Travelling with IBS - pt 3

Hey {{first_name}},

So travel. A word that should cause you to feel joy but for most of us it also comes with a knot in the stomach and some anxiety. Here is what I'm struggling with but also what I'm doing to overcome it which has worked in the past and will probably work for you too.

In 2 months I'm flying to South East Asia. Country hopping for a few months.

Most people would be counting down the days. I'm counting down my fear.

Over the last 2 years I've mastered my IBS. The foods I can eat, the foods I couldn't eat before and now can, what to order at restaurants so I skip the trigger foods, how to calm a flare before it becomes a full blown one, what supplements actually do something. Basically everything you can think of.

But this trip is different.

I've never been to South East Asia, and the countries I'm going to are notorious for food poisoning. If I had to guess, I'd say a third of you reading this had your gut issues start after a bad run in with food poisoning. It's an awful experience on its own, but it's also one of the most common events that comes right before someone's IBS begins.

So here's the honest bit. I'm not scared of what to eat for my IBS anymore. I'm scared of getting food poisoning and my IBS going back to how it used to be. Genuinely, the scariest thought I have about this whole trip. Having terrible IBS was the worst period of my life, and even though I know food poisoning doesn't guarantee your IBS gets worse, that thought has buried itself deep and it doesn't care what the odds actually are.

On top of that, I've got no idea how business is going to work while I'm away. Most of my content right now is cooking content, and I don't know how much of that I'll be able to film out there. There are a load of other unknowns too, but I won't bore you with all of them.

So instead of spiralling, here's what I'm actually doing about it.

From my experience, and I've got a fair bit of it between gut issues, sky diving, free diving, free climbing and cage fighting, fear gets so much worse when you try to run away from it. Running away here would look like constantly rehearsing the worst case scenario, worrying whether my IBS will get worse, questioning whether this trip is even a good idea, or planning for every possible situation to an unhinged level of detail.

Running towards it looks like the opposite of all of that, and it's the thing that will actually make this trip more enjoyable and less stressful, which in turn makes me less likely to get ill in the first place.

So every time the thought "I'm going to get food poisoning on this trip" shows up, I answer it. Yes, the chances are high, but I've been through far worse than this before, and I can get through what's coming too.

I'm travelling with a friend, so if I do get properly ill, I've got someone there. I'm not going to let fear rob me of an experience I'd regret not having. I find joy in adventure, and this is going to be one hell of an adventure.

I've got no idea what these few months hold, but I know good will come out of them, and I'm genuinely excited to find out, both for my health and for my business.

Every single time I fight back against the negative version of this story, I feel calmer. Not just calmer, motivated. Ready for it instead of braced against it.

This trip is happening regardless. Backing out would mean letting down a close friend who's been planning this with me for a long time. So if the options are I can't back out, and I'm going either way, I'd rather walk into it with my head up than drag myself there afraid.

This week's practical tip

Next time you're dreading something you can't get out of, write two lists. The first is what running away looks like: the rumination, the worst case planning, the search for an exit.

The second is what running towards it looks like: the facts that are actually on your side, the people who've got your back, the reason you said yes in the first place.

Then every time your brain reaches for list one, read list two out loud instead. You're not ignoring the risk. You're just refusing to let it be the only voice in the room.

This week's mindset

Fear doesn't shrink because you plan for every version of the worst case. It shrinks because you stop running from it.

I can't control whether I get food poisoning in the next few months (obviously there are a few things that will help like don't drink the water, don't eat food thats been left out and all that).

I can control whether I spend the next 2 months dreading it or the next 2 months looking forward to it. Same trip either way. Very different two months.

See you next Friday.

Zak