Some people head off on a trip floating on a cloud of joyous anticipation. But others of us get seriously stressed, whether its the ugh-inducing prospect of getting on a plane or a sense that you’ve forgotten to pack something very, very important. While there is no official diagnosis for the free-floating pangs that plague many travelers before a big trip, mental health pros do have a word for it: travel anxiety.

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Anxiety hits different people different ways. At one end of the spectrum are folks who are so phobic they can barely board a plane. At the other are those who don’t mind flying but go limp from the vague stomach-gnawing worries that surround planning, packing, and leaving it all behind. And there’s lots of in-between. Here’s a closer look at some standard travel-nerves triggers and how to overcome them. Let’s start with…

Fear of Flying

Phobias don’t necessarily make a lot of sense. These fears can be a learned response with a crippling impact—and if you haven’t had the pleasure, imagine a ridiculously fast heartbeat coupled with a general feeling of wanting to die. That goes for social phobias (public speaking) and same for situational phobias (fear of flying).

You may think that if you explain to your phobic friend how much more dangerous it is to drive than it is to fly, she will nod gratefully and head for the airport (via mass transit!). But because reason plays little to no role in phobias, the easiest solution is often pharmaceutical. Meet, for example, Inderal, a mild beta blocker that can magically turn raging floods of adrenaline into little nothings. If you have phobias that are interfering with your ability to travel (or to enjoy it fully), a talk with a healthcare professional might yield Rx relief.

Other phobic folks opt for exposure therapy. Working with a trusted friend or supportive pro, they agree to repeatedly expose themselves to whatever triggers a meltdown. Picture many trips to the airport within a short time span, along with lots of hand holding and cheerleading. Gradually, the phobia may be overcome.

And then there’s hypnosis.

“I was just a mess,” Debra DiPietro says cheerfully, recalling years of having to force herself to get onto a plane. With a career in corporate marketing, she was at her wit’s end before turning to two hypnotherapists, one of them fondly known as the Mad Russian. “No one was more skeptical than I was,” she recalls. “But also no one was as desperate.”

For those with fear of flying, tactics can include medication, exposure therapy, and even hypnosis, which helped one desperate traveler we know.

Did it work? Well, today, in “retirement,” Debra works as a pickleball entrepreneur—yes, that’s a thing—and certified coach, and she’s an adventure traveler who’s even been to Nepal. Of hypnosis’ impact on her travel anxiety, she says, “It brought me down 70 percent.” Enough for her to get on planes regularly.

Yikes! I Have to Pack?

Peeking into an empty suitcase is enough to give some travelers the whim-whams. How will you get organized? How will you make everything fit? What if you forget something crucial that isn’t easily replaced while on the road, like contact lenses?

There are cures for that type of free-floating anxiety, too, like starting to pack early. Way early.

“I’ll do a first pass four days in advance and let it sit there,” Debra says. “Then, in the middle of the night I think, ‘Oh, I don’t need that,’ and can update my bag. Then, the day before I leave, I do a last pass.”

Jackie Goodrich, a New Yorker who edits text for a living, revises an evolving travel checklist after each trip, amending it to reflect which items ended up useful (sunscreen), sorely missed (an extra phone charger, perhaps)—or purely wishful thinking (a magenta dress?). “After years of packing both too much and not enough, I decided I needed a checklist,” she says. She uses that to make sure she packs all the right gear. At the trip’s conclusion, she also takes note of things she wished she’d had (an extra phone charger, perhaps) and maybe not (a magenta dress?). “I was tired of packing both too much and not enough,” she says.

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Guilt Complex: Who, Me, Travel?

Some travelers get anxious before travel because at a certain level, they suffer from a nagging sense of not being worthy, which can certainly get in the way of joyful planning.

Maybe you feel as if you tear yourself away from work, your family, and your friends, all hell will break loose. Plenty of us have jobs where no one really covers for us when we’re away, or we have parents, children, or even grandchildren we’re worried about being far from. “I probably shouldn’t go….” says the voice in the back of your head as you think about locking up your suitcase. But, beyond the usual planning, remind yourself that your colleagues, friends, and family likely take vacations too. Use this thought to reframe things before your departure. If they get to, why shouldn’t you?

There are so many reasons why you might not feel you “deserve” a vacation, from work deadlines to difficult family situations. They can hold you back from ever booking a trip!

Or, it could be another sort of situation that has you feeling as if you don’t deserve to get away. Sandy Hurtes, a New York writer, found herself unsettled once when she made plans to visit Italy a year after her father died. “I paid for the trip with money he left me,” she says, “and I hadn’t taken a trip in years.” Still, something didn’t sit right, and she was in knots over it.

So what’d she do? “Called my therapist from the airport!”

Since then, Sandy says, “I’ve become better at telling myself what he told me then: I deserve a vacation.” The trip to Italy was such a success she took off later on to Spain. Next up, she’s thinking: a guided tour in Portugal, where another layer of anxiety can be lifted because pros do most of the strategizing and booking.

A Different Kind of Separation Anxiety

“Being home may be boring, but it’s safe,” says Florence Kaslow, a veteran family psychologist based in Florida who works with family businesses, notes.

And for those who like the safety of their comfort zones, venturing forth can be a bit scary. Especially if a person is somewhat anxious to begin with. “I’m a worrier,” says Meg Allen, a designer in NYC who travels often to visit relatives in the U.K., “so when I take a trip, my head is swirling with worst-case scenarios. What if I get sick or my husband does? What if the hotel I picked winds up being a bit of a dump, with an uncomfortable bed?”

“Traveling breaks us out of our routines,” says Lauren Cook, a California-based psychologist with expertise in anxieties, phobias, and self-esteem. “We crave normalcy, and many of us yearn for our usual schedules. So while in some ways it’s exciting to have new experiences, there can be headaches in the process of getting there.”

Travel breaks us out of our routines, which is exciting, but it can have us craving normalcy and our same-old, same-old.

Contingency planning can be a help. Unless of course the more you plan for wild scenarios, the worse the emotional wobblies get. Dr. Cook calls this anticipatory anxiety. What’s going on here? For many, she says, “the core is wanting to be in control, and there will always be elements out of your control, whether flight delays or a problem at the hotel.”

Dr. Cook tells those so-afflicted to give themselves some credit as smart, grown adults. Remind yourself that so far, you’ve done a good job of taking care of yourself in this life—and if the hotel room sucks, you can go down to the front desk and ask for a different one.

“A key part of my job as a psychologist is letting people know they are able to cope when they do encounter the unpredictable,” Dr. Cook says. She tells them, “Tap into that mindset of resilience. Tell yourself there may be some discomfort but I can get through hard things.”

And just think of the rewards!