autism and travel

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I am really bad at communication. I'm awkward and being around people can be scary. I want to see the world but am scared to travel too, I am wondering if anyone knows about people with autism learning how to travel and being safe. I want to go on mission trips with my church and also go to NZ and China and Greece...but I don't know how to navigate an airport and get to hotels or hostels and get places, basically I have a hard time communicating and I am directionally-challenged I can't drive and I don't know how to navigate. Also I space out/shut down and that would be scary on a plane I could lose my suitcase maybe someone would steel it when I'm not paying attention. Ideas?

I have those problems too, along with the problem of not having enough money to travel as much as I'd like to of course.

I was absolutely hopeless when it came to traveling on my own at the age of 18 (age of a legal adult in here), and did my first over night (well, two nights) trip on my own at the time. It was in my home country, just a few hours from my home with a bus, but it was scary. This despite the fact that mom helped me to make the hotel reservation, went through the bus schedules with me and I had been to the place once before with her and my sister. The trip went well enough though, aside from the fact that I lost one of my favorite jackets (forgot it in the bus.)
There was another time when I went to the same place on my own two years later and missed the bus on my way back because I was waiting at the wrong bus stop, so that really messed up my mind. It's situations like that that scare me the most about traveling (aside from the possibility of being actually attacked by someone), the "what if things don't go the way I planned" -thing. These days I usually have back up plans, but those can fail too.

Now I can go to that place on my own without trouble, will be going this weekend again in fact, and have gotten better at traveling in my homecountry. I think that the lack of a language barrier is a big key factor here: if something goes wrong, I'll just ask for help. I get lost all the time, but am usually able to find someone who can advice me the right way fast enough.

I actually have one a bit funny (funny now, terrifying for me when it happened) story from last summer: I went to Åland for the first time, which is a group of islands here in Finland, but it's so far from the main land that I had trouble with my phone's internet connection. I was brave enough to reserve and go to this trip on my own because I was sure I could rely on it since I could use google maps to go around and look information from the internet, so naturally I panicked. I started messaging my sister at the harbor, asking how I can get the internet to work, and fortunately she knew how to get it to do so and I managed to take care of myself during the trip thanks to it. Now I have the kind of deal that my phone should have internet acces no matter where in Europe I am, so I'm seriously considering going abroad on my own somewhere in the near future (assuming I get the money together.)

Ahem anyway, on to your problem. I don't know anything about these "mission trips with church" and what they're like, but I'd assume people don't go to them alone? Couldn't you tell these people who go with you about your problems and ask them to help out when you need it?

I'm no good with airports either, but they always have staff, so if you can't handle something you can just ask them how to do this or that and where to go. Sure, some staff members might look at you like you're an idiot for "not understanding something so simple", because they lack the ability to put themselves in other people's shoes and don't understand what's every day things for them can be a first ever thing for someone else, but don't let it bother you. Airport staff gets paid for doing their job and that includes advicing people on what to do and where to go; you don't have to feel bad for using up their time as long as you remember to be polite.

In order to get to places, if money isn't an issue for you then you can always just take a taxi to get right where you want to go. However, I'm assuming it is since it is for most people. Again, asking for advice works here too. When you need to buy a bus or train ticket, ask someone how to use the ticket machine (this is what I wanted to do in London but my sister insisted that we just try until we know how to use it.) Before getting on a train, ask someone who is going to the same train for confirmation that it's really going where you think it's going. Of course, if you go to a country where you don't speak the main language, that'll bring different problems if you can't find someone who can communicate in a language that you can understand, but that's another thing entirely.

As for spacing out, a plane is actually the safest place to do that. People rarely steal stuff in planes since there's no where to hide and you usually keep the bag near you or in the lockers above, so if someone tries to take your bag from your feet, you'll probably notice even if you're spacing out and if someone goes through your bag when it's in the lockers, someone might call them out on suspicious behavior. It's the airport where you have to pay attention, but the only advice I can really give is try not to space out. Of course, you can lose your suitcase if they accidentally put it in the wrong plane, but you'll usually get it back at some point. Just make sure that your possible meds, other absolutely important stuff and at least one set of clothes fit in to your hand luggage which is far less likely to go missing.

I hope we'll both be able to travel on our own without any major trouble eventually.

Mostly, it's just common sense: make sure you travel with all the essentials, make sure you plan ahead, make sure you know the number of the emergency services in your country, make sure you have a valid visa and aren't likely (this is particularly an issue with China, a country I would never feel safe travelling to) to be arrested on some spurious political charge. Make sure you have enough money, don't travel in deserted areas and don't travel too much at night.

I totally understand how you feel about traveling .The sensory issues alone are enough to drive us into overload . It takes practice and patience . Noise cancelling headphones are an advantage . Traveling with an understanding NT friend can be helpful too .

I find airports scary and muddling, even if I'm with someone. Thanks to 9/11 they are too strict and I can't keep up.

I feel the most secure and have the best time traveling with a trusted companion. Someone who can navigate and deal with all the stress-inducing parts of travel. I get lost easily, stressed easily, etc. Having a friend along makes a big difference to me. I generally like the destination, just not the journey.

Yes the church mission trips are group trips, my pastor said this year the Africa trip had 13 people. I trust my church, but my fellow churchmates dont know i am autistic and I would probably have to be responsible on the trip, protect myself, deal with getting places. Then again, hopefully they would check in with me and make sure I am there and help me get on the plane there and back maybe they can see that I am different and care enough to be there for me deeply. There is also a trip to Mexico in this Spring I am not ready for that trip but maybe next Spring.

I flew to Arizona once for Capoeira and I ended up waiting at the airport for almost 2 hours waiting for my contact to pick me up but then we trained and stayed at a host house and it was really great. I also went to Toronto Canada with my Capoeira group it was wonderful.

I want to be a missionary in China and New Zealand and hopefully become a citizen of New Zealand but probably would need a lot of assistance in all the paperwork and visas and stuff it is so overwhelming but it is my dream to be a kiwi.

Given your current liabilities, a companion seems the only safe option. Perhaps they can teach you how to do it yourself. Failing that, you could try mini-trips to train and test yourself just doing complex routes near your home.

Im not in Europe ^_^. i want to travel the world ive seen enough of USA I want to see the world.

I never thought you were. How did you see the USA? Why would it be different elsewhere, apart from language?
"Rompin' Ronnie Hawkins" is one of the biggest names in Canadian music. Before he left Alabama to try his luck, his dad warned him that he'd get knifed for sure. That was pure paranoia. I've travelled extensively in the US, but I'm scared to go there now.

My AS mom lived in her van for dozens of summers, just moving a few miles most days.

Sorry somehow I thought you meant trains in europe (no offense =)) I went on 2 choir tours with a church I used to go to when I was a teenager, and in college traveled with my martial arts groups I went to North Carolina with Shotokan Karate twice and to Arizona and Chicago and New Jersey with Capoeira they were groups so they looked out for me. Also my family moved around a lot.

There are states I havent been to but am focussing more on getting to NZ and Australia and seeing Greece because im part greek.

someone at my autism group mentioned a "meet and greet" thing at airports if you have autism. You call them in advance and they have someone waiting in the airport for you

I have been wanting to find an autism support group

Travel with someone.

what about organizing one?

I'm able to do it if I'm traveling with someone.

I did travel across the country once on my own, but I don't know that I could do it again without plenty of anxiety.