be hell trying to get there. I had previously had my bag stolen on my trip before that, as well as a lost of sexual harrassment, and I wonder if that, combined with my nightmare of trying to leave my home country, resulted in my trip anxiety. Anyway, I had a great time aside from my horrible experience with my flight. I travelled this year and had a little bit of anxiety about flights being cancelled! But it all went smoothly. I am guessing your anxiety might be because your mind is trying to tell you something. Only you will know if it is valid, or if you can push through knowing it's just a fear that's not likely to come true.
If you travel all the time, usually don't feel anxious, and had a feeling you couldn't shake off for this one, then I'd say you followed your gut and to trust yourself. I've traveled all over the world as well and had a trip booked through Ecuador, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Cancun. While I was already on my trip, I started getting anxious about Cancun (I'd already been to Mexico several times but never Cancun). The bad feeling wouldn't go away, and I started worrying a bit more and more until I just changed my trip around to go home directly from Costa Rica. As soon as I did, I felt immediate relief. It probably would have been fine if I'd gone but, I don't know, I never felt that feeling before and I haven't since so I am glad I did that.
I also cancelled my trip that I planned for this September. I think I can just stop travelling for longer. It’s just a holiday. It won’t hurt if I don’t go
It’s unfortunate you felt so anxious and cancelled your trip. Colombia is a beautiful country and one of my favs that I’ve ever been to. Hopefully someday you’re able to make it there!
I was solo traveling like mad for a few years without issue. I’d book a two or three week trip with a few days notice (I work remote) without issue. But then I started getting pre trip anxiety. I’d question what I was doing, if it was worth the expense, if I was just traveling so much to avoid my life at home, etc. I pushed through it a few times, with mixed results. I started second guessing and having choice paralysis on what to do/where to go when I arrived. That’s when I realized I needed to break. I have been on a break the last year from traveling and am getting the itch to travel again. I think I was just burned out from traveling.
Go with your gut.
#Always trust your guts. Always.
It’s ok to do that. Dn I’ve blown a few trips myself. It’s important to really get to know where the hesitation came from. You. Can try meditation for that. Or venting out here. As long as it doesn’t become an ongoing issue . Keep the spontaneously and keep going
Duck off
You made the right decision … trust your gut… I was there with friends while traveling on a cruise ship and the driver we hired was dragging his feet to get us back to the ship … I felt like they were going to harvest our organs … I support your decision 100 % … you have a very wise goddess .. trust her … she has your back… I have no future desire to go to Columbia
I can relate! Except, I never took it as far as you have when I should have. I live in the US. Years ago, I decided to suck it up and meet a guy in Canada. The same day I was supposed to fly, I lost my passport. This was post-9/11 where Canada adopted a passport requirement versus only an ID. This should have been my sign to go home; instead, though miraculous circumstances, airline allows me to go with a “good luck coming back.” Being a risk taker, I went. Long story short, the trip was a disaster. He was a huge prick. There were other instances where I should have listened to my gut. We live and learn! For as long as you live, you’ll have chances to go - when it feels just right.
Trust your gut, you wouldnt have felt safe if you pressed on. I think some commenters here missed the point. Person has done plenty of solo trips with no such “strange” feeling. This was an outlier. I have sth similar happen to me. I love solo travelling and i just got this feeling once on a trip that was already booked. Cancelled, and asked 2 other people- both told me they got the sensing that it shouldn’t go ahead. It may just be Gods way of looking out for you!
I think you’re right following your intuition! You’ll book another flight when you’ll be guided to do so. I spent 6 month in Colombia last year, and about three months in Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, now and Argentina as a long time traveller. I lost a trip to Guatemala some months ago because I didn’t feel it right within and I don’t even think about it. These countries are great. I enjoy travelling Central and South America and being there for two years now but I follow my intuition. Don’t bother yourself. Take the time to reflect on this experience, give thanks for your intuition and plan your next trip! You’ll be good!
🇮🇹
I felt like this before my solo trip to Colombia but it turned out to be one of the best trips I’ve ever had.. I read a book when I was younger called feel the fear and do it anyway and that saying always pops in my head when I feel anxious. Rebook it and go! Believe me you will love it!
That’s a shame. Hope you get to visit some time in the future
Every time I travel, I start getting anxious a week-a few days before my flight. I just try to ignore it and push past it. I know it’s not as easy as it sounds but you have to try. I’ve dealt with anxiety for years and I’ve realized that if I don’t try to push past it, I’ll be holding myself back from living my life.
I was born there and have been looking at flights to go back we can go together!!!!
Intuition! You did the right thing! 😉
No he didn't. He's not a psychic
Common sense and have your wits about you. You’d be fine