Managing holidays

Dear readers,

The time has finally come for my favourite holiday of the year. Like many other families we often go away during May half term. Whilst I generally enjoy holidays, like many people on the autism spectrum, I often find it stressful, due to the overwhelming amount of changes that going away from home can bring. In this post, I am going to share with you some ideas that ease the overwhelming feeling during what is hopefully an enjoyable week.

One of the things that helps me is setting off very early in the morning or late in the evening on travel day. There is much less traffic, which reassures me that we will arrive at our destination on time. On particularly long road trips where we have to stop somewhere, the service station is less busy, so I find it calmer. I like to explore the house once we arrive, so I strongly prefer setting off early in the morning, but this tip also works for people who love a lie-in, as the traffic usually dies down by the evening.

I also love to see where we will be staying in advance, as this means that I know what to expect when we arrive. As a little girl, my favourite place to go on holiday was our annual trip to Wales around this time, where I would spend my week in the same place that I knew and loved. But as the tradition continued, it got a bit boring for the rest of my family. So now, we go to a different place each year, and spend time online beforehand looking at where we are staying before we leave.

I find it helpful to know the full itinerary in advance each day so that I understand what we’re doing and when. When I know the full structure of the day, I tend to feel more excited than anxious, and it makes the holiday go much more smoothly.

It is also helpful to build in the same routine and structure as much as possible. While we’re on holiday, we tend to eat dinner at the same time as we would at home, and we keep to the same bedtime routine. When we can, I have my own bedroom so I can go somewhere quiet when I need time by myself.

I also enjoy it when I can choose some of the activities we do on holiday. When we go to book festivals I am allowed to choose which author to see. When we went to Amsterdam each person was asked to research things to do near where we were staying and got to decide what to do for a whole day.

When I was younger I would spend the weeks leading up to a holiday feeling upset, tearful and anxious. On two occasions my parents have kept the holiday a complete surprise. Once I found out only when we reached the airport. Another time my parents told me we were going to the supermarket and I only got suspicious when I found suitcases in the of the car. I appreciate it is a high risk strategy but it worked for me. There was no time for me to worry, the whole thing’s already started!

One of the main routines we keep to is a special holiday tradition: we do not travel home without having at least one ice cream during our stay!

Before I go, I would love to know how you manage holidays in your family. What tips work for you?

I hope you enjoyed this blog post, and I can’t wait to see you back next week!