I was laid off from my last job a few months ago, and have only just now gotten a job offer after a long search. I accepted it, of course, but this job has some cons related to my anxiety. 

First, it was supposed to be remote, which is ideal for me. My last job was mostly remote, and I was able to go into the office occasionally and get through those meetings despite being pretty anxious. It seems like the plan for this job is to be hybrid, with a lot of office time in the beginning due to training. I’ve already accepted that, and am planning to start doing exposure therapy in the 3 weeks I have before I start (driving places, going into busy public spaces, etc.)

Today, I received an email from my new boss, asking if I would be interested in attending a workshop 1 week into the job. This would take place in a big city ~2 hours from me, and I would need to stay in a hotel for 2 nights (the workshop starts first thing in the morning, and there just so happens to be a work related “gala” happening in the same city that night, which I would also be expected to attend.)

Basically, this situation was my worst fear when taking this job. I knew they have offices in other cities and some employees travel a lot, but traveling was not part of my job description. Even the idea of going into the office part time, in my own city, has been causing me extreme anxiety. What can I do here? How do I politely decline without looking bad?

I need this job. I stupidly decided not to go on unemployment when I was laid off, so I’m running out of money quickly. Should i just start applying to other jobs? 

I did have one thought, that I could accept the invitation to this workshop &amp; work event, and then a couple days before I could  “come down with COVID.” Obviously this isn’t ideal, and it’s not a long term solution, but part of the problem here is that I’m being faced with this situation so soon. I was hoping to figure out the hybrid in-office thing and work through my anxiety around that, through the repeated exposure therapy, before I had to deal with an even bigger issue like this. 

For context, I have barely left my house since being laid off in Feb. I take my dog on walks around the neighborhood and I take her to the vet, but that’s about all. My anxiety around driving is at an all-time high, and I haven’t driven recently either. Driving to a big city, staying for 2 nights, and attending 12 hours of work events feels absolutely impossible to me. 

Whatever I decide about this work event, I’ll need to respond to my boss’s email soon. 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

TLDR: New job starts in 3 wks, expects me to work in office part time, and now go to workshop &amp; event in big city hundreds of miles away during my 1st week. Anxiety &amp; apathy have kept me housebound for a few months now since I was laid off from last job. Overwhelmed, need advice.