Okay I’m gonna like info dump so apologies in advance:
...
Like say: a doctor’s appointment…
You know when you’re a kid and everything is just set up by parents?
Then like fast forward… you’re an adult and parents are busy or something…
And then you’re like “Omg I’m alone… wh- wh- wha- what am I supposed to do…”
Okay I wasn’t alone, but my dad had to drive me there, but he doesn’t speak English so I’m pretty much alone in terms of navigating all that stuff…
And example #2: Passport…
The last time I got it was when I was a teen so everything was already done by mom…
(funny thing is I ended up never using the passport cuz we never had a chance to travel… mostly just had it as proof of citizenship…)
Now I wanna like travel (maybe, no concrete plans yet) and mom told me to get a passport so when she comes back from her trip, maybe we go to Canada or something, I always loved the idea of Canada.
So um… I just bring the documents its good right?
Oh wait, I have to bring a photo thingy since the appointment didn’t have the photo service…
wh–whe-where do I even go get that?
Oh shit the money order thing… wha- how- um… how much is it even exactly… oh fuck fuck fuck…
then my mind goes: I’m not gonna get all the stuff ready and miss the appointment and the next available one is like weeks away… shit… why is life so miserable?
mom is visiting China… so I’m just “alone” in the US… :/
I might have separation anxiety issues…
Okay not to your extent but having been thrown into the deep end in a foreign country with zero survival skills I can relate. First yeah I don’t think most people have this kind of trouble. The key I’ve found is to beeline towards the thing closest to instructions (written or verbal) you can find. While getting panicky probably isn’t normal (no judgement though, fuck normalcy), not knowing how to do things is perfectly normal and there’s 99.9% going to be someone or something easy to find for people who have no idea what they’re doing. Well, in the developed world anyway, but you don’t exactly give me “I’mma go to Mozambique” vibes so you should be fine. Anyway yeah, I for one can say that help desks and clear signage absolutely hard-carried me through my first (and second, and third…) time at the airport; just don’t be afraid to ask for help, look things up and pay attention to signs and you’ll be fine.