Travel Anxiety Is Back, Baby
And it’s worse than it was before than the pandemic
Earlier this month, I was booking a reporting trip to Palm Springs to cover Coachella. Unsurprisingly, all the hotels were either booked up or literally over $1000 a night, which was way outside of my allotted travel budget. So when I happened upon an upscale-looking establishment that had availability and cost under $300 a night, I felt like the luckiest girl in the world. Sure, the low price was slightly suspect. And come to think of it, its name had the words “Exotic Dreams” in it, which was a little odd. But it had great reviews on Google — “The staff was very courteous and responsive to guests’ needs,” “The rooms are clean and comfortable” — and there was only so much research I could do before booking a room.
Then the confirmation email arrived:
Thank you for booking your upcoming stay at the Exotic Dreams Lifestyle Resort. We are getting ready for your arrival and look forward to seeing you! We are a clothing optional, couples lifestyle resort.
My initial reaction was something along the lines of, Holy shit! This is my worst nightmare. Still, as a professional writer who has been in a monogamous relationship for more than half a decade and couldn’t be less into the idea of being a swinger, accidentally booking a stay at a sex hotel seemed like an incredible journalistic opportunity. A new way to torture myself for my art.
Declining Covid rates mean that travel is back, baby. And the return of travel means the return of travel anxiety, which feels more acute than ever. Going to new places is great, don’t get me wrong, but from start to finish, the process of journeying somewhere faraway seems designed to make you lose your mind. From TSA security theater and the steadily shrinking size of airplane seats to overpriced hotels and the iffiness of Airbnbs, every part of the process makes you feel uneasy and powerless. (And since 2020, “uneasy” and “powerless” are emotions we’ve all become well-versed in.)
The pandemic made us feel more paranoid about everyday activities like leaving our homes. Still, you’d think that after spending several years in a state of fear and limbo, we would be accustomed to navigating uncertainty. Instead, the helplessness inherent in…
