How my ADHD influences my travels
I love traveling. It's the reason for my existence. I can't imagine not being able to travel.
As it happens, I'm boarding a plane this afternoon to Fuerteventura. And while waiting for when it's time to leave for the airport, I'm already thinking about our next trip.
When I return, I need something to look forward to, no?
Impulse buying plane tickets has become my signature move. It takes me about 15 minutes to go from: 'Oh look, what a cool destination' to 'Can you pass me our credit card so I can book this thing?'
After booking the plane tickets, I'll open up a Google map and add points of interest to this. I'll scourge travel blogs for popular places and hotels and draft an itinerary for what to visit and when.
One time, I even added the time of day we would be visiting and how long we got to spend there. Yeah, that was perhaps a bit too much. Obsessive planner right here!
You'll never find me booking a trip through a travel agent because I am my own travel agent. I can have a complete trip ready and booked in 2 hours or less. And this is all due to my ADHD.
But, of course, it's not all fun.
Traveling with ADHD has its challenges. Every trip is a rollercoaster of surprises, from forgetting my handbag on the plane in Kuala Lumpur to losing my toilet bag at a campground after showering.
Yet, there's a certain beauty in navigating the world with a mind that dances to its rhythm.
FOMO is another. Knowing we will probably visit a country or destination only once makes me want to cram everything into our trip. And because my time blindness makes me misjudge the amount of time spent doing things, it can be a bit of a disaster.
I am trying to embrace the art of JOMO (Joy of Missing Out), though, lately. And also, only research a little because you can't visit them when you don't know what points of interest there are.
I did almost no research for our three-week trip to Sweden, which ended up being the best trip in years. If that isn't a lesson learned, I don't know what it is.
So, how will I fare in Fuerteventura? Here's my Google map. What do you think? Did I over-plan?
