Travelling with a stutter

Last week I went on a little city break with my partner.

It was his birthday the weekend before and as part of his birthday celebration, we decided to book a little getaway to Berlin, in Germany. We both love traveling so we were very excited. I was also a little nervous because I had never been to Germany before and also because I didn’t know how I was going to manage with my stutter. As a person who stutters, I always struggle with talking to people in foreign countries because not only is there a language barrier but, similar to when I'm at home, I am also nervous about what reactions I will get because of my stutter. 

Whilst I can often stutter very openly when I’m at home, I struggle to stutter openly when I’m abroad. I think this is because I’m away from the safety net of being at home and there is also just something slightly scary about talking to people who don’t speak the same language as you. There is an automatic lack of understanding and you have to work a little harder to communicate what you need. 

I relied on my partner a lot while we were away.

My partner, however, loves to chat and will chat to anyone, regardless of a language barrier - something which I really admire about him. I don’t like to admit this but I need to be honest and say that while we were away I let him do most of the talking, which I rarely do when we’re at home. I’m slightly ashamed to admit this even though I know he didn’t mind and he was happy to step in when I needed him to. I like to think that if my partner wasn’t with me I would have communicated my needs myself, simply because I had to.

I know its okay to ask for help when it comes to certain situations that involve communication and I need to learn to lean on people when I do need that help. However, while I was away I also learned that I really want to push myself in these situations and try to speak for myself when I am in a foreign country.

The future.

We plan to travel the world next year and that’ll be a huge challenge for me when it comes to my stutter. I'm excited about the traveling aspect of our adventure because I've always wanted to see the world.

But I know it’ll also be scary.

I just wanted to share this as I know I can talk a big game about how I have accepted my stutter and I know I am very out and proud about having a stutter but I still have moments of struggle.

I’m only human after all.