How do you calm down when it seems impossible to meet?

[leroysam1]

I won't put a huge backstory. The important things are I'm in the U.S. and 18 years old. My bf is in Australia and is 25. We've been talking for 10 months. I want to visit Australia to meet him and to visit a new country, but my mom is worried about me meeting a stranger I met online on the other side of the world, which is understandable. Plus there is dealing with paying for traveling. My bf is afraid to come to the U.S. with all the crazy stuff on the news about Trump and police brutality and hating Muslims (he's Muslim and originally from Pakistan). However, he said he could come to Canada to meet me after he gets an Australian passport sometime next year.

A couple weeks after telling my mom about him, she freaked out because she was worried about me. Then I freaked out and so did my bf. At the time, it felt that it was impossible that we would ever meet in person, let alone work out after that. For a little more than a week, I couldn't sleep and felt sick most of the time and he couldn't sleep either. We talked about only talking as friends because it seemed impossible. After finally calming down, we are pretty much back to what is our normal.

I have to tell my dad about my bf soon and I have no idea how he will react. I'm hoping for the best, but I want to be prepared for the worst. Does anyone have any advice for staying calm and realistically optimistic when it seems impossible? Or advice for keeping my bf calm in case my dad starts investigating him online?

[sasad]

Have them meet on skype and talk to each other. Let them get to know each other first.
You are also 18 and able to make your own decisions now, but I do understand parental influence.

Stay calm, have them talk. See how that goes from there.

[leroysam1]

I plan on doing that. My mom already said she wants to. It's just the initial shock of telling them that causes chaos for a few days. Once I'm calm, I'm not so worried about it. Getting there is the problem lol