Autistic Traveler Interviews: How to Support Neurodivergent Travelers

Welcome to this interview series with fellow autistic adults. Some will be guest posts, and others will be interviews on the highs and lows of autistic travel and everything in between.

Nicole Bushhouse Guest Bio: I’ve been an avid explorer all my life, and in the past decade, I’ve expanded my international travels to include off-the-beaten-path destinations such as Cambodia, Mozambique, and Peru. While I adore the thrill and novelty of traveling, I’ve also grappled with significant anxiety and hyper-vigilance throughout my journeys.

I started Unruffled Travel, in large part, because I want to share my travel experiences with others to hopefully help them learn from my successes and failures. I’ve begun cataloging my intuitive strategies for managing my sensory sensitivities alongside checklists and planning tools I use, shared on my website or via my newsletter. My desire is to create a community of Neurodiverse explorers to learn from and to create safe spaces out in the world for each other. 

1. Tell us about your background. 

I’ve lived in Denver, Colorado, since 2005, and I am originally from the Midwest, USA and moved out here with my little sister all those years ago. I have over 20 years of international travel experience on five continents. I am currently a Certified Destination Specialist for: South Africa, Italy, Morocco, Amsterdam and Hawai’i. I joined FORA Travel as an Advisor in 2023 and found a wonderful community of experts to learn from. FORA caught my eye, because of its focus on leveraging technology to make Advisor’s work more efficient. Over the past few decades, I’ve worked in Manufacturing Supply Chain in various industries and am excited to transfer this skill set to my passion of travel planning! I want to help make travel accessible to those who have been historically marginalized including LGBTQIA2S+, BIPOC and Neurodiverse folks. 

2. When did you realize you were autistic? Expand in any direction you want.

Over the last few years, I, like many, have been on a journey of self-diagnosis, research, assessments and discovery about Neurodivergence. The common stereotypes and focus of medical research on Autism and ADHD have left many of us undiagnosed and confused about why we grew up feeling different or struggled in areas that seemed simple to most of our friends and family. After decades of trying to conform to a Neurotypical world, I’m working to unmask and allow my true self to be exposed to others. It’s hard work rewiring your neural pathways! I am pursuing formal diagnoses for a few different reasons, but wholly believe that self-diagnosis is valid. 

3. Do you have any special interests you want to share?

My special interests are studying people, including myself, and studying the world which is part of why travel is so important in my life experience. Studying people, I think, came naturally as a child trying to understand the motivations of others and societal norms and rules and developed into studying Sociology and Political Science in college. In my corporate work, I’ve studied how people work as a team and how to make processes efficient by listening to the people doing the job and using my larger picture vision to streamline and reduce waste and make people’s lives simpler, easier and hopefully a little happier. 

As a person with Autism + ADHD, my special interests need to have a lot of facets and avenues to explore to keep me engaged and interested. Through travel, I am able to pour myself into research on a particular place, including its language, history, geography, culture, and people. I love talking to people about places they’ve traveled to, I can’t get enough of hearing people tell their stories about travel that has touched, healed or expanded their views. 

4. Has your sensory system fluctuated over the years? For example, has your hearing become more acute (and noise more unbearable)?

Yes, I think my sensory system fluctuated over the years and has become something I’m more attuned to more recently as I’m striving to unmask.  

My hearing has always been extremely sensitive, and I have worked for decades in open-concept offices and manufacturing facilities surrounded by many people talking and loud equipment. The pandemic and a tech layoff in 2022 laid bare for me the cycles of tolerating overstimulation and then burnout I’ve gone through my whole career. Eventually, I would become so anxious, irritated and stressed that my body would get ill to the point I was forced to rest or end up in the hospital. I started working with a life coach for some years to get better at noticing burnout signals coming earlier than the point of physical shutdown and to build a toolbox of skills to help me advocate for myself, process stress, and take care of myself. 

As a person with both Autism and ADHD, it may seem paradoxical that while I have strong sensory sensitivities to things like sound, bright colors and lights, and strong smells, I also seek out and enjoy immersing myself in intense sensory stimulation. Some of my favorite things to do are trying and cooking different, very flavorful foods, going to clubs to dance to loud music in a huge group of people with flashing lights and traveling to countries where I don’t speak the language. This is where listening to my body and noticing signs of being overwhelmed is crucial to finding balance and feeling safe. I give myself more time for rest and lack of stimulation as well as let people with me know what may trigger me. 

5. Did you move homes much as a child? Did your family take trips?

My parents still live in the house I grew up in since I was about 5 years old and I think it was very important to me to have that foundation of stability growing up. I would get extremely homesick if I was staying at a friend’s house or at an overnight camp. Moving an hour and a half drive away in college was distinctly difficult, I was fortunate to be able to return home frequently to see my friends and family. It’s comforting to go back and visit my parents in the same home I grew up in. I had a recent realization that I’ve now lived in Colorado longer than I ever lived in Michigan, where I grew up. 

I find the process of moving to be overwhelming. I’ve lived in the same apartment for nearly 15 years. I struggle with all the possibilities of where I could move to, what my neighbors would be like, and how much noise I might have to deal with. I find it all a bit paralyzing, not to mention going through and organizing/packing up all the things I’ve accumulated in this place over those years. 

My family did take vacations when I was a child, mostly it would be simple camping trips a couple hours drive away, some would be long-road trips to Disney World or visiting family in Iowa, California or Nevada. My parents took a set of our grandparents with us to the Yucatan Peninsula. I think it was my first time staying at an all-inclusive resort, and I just loved it. We went to see Chichen Itza and it captured my imagination, thinking about the people who would build such amazing things and what their lives might be like. 

6. Do you like to travel? What kind of travel do you like?

Travel brings me into the present moment, challenges me to overthink less, and allows me to jump into experiences in a way I don’t feel in my ‘normal’ life. I am interested in travel that immerses me in a place, out of typical “tourist” attractions, a bit more off the beaten path, where I can find locals to learn from. 

One of my favorite days of travel in my entire life was taking a private guided bike ride through rice paddies on river islands outside of Hoi An, Vietnam. The pace of being on a bike is a great way to take in the world, we would stop just to appreciate the snails in the river or watch a water buffalo grazing. Navigating narrow dirt paths and tiny bridges, we visited families at their homes, where they shared with us their specialty artisan craftwork, and we cooked and shared food in their kitchens with them. Sharing food is one of the easiest ways I’ve found to cross language barriers. I make it a priority to schedule at least one locally led street food tour and a cooking lesson of some kind wherever I travel. 

I spend months and sometimes years learning about a place I plan to visit. I want to know about its history, politics, culture, religions, food, and really as much as I can. It feeds my curiosity and allows me to show up in a respectful, empathetic way to a new place. 

7. My special interest is packing. Do you like to pack or have any packing tips for other autistic travelers?

I love that your special interest is packing! You’ve given me so many great tips that I’ve been able to share with my community. I am a chronic overpacker who is looking to streamline my packing for future travel. My travel anxiety and desire to prepare for any possible situation leads me to bring a lot of ‘just in case’ items or duplicates/triplicates that I don’t end up using or wearing. I feel really proud of myself; on my most recent trip to visit my best friend in Austin, TX, I did not overpack! I was consciously editing out duplicates. 

Shoes are the most difficult piece for me because they take up a lot of space, but I want to have options for comfort, weather-proofness and for looking nice. Something I’ve been working on the last few years is buying higher quality shoes that are comfortable and can go from casual to more dressed up. As a Coloradan, I always dress in layers because the weather can swing 30 degrees or more from evening to mid-day and back again, so I take that functional, outdoor dressing mentality with me when I travel. Being comfortable, dry, and the right temperature helps me better tolerate sensory overload in other ways while traveling.  

8. If you like to travel, how do you deal with the uncertainty? Or anxiety?

Some years ago, I started noticing symptoms of anxiety crop up when I was preparing to travel, manifesting in my physical body like severe insomnia and feeling more scattered/struggling to keep track of my thoughts and objects, all of which make traveling even more challenging. To mitigate anxiety and stress for me, it’s important to practice good sleep hygiene, hydrate and exercise out some of the nerves. 

Breathwork techniques are another tactic I reach for because you can implement them anywhere, and they shift your body from a state of stress to one of rest. One that I can remember, even in times of stress, is the 4-7-8 breathing technique. You breathe in for 4 counts, hold for 7 counts breathe out for 8 counts and repeat the cycle for about a minute. I can immediately notice the shift in my body. 

9. What does “travel anxiety” mean to you? 

I’ve started to think of anxiety and excitement as being on different sides of the same emotional coin. I find I don’t often feel one without the other, so if I want to feel the excitement of travel, I have to work through some amount of anxiety. I’m a person that likes to plan and prepare, for me the intent is to strike a balance between knowing a good amount about where I’m traveling to but knowing there will be unknowns I can’t prepare for, and with that always comes happy surprises that I couldn’t prepare for. 

10.  Do you have any advice for other autistic travelers, especially those who are overwhelmed by the idea of it? 

Building a support system and network of experts can help, as an Advisor, I create a profile for each of my clients so I know your preferences, requirements, dislikes, all the important details to make sure that you’re well taken care of and know as much as you can ahead of time. When recommending accommodations, I pay attention to things like location (is it on a busy street or above a nightclub?), the lighting and curtains in the rooms, available accommodations and special amenities and check in with the properties to confirm details in advance. When you’re able to just show up and have a plan outlined for you, it helps take a lot of weight off your brain and lets you enjoy being in the moment. No travel is without a few hiccups, acknowledging that and reminding yourself that whatever happens could be something you’re able to have humor about later can help you roll through the obstacles. Letting your travel mates know if you have any particular needs or requirements or situations you’re concerned about, will help them be in a place to support and care for you when you need it. 

For my clients, I will outline any must-book in advance type of activities to build the base of their itinerary around and intersperse days in between with ‘choose your own adventure’ options so they can let their mood and energy in the moment guide them for the day, and they have some options available to pick from at the ready. In my personal travel, I schedule a lot of downtime into my itinerary, half or full days of just sitting by the pool, on a beach or terrace reading, napping or getting spa treatments, things that make me feel physically and mentally relaxed and give me a feeling of slowing down. If I have the time to explore a place over a few weeks, I like to start my trip in a cultural center or city to dive into activities like exploring markets, trying new foods, going to museums and taking rest breaks in the afternoons and allowing for long leisurely meal times. Then I like to end my trip at a relaxing location, more in nature, somewhere that doesn’t require you to leave every day because there is good food onsite. I like adding in a physical activity like yoga, a surf lesson, a hike, or something to ground me in nature before heading back home. 

Rose’s Takeaways: How to Support Neurodivergent Travelers

So many excellent travel tips! Nicole’s story shows that we’re not alone–whether we go on our own or seek the support of someone like Nicole, we can make travel work on our terms.

• I love how Nicole says what travel does for them: “travel brings me into the present moment, challenges me to overthink less, and allows me to jump into experiences in a way I don’t feel in my ‘normal’ life.”
• Nicole shares wise words about how listening to your body and noticing signs of being overwhelmed is crucial to finding balance and feeling safe.
• While traveling, Nicole gives themselves more time for rest and lack of stimulation as well as letting people with them know what may trigger them. 
• I find that immersion is such a key piece of being an autistic traveler, so I loved that Nicole found ways to do this that worked for them: “I spend months and sometimes years learning about a place I plan to visit. I want to know about its history, politics, culture, religions, food, and really as much as I can. It feeds my curiosity and allows me to show up in a respectful, empathetic way to a new place.”
• Shoes! It’s a challenge for so many autistic people, regardless of whether you travel. I don’t have many shoe issues, so I appreciated Nicole’s sage advice here: “Something I’ve been working on the last few years is buying higher quality shoes that are comfortable and can go from casual to more dressed up.”
• When packing, I completely agree with Nicole’s advice about sensory overload: Being comfortable, dry, and the right temperature helps me better tolerate sensory overload in other ways while traveling.  
• Because we get overwhelmed by planning, we can often forget how travel can feed our need for novelty, immersion, and sensory stimulation, particularly if you’re an ADHDer as well.
• You can lessen travel anxiety by focusing on sleep hygiene, hydration, and movement.
• I want to repeat Nicole’s breathwork guide here since it’s so helpful! “Breathwork techniques are another tactic I reach for because you can implement them anywhere, and they shift your body from a state of stress to one of rest. One that I can remember, even in times of stress, is the 4-7-8 breathing technique. You breathe in for 4 counts, hold for 7 counts breathe out for 8 counts and repeat the cycle for about a minute. I can immediately notice the shift in my body.” 
• Take a look at how Nicole works with clients to help them plan and prepare for a wonderful trip!

What’s the best way for us to follow your work?

Instagram: @unruffledtravel https://www.instagram.com/unruffledtravel/

Website: https://www.unruffledtravel.com/

Fora Travel Profile: https://www.foratravel.com/advisor/nicole-bushhouse