Hi Folks,

Got back from Venice last week, beautiful place, sunshine and snow together.

As I've mentioned here, things have been better for me for some time, but a couple of nasty anxiety attacks kicked in while in Venice. Both were in restaurants (my trigger places) and it was pretty hard in the morning just before flying back.

The good news -

We didn't cancel anything; we did all the galleries, took boat trips, etc.

I didn't leave the restaurants, and even managed to eat some of the fish. My wife said, "Don't worry, just rearrange it a bit and they'll never notice". (This sounds like a good strategy by the way). Anyhow, I did my stuff, talked myself down and made it through. I did eat some of the fish, aided by a couple of glasses if vino tinto.

The flight back was cool, with a beautiful sunset over the alps and a chatty little Italian boy sitting in the seat in front.

Thing is, if we don't give in to the fear, we get to see places and I now have all the pictures in my mind and some real photos too. My wife had always wanted to see Venice and now she has, and seen everything she wanted, The Grand Canal, St Marks, The Guggenheim, The Rialto.

We did it!

When things are easier, the fear of relapse is pretty big, but coming through those dips counts for something; I think so anyway.

Cheers, Myzen.

PS - Admin, I have a short article and some photos on a travelblog site. Is it possible to mention that here if anyone wants a look? I'll understand if that's not appropriate.