Traveling with trip-idation

As I write this column on Wednesday afternoon, I'm sorting through the final details for a short trip I'll be taking with my family that was to begin Thursday morning. We'll fly US Airways to Montreal, rent a car and spend a few days in the Laurentian Mountains north of the city doing some skiing, both downhill and cross-country.

We started making plans for the trip about six weeks ago, when we realized that the Pittsburgh Public Schools had scheduled in-service days for Feb. 1 and 2, and our younger son, Ben, would have two days off. The prospect became even more attractive when our older son, Zach, said he could take a few days off from his job in Washington, D.C., and join us.

Using online resources and toll-free phone numbers, I made reservations at reasonable rates for convenient nonstop flights from Pittsburgh. Zach'll be flying up and meeting us at Pittsburgh International. It's noteworthy that his round trip from Washington to Montreal via Pittsburgh is $50 less than our round trip from Pittsburgh.

I have confirmations for our car and hotel and a good sense of the driving directions. As far as I can figure, all the arrangements are in place for a great trip, the t's crossed and i's dotted. So why have there been heated discussions at several dinners this week? What is the source of that faceless anxiety that's lurking in the dark corners of my consciousness? Why, at the moment, does a part of me wish I hadn't planned this trip?

Call it trip-idation, a form of wanderlust in reverse.

Just as professional actors sometimes suffer stage fright, even travel editors are occasionally struck by an overwhelming urge to stay put. But I'm not alone. Many travelers get edgy or cranky before they leave home.

The syndrome is easy to understand psychologically. Most people take some comfort from fixed routines and familiar environments, no matter how stale they sometimes seem. Travel, whether for business or pleasure, removes us from the familiar, often for completely unknown surroundings and potentially stressful situations. Thus, as exciting as the prospect of change may seem, it also can be the source of considerable anxiety. Clinically, these vague feelings have been characterized as a form of separation anxiety, a stay-home syndrome or a departure depression.

But my trip-idations also are based on observable realities.

The sad fact of travel these days is that any journey is fraught with potential perils. Travel has always been something of a risky venture, and modern transportation practices have alleviated many of those risks. In fact, more people are traveling more places more safely than ever before, and doing it with a degree of speed and comfort previous generations would have found astounding.

Yet, even as the physical risks have abated, a whole host of new concerns have cropped up.

For one, there's the blizzard of pre-trip details, working out the where, when and how of the journey, getting reservations for times and places you want at the best possible price.

Then there are jitters of the journey itself.

Separation anxiety or aerophobia aside, trips these days can be unexpectedly taxing. There's the curious dynamic of having to get to the airport earlier and earlier for flights that increasingly might be hours late taking off. Bad weather, canceled connections, faulty documentation, lost luggage or unexpected mishaps, myriad in-transit factors can and do disrupt travelers' plans every day. With as many as one flight in four taking off significantly late or not at all, it's hard to have any confidence at all in flight schedules.

Not even counting possible snags we might face upon arrival, from bad weather to vehicular mishaps (did I tell you about the time I lost my rental car keys?), or the inconveniences and uncertainties that might arise on our return, these trip-idations are both easy to understand, and important to control.

They certainly can easily detract from the overall travel experience, if not ruin it all together.

There are many steps we travelers can and do take to ease our anxieties, but the best general advice is to be both a careful planner and vigilant voyager. Relax and try to enjoy the journey, whatever hurdles may arise.

It's good advice. I'll try to follow it myself.