I write this from the premium lounge at Manchester airport (yep, first child free holiday in years so you bet I’m going to book the first class lounge) and up until 15 minutes ago I was ready to implode with stress.
I would probably describe myself as a frequent flyer so airports never usually stress me out, even when I have two young kids in tow. However, this is a pretty new experience for me considering I’m used to a lot more organised to get through security due to having foster kids.
“The older I get my anxiety definitely seems to get worse and it’s mainly over things I can’t control, which is frustrating.”
ADHD Girl
Combine that with never having flown without checked luggage, (yep thats right, I’ve reached the grand old age of 36 without checking in a suitcase), this meant I slightly over did it on the 100ml liquids cause I wasn’t aware they had to all fit in one clear plastic bag.
So as you can imagine security was pretty stressful, made worse by the fact that they only let you pack the clear plastic bags right before your bags go through the scanner (when I came back Switzerland did it so much better and had you do it before you got to security!) Then I didn’t realise it included creams, stupid I know but hey ho, let’s move on.
Bottom line; bad news I had to ditch all my travel bottles of toiletries I’d bought, good news I got all the expensive lotions and potions through.By the time I got to the first class lounge a whole 40 minutes later (and nearly only an hour till I had to board), I nearly ended up crying to the receptionist but I’m ok after two alcoholic beverages and classical fm in my headphones.
Usually for people with additional needs in airports there are sunflower lanyards to indicate we might need assistance. I’ve never used one before, but now I’m thinking I probably could use one. The older I get the anxiety part of my ADHD gets worse so its something to consider for the future.
Although for now its time to relax and de-stress, that is until my gate number gets called, wish me luck haha.
Same time next week ADHDers and allies? I’ll be talking about how I got two whole hours of peace from my ADHD brain in Switzerland.
