are world tours exhausting

A Little Confession… Learning to Recover When Travel Fatigue Sets In

Last updated on January 12, 2024 by Shannon

Have you ever had those trips where you just feel the planets aren’t aligned for you to be traveling right now? Everything is going minorly wrong, or it’s altogether more exhausting than you anticipated?

Across my 15+ years of travel, sometimes travel fatigue set in quickly and made me feel tired, sad, and alone. I first experienced it on my round the world trip in month eight, and then when backpacking solo through Central America was far harder than I expected.

Like, much harder. Same deal with solo backpacking Africa years later, after a fun run of five years where life on the road jibed with my mental state at the time.

Travel fatigue is something not frequently discussed among travelers, but it’s very real according to science . While you can avoid it a lot of the time by being aware and proactive, it will eventually set in on any long-term trip.

With the right steps though, and with some prior knowledge of what’s worked for other travelers, it’s possible to cure travel fatigue—or at least recover enough to continue enjoying your trip.

What is Travel Fatigue?

Travel fatigue is a total exhaustion caused by too many days or weeks of constantly being on “alert” while you travel. It manifests as apathy toward travel activities that usually excite you, and a lack of motivation to enjoy local culture and cuisine. Like other types of burnout, travel fatigue is a feeling of deep weariness and disengagement.

Pinning down what this looked like to me was actually one of the harder steps in the process of learning how to how to recover from travel fatigue. It’s not any one thing that I can always put a finger on.

For me, I would often still enjoy the countries I am visiting and many of the unique experiences. I would even slow down as a first remedy for it—in Central America I just planted myself in Guatemala to see if that would help with the travel fatigue (and because I really like Guatemala !).

But a few minor difficulties (and a few not so minor difficulties) would seem too big to handle—my mind blew them out of proportion as signs that I was doing something wrong. I’m incredibly grateful that I get to travel —that’s not the issue here. It’s more that the whole experience can seem harder work than it should be.

My round the world trip had ups and downs , but the tiredness I felt in Central America was just different. My debit card was cloned; money was stolen and it was a straight up fiasco to get a new one through the Guatemalan postal system and to my doorstep—a hostel in Xela that agreed to front me accommodation until my card arrived. This in and of itself, not such a big deal— it happens right ?

This incident, though, points to some wider overarching issues that have cropped up in the past three months—lots of illnesses this trip , some big family problems cropped up back home , and it seems like I’ve faced more general difficulties while traveling this part of the world.

Science says travel is tiring on the body in every way —and that’s just the act of normal, uncomplicated travel.

So I had to ask myself: Are there more difficulties than on my RTW trip , or am I just tired? Is the Universe was conspiring against me—are the gods of travel just telling me to go home? Or is normal fatigue just combining with a few more trying situations to make this all just seem unmanageable. This is what I pondered.

Perception is reality, facts notwithstanding. We must alter our perception of a situation to see alternatives, and a different perception often leads to a different reality. That’s my firstline approach to travel fatigue: accept, acknowledge, and consider—reframe your perspective and perception.

Easier said than done though. When I was exhausted in Central America, I had a month left on my six-month backpacking trip before heading home to the States for a wedding. Although I deeply wanted to expat myself somewhere for six months or a year ( Thailand ?), to have a homebase and explore more from there, I needed to recover from my fatigue in the short-term. Here’s what worked when I asked long-term travelers for their best advice on curing travel fatigue, and steps to avoid it in the first place.

How to Recover From Travel Fatigue

Update : After receiving incredible support from the travel community in the comments and via email—thank you, by the way—I’ve collected a list of advice for others who might find themselves in this situation: hitting a wall of tiredness and feeling complete inertia in your travels.

I’ve also written an extensive post on how to cope with loneliness while traveling , offering additional tips there, because loneliness often factors into travel fatigue, even if you’re not traveling solo.

If you’re feeling travel fatigue, first, know that you’re not alone. Then take steps to help cure those negative or lonely feelings. Travel can feel very isolating if you’re not vigilant, so please take it seriously and find the ideas that help you recover a sense of joy in your life and travels.

1. Pick a Place and Stay There

Every time I feel similarly to how you’re feeling, I’ve realized that the constant movement from place to place was the culprit. And so I would just stop or I would move to some ideal place for three or more months in order to regroup. Derek from Wandering Earl

How to Avoid Travel Fatigue Long-Term

Don’t let your exhaustion get to the place of a bone-deep tired by traveling slowly. This is the single best way to ensure that you continue to enjoy every place you visit. It’s especially important in long-term travels.

Any traveler on the road for months should consider a place they’re keen to experience more like a local—then move there! Use my extensive digital nomad cost of living guides to find the cities and countries most welcoming to travelers in need of a break.

2. Take a Nap & Get a Solid Night’s Sleep

If you’re on a short-term trip and you need a solution today, consider taking a nap. And no matter how long your trip, make an early night of it for several nights in a row if you’ve been moving too quickly to get your recommended seven to eight hours of sleep every night. Sleep is important to wellbeing, and travel (and the strange beds, jet lag, and long days) can exacerbate any sleep issues you might have. Plus, things always look better when you are well rested. So, take a nap, skip the alcohol, and sleep.

Fiercely protect your sleep routines on the road. It’s easy to get caught up in the sheer joy and fun of round the world travel—that can mean late nights out drinking and enjoying the company of new friends—but if you’re on the road for weeks and months, you need a functional sleep routine, too.

To avoid travel fatigue in the long-term, consciously assess your sleep patterns and construct a cadence of travel that allows you to get a full night’s rest more often than not.

3. Assess Your Current Country & Consider Moving On

Although  we loved Guatemala, I have to say that traveling there was emotionally difficult at times. Each time we would tell people our plans, the response would be “ peligroso ” and we’d have to figure out whether we would be faced with armed robbery or just standard pickpocketing. It also seemed like a national pastime for people (locals and expats) is to tell you the latest bus-jacking or kidnapping incidence in the country. Audrey from Uncornered Market

When deciding your around the world itinerary , pick a mix of travel destinations that are easier and more challenging. Travel fatigue hit me for the first time after spending six months in challenging destinations across Southeast Asia and South Asia—all of that time “on alert” every single day took a toll on me mentally and physically, and I faced a bad case of burnout as soon as I left that region of the world.

A better designed itinerary will give you a balance of destinations—and a slow pace—so you can enjoy them without the exhaustion.

4. Eat Your Fruits and Veggies

It’s really important to be sure you’re still eating healthy foods that give you energy, because a lack of certain nutrients (such as B vitamins) can affect both our mood (mind) and stamina (body). Trisha from Travel Writers Exchange

Like with sleep, it’s easy to let your usually diet go when you’re on the road and faced with any number of local treats. And in some regions, fried snacks—especially on travel days—are by far the easiest snacks to locate. But fresh fruits and vegetables are easy to locate anywhere in the world and you should maintain an awareness of your diet across a week.

Some days it’s fine to splurge on local foods, but you still need all of the micronutrients vegetables provide throughout each week on the road. Consider shopping at a local market and then cooking dinner yourself a few nights a week.

Or seek out vegetarian restaurants (even if you aren’t vegetarian) in meat-based cultures to ensure you can easily have a delicious and healthy meal on the reg.

5. Avoid Guilt, It Happens to Everyone

We found India to be difficult, and we had quite a hard time with travel fatigue. To top it off we felt guilty for evening having travel fatigue. It eventually went away after we decided to relax on the beach in Sri Lanka for 10 days. — Deb from The Planet D

You can cure your travel fatigue faster if you acknowledge it as a natural part of the travel process. Sometimes you will face situations that are out of your control—perhaps a destination that challenges you at every turn, where you can’t find a good bed or a healthy meal for weeks.

That’s OK. You’ll get through it, and there is an enormous community of travelers around the world you can talk to online if needed—we’ve all been where you are, so reach out and feel safe knowing it can happen to any traveler.

6. Chat with Family and Friends

Problems don’t go away on the road, they are amplified in many ways, so eat well and take it easy. Skype friends and chat, unplug otherwise. When you get shaken and feel more vulnerable, you need to fill up your cup, so you can enjoy the travel. Daily meditation and time in nature also helps us a lot, and we are lucky to be surrounded by good hugabuddies. ;) Jeannie from Soul Travelers 3

Stay connected to your loved ones when you’re traveling! This is vital throughout your trip, as it’s one of the first lines of defense in travel loneliness as well.

7. Unplug, Meditate & Exercise

By moving our bodies on a daily basis we are doing what our bodies are designed to do and, at the same time, producing the wonderful endorphins that come along with the movement for which our bodies and minds are grateful. Chris Heuisler in Quartz

Exercise makes you feel good, even if you kinda hate it. And on the road, practicing good mental and physical habits like meditation and exercise are a first line of defense against travel burnout.

You don’t even have to make it a huge “thing.” There are fun and travely ways to incorporate both into your travels. You can look for urban and rural hikes to incorporate into your travel route, or take a fun approach to meditation like my friend Victoria did in her “ don’t knock it til you’ve tried it ” series when she was living in Ubud, Bali.

And you can also just bring along lightweight exercise bands and do some quick travel exercises every day to stay in peak mental and physical health.

8. Rent the Movie “ A Map for Saturday “

Easily one of the best films about long-term travel, you’ll find yourself continually reassured that you’re not alone in your up and down journey around the world. Nora from The Professional Hobo

Make sure you’re enjoying pieces of your life beyond just travel. Long-term travel becomes a lifestyle versus a vacation, and you should create balance between all the things you love.

Keep up with your favorite TV shows from back home if that brings you joy, and read all the time if that was your favorite pastime.

Keep routines you loved, and don’t feel guilty or as if you have an obligation to do anything specific on your trip.

If you choose to spend your entire first days in Bangkok holed up in a hotel room binging Game of Thrones , no one need judge you as travel is about the overall arc of a trip, and you can’t be “on” in travel mode every minute of every day.

Remember: It’s All Impermanent, It Will Get Better at Some Point.

I’ll chalk it up to my 10 days in Vipassana Meditation , but the Buddhist notion of impermanence applies here as well. It seems so bad at the time, but it’s a fleeting moment, circumstances are going to change. This is what I kept telling myself to get through my own bouts of travel fatigue.  :-)

A big thank you for the comments and support when I was feeling blue—and for you many additional great suggestions in the comments below—check them out as well if you’re looking for a way to come back to level after experiencing travel fatigue!

26 thoughts on “A Little Confession… Learning to Recover When Travel Fatigue Sets In”

WOW….I found you. Explaining how I’ve been feeling fell on dear, but deaf ears. I’m a newly formed “senior nomad” and since the end of July 2023, left behind my hometown solo (after selling house/car/stuff) to fulfill my wanderlust, and with no regrets at all. I was ready. Destination, both my adult children’s adopted country, Australia. I scheduled out a plan for my destination that included cruising to Iceland, Greenland, Newfoundland, coast of Maine, Quebec, Montreal. Then, with a two week reprieve, went to Vancouver for another two week tour/reprieve only to pick up a ship for a transpacific cruise from San Diego to Sydney, AU, my final destination. I couldn’t wait for a long-term stay somewhere to regroup. Two months into it, I had scheduled a cruise prior to cruise to New Zealand (on it) and trying to get the anticipation and excitement triggered off of doing what I wanted to do. It’s not the travel, but more space inbetween that can make it special again. Reading this article and finding your advice has really hit home, even though I’m just realizing the change I’m going through. You really helped. Thank you.

Your article came up as the first result when I googled “tired of traveling “. I was in Saint Lucia for 2 weeks which was absolutely beautiful and I loved it and didn’t want to come home. But my kid who is 8 made me feel so bad I went without her so I booked a 1 week all inclusive for us to Cancun.

But the trip was spoiled at the get-go when our hotel shuttle didn’t arrive at the airport. It was 10pm at night on new years and the airport was very empty, except for the scammers that plague the Cancun airport.

A guy with an “official ” badge and walkie talkie said he will get us a cab. Well they quoted an exuberant amount (140 USD) for a 20 min cab ride. Unfortunately I didn’t bring enough cash and had to use my credit card (later I found out they scam you by saying the transaction didn’t go through and charge again and at a higher amount). And they did it with my debit too. Ultimately I had to pull out $250 USD just to get us to the resort and to safety only to find out they charged my credit card $500 and my debit $500 ;(.

Went online and many people have been scammed and authorities let it happen. This made me hate this country and a trip I would relish and enjoy just became a misery fest where I look at every Mexican with suspicion and can’t wait to go home to my safe place.

I even saw cheap priced tickets to lisbon and wanted to book but travel fatigue/anger has made me weary and not wanting to go anywhere except to my local shopping mall 😐 maybe in a few months of complacent repetition, the travel spark will be reignited.

I just took a cruise through Mexico and felt exhausted once I arrived home. I don’t know if it’s age, stress, or feeling pressured from some of the staff members. I had a great time, but need to chill and get back to my routine for a week. There is always the worry of things that can go wrong, especially in this day and age.

GREAT article…. thank you. Feeling Travel Fatigue after just eight (8) days in Florida at my daughters home… As a now 80-year-old, restrictions on walking and needing more restful activities were embarrassing as well as annoying. My ability to get around the town while she worked… and I had NO friends or companions, was shocking.

I took a nap one day after only a one (1) mile walk, after a 3.2 mile walk the day before, then went to a women’s social–arranged for me–but did not fully recover, since I had to head to the airport the next morning…. and collapsed in a recliner once home… Then slept for 14 hours and felt exhausted, confused, lonely, and totally disinterested in all my normal interests…except “running away” all day yesterday….

Today, I found the term “travel fatigue,” and am so grateful… because my plan for being an 80 year old who generally feels like 60, was to do more traveling… now, I understand the toll being “on” and “alert” for days takes! So I can guard against putting myself in that situation!

Yes… I am currently on long term travel and I when I have to rest, I feel guilty. However, my body does tell me it’s time to get some sleep, rest and slow down. Sometimes I get annoyed at everything around me and that’s my clue to go to my hotel and just rest and stay in. It is hard working through the guilt though, very good article

Thank you, thank you for this article, particularly for item number five. I am in my favorite city in the world, in Scotland, and I’ve been beating myself up because I’m exhausted and I’m not taking advantage of every single thing there is to do here. I have been here for five weeks, was two to go, and I’m going to spend them doing the things I enjoy most and not worry about missing museum or a particular neighborhood in the city, or anything on a must do list for Scotland.

Exactly right Elizabeth! You’ll have far better memories of this trip if you abandon a sense of what you *should* be doing and instead enjoy yourself. If it’s your favorite city, you’ll be back for that museum! :)

Oh yes! Sending hugs from Spain!

Just after we started our open ended world tour, my step father was diagnosed with stage IV Cancer …a huge burden for him & my mother that also keeps her from her planned visits to us, I almost bled to death in Vienna one year, then broke & paralyzed my dominant right arm last August in a bike wreck….still numb & not fully healed. We've had to get serious dental work on the road, our off shore bank regularly cuts off our debit card without warning & sends are replacement cards to Ca even though they know we are in Spain for the winter. etc etc etc.

Problems don't go away on the road, they are amplified in many ways. Blogging on the move is not easy. Like everyone says rest , eat well & take it easy. Skype friends & chat, unplug other wise. Going slow is really key. We love our winters in a tiny foreign village far from expats, but, we're all itching to get on the move now again. When you get shaken & feel more vulnerable, you need to fill up your cup, so you can enjoy the travel. Daily meditation and time in nature also helps us a lot & we are lucky to be surrounded by good hugabuddies. ;) Replenish & the fatigue disappears!

Totally relate-able! I'm thinking of heading to Thailand myself this coming winter just to chill out on the beaches for a while and figure out where I'm going with life =)

The expat option sounds like a good one to explore. I like the idea of having a base somewhere. I get homesick at times.

We have “travel fatigue” all the time – aka laziness.

Like everyone said. It's not strange that you feel fatigued. With me it always helped to stay put for a while, just doing nothing.

Being an expat is great, so that's a good idea for your next trip.

I hope you feel better soon! Good luck. :)

Hang in there, Shannon. Your friends have all had good insight and advice.

Oh, I definitely relate! And there are so many conflicting emotions – guilt, fatigue, confusion – and you're not 100% where you're staying (Guatemala) because you're thinking of home and other things. It's tough. I agree with the others here – slowing down (which you've done), getting lots of rest, and trying to eat well (difficult sometimes) does help.

Also, although you love Guatemala (we did too) I have to say that traveling there was emotionally difficult at times. Each time we would tell people our plans, the response would be “peligroso” and we'd have to figure out whether we would be faced with armed robbery or just standard pickpocketing. It also seemed like a national pasttime for people (locals and expats) is to tell you the latest busjacking or kidnapping incidence in the country. And, food does make a difference and although Guatemalan food can be good, it also can feel limiting at times. We found it more challenging to travel in Latin America than Asia.

I know exactly how you feel Shannon. And with the problems you are facing with the debit card, the earthquakes, the illnesses and the family problems. You have a right to be weary. We found India to be difficult and we had quite a hard time with travel fatigue. To top it off we felt guilty having travel fatigue. It eventually went away after we decided to relax on the beach in Sri Lanka for 10 days. Staying in one place and recharging the batteries helped a lot. I think that everyone gets a little travel fatigue on long trips. Especially when they are facing a lot of obstacles like you are right now. During this last travel, we talked about having a home base of some kind during our next trip as well. The constant moving can be tough. Sending lots of love your way and hoping that things get better for you.

Hey Shannon – It's definitely not abnormal what you're feeling. Every time I feel similarly to how you're feeling, I've realized that the constant movement from place to place was the culprit. And so I would just stop or I would move to some ideal place for 3 or more months in order to regroup (hence the reason I've been in Mexico for 7 months now!). Without doing that every now and then, I tend to spend too much time worrying about projects I want to start and work I need to do and as a result, I don't connect with and enjoy my travels as much as I should.

Happens to everyone I think. The lack of routine, the living out of a suitcase, the poor diet as Trisha mentions… it can be tough. Hang in there – it will pass and soon enough you'll be on firm footing.

Sometimes what we assume is just travel fatigue is really that our bodies are reacting to a change in our diet, not the travel itself. It's really important to be sure you're still eating healthy foods that give you energy, because a lack of certain nutrients (such as B vitamins) can effect both our mood (mind) and stamina (body)….sometimes it can be due to a very low-grade infection that our body is working hard on fighting that saps our energy…….and of course, sometime it really is just fatigue.

Whatever is ailing you, I hope you recover quickly!

Fatigue can be measured by those little annoyances that “regular” life pose – i.e. having a debit card cloned. When illness strikes as well, it can rub the luster off travel. As a concept, us bloggers sell travel as magical, life-altering… heck, sometimes it's also reality, which completely explains your weariness. You probably need to recharge, quite natural for the mind and body. :)

Yep, it totally happens. It seems that not many people ever really bring it up, but it happens to a lot of travelers who are on the road for a while… they just need to settle down for a bit. Not sure why, but it seems that there is something to be said about having a “home”, or at least a “home base”.

Travel fatigue happens, don't worry about it. I totally like your plan to expat yourself somewhere. I'm a fan of depth over breadth and being an expat is an excellent way to have a (fairly) stable life while still experiencing another culture.

Hey, it can only improve from here…right? Sorry to hear things aren't going as planned, though!

Completely understandable. It's harder when you're on the go to deal with some things but once you settle in somewhere for a bit and get in a routine that helps to ease the fatigue. Hope things turn around soon for you, I'm sure they will :)

I think that we can get in these funks even when we're NOT traveling. Maybe this is just a response to having a few setbacks/family problems and not necessarily related to the traveling itself? Just a thought.

This was really helpful! It’s my last full day in Japan–my second trip here–and I’m completely exhausted. I love Kyoto, but I have been traveling solo by subway, train, bus, and foot for two weeks straight. I miss my friends and my own space, not to mention, my routines. So I’m taking it easy today–meditating, packing, and resting. I felt really guilty at first, but then I figured what I was experiencing was probably universal. Thanks, everyone. I actually feel a bit better now.

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Discovering live music, artists, concerts, & tours

World Concert Tour Pros and Cons: Is it Worth the Effort?

April 9, 2023

World concert tours are the ultimate goal for many musicians, as they offer the opportunity to perform in front of fans around the globe. They also connect them with diverse cultures and potentially make a significant profit. However, embarking on a world tour is not a decision to be taken lightly, as it requires extensive planning, financial investment, and a lot of time on the road away from loved ones.

In this article, we will explore the pros and cons of a world concert tour , highlighting the benefits and drawbacks that come with taking your music to a global audience. Whether you are an established artist or just starting, understanding the advantages and disadvantages of a world tour can help you make an informed decision about whether this kind of tour is right for you.

Pros: Increased Exposure and Fanbase

Stage performance in concert venues can bring numerous advantages for artists, including increased exposure and a wider fan base. Here are a few of the major benefits of starting a global tour:

Firstly, a world concert tour can help you reach new audiences and expand your fan base. When you perform in different countries and cities, you have the opportunity to connect with fans who may not have had the chance to see you live before. This exposure can lead to new fans, social media followers, and potential collaborations.

Secondly, a world tour can give you the chance to promote your music on a global scale. This can help to build your brand and create more opportunities for you to perform and sell your music in different markets. A successful world tour can also lead to media coverage, interviews, and features in local and international music publications.

Thirdly, this kind of tour can provide you with invaluable experience and skills. Touring globally requires flexibility, adaptability, and the ability to work with different people and cultures. These skills can translate into other areas of your music career, such as negotiating contracts, working with promoters, and building relationships with fans and collaborators.

Finally, the experience can be a fulfilling and enriching involvement, both personally and artistically. Traveling to new places and experiencing different cultures can inspire new creative ideas, and performing in front of diverse audiences can be a rewarding and exciting experience for any artist.

Cons: High Costs and Exhaustion

While a world concert tour can be a dream come true for many musicians, it is not without its challenges. One of the biggest drawbacks is the high cost associated with it. Here are a few of the main drawbacks:

Firstly, a world concert tour can be incredibly expensive. The cost of flights, accommodation, transportation, and crew can quickly add up, leaving many artists in debt. This is especially true for emerging artists who may not have the backing of a record label or a large fan base to support them financially.

Secondly, this tour can be physically and mentally exhausting. Touring for weeks or even months on end can take a toll on an artist’s health and well-being. Long hours of travel, late nights, and lack of sleep can lead to fatigue, stress, and burnout. This can affect the quality of performances, and in extreme cases, lead to canceled shows.

Thirdly, the personal life of an artist can suffer as a result of a global concert tour. Spending extended periods away from loved ones can be challenging, and constant travel can make it difficult to maintain relationships. This can lead to feelings of loneliness and isolation, which can further exacerbate the stress and exhaustion of touring.

Lastly, organizing an international tour can be a logistical headache. Coordinating shows in different time zones and managing crew, equipment, and transportation can be a challenge, especially for independent artists. This can lead to miscommunication, delays, and other logistical issues that can impact the quality of shows and the overall tour experience.  

Pros: Cultural Immersion and Global Connectivity

Another significant advantage of embarking on a world concert tour is the cultural immersion and global connectivity that it provides. In terms of global connectivity and cultural immersion, these are some of the major advantages:

Firstly, performing in different countries and cities can expose artists to diverse cultures, traditions, and ways of life. This can inspire new creative ideas and perspectives, and lead to collaborations with local musicians and artists. The experience of traveling and performing in different parts of the world can also broaden an artist’s understanding of the world and promote cross-cultural understanding.

Secondly, a world tour can help artists to build global connections and expand their professional network. Meeting other musicians, industry professionals, and fans from around the world can open doors to new opportunities and collaborations. This can help to build an artist’s brand and increase their chances of success in the international music market.

Thirdly, a world concert tour can provide artists with unique performance opportunities that they may not have access to in their home country. This can include performing at iconic venues or festivals, or in front of audiences that have a particular interest in a specific genre or style of music. This can lead to high-profile gigs and opportunities to build a loyal fan base in different parts of the world.

Finally, the chance to give back to the world community can be one of the benefits of a world tour for performers. Many musicians use their tours to raise awareness and funds for social causes and to engage with local communities. This can lead to positive publicity and help artists to build a reputation as socially responsible and globally aware individuals.

Cons: Health Risks and Time Away from Home

World tours have their own set of cons that musicians and their teams have to deal with. Two of the most significant challenges faced by musicians during a world tour are health risks and time spent away from home.

The physical and emotional toll of a world tour can be significant, as it requires musicians to perform at their best night after night, often for several months at a stretch. The grueling schedule can lead to a host of health problems, including exhaustion, dehydration, and other illnesses. The mental health of musicians can also suffer, as the constant pressure to perform can be overwhelming. The inability to maintain a healthy routine while on tour can further exacerbate these issues.

Another major con of a world tour is the time spent away from home and loved ones. Musicians are often on the road for weeks, if not months, which can lead to feelings of isolation and loneliness. This can impact their mental health and their relationships with friends and family. Additionally, musicians often have to put their personal lives on hold while on tour, including their hobbies and other interests, which can be a source of frustration and stress.

Final Thoughts

As the music industry continues to evolve, it is likely that world concert tours will remain an essential part of the industry, providing musicians with the opportunity to connect with fans around the world and explore new musical traditions and styles. While the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the live music industry, it is expected that the industry will continue to recover and adapt to new challenges in the coming years. With advances in technology, production, and logistics, musicians will continue to push the boundaries of what is possible in the live music experience, creating new and exciting opportunities for fans and performers alike.

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9 Reasons Why Traveling Makes You So Tired

Have you ever been on a long-distance flight, a train journey, or even a road trip? If you have, you’ll likely know how fatiguing traveling can be. After most long journeys, travelers are physically and mentally exhausted, but why does traveling make people so exhausted?

Here are the 9 reasons why traveling makes you so tired:

• The lack of mental stimulation
• Your psychological state can affect your energy level
• The altitude when traveling by air
• Dehydration when flying
• Decreased bodily functions
• Intense travel schedule
• Poor diet on trips
• Routine disruption

Continue reading to learn more in detail about why travel fatigue happens. I’ll also explore the different causes of fatigue in other traveling forms, including road and air travel. I’ll also provide you with some tips and tricks that can help you reduce fatigue after traveling.

1. The Lack of Mental Stimulation

Traveling isn’t a particularly strenuous physical activity, so how come it makes people so exhausted? A significant factor of travel fatigue is the lack of mental stimulation. When you’re traveling, you’ll likely find yourself feeling bored.

When our brains lack mental stimulation, they can send us to sleep. As a result, when sitting in the same seat for hours on a train, bus, or plane, your body will become tired as your mind loses interest in your surroundings.

Changes in Speed

If you’re traveling by road, speed changes can significantly affect your energy levels. Cars, vans, and buses are all used to accelerate as needed to go with the traffic flow.

The constant shift between speeding up and slowing down can cause fatigue in your body. This is because as the vehicle’s speed changes, your muscles contract and relaxes to keep you upright and in position. This also happens when the car you’re traveling in makes a sharp turn as it causes your body to sway.

All of these movements lead to bodily stress, which is why you’ll typically feel stiff after a long car journey. Your brain and body will both be fatigued as both need to be engaged to ensure that you remain upright and in position.

You’re unlikely to be tired by changes in speed when you travel by rail or airplane because trains and planes tend to remain constant for most of the journey, and most speed changes happen gradually. As a result, you won’t feel the same physical and mental fatigue.

2. Your Psychological State Can Influence Your Energy Level

Our psychological state can have a massive influence on our energy levels.

For example, chronic fatigue is an indicator of numerous mental issues, including depression. Therefore, the psychological state that travel puts us in can influence our energy levels.

Traveling places us into a mental state where we’re excited to get where we’re going yet also bored of what’s around us. This can be taxing for your mind as you’re in a state of anticipation for hours on end, inevitably leading to fatigue.

At the same time, travel can positively benefit our mental health as vacations are a fantastic way to alleviate stress and blow off some steam. Many travelers look forward to the chance to have a break from their regular busy life schedules.

However, traveling can also have the opposite effect. It can cause mood changes, depression, and anxiety . It can also lead to uncharacteristic behaviors like substance abuse, violence, and suicidal thoughts. If traveling negatively impacts your mental well-being, you’ll likely be exhausted when you reach your destination.

3. The Altitude When Traveling by Air

A reason for fatigue when traveling by airplane is the altitude. As you climb higher into the sky, the oxygen and pressure levels decrease significantly. To compensate for these changes, airplane cabins are pressurized to provide acceptable conditions for travelers.

However, while airplane cabins are pressurized, the pressure levels still decrease when compared to ground levels. It can have adverse effects on your mind and body, leading to exhaustion.

As airplane cabins are kept at a lower pressure level than sea level, you receive less oxygen into your body, leading to shortness of breath and lower levels of oxygen reaching your brain and body. As a result, you can feel exhausted by the end of a long flight.

In some instances, travelers may feel nausea and dizziness due to a lack of oxygen, which can be very taxing on your body and mind, especially when flying for a long time.

4. Dehydration When Flying

Another cause of fatigue during air travel is dehydration. An airplane is a controlled environment where conditions are set to specific standards to ensure safe and efficient flights. One of the conditions specified in most airplanes is humidity. Typically, planes set the humidity levels between 10% and 20% .

The average humidity levels are between 35% and 65% in ordinary environments. As a result, planes have between 15% and 55% less moisture in the air. Lower levels of humidity can assist airborne disease transmission as your nasal passage dries out in low humidity. As a result, illnesses like the common cold can spread quickly on airplanes.

Reduced levels of moisture in the air can also cause your skin to dry out. On top of this, your body requires more fluids to stay hydrated. Dehydration causes thirst, fatigue, dizziness, and confusion in mild to moderate cases. Severe cases of dehydration can cause seizures and even death.

To prevent dehydration when flying, you should drink plenty of water and avoid caffeine and alcohol as they speed up the process of dehydration. Drinking water before your flight is another preventative measure.

5. Decreased Bodily Functions

Another common cause of fatigue while traveling is decreased bodily functions. Different forms of travel can cause your body to underperform in a few different ways.

Here are a few ways that our bodies can struggle while traveling.

Digestion Problems

People often experience disruption to their digestive system while traveling, which is particularly common in air travel. However, many people also feel disturbance to their digestive system when traveling by road or rail.

Digestive problems can happen due to new foods and drinks that your body isn’t familiar with. On top of this, travel can be a stressful time for many people. Increased levels of stress can lead to nausea, indigestion, gas, and diarrhea. Any of these common stomach issues may lead to fatigue and exhaustion during your journey.

Blood Circulation Issues

Another common issue you may experience when traveling is blood circulation issues. Blood circulation issues occur when traveling, as you likely will be sitting in one position for an extended period. Sitting in one place for a long time can reduce circulation to different parts of your body.

On top of this, there’s an increased risk of blood clots and severe health issues from poor circulation.

Traveling by air carries an increased risk of blood clots as the lack of pressure combined with sitting in one place can put you more at risk. The reduction in the effectiveness of your blood circulation causes fatigue.

Jet lag is a term often used to describe feeling tired after traveling. However, this isn’t strictly true as it’s a specific condition caused by traveling across time zones in an airplane.

Also known as jet lag disorder, jet lag is caused by disturbances to your usual sleep pattern by changes in time zones. It can leave you feeling exhausted, confused, and dizzy. Symptoms usually ease by themselves within a few days of arriving at your destination.

You can reduce the effects of jet lag by getting plenty of rest before traveling. Another way to minimize jet lag is by adjusting your schedule to fit the time zone that you’re traveling to. For example, if you were going to a destination that’s 6 hours ahead of you, set your clocks to 6 hours ahead for a couple of days before leaving.

Adjusting your schedule to fit your new destination can reduce the drastic change to your program when traveling across time zones.

7. Intense Travel Schedule

Another common reason for travelers feeling exhausted is intense travel schedules. Many vacationers and professionals have a lot of traveling to do in a short amount of time. Constant traveling can quickly cause increased levels of fatigue.

Whether you’re traveling by air, rail, or road, you’re going to experience a multitude of causes of fatigue. You may not feel tired after a single journey, but over time, a lot of traveling can put your body and mind under stress, leading to illness, and fatigue quickly sets in.

8. Poor Diet on Trips

What food do you usually pack for a journey? If you’re like me, then you’ll bring snacks like chocolate and chips with you when traveling. You’re also likely to drink sodas or alcoholic drinks to alleviate stress and make your journey more enjoyable.

People usually eat more and overindulge when on vacation, leading to disruptions to their digestive system and energy levels.

If your body is used to regular meals and healthy eating, you’ll likely notice a sharp decline in your motivation and energy levels due to a poor diet. It can lead to feelings of fatigue when you return from vacation.

9. Routine Disruption

Human beings are creatures of habit. Most people have patterns that they follow every day. These patterns can be anything from when you eat or go to bed or what you eat and drink to how much sleep you get at night. Disruptions to daily routines can cause fatigue, among other issues.

When you’re traveling, you’re likely going to follow very little of your daily patterns. This is especially true if traveling for a vacation or an extended period. Spending hours sitting in one place can cause you to feel tired at different times of the day compared with your routine.

As a result, your sleeping patterns become disrupted, leading to a poor night’s sleep, which in turn leaves you tired and cranky in the morning.

The change in when you eat your meals can also lead to energy being released into your body at different times of the day. Therefore, you may have more energy at night and less in the morning than usual or vice versa. You may experience fatigue as a result.

Ways That Can Help Reduce Your Travel Fatigue

While there are numerous causes of fatigue after traveling, there are a few tips and tricks that can help you prevent this from happening.

Here are a few great ways to minimize your travel fatigue:

Taking the time out of your day to have a nap is a great way to reduce travel fatigue. Naps give you the chance to catch up on some much-needed sleep while traveling.

If you’re traveling by bus, train, or plane, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to take a nap, which can leave you feeling well-rested and rejuvenated upon arrival at your destination.

Take Breaks in Between Activities

If you’re traveling for work or leisure, you’ll likely want to get as much done as possible. After all, traveling can be expensive, and you want to get your money’s worth. However, constantly being on the go will zap your energy levels and leave you exhausted.

You can prevent this by taking a break, getting a coffee, or simply relaxing for a few minutes. Taking a break can also alleviate the stress of traveling so you can figure out what you’re going to do next.

Don’t Cram Your Itinerary

People often create an itinerary for their travels. While it helps you stay organized and allows you to see more when traveling, it can also lead to cramming too many activities into your day.

A hectic travel schedule will leave you running around and trying to get everything done, adding to your stress levels. It isn’t only physically draining but also mentally and emotionally exhausting. Therefore, you must ease up on the activities and allow enough time for some rest and recovery.

• NCBI: The Relationship Between Drivers’ Cognitive Fatigue and Speed Variability
• CDC: Mental Health and Travel
• Center For Family Medicine: Why Flying Makes You So Dehydrated
• Health Line: Blood Clots and Flying: What You Should Know
• NHS: Jet Lag

Linda Jones

Linda Jones is a professional travel advisor, author of Travel Agent Secrets and The Ultimate Travel Planner + Journal, and founder of Crafted Travel Company. She has helped thousands of people plan better vacations and travel more.

How To Plan a Trip Without a Travel Agent: Complete Guide

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Tired of Traveling? Avoid Travel Burnout

Written by: Jamie Campbell

Do you feel like you might be getting tired of traveling? This could be a sign of travel fatigue or travel burnout!

What is burnout?  Burnout is defined as “mental or physical collapse due to overwork and stress”.

You could be experiencing a burnout if you ever wake up feeling dejected and exhausted, like you want to give up on the day before it has even started. These are the days when all you want to do is crawl back under the covers and not move all day.  I think most of us have had one or more of these days at one point or another.

Now, while you’ll often hear the term “burnout” thrown around when it comes to the subject of work or college, it can also hit you on the road, when you’re backpacking. I know what you’re thinking… “Travel? The thing we do to de-stress and escape the working world. Why doesn’t this decrease my chances of getting burnout?” It’s a fair question, but burnout can hit you a lot easier than most think.

There are two main causes of travel burnout when it comes to backpacking and living life on the road:

1. Never, mentally, fully escaping life back home. While you may have physically left, your mind is still stuck back home, in work or in other issues.

2. Travelling too fast. Travelling too fast has become more of an issue in recent years with everyone trying to cram entire cities into a few days and whole countries into a couple of weeks or less. While this is still undoubtedly better than the regular 9-5, there’s no question that this is a high-stress, high-workload environment.

So, what the hell can we do to avoid burnout hitting us? That’s what this guide is here to do. First, we’ll start by looking at the symptoms of burnout and what can cause them on the road. And then, we’ll get into how to cure these symptoms and how to avoid burnout completely.

So if you’re after a more relaxing, enjoyable and fulfilling travel experience, keep reading.

Symptoms of Travel Burnout

Burnout is like a brick wall standing in the middle of a road. It’s only going to hit you if you don’t see it coming. Luckily, there are plenty of early warning signs that suggest you might be suffering from travel burnout, or that you may be heading towards a crash in the near future.

1. High Stress or Anxiety

You may think of this purely as work-related but it can be just as common on the backpacking trail. If you’re constantly travelling to new places, never staying anywhere for longer than a few nights, never having a free moment scheduled into your day, that’s all going to catch up with you at some point.

2. Feeling Disengaged

Feeling disinterested and being unable to focus on any given task is a tell-tale sign that burnout is coming.

3. Negativity and Self-Criticising

Burnout can leave you feeling more negative than you usually do, both towards others and yourself.

4. Binge Eating

We’ve all been there, right? We get stressed out or we feel totally overwhelmed (perhaps by travelling too quickly or by packing too much stuff into our itinerary) and we resort to binge eating our favourite comfort food. I can usually tell I’m on the verge of burnout when I discover myself in the local McDonald’s, instead of at a local spot or street food cart.

5. Distracted Eating

Another common symptom and early sign of travel fatigue is if you find yourself distracted when eating. This could mean you’re eating and on your laptop or tablet at the same time. Work can wait. Netflix can wait... Especially when travelling.

6. Mental Exhaustion

This is what I was talking about at the beginning when you just want to spend the entire day in bed; not necessarily because of sleepiness but because of total mental and emotional exhaustion.

7. Constant Worrying

You have the same worries and fears playing around in your head, on repeat. And, no matter what, you can’t seem to quiet the noise.

8. Physical Illness

This will come rather far into the burnout process, so hopefully, you never get to this stage but it can happen. If you’re constantly doing stuff during the day and then partying into the early hours of the morning and not factoring in any downtime to the equation, at some point it’s all going to come back and bite you.

9. Increased Alcohol Consumption

For this one, it’s slightly harder to tell, since drinking and backpacking seem to be synonymous with one another. Red flags should be raised when you start drinking to escape the worries and fears in your head, to forget about your stresses and to combat the mental exhaustion.

But, sampling the local beer when eating out? Go for it. It’s a must! Partying with your new backpacking hostel buddies? Drink the night away! Just make sure alcohol is being used as a party enhancer and not solely as a stress reducer.

Causes of Travel Burnout

So, we’ve covered the symptoms to watch out for, but that’s after burnout has struck. What causes travel burnout? In order to know how to avoid burnout on the road, we’ve got to understand what causes it to begin with.

1. Not Enough Sleep

Everyone’s different when it comes to sleep but most of us need seven to eight hours of quality shut-eye to minimise the risk of burnout. If we’re only getting a couple hours each night, burnout is almost inevitable and will catch up with us, eventually.

2. Not Enough Exercise

It can be hard to stay in peak shape while backpacking. Yes, there’s a lot of walking, exploring and adventuring to be had, and that has its physical benefits but it’s a lot more difficult to schedule in a workout or to go for a run than it is back home. Exercise is a known mood enhancer and energy booster so without it, we’re likely to feel more sluggish, negative and - ironically - more tired.

3. Constant Hurrying

Are you always packing your stuff last minute? Always running for the plane, train or bus? Burnout could be headed your way!

4. No Breaks

Breaks are important; in work but also in life. And that doesn’t change when it comes to life on the road. A lot of people return home from a trip, less relaxed than when they left because they didn’t give themselves any breaks. It was go, go, go 100% of the time.

Ways to Avoid Burnout on the Road

We’ve covered how and why burnout hits you on the road, but now, let’s get to the meat and potatoes… How to actually avoid burning out to begin with. When we travel, our daily schedules and routines change. That is inevitable. And, when this happens, a lot of us backpackers don’t adapt to it well.

Instead of being reluctantly forced into these habit changes, if we are better prepared for them, we’ll be able to deal with them, adapt to the backpacker life better and manage to avoid burnout completely.

1. Make Time for Sleep

On planes. In taxis. On overnight trains or buses. If that’s what it takes, do it. Say your iPhone was down to 10% battery. Without charging it, it won’t work or even turn on. If our body is the phone then sleep is the charger and a bed is the plug socket in the wall.

2. Have a (Simplified) Exercise Schedule

Yes, it is harder to stick to your regular exercise routines when backpacking but it’s not impossible to stay in shape. Go out for a run, or even a walk when possible. If you have space, do some simple bodyweight exercises that don’t require any special equipment.

If you’re travelling slow and are staying in one place for an extended period of time, this gives you the chance to find fitness opportunities in the area whether it’s a gym or some local classes.

3. Slow Down

As I’ve mentioned, it’s far less stressful (and more enjoyable) to travel slow . On top of limiting stress and exhaustion, you’ll also make a deeper connection with the places you do visit.

4. Volunteer

Doing some volunteer work is already popular among the backpacking community and it can really help soothe the soul and make you feel great about yourself. As a side effect, this is a great way to avoid burnout.

Both laughing and making other people laugh give you one of the best feelings imaginable. Surrounding yourself with positive and funny people can be infectious when it comes to your mood and outlook on life. It’s not going to be difficult to find people like this while backpacking.

6. Take Days Off

You can afford to do this when travelling slower. Not every day has to be filled with a million tourist attractions. It’s okay to spend some days lying on the beach, chilling in your hostel or even sprawling out on your bed (or in a hammock if there’s one available) to read your book.

This will help you recharge and keep your energy up to make the most of the experiences and adventures you do have.

7. Schedule Alone Time

If you’re not backpacking solo, it can get difficult spending every waking minute of the day with the same person (or small group of people). It’s okay to do your own thing occasionally. In fact, it will keep both/all of you sane and will mean you actually enjoy the time you do spend together more.

Avoiding travel fatigue involves recognising the causes and the symptoms and then implementing measures and habits to prevent it from happening. If you’re travelling with a friend, you can become each other’s burnout accountability buddies. Having someone to help you out can give you a massive boost and will help you to avoiding that feeling of being tired of traveling.

That being said, it’s not going to be all sunshine and rainbows. Backpacking - like anything else in life - has its ups and downs . But by managing to avoid burnout on the road, you can enjoy the ups more and limit the downs as much as possible.

Author: Jamie is an avid traveller and has been backpacking since he left high school in 2016. He is the founder of the backpacking and budget travel blog, Gaijin Crew, which aims to teach aspiring backpackers to travel on a student budget and make long-term, extended travel a reality.

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12 Proven Tips For Avoiding Travel Exhaustion

Louisa Rogers

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Travel is my drug. Whether I’m in Aspen or Athens, I get a rush from the colors, the sounds, and the tastes. It’s all so exciting. But travel can also be overstimulating, when suddenly — without warning — the novelty and sensory input are just exhausting. The fatigue can last as little as half an hour, or it can go on for a day or two. In some intense countries I’ve visited, like India, it can last much longer.

The word “travel” is related to the word “travail” — to engage in painful or laborious effort. The connection may seem odd to us now, but etymologists believe it’s probably because travel was a rather strenuous experience during the Middle Ages. Even today, it takes effort and energy — and sometimes we just run out!

Over the years, I’ve developed numerous strategies to prevent and reduce travel exhaustion. Here are the 12 best.

1. Know Your Enemy

Identify exactly what tires you. Crowds? Noise? Traffic? Babies crying? Teens shrieking? Deafening music? Too much running around in too short a time period? Define the source of your stress, and then strategize. For example, I find that noise from heavy traffic can be overwhelming, so I avoid wide, busy avenues. The same goes for noise in restaurants. Before I decide where to eat, I sometimes use an app like SoundPrint to gauge the noise level in a restaurant.

2. Pack Comforts From Home

It’s well worth the trouble to bring things from home that restore and sustain you. I bring tea bags (because the tea flavors I like are not always available), a mug, an electric immersion heater, my iPod, headphones, a headlamp (for reading at night without waking my husband), and Sudoku puzzle books. What’s on your list?

3. Rely On Routine

Often, when we travel, we forget the importance of routines, but without them, we can become as cranky as three-year-olds. The Dalai Lama, who has been exiled from his native Tibet for more than 60 years, knows something about stress. When asked if he had one word to describe the secret to happiness, he responded, “Routines.”

These routines will vary, of course. When my husband, Barry, and I first visited Oaxaca, Mexico, we took Spanish classes in the morning, keeping afternoons free for visiting museums, textile markets, and other tourist spots. Years later, while visiting Angkor Wat , the ancient and extensive Hindu ruins in Cambodia , we explored the sites in the morning. Then we’d relax at the hotel during the midday heat, napping and swimming in the pool. In the late afternoon, after the weather had cooled off, we’d check out another part of the ruins.

One of my favorite routines anywhere is to sit in our room or Airbnb in the mid-afternoon, drinking a cup of tea. I might go through the photos I took that morning, deleting the bad ones, or write in my journal.

4. Rest, Read, And Restore

Make your hotel room, Airbnb, or wherever you’re staying a sanctuary, your personal safe place where you can settle in and nest. After more than 40 years of marriage, I know that Barry (a true Virgo) is an expert nester. It makes no difference whether we’re camping, on a road trip in our camper van, or spending a night in a hotel or a month in an Airbnb — the first thing he does is put his belongings into their respective nooks.

If you’re traveling alone and can afford it, I recommend investing in a private room rather than a hostel, at least some of the time. And if you’re traveling as a couple, you might enjoy the indulgence of two beds so that one person can stay up reading or watching Netflix while the other goes to sleep early, without either of you being disturbed.

The summer that Barry and I bicycled across southern France, I had to take a day off from time to time to recharge. I love cycling, but day after day it sometimes can feel like a job. One August morning, Barry knew he wanted to cycle from the French town of Arles, where we were staying, to Avignon , about 25 miles away. I took one look at the wind and knew this was the day to give myself some rest and relaxation. After he took off, I settled into my perch in the cafe near our hotel, reading my juicy novel while drinking a cafe au lait and indulging in not one but two croissants. That afternoon, when Barry returned, saying the wind had been horrendous, I knew I had made the right decision.

5. Enjoy A Duvet Day

Respond to the call of the bed! This can happen at any time on a trip — even the very beginning. A friend flew from the West Coast to Quito, Ecuador, for a monthlong trip around the country. Apart from Canada, he had never been outside the United States. After an hour wandering the streets of the Old City, he was exhausted. Jet lag, elevation gain (Quito is at 9,500 feet), and culture shock created the perfect storm for overwhelm. He sank into his hotel bed, where he stayed for 14 hours before resurfacing.

6. Go Through Your Bags

I’m often surprised by how soothing it is to organize and order my things. Knowing what you have and where is strangely calming. Every so often, I’ll take everything out and inspect each item, making sure I need it. Things that are extraneous I’ll either toss or send home. (Yes, I hate to spend money on shipping, but it’s less stressful than carrying a heavy bag.)

7. Carve Out Alone Time

If you’re traveling with your partner or a friend, sometimes it’s rejuvenating to spend some time by yourself. My mother modeled this for me when I was a teenager. One late afternoon in the mid-1960s when my family was visiting Rome , she announced she was going to wander and window-shop for a while before dinner. “Could I join you?” I asked. “Well, you can come if you want, but don’t expect me to talk,” Mother said. “I feel like having some time on my own.” Looking back, I’m impressed with my mother for claiming her space in an era when moms were all about their children.

8. Make Time To Socialize

Then again, maybe what you need is time with another person. When Barry and I were on our sabbatical in 2000 , he and I visited the Republic of Georgia for a month. It’s a fascinating country, but I felt lonely for female companionship. Luckily, I had met an American woman who taught ESL in Tbilisi, the capital, so I called her and asked if she’d like to go out for coffee. At the cafe, she regaled me with stories about Georgian-style female gynecological exams. We were both in hysterics — it was just the therapy I needed! Nowadays, when I can’t find another person to hang out with in the flesh, I’ll Skype with a friend.

9. Concentrate On Just One Thing

Even a few minutes spent focusing on one thing helps to relax the mind. Start by sitting comfortably, inside or outside. Then focus your attention on a nearby object, such as a candle flame, a flower, or a tree. Let details and other things in the area fall away.

Your object of focus doesn’t have to be visual. You could concentrate on a particular sound, like the birdsong you hear outside, or the farthest sound. Or pay attention to your breath.

10. Do A ‘Body Scan’

Lie on the floor and get comfortable. Take a few deep breaths. Now slowly bring your attention to your feet and begin observing the sensations. If you notice any tension, focus on it. Visualize the tension leaving your body through your breath. When you feel ready, move on. Continue scanning your entire body, gradually moving up through your feet until you reach the top of your head. Notice how you feel and where you’re holding stress. If there’s any tension, breathe into it as you release it.

11. Do Gentle Yoga On The Floor

Simply lying on the floor can be deeply restful. Soften into the floor and let the earth hold you. Stretch. Notice which parts of your body are touching the floor and which aren’t. Then, lift your knees and rock from side to side. Try a spinal twist. Afterward, place your legs up against a wall. Lie on your back with your sit bones as close to the wall as is comfortable. Extend your legs up the wall, so that the backs of your legs are resting fully against it. This is a great way to ease fatigue and tension in your legs and feet. Finally, lie on the floor, stretch out your arms, and rest your knees on the bed or on a chair.

12. Seek Quiet Places

When you’re out and about, look for calm, unhurried places like churches, hotel lobbies, green spaces, and benches where you can slow down and pause.

If you’re like me, you’ll find that by incorporating one or more of these ideas into your traveling day, you’ll be less likely to get overstimulated. Take a nap, sip some tea, or stare out the window at a nearby tree. Chances are that before long, your enthusiasm and energy will return, and once again you’ll be appreciating the unique joys that only travel can bring.

Louisa writes articles and essays about travel, expat life, physical and psychological health, spirituality, and food. In 2022, four of her articles were among Travel Awaits' 25 most-read pieces.

The Great Exhaustion: Long-Lasting Pandemic Effects

Why now is exactly the time to slow down..

Posted November 28, 2022 | Reviewed by Michelle Quirk

• As the world is returning to higher levels of activity, there are reasons why you may be feeling exhausted.
• We do not just leave a traumatic situation, like a worldwide pandemic, and not have reactions to it.
• Burnout, increased social interactions, and unconscious processes impact how we recover.

If you are feeling exhausted, and you are not quite sure why, you are not alone. At least once a week, I hear from patients and colleagues alike that “I am just so bone-tired, and I don’t know why.”

While I am not aware of the numbers and official statistics nationwide, I personally know many individuals who have at this point needed to take time off from work under the Family and Medical Leave Act due to COVID-19 -related mental health difficulties . In March of 2022, The New York Times published an article titled "The New Phase of the Pandemic Is COVID Exhaustion." However, 10 months later, it seems to be that an all-encompassing and much more generalized exhaustion has become very hard to shake off.

It is hard to pinpoint where this sort of existential weariness is coming from when the world seems to be opening back up, social activities and travel have resumed, and, in a lot of ways, people are behaving as if a pandemic never happened—stores are now full of unmasked people, flights are sold out, and concert venues are working at full capacity. (I admit, I also have purchased tickets to three events in the last month.) By all accounts, the world—at least our corner of it—is mostly back to normal. So why are we feeling so decidedly “not back to normal”?

There are a number of reasons why a prolonged collective trauma , like the one we have all endured, also causes long-lasting consequences. Some may seem more obvious, while others may be unconscious and have more to do with the deeper layers of processing of our experiences, including how much time is needed to metabolize trauma. All speak to the very justified need to slow down at a time the world seems to be telling us to pick up more speed.

No Longer Taking Things for Granted

In my family, we have a tradition: If you attend Thanksgiving dinner, you must write anonymously on a sheet of paper at least one thing you are grateful for this year. All notes are then put in a basket and read aloud, with guests trying to guess who wrote each statement.

This year was unusual in that we had the first friends-and-family Thanksgiving in three years, so people were asked to write their gratitudes for the last three years. And here is where the even more unusual part comes in: More than half of the people present wrote statements like, “I am grateful my spouse and I survived”; “I am glad to be able to be with everybody again”; and “I am thankful we did not get sick.” These are not typical statements made during a typical holiday. They are the kinds of statements that we make when we have just survived something that tremendously shook up our world.

Being able to take some things for granted makes our lives easier. Deriving from years of research into the normative unconscious (cf. Weinberger & Stoycheva, 2019), we now know that, in order to function properly, our minds have to be able to rely on at least some consistencies in our environment. This is imperative, because we filter so much information in any given moment, that if we were doubting and questioning every single stimulus, we would become very quickly overstimulated.

However, as my family's statements illustrate, we are no longer feeling safe in such fundamental experiences as "I will see my family tomorrow" or "I, or my spouse, will be here, alive, for the holidays." Since we are no longer taking certain things for granted, such as safety, the ability to see our loved ones on a regular basis, and even the systems that “hold” our world together (including political, health care, and others, which have been significantly shaken up in the last few years), our ability to trust in predictability has been greatly impacted. It is natural that this will result in a kind of existential weariness.

The Adrenaline Dump

When we are under a lot of pressure or experience heightened levels of stress , our bodies react by releasing stress hormones , such as adrenaline, to help us deal with the situation. If you have found yourself functioning in a kind of prolonged fight-or-flight mode through the last three years, you are not the only one. The rapidly changing COVID-19 guidelines, the increased stress related to loss and grief , and the changes in social support we all experienced constitute one lengthy situation of heightened stress—a situation that none of us have ever experienced in our lifetime. The pandemic, for many, has felt like constantly struggling to poke our heads above the water, just to be hit with another wave again.

The long-term impact of this is the inability to effectively recover from stress, which means that our bodies were persistently bathed in stress hormones. It is understandable that once the storm passes, we may need longer to return to “normal” functioning. Fatigue is one of the hallmarks of the adrenaline dump—or the period after our bodies stop pumping stress hormones into our system to keep us able to cope.

Similarly, if we look at how we process emotions—and especially the research of Emily and Amelia Nagosk i (2020)—we find out that burnout is mostly the aftermath of an inability to move effectively through the cycle of negative emotions. For a prolonged period of time, many of us could not complete healthy emotional cycles exactly because we were consistently facing new challenges. From more than a million deaths to date in the U.S. alone, to civil unrest, to mass shootings , to the politicization of a worldwide healthcare issue, we have not been able to catch a break and metabolize our negative emotions in a healthy way.

In May 2022, Dr. Vivek Murthy, the U.S. Surgeon General, issued an advisory , declaring healthcare workers’ burnout a national emergency. And while certain professions have indeed experienced a much higher load as a result of a health-related global threat, nobody has been spared. In January 2022, the American Psychological Association published an article indicating that the stressors brought on by a prolonged pandemic have become “persistent and indefinite.” They traced a steady increase in across-the-board burnout since the beginning of COVID-19, including in the following areas: cognitive weariness, emotional exhaustion, and physical fatigue.

In Conclusion

It is challenging if, while the world is buzzing with action again, you feel like you are just not up to all the activities, socialization, tasks and chores, or emotional processing that is required of us on a daily basis. You may be asking yourself, "The pandemic is over, so why am I still so tired?" It may be even more difficult if there is a persistent voice in your mind telling you to make up for lost time because it has been so long since you did [fill in the blank]. However, these feelings are not abnormal or even unusual.

A good rule of thumb is to listen to your body, rather than the pesky voice in your head, and to take care of yourself in a way that will facilitate healing. What this means is this: If you are tired, rest; if you are overwhelmed, reduce the stimulation; if you are burned out , allow yourself time to feel your feelings and to introduce more joy in your life. We are all in our own recovery process and, despite what it might seem on the outside, it will take some time for the emotional aftermath of the pandemic to be fully metabolized.

Weinberger, J. & Stoycheva, V. (2019). The unconscious: Theory, research, and clinical implications. New York: The Guilford Press.

Nagosky, E. & Nagoski, A. (2020). Burnout: The secret of unlocking the stress cycle. Random House Publishing Group.

Valentina Stoycheva, Ph.D., is the founder of STEPS (Stress & Trauma Evaluation and Psychological Services) and the co-author of The Unconscious: Theory, Research, and Clinical Implications .

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Traveling Is Exhausting As Hell

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I clean my room and make my bed before I leave for a trip, because there’s no better feeling than arriving home to a clean room and made bed and plopping down for a good 12 hours of sleep. Traveling is exhausting. I’m not talking about a week long beach holiday or a cruise, although I’ve definitely heard of people needing a holiday to recover from their holiday.

Real life-on-the-road traveling spanning weeks and months is tough. It can be complicated, tedious and half the challenges happen before you even get to the airport. But man is it worth every hour of scanning for flights, mapping out a rough itinerary, and figuring shit out when it goes south.

While mine and other Instagram stories and posts might indicate an effortlessly hop from one amazing location to another, there’s often a black hole of information when it comes to the logistics of the whole thing and the daily recovery process. And that’s just part of it. On the road, you have to keep your wits and sanity about you at all times. Here’s some of the stuff you don’t often hear about.

Finding A Reasonable Place To Sleep That Doesn’t Suck

You know how much it cost to rent a decent hotel room in a major city. Let’s throw out a low average of $200/night. If I’m on the road for 30 days, that’s $6000. That’s not happening. Unless you’re a millionaire or traveling for business, long term travel requires a little more planning and compromise.

If I’m looking for a hostel, I’ll have to first know where I plan to. If I wait too long, the top rated hostels might be fully booked, leaving me with fewer options. If I book too early, I might lose my deposit or even the cost of the stay if I want to change my plans. I usually narrow it down to 3-4 options and then read through the reviews, hoping that the words bed bugs don’t show up.

If I’m looking to couchsurf, I’ll have to plan at least a few days to a couple of weeks in advance, reaching out to the host and hoping the good ones are available. This can definitely be sketchy for girls who are desperate for last minute accommodations. It can be difficult to keep track of multiple on going conversations if I’m moving from city to city. If I find a host, I still have to cross my fingers and hope that there’s no funny business when I arrive (sometimes later in the day or night than I’d like). If my plans change in one place, I hope that there’s no domino effect that might jeopardize the rest of my plans.

Booking Flights Before They Go Up The Next Time You Check

Spontaneity is great for letting adventures unfold, but can cause some deferred stress and coin, if you don’t know for sure when you want to fly. By far, my biggest budget busters have been flight increases. I remember seeing flights from Bali to LAX costing around $400 for when I wanted to travel. I wasn’t quite sure of my plans yet based on whether the weather would permit a sailing to Komodo Island. Waiting an extra day ended up costing me an additional $500 as that flight (the cheapest option) went up to $900. I had no choice, but to bite the bullet. That wasn’t the first and definitely not the last time. Even as recently as this week. I waited an extra 2 days to change an upcoming flight and it ended up costing me an extra $50.

Calculating Out Baggage Allowance

This is certainly a newer problem. It would be nice if every airline had the same policy when it comes to carry-on allowances, but of course, that would make things too easy. Used to be, you can just fit everything into a backpack and hop from one city to another. Now, I have to do math and pre-planning to see if I should bring a small enough pack/suitcase that will get onto all the flights, or get something bigger that would require me to pay an additional fee or check the bag for just one or two flights while affording me more space. Or should I just take the train instead not have to worry. Just one more layer to the planning.

Not we get to the actual traveling part.

Figuring Out Where You Are And Where You Are Going

It’s a whole lot easier now with my iPhone and GPS, but that’s not always reliable. I can’t tell you how many times the directions to a pick-up is something like, “walk 200 meters down the street and look for a tree that bends more to the left than the right. The bus will pick up opposite of the tree on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, and on the same side of the tree on Tuesdays and Fridays.” Actually, that one was pretty clear. Even with the help of GPS, I’m often wandering aimlessly back and forth across a spot that I’m 100% sure I’m supposed to be (with all my gear and pack), that turns out to be on different street because they changed the spot yesterday morning. If I’m lucky to find it and make it onto the bus on time, I pray that the toilet hasn’t exploded like the last 3 buses and I don’t have to fight two Nicaraguan woman for the right to sit in the seat I paid for.

Keeping Your Stuff Safe

It’s almost instinctual at this point, but I have a perfect mental catalog of every single item I own on me when I travel. I need to know where everything’s at, even in pitch darkness (in case I need to leave at 4 am to catch a flight) and I need to make sure it’s all locked up and secure. Personally (knock on wood), I haven’t had any problems with my things being stolen across over 60 countries, but it only takes on time. When I’m out eating, my bag is wrapped around my leg or under the chair and/or table. I need to keep my hard drives separated, as with my passport and other forms of ID. This is more mentally exhausting than anything, but luckily, all this has become second nature.

3 Ways To Pass Out Quickly

• Take 5 mg of melatonin and start reading.
• Drink a cup of hot turmeric milk
• Do a 2 minute meditative breathing exercise

Screwing Up Your Sleep Schedule

I genuinely believe that I no longer have an internal clock with my erratic sleep schedule across time zones. The upside is I can’t get jet lag if my body has no idea when it’s supposed to sleep anyway. When it comes to flying, you sometimes have to choose between waking up extremely early for a flight or arriving unreasonably late into a new city. I usually err on the side of early flight, which means I may choose to stay up all night to avoid missing it. Compound this across a few different time zones, and my body sometimes requires 13-14 hours of sleep to make up for a few days of not knowing what the fuck it’s supposed to be doing.

Having To Do Stuff

I’m rolling my own eyes as I’m writing this part, but it’s actually exhausting to have to wake up and do cool shit everyday. It’s awesome once you get going, but one cool thing after another and you’re just ready to pass out when you get back to your room. Unfortunately, there’s bound to be a group of people who will drag you out for a late night knowing full well that you all have another early start because you all decided to sign up to go biking down something called the Death Road.

Not Getting Ripped Off

When I come home, I appreciate hard set prices. On the road, you’re constantly having to negotiate unless you don’t mind paying a little or a lot more for things. In some regions, bargaining is deep-rooted part of the process. I don’t even think some of the vendors are trying to rip you off. They just need to play your role and haggle down to a pre-determined price. Prices are flexible in so many places, that even seemingly set prices can be haggled, so you’re constantly wondering if you are overpaying. The upside is that in many of these regions, getting ripped off won’t amount to any significant amount, but it still can add up.

Delays At All The Wrong Time

Once in my life, I was running late for a flight and got a text saying that it was delayed. The rest of the time, nope. Flights tend to run on time if I get caught in a traffic jam, but get delayed when I arrive plenty early. The worst is when I’ve stayed up all night for a morning flight only to have it being pushed back in increments of 30 minutes at a time. If I fall asleep, I run the risk of missing the flight when it’s ready to go. Of course, if I new it’d be delayed for a grand total of 3 hours, I would have definitely taken a quick nap. Of course delays also impact everything that comes after it. Very fun.

Bed Bugs and Food Poisoning

Is it weird to say that I don’t even get bothered by bed bugs anymore. Sadly, most of the time I’ve been bitten, it’s been in some of the cleanest accommodations. There are places where I expected bed bugs and found some, but most of the time, it gets me when I least expect it. And food poisoning. As iron of stomach as I have, the most random things will get me. Eating a whole fruit bat? Nope. Some unrefrigerated meat that’s been sitting in the open for most of the day? Nope. Chicken sandwich. Touch of death. Luckily, I carry a little something that combats the food poisoning, but it still takes a lot out of you.

Am I missing anything? Sound off and let me know what drains you the most from traveling. To reiterate, despite all this, being able to travel is a privilege and I’d take it with all of its downs any day.

Updated on September 13, 2020

Kien is an international photographer and filmmaker based in Los Angeles. He captures his adventures on whereandwander.com and believes in living for those moments that make the best stories, told or untold. He is working through his bucket list and wants to help others do the same. Follow him on Instagram @hellokien .

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• Travel Fatigue Explained: Signs, Symptoms & Causes

You know that feeling when you’ve been traveling and you just feel exhausted? Even if you were traveling for fun, and enjoyed every moment of your trip, you somehow crave stability, routine, and rest. 

This could be a sign of travel fatigue . 

Although travel fatigue doesn’t get as much press as jet lag, this temporary exhaustion drains your energy and can feel like burnout. Travel fatigue, unlike jet-lag, doesn’t even have to involve air travel. 

In fact, it can be caused by any form of transport: planes, trains, boats, and road trips.

Article Guide

Travel fatigue on road-trips, travel fatigue on flights.

• WHAT CAUSES TRAVEL FATIGUE
• SYMPTOMS OF TRAVEL FATIGUE
• COPING WITH TRAVEL FATIGUE
• TRAVEL FATIGUE IS NOT JET LAG
• RESTORE THE EXCITEMENT OF YOUR TRIP WITH THESE TIPS

What Causes Travel Fatigue?

There are a few main causes of traveler’s fatigue. We’ll get into the details, but before we move on to the causes, symptoms, and remedies of travel fatigue, let’s break it down to the different types of travel.

You’re more likely to feel travel fatigue on a road trip compared to, for example, a train. Not that many of us travel by train these days (perhaps that’s a bad thing!). 

This is because when you are traveling on a road, your car or bus accelerates and decelerates frequently, because of the natural flow of traffic. The vehicle also takes various turns that sway your body from one side to another, causing bodily stress. 

That’s why you feel so sore and stiff after a long day in the car! 

The condition of your vehicle, its seats, and even the quality of the roads also determine the level of comfort that you experience. 

You might not realize but all these factors can provide exhaustion not only to your body but also your mind. Your brain stays active and keeps the concerned muscles engaged to account for these movements and to maintain your posture properly. All these movements make your muscles work continuously and leave you tired. 

Flights do not provide relief when it comes to experiencing fatigue. You might argue that since airplanes do not change their speeds and directions as frequently as cars do, they shouldn’t impact you quite as much.

This is far from reality. 

Flights have different factors that make you feel tired. Altitude is one such factor. Your body needs to adjust to altitudes that are unnatural for humans. Although the cabin pressure helps you in adjusting to the altitude changes, the environment inside an aircraft doesn’t mimic your “ normal”. 

Aside from altitude, there are many health effects that happen to your body when you fly . These contribute to travel fatigue. 

For example, the following things are almost inevitable on flights:

• Dehydration. To maintain the required temperature inside the cabin, most airlines regulate the air pressure inside by changing the composition of the air. Did you know that the air inside the cabin is 15% drier than ground air? This is why you feel dehydrated and your skin dries up while flying.  Read more here:  Does Flying Dehydrate You? Your Guide to Air Travel Hydration
• Impaired circulation . Sitting for long periods and the altitude of the plane impairs your circulation which fatigues the body and causes other unfavorable effects. Learn more:  Swelling When Traveling? Here’s Why It Happens + What to Do
• Bloating and indigestion . Your body has to work hard to keep the blood circulating throughout your limbs, deal with dehydration and fight off airborne viruses and the excess of bacteria that compromises your immune system when you’re flying. It re-routes many of those resources from digestion, causing bloating and gas. Read more:  Bloating After Flying: What Causes Jet Belly & How to Prevent it

Let’s not forget the plane movements which further add to the fatigue. Turbulence, noise, rolling, and shuddering that you experience during a flight are not normal. 

Your body understands this and tries hard to stabilize itself which reflects in the form of exhaustion.

What Causes Travel Fatigue

In addition to the mode of transport, there could be various causes that you might be feeling travel fatigue:

#1. Hectic Travel Schedules

When you’re eager to make the most of your trip, you might over schedule yourself. Monasteries, climb mountains, sampling local foods, hitting the beaches, enjoying the nightlife and visiting important landmarks tend to make it onto most travel schedules… sometimes all in one day.

If you’re guilty of this, you may experience travel fatigue. Rightly so! You’re not letting your body relax.

Try to slow down, take proper breaks, and plan things in line with your body’s needs. 

#2. Jet Lag & Sleep Deprivation 

If you fly to your destination, you may be experiencing jet lag . This could be the case even if you landed in a place just a couple of hours ahead or behind the time zone you’re used to. . 

If you took a red-eye flight , this will almost certainly be the case. 

Jet lag comes with a host of health impacts, and if you experience jet lag enough, travel fatigue could be one of them. It is essential to listen to your body and determine what it needs. Even if you’re excited to explore, take a nap, get plenty of rest and try to mitigate the impacts of jet lag.

If you start your day at 4 am in the timezone you came from, make sure that you hit the hay by 9 pm to catch up on sleep. If you’re busy exploring the nightlife, try to sleep in. If needed, take a day off and give yourself time to adjust!

#3. Disorganization 

When it comes to traveling, there are two kinds of people: 

•  The ones who do everything at the last minute
• The ones who keep it well-organized and stick to a well laid-out plan.

If you belong to the first category, it is likely that you will experience travel fatigue sooner. Packing your bags at the last minute, stressing about missing your flight or train, and making travel arrangements in the nick of the time are only going to give you unwanted stress. This will later reflect itself in the form of travel fatigue. 

The Symptoms of Travel Fatigue

If you experience any of these symptoms, the chances are high that you are suffering from travel fatigue:

#1. Exhaustion 

That fatigue that you feel when you want to collapse in bed after a long travel day… even if you’ve been sitting in a car or on a plane all day? 

That’s exhaustion. 

Sometimes, the exhaustion doesn’t go away after a long sleep. If it sticks around for weeks after your trip (if you even have that much time between trips!) then it’s probably travel fatigue. 

To help with this symptom, try to exercise and get your blood moving. Eat healthfully and, of course, get plenty of REM sleep. 

#2. A Suppressed Immune System

Travel in itself can compromise your immune system. Have you ever noticed that you’re far more likely to get sick after traveling than you are if you had just stayed home? 100x more likely, in fact . 

That’s a function of jet lag, the physical act of travel, and exposure to bacteria and viruses your body has not been exposed to (and therefore hasn’t built antibodies to fight). 

A suppressed immune system is a common symptom of travel fatigue. Do what you can to boost your immune system. Take a travel supplement high in immune-boosting vitamins and minerals, like Flight Elixir , before and during your trip.

We added vitamin C, glutathione, Pycnogenol, elderberry and astragalus into Flight Elixir to help support your immune system. 

Rest up, drink plenty of fluids, and wash your hands to reduce the duration and likelihood of contracting an illness. 

#3. Feelings of Stress or Burnout

Back-to-back flights, early morning wake ups, and traveling too often can catch up to you. 

If you’ve been traveling a lot and are experiencing stress, anxiety, insomnia, or difficulty focusing, you may be experiencing travel fatigue. 

The best way to deal is to take a break. If you’re traveling, consider extending your trip to an extra day or two. If not, try to slip back into your normal routine. Whether you’re at home or away, exercise! It releases endorphins in the body which act as mood-lifter. 

#4. Poor Nutrition & Excessive Alcohol Consumption

Exploring the local food of a place you are traveling to is important. After all, it helps you connect to the place and culture at a deeper level. Plus, food is one of life’s pleasures! 

But if you find yourself overeating, you may be experiencing travel fatigue. 

Excessive alcohol consumption is another common symptom of travel fatigue. This one could be a bit tough to recognize as traveling and drinking can go hand in hand. But if you find yourself drinking to excess, you may be attempting to self-soothe your travel fatigue. 

Coping with Travel Fatigue

#1. be prepared to meet your body’s needs.

During your trip, make sure that you are listening to your body’s needs. Eat healthy by packing healthy snacks like carrots, apples, and nuts. Keep your body hydrated by drinking lots of water and avoiding alcohol and coffee. 

If you are flying, make sure that you adjust your body’s internal clock by sleeping in accordance to the time zone of your destination. However, if you are really fatigued, having short naps of 15-20 minutes are fine.

#2. Feel ‘Back Home’

Often, traveling could be all about socializing. You meet new friends, network, and share thoughts with like-minded people. 

However, if you are not liking being on top of your social game and are feeling tired, the best way out here will be to talk with your best friend, mother, partner or dog – whoever tends to relax you. 

Watch some cooking videos, or listen to the voices of your favorite people on the earth – either way, remember that traveling could be fun and all, but oftentimes, it is best to disconnect and experience life at slow. 

#3. Disconnect

Waking up at the crack of dawn, catching flights and trains, exploring your destination – all this takes a toll on your energy and makes you feel empty. 

While running could be a great way to de-stress yourself, travel fatigue sucks the inspiration out of you. If you feel like this, all you need to do is stay in your bed, watch movies, sleep – whatever works for you. Don’t feel guilty for taking some down time. Your body needs it. 

#4. Plan in Advance

You can avoid travel fatigue to a large extent by planning your travel well in advance. Book your hotel in advance and ask them about food availability. Research local food and shops online. You can also have a look at TripAdvisor and ask your friends and family for references. 

To further lessen your fatigue, make sure that you have packed all the travel sleep essentials with you including eye mask, earplugs, immune-boosting travel supplements , protein shake sachets, snacks, The Travel Water Bottle , and so on. 

Also, have a closer look at your itinerary and see what all you are going to cover. This will help you in planning your days properly, and will also help you remember your goals.

Travel Fatigue is Not Jet Lag

Often used interchangeably, there is a significant difference between travel fatigue and jet lag. While travel fatigue could be caused by any mode of transport, jet lag is related to aircraft and timezones. 

Also known as time zone change syndrome, jet lag is when people travel across different time zones and end up disrupting their sleep cycle. This condition is seen related to circadian rhythm disorder and can lead to irritability, insomnia, and headaches. 

Restore the Excitement of Your Trip With These Tips

Traveling soon? Make it comfortable and enjoyable with these strategies. Follow the tricks we discussed above, and have a comfortable trip.

Sarah Peterson

Sarah Peterson is the co-founder and head of marketing at FLIGHTFŪD. She's a travel health expert and after having visited 20+ countries as a digital nomad and flying every 4-6 weeks for business, she became passionate about empowering others to protect their bodies on the go.

I feel better knowing this is probably not COVID.

Great article, best piece on the subject. Prior to Covid I travelled on business too much and experienced all of the above. The distincion of travel fatigue vs jetlag is very insightful. Interestingly short flights take a greater toll vs America-Asia flight. Spoke to an airline CEO once, he explained that older planes are harder on passengers (pressurize less effectively, dryer environment and oxigen levels lower)

I am so pleased to have found your piece. About 2x a month, I make a 4-6 road trip and I find every time after the drive, I am completely exhausted for at least a day and sometimes 2 days after the driving and now I know why!! Thank you!!!

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What is travel fatigue and how to avoid it.

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Learn what travel fatigue is and how to avoid it! These tips will help you stay energized to avoid jet lag from a long flight and enjoy your trip!

As a seasoned traveler, I’m all too familiar with travel fatigue.

It happens to the best of us, and I’ve had several trips ruined by the sudden lack of motivation and exhaustion that comes with it.

And that’s why I created this post — for others who experience the same thing. So, in this post, I’ll explain what traveler’s fatigue is, how it’s caused, and how to avoid it.

With this information, you can plan your amazing trip without the worry of travel fatigue setting in.

Let’s get to it.

What is travel fatigue?

Symptoms of travel fatigue, causes of travel fatigue, how to avoid suffering from travel fatigue or recover from it.

Travel fatigue is the exhaustion or lack of motivation you feel when traveling a lot.

The feeling of being “on” the entire time you travel wears on you, showing itself through tiredness and a lack of enjoyment from things you’d otherwise find exciting. This can be visiting a museum, seeing a major attraction, or even wandering around a neighborhood.

Once travel fatigue sets in, it’s difficult to overcome, and it’s often a signal from your body telling you to slow down.

The symptoms of travel fatigue can vary, ranging from mild to severe, depending on the person.

The most common symptoms include:

• Sleep difficulty
• Lack of appetite
• Irritability and anxiety
• Lack of concentration
• Feelings of lethargy
• Physical symptoms like headaches/body aches, nausea, dizziness, and more

As you can see, it’s almost like you’ve had an illness! So, as you’re traveling and crossing time zones, it’s essential to recognize the symptoms when they arrive and then take the proper steps to combat them (which we’ll get to below). But if you take the proper steps, you can ward off travel fatigue and enjoy your trip to the fullest!

Pointing to one reason would be easy, but many contribute. For example, here are the most common causes.

1. Changes to our routine

Humans are creatures of habit.

And when you travel, you throw those habits and routines out the window, which takes your body some time to adjust.

Whether it’s a change in meal times, sleeping schedule, or simply unfamiliarity with your surroundings, it all slowly contributes to your fatigue. Your mind and body are constantly scanning and adjusting while you travel, which is taxing over time.

2. Crossing multiple time zones

We’ve all heard how important getting a regular circadian rhythm is.

But travelers take that and throw it out the window as we jet across the world through different time zones, accumulating travel fatigue and jet lag like souvenirs.

When you end up in a new place and time zone, your body’s internal clock still runs off where you were before. And that takes some time and effort as your body needs to adjust to the time zone of your destination, which means you’ll suffer from tiredness, grogginess, or even burnout.

So, give yourself time and be patient. Your body and mind will thank you.

A quick tip: Your direction of travel can affect your fatigue levels. It’s far more likely your body will feel sluggish on an eastward flight than on a westward flight. And that’s because traveling west has less effect on your body’s natural “home time” and your sleep-wake schedule that comes with it. 

So, if you’re traveling east, give yourself an extra day to promote a regular change in your circadian rhythm.

3. Long-haul flights or excessive sitting

Sitting on a flight for extended periods isn’t fun.

The ache in your legs and back cause significant discomfort, especially as the person in front of us drops their seat back onto your legs, and you feel ready to break. Not to mention the change in cabin air pressure and how it affects your body with the altitude.

This leads to stiffness and overall exhaustion as your body struggles to be comfortable.

Whether it’s a long flight, train, car, or bus, getting up and stretching when you can is essential.

4. Changes in climate and weather

Your body is used to the environment you live in most of the time.

It’s taken time and effort to adjust to it so you can live optimally. Travel comes in and flips all of that on its head.

New weather, humidity levels, and even sounds and sights make you more tired. But it’s hard to recognize because it’s happening at a subconscious level.

So take it slow the first few days in a new place.

Whether it’s planning the trip, traveling, or arriving in a new place — your stress level is naturally higher when you travel.

The process of juggling your responsibilities for a big trip raises your stress levels. Then, going through airports and travel queues continues to pile it on. Finally, you arrive at your destination and figure out how things work there.

Each of these slowly stacks more stress on you, like you’re building a giant stress hamburger (hold the pickles), and your body has to work to get back to normal post-travel.

Lucky for you, you can do a few simple things to help avoid suffering from travel fatigue!

Here are are few common things to help:

1. Stay hydrated

Staying hydrated is crucial to daily life, let alone avoiding travel fatigue.

And that’s because it can cause tiredness, headaches, and general bodily discomfort, which makes it hard to enjoy your trip.

So, aim to keep your body hydrated. And avoid alcohol, which will cause dehydration. Instead, choose water, tea, or similar electrolyte drinks to energize you.

It’s all about meeting your body’s needs, and this is especially true for traveling athletes.

2. Get enough sleep

Shocking news here: sleep is essential to reduce the risk and severity of jet lag.

We already knew this, but it’s even more true as you travel. Your body needs time to recover from the long trip, and sleep is a big part.

Take a nap to help get some extra rest. This will allow you to adjust to the time at your destination.

3. Take breaks

Whether during the day or your entire trip, you need time to step back and do nothing.

It sounds opposite to what you do on an exciting vacation. But your body needs it from time to time.

So, if you know you’ll be traveling long term, add some breaks to help your body recoup and de-stress.  Many people find a small break perfect for assisting them in preparing to return to their travel plans.

4. Do enough physical activity

Seems counter to the last two tips, but exercise is a big part of your health and healthy habits.

And if you can be active — no matter how you do it — it’ll go a long way in helping your body stay or get back to normal.

If you’re traveling for months, this is even more important.

5. Get exposure to natural light, not artificial light

This last one is simple but fantastic.

Many travelers love going out for a stroll to get natural light exposure on their skin in the days after arrival.

It gives them something to look forward to each day as they enjoy the sights and sounds, and it helps them overcome the symptoms of jet lag.

This also starts to get your body into the local time after a number of time zones crossed on a trip.

Are you ready to avoid travel fatigue on your next long flight?

Recognizing when you feel travel fatigue setting in becomes second nature.

As you travel from place to place , you’ll get better at handling the symptoms, and you realize how essential to listen to your body.

So, these tips helped you prepare to prevent jet lag and made it easy for you to recognize the factors that sometimes make travel difficult.

If you want more tips and tricks for travel, follow me on Instagram , YouTube , and TikTok !

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2 responses to “What is Travel Fatigue and How to Avoid It”

I can relate to trying to do too much in too little of time. That’s why I like taking at least a couple of weeks to stay in a place if possible! It’s nice to be semi-retired / retired and be able to live this kind of lifestyle. Keep posting Kyle, you have really good content!

I applaud you for still traveling as hard as you do, Jay! I’m hoping I still have the enthusiasm and energy that you do when I’m older. Looking forward to meeting up with you again somewhere in the world.

Thanks for the comment and nice words!

Seven Signs You Are Suffering From Travel Fatigue

Written By: The Planet D

Travel Tips

Updated On: May 17, 2021

Long term travel can be tough.  After a couple of months on the road, it becomes work and many people suffer from travel fatigue.

After traveling for months, you are no longer in that honeymoon phase of excitement you are just simply exhausted.

Every day has been one attraction, temple, trek or museum after another. Sometimes, after you have been busy being a tourist for weeks on end, all you want to do lay down and take a nap.

Table of Contents

Signs You Are Suffering From Travel Fatigue

It can feel pretty strange when you are in a foreign country and other travelers are heading out in the morning for their tours and sightseeing excursions.

You think that you should be doing something too, but you just can’t motivate yourself, so you give into the fatigue and enjoy some time not traveling. Here are some signs that told Dave and I that we just may have a little bit of travelers Fatigue…

1. Don’t Care About the Top Sites Anymore

For example: You go to the Taj Mahal, its cold, misty and foggy for three entire days.

You don’t care.  You don’t even bother to go inside.  Instead you go to the only heated place in town…the coffee shop.

2. You Skip The Top Tourist Attraction

For example: You have an opportunity to see the astounding Amber Palace in Jaipur India …

Instead you go to the mall, walk around and buy some socks.

3. Had Enough of Local Food and Traditions

For example: Your hotel has traditional food and musicians playing on their rooftop restaurant.

It has everything you would want for a night out in India…

You go to Pizza Hut instead.  Not once, but twice.

4. Skip the Must do Tours

Not far out of town, there is a village filled with dancers, artists and local cuisine.  They offer tours to go out there from the evening.

You choose to stay in bed and stream “Sherlock Holmes” with Robert Downey Jr.  On your computer’s free wifi.

 5. Skip the City Tours

For example: You have two days in Delhi before flying out. It is pleasant outside.  It’s not too cold and the sun is out.  You are centrally located close to some of the cities best attractions…

You order room service and channel surf between HBO and the BBC

6. Cut Short Your Trip

For example: You should be heading east to Varenassi in central India.  You have planned to travel all the way to Calcutta…

Instead you buy a last minute ticket to escape for a month to Sri Lanka.

7. Throw the Budget out the Window

Example: You are on a tight budget, you can’t go over budget or you won’t have enough money to get through the trip. The last thing you want to do in dip into your credit cards, but you can’t take backpacking anymore.

You’ve thrown the budget out the window and you couldn’t be happier.

Time to lay on the beach and enjoy your travel in style. It’s the only way you can get back into traveling again.

So, now that we’ve had a month to detox in luxury and yes, we blew the budget, we’re getting ready to go back to India backpacking again.

8. Excitement of Travel is Gone

The excitement of travel has come back to us.

We dealt with our funk on a beach in the southern coast of Sri Lanka.

We recovered from our traveler’s fatigue. All it took was a a few days laying in the sand, playing in the surf and relaxing by the pool. That is how you cure travel fatigue. Stop traveling for awhile and then get back to business.

• Train Travel in India: Tips for Navigating the Indian Railways
• India and Mexico, More Similar Than You’d Think
• The Many Faces of India: A Photo Story

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Find Apartment Rentals: You will find the cheapest prices on apartment rentals with VRBO . 

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About The Planet D

Dave Bouskill and Debra Corbeil are the owners and founders of The Planet D. After traveling to 115 countries, on all 7 continents over the past 13 years they have become one of the foremost experts in travel. Being recognized as top travel bloggers and influencers by the likes of Forbes Magazine , the Society of American Travel Writers and USA Today has allowed them to become leaders in their field.

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38 thoughts on “Seven Signs You Are Suffering From Travel Fatigue”

THANK YOU for writing this post, after 5 months of Latin America I am tired of travelling. I went on a tour of Barrio 13 in Medellin this morning and now just want to hire an AirBnB for a month and live a normal life, with normal friends, with regular contacts, routines and a wardrobe. I’m supposed to be travelling for another 7 months and at the moment I am craving a normal life again… stability.

I love Downey posters, do u know what movie it is? .-= wmofree´s last blog ..Ice World 2002 TV =-.

That is from Sherlock Holmes

Ha Ha Ha! love it! If any place can give you travelers fatigue it’s India! .-= Dianne´s last blog ..Life is a lot like Jazz, it’s best when you improvise =-.

Haha, I can relate with that. When that happen, we move to different country, or even a country far away. Occasionally we will do a long-ish term stay, maybe a week or two, in somewhere budget, close to the beach. Relaxing and get ourselves reorganized. .-= Dina VagabondQuest´s last blog ..Cockatoo and flying fox paradise =-.

sounds like you wanted a change of environment or then gain maybe you’re right, you just got tired of moving around too much. sometimes i get the ‘sickness’ of trying to see everything at once, squeezing every possible activity in a day, which eventually burnt me out.

do we really need to see all? .-= flip´s last blog ..What’s the Future of the Travel Agencies? =-.

travel fatigue can be really tough especially if you have to face some frustrating situations… after such an intense travel experience, as you guys, you well deserve some time off! we are guilty too of many nights tv-watching but always up early in the morning for a long day full of adventures. .-= marta´s last blog ..Snapshot of the week: let’s fly away =-.

Oh wow this sounds so similar to our India experience I can’t believe it. We too spent time in more than a few Pizza Huts and may have even went to the movie theaters twice, but those things saved our sanity.

Hey Lianna, so happy to hear that we are not alone! We went to the movies in Mumbai and it was amazing. We lost ourselves for a few hours. You just have to do it once in a while for your sanity.

Ah traveller’s fatigue… I know it all too well. Instead of checking out the beautiful valleys of Bukitinggi in Sumatra, I sat in a cafe sipping hot chocolate and soaking up free wifi not once, but on three separate occasions.

I am amazed I was able to tear myself away from the aircon in KL’s choping malls to head up to Taman Negara National Park for a couple of nights but I am sure glad I did. Although I am looking very forward to three nights of vegging out, catching up on internet stuff and watching the Olympics.

Bring on some more travel – but not for a couple of weeks! .-= Kirsty´s last blog ..So Long Sumatra, Thanks for the Fruit Shakes =-.

Kristy. Ah, the shopping malls in KL! We couldn’t tear ourselves away either. But so glad when we did. Malaysia had amazing National Parks. glad you made it to Taman Negara. I agree, taking time is the key. We have finally settled into slowing down and not worrying so much. It only took us 3 months of traveling to figure it out!

Oooh, last time I tried to reduce travelers’ fatigue by sleeping on the beach, I ended up with an ugly sunburn!! Of course, I met some of my favorite other travelers when they walked by and pushed me and said, “Hey, Dude … (and, no, I’m not a dude) you should turn over!” ha ha

Hope you get rested soon! .-= Cherrye at My Bella Vita´s last blog ..Travel Tip Tuesday: Don’t Make These Five Mistakes When Planning Your Trip to Italy =-.

Sometimes you just have to slow down. It can be a blur of trains, planes and buses and even if you’re in a magnificent location, your body and mind just want to stop. There is nothing wrong with. It happens to the best and most open travelers. No shame in that.

To me that means that you have been taking in all the sights and sounds before and now you’re trying to process it all.

This is also a great ad for slower travel – staying for weeks instead of days if you can. .-= brian | No Debt World Travel´s last blog .. Are You Broke, Married, Have Kids or Older? Consider a Round the World Trip =-.

Brian, Thanks for the positive feedback. It is true it makes you slow down and process what you have been experiencing over time. You can get information overload and maybe travelers fatigue is just the way of dealing with it all.

I can relate to travel fatigue, but in my case I gave up cycling through Africa to RELAX in India. Most people either love India or they hate it and maybe you’re leaning towards the second category. Hope Sri Lanka will be what you’re looking for.

Ha Ha! I love it. Giving up Africa to relax in India. Let me tell you, sometimes we think of heading to Africa to Relax 🙂 I don’t think we hate India we just need a little break in order to enjoy the rest of it. Sri Lanka should do just that!

I can relate! Even on relatively short trips when the pace is fast, travel fatigue can set in. What I can’t stand are the feelings of guilt when you’re back home and didn’t do the things you set out to achieve. .-= Gourmantic´s last blog .. How Your Blog Can Turn Your Holiday into Work =-.

Travel fatigue can strike anywhere. Hopefully there will be no regrets on this trip 🙂

After a few weeks of hard core travel, I enjoy taking a break and just relaxing. If you are going to be on the road for awhile, you need it. Otherwise, you’ll go crazy .-= Nomadic Matt´s last blog .. Hostel Etiquette =-.

Well put Matt. You will go crazy if you don’t take that well needed break!

I am not sure I would call this Travelers Fatigue, feels more to me like you stopped being a tourist, and can call yourself a Traveler. There is a day when one accepts they live traveling, and they are not on vacation. There is no need to be walking around all day like a tourist.

Andy in Sosua, Dominican Republic Top Travel Blog .-= Andy Graham HoboTraveler.com´s last blog .. Andy HoboTraveler.com Travel Journal – Tue, 02 Feb 2010 06:18:10 =-.

Thanks for your comment Andy. We like your analogy and never really thought of it that way but we will now!!

Thanks for the comment Andy. We never really looked at it that way before but we will now!!

India is a tough country and I can understand how you would get tired of it after a while. If you need a break from the chaos, I really think Thailand is a good option. It is almost . . . but not quite . . . like being in a western country and a lot easier than travelingin India. .-= Akila´s last blog ..thai feast: asia scenic cooking class =-.

Hey Akila, I agree, Thailand is a great option, we do love it there. Having been a few times we decided on something new and opted for Sri Lanka. What a great choice!

This is so true! I experienced exactly the same in India, even down to channel surfing between HBO and the BBC, and throwing out travel plans to go to Kerala in favour of slowing down for two weeks on Palolem Beach, Goa!

I think India especially invites Travel Fatigue, but it can strike anywhere – I’ve written about it hitting us in Peru

The key is not to exhaust yourself in the first place. Don’t try to fit too much in, schedule in plenty of time to simply relax and soak up the atmosphere, and try not to rush for too many early buses. Easier said than done when you’re in that first, energetic flush of a new trip!

To get over it, I find the best solution is to simply accept it, roll with it, enjoy the western food, air con and trashy films and wait for it to pass. Usually a change of scenery does the trick, as you say!

Here’s to guilt-free travel fatigue!

Hi Emma, You have a great point. I think that we tried to fit too much in. We kept on the move and you just can’t do that in India. It is also our first time running the blog full time while we travel and I think that we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to keep coming up with fresh content for our readers. and I think that you are right, as soon as we accepted that we had enough, enoyed the tv and food, we were ready to get back on the road and explore.

We usually don’t start getting tired of non-stop traveling until 6 or 7 months straight, but we go slow always with LOTS of unplugging & leisure days along the way. We also have a lot of time in nature that I think is important.

In almost 4 years of world travel, we have not had any travel fatigue yet, but we’re not in India yet either, although rural Morocco, Turkey and really anywhere new can be intense.

Weather DOES impact travel, especially extended travel. Traveling in cold, rainy, miserable weather, is just not fun….more so with a kid, even though we have done our share.

We now know, “too hot? Too rainy? too cold?” time to change locations! 😉

Enjoy your beach time and never forget that scheduled time to rest, reflect, rejuvenate, unplug & just do nothing is essential for long term travel! .-= soultravelers3´s last blog .. Seth Godin, Linchpin, Education & Travel =-.

No doubt a large part of your traveler’s fatigue stems from the fact that much of your travels in India turned out to be more frustrating and exhausting than you’d anticipated.

I know you found some parts of India to be beautiful and relaxing, but when much of your time is spent fending off hawkers, haggling with vendors for a fair price, trying to avoid the filth and pollution, and dealing with stressful transportation issues, that would exhaust the patience of anyone.

I had to smile when I saw the photo of your hotel room & TV, because I noticed the tea service tray – that’s not something you see here in the US – but it reminded me of the 2 month hiking trip Rod & I made through western Europe and the UK a few years back….everywhere we stayed we found that ever-present tray welcoming us, and sometimes it was the only thing that helped me de-stress and stay sane at the end of a long day, knowing that I could relax with a cup of tea or two and a couple of cookies…..such a civilized experience! .-= Trisha Miller´s last blog .. Suzy: The Finale – Suzy Speaks! =-.

Yes Trisha, things were a little bit more frustrating than expected and this no doubt contributed to our fatigue. The tea service tray is great and to see it here (because we have them in Canada) was a comforting sight. Sometimes a tea and some cookies can do wonders for the psyche.

Hi Deb & Dave,

Although you two claim to be seasoned travellers, your last few blog posts make you sound like a bunch of western teeny boppers who’ve never set foot in a developing country. I’m sorry you’ve had a “hard” time but to collectively call India filthy and not even go to the Taj Mahal is a sign of stupidity and not traveller’s fatigue.

My girlfriend and I are currently travelling in India (from Australia) and although find parts of India very dirty and some of the people quite unfriendly, our overall experience has been quite enjoyable. And yes, occasionally we love a quiet day and a western meal at McDonald’s, it’s not to say we’re looking for an escape from the country. We’re also travelling for two months, are at the halfway point of our trip, and are more than looking forward to the second half.

Among other things, I’m also surprised that you’ve found places like Bombay more enjoyable than some of the more “Indian” places. I lived in Bombay as a kid and although I love that city for it’s energy and vibe, I also consider it to be one of the dirtiest and full of money-hungry hawkers/beggars. And if you’re really that experienced, did you not do any research before you arrived? For if you had, you wouldn’t have expected a comfortable/western experience. A part of enjoying India is relishing just how different it is.

Anyway, each to his/her own, but i just wish you’d shown a little more respect to this old country.

Hope your Sri Lanka trip is more *comfortable*.

Hello Sahil,

Thank you for your response. I think that it is great that your time in India has been enjoyable. The great thing about travel is that it is a different experience for everyone. But I think that it is unfair to judge other peoples experiences so harshly. These are merely our observations and in no way are we disrespecting the country. If you take the time to read through our blog you will see that we enjoyed many places in India which included a visit to the Taj MAhal which was fogged in the whole time we were there. Sure some places we thought were filthy and if you believe that this is naive perhaps your judgment of Bombay is also off the mark. Calling it one of the dirtiest cities and full of money hungry beggars perhaps was your view but ours was different and we believe peoples opinions should be respected. We didn’t come to India for a western experience, but to be a so called seasoned traveler doesn’t mean you have to enjoy the filth of a country. Travel fatigue is different for everyone and so is how you deal with it.

Great article – and I can say that while not in India – we have done the same types of things when we are travelling- recently we got off a 14 day Med Cruise in Barcelona and had one last day of holiday – all we wanted to do was order room service and watch tv – we watched 7 episodes of the TV series “Damages” instead of exploring the architecture of Gaudi!

Oh well such is life!

Have a great time recovering in Sri Lanka!

Melanie .-= Melanie´s last blog .. Jan 25, Flying with Kids – How to Avoid Tantrums on Airplanes and other tips and trick for travelling with kids. =-.

Hi Melanie, Thanks for the comment. I love that so many people have done the same thing. Sometimes it is nice just to spoil yourselves with room service and english T.V.

We are currently experiencing this in Bangkok. We decided to to spend a higher amount per night and have ourselves our own studio apartment with free wifi, comfy bed, and TV with some English channels. Got some groceries for breakfast, lunch, and snacks. Even manage to spend an entire day without leaving the apartment as we had leftover Indian food to eat for dinner! But we believe its good to spend a few days in the row of downtime and have found ourselves doing this all across the world during our trip, especially before we switch countries!

Enjoy the beach life! We just left the beach life of Thailand and are on our way up to Laos. I already miss the ocean!

Ahh, you must be loving your own studio apartment especially with all of the trimmings. Great way to recharge those batteries. We will enjoy the beach life for sure!! Have an awesome time in Laos you’re gonna love it!

Hi Dave & Debra,

I so relate to this. Such a shame not to have the energy to enjoy what you’ve been dreaming about. But then, recognizing the signs and doing something about them is important. A bit of self renewal – budget be damned – you’ll be on course again.

Take good care of yourselves, Janice .-= Janice´s last blog ..The Sundance Kids: an ode to the volunteers =-.

Thanks for the words of encouragement Janice. Our budget may get a little bruised but our vigor to get back at it will be renewed.

Why Are Vacations So Exhausting for Highly Sensitive People?

All too often, vacations turn into one big source of overwhelm for highly sensitive people. Here’s what an HSP expert says on making your trip relaxing instead.

Has this happened to you?

You spend months — or years — planning the perfect get-away. You’re finally taking a much-needed break from work or the kids. You’re going to explore that place you’ve always dreamed of visiting.

Bliss and relaxation will finally be yours.

But then the long-awaited vacation arrives, and you feel anything but relaxed. In fact, you feel downright exhausted, frazzled, and stressed. This isn’t the way it was supposed to be.

Let’s explore why travel can turn into one big source of drain and overwhelm for highly sensitive people (HSPs) — even though they’re drawn to it. I’ll also share some tips from an HSP travel expert to help you make vacations relaxing again.

Why Highly Sensitive People Are Drawn to Travel

Although travel can be overwhelming for HSPs, there are plenty of good reasons we’re drawn to it. Losing yourself in a faraway place is magical. And not only does travel capture our imagination, but it’s also rich with opportunities for meaning.

Highly sensitive people are “often drawn to the sense of meaning and inevitable transformation that comes from experiencing a new part of the world,” HSP travel expert Melissa Renzi told me. Renzi leads HSP-focused retreats to places like Thailand, Peru, and Guatemala.

And, because HSPs are deeply in tune with their senses, “travel can be enriching as we take in the details of our surroundings. And sometimes, when we step into unknown territory, we feel greater permission to be ourselves.”

If travel is supposed to be magical, why do HSPs often end up stressed?

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HSPs Process Everything Deeply — Especially in New Surroundings

For HSPs, the stress usually begins before they even leave the house. That’s because, according to Dr. Elaine Aron, author of The Highly Sensitive Person , HSPs process all kinds of stimulation deeply. This causes them to think deeply about things and to look at issues from many different angles.

And this can lead to stress and anxiety when getting ready for a trip.

When planning a trip, there are so many things to consider — where to stay, what to do, what to pack, etc. HSPs process everything deeply, and the details of their trip are no exception.

Not only do HSPs think about all the fun they’ll have on their vacation but also about all the things that could go wrong. What if it rains? Will I be safe? Will my shoes be comfortable? And on and on.

Pre-travel anxiety can shut down our wildest vacation dreams before they even take flight. Or, at the very least, it can leave us worn out before we even reach our destination.

The Problem of Overstimulation for HSPs

If we manage to actually get out the door, HSPs then face overstimulation at their destination.

“Travel situations with an abundance of sensory stimulation can overload the HSP’s nervous system,” Renzi explained.

That’s right, travel can actually be quite unpleasant for HSPs.

Highly sensitive people pick up on subtleties in their environment — again, it has to do with their depth of processing. They notice little details that others might miss, from the way the sunlight looks on an early autumn morning to the anger emanating from a pair of strangers having a fight.

Noticing these subtleties enriches the HSP’s life, often making them highly creative. But when you notice every little thing, it can add up fast.

Highly sensitive people tend to find comfort in routine and familiar environments because familiarity is less stimulating. When you’re vacationing in a new place, all that familiarity goes out the window.

Highly sensitive people aren’t the only ones to experience tiredness and stress while traveling. This well-documented phenomenon has been dubbed “ travel fatigue ” or “ vacation overwhelm ” by others. But for HSPs, due to their depth of processing, it can be even worse.

Too Many Things to Do, Do, Do!

A final reason vacations can be exhausting for HSPs has to do with this familiar problem: We only have X days here, so we have to make them count!

When you book the trip of a lifetime — paying all that money, taking all that time off work, and spending all that time planning — you feel compelled to make the most of it. You dash from one tourist spot to the next, intent on not missing a thing.

And while all that busyness would tire anyone out, it’s especially wearisome to HSPs, who need plenty of downtime to recharge from the overstimulation they face. Often, they’re the ones coming home saying, “I need a vacation to recover from my vacation!”

How to Make Vacations Relaxing Again — the HSP Way

So what’s a highly sensitive person supposed to do?

Travel doesn’t have to be exhausting. Here are five tips from Renzi:

1. Avoid over-scheduling by making deliberate choices.

Think about the environments that feed you. Then think about the environments that drain you. Does a casual stroll through an art museum sound relaxing, whereas partying at Oktoberfest sounds like a nightmare? Make deliberate choices about your travel destination and the kinds of activities you’ll do once you get there. The choices you make on your trip should make you feel good .

2. Tell others about your high sensitivity.

When traveling with others, be upfront about your needs. HSPs often feel the need to hide their trait. But casually sharing in conversation that you’re an HSP does a few things:

• It sets the stage for having your needs respected.
• It offers a chance to dispel myths about high sensitivity.
• It serves as a bridge to deeper conversation (something HSPs crave).
• It helps us find other HSPs, which can lead to new compatible travel buddies and relationships.

Not sure how to talk about your trait? See our guide to explaining high sensitivity to those who don’t “get” it .

3. Narrow your list of “must-sees.”

Simply put, busy environments and crowds can overwhelm the sensitive person’s system, so give yourself permission to skip them. Try choosing just one or two tourist hotspots then calling it good.

4. Build buffer days into your vacation.

And make them non-negotiable. You might make the first day after arriving at your destination a buffer day. Or the day  after  the trip is over, where you’re doing nothing but recovering.

Your buffer day might mean relaxing in your hotel room and ordering room service. Or doing an activity on your own (being alone lowers your stimulation level). After the trip, it might mean unpacking, cleaning up, and getting some R&R.

Here’s the trick: The only way to get your buffer day is to firmly schedule it. It won’t just magically happen, so this is the time to be your own advocate.

5. Give yourself permission to change plans.  

Even when you build downtime into your trip, it may not be enough. You may need to let go of some things and adjust your plan when necessary to take care of yourself. When we allow our trip to adapt to us instead of the other way around, we can find ourselves in a much more meaningful experience.

Want a vacation that’s actually HSP-friendly? Try this HSP retreat in Thailand

Want to take the stress and drain out of travel, and experience what it’s like to travel with other HSPs? Renzi still has upcoming retreats in some of the most stunning spots in the world — in a setting that honors your HSP needs for downtime and calm. The next retreat is being held amidst the stunning natural beauty of Thailand(!).

So what is it really like to travel with other HSPs?

“It was an acceptance I’ve never felt before in my life and I’ve been searching for since I was a kid,” said Marian M., who recently returned from one of Renzi’s retreats. “It was reinforcement that there are people out there who understand.”

Get $50 Off Your HSP Retreat

Surround yourself with infinite rice fields of northern Thailand, as you connect to cultural traditions at a gentle pace that allows you plenty of time to absorb your surroundings. This is a wonderful opportunity to travel with people who will honor your alone time and your ways of connecting without social pressures.

Takes place November 4-12, 2023 near Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Get $50 off with the code HSR50.

Click here to learn more.

You might like:

• 14 Things Highly Sensitive People Absolutely Need to Be Happy
• Why Do Highly Sensitive People Absorb Other People’s Emotions?
• 13 Problems Only Highly Sensitive People Will Understand

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Jenn Granneman the co-founder of HighlySensitiveRefuge.com and the author of The Secret Lives of Introverts: Inside Our Hidden World . Jenn is a contributor to Psychology Today , HuffPost , Susan Cain’s Quiet Revolution , Upworthy , The Mighty , The Muse , Motherly , and a number of other outlets. She has appeared on the BBC and in Buzzfeed and Glamour magazine . Jenn grew up feeling overly sensitive in a harsh world. Today, she believes that her sensitivity is her greatest strength.

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How to Avoid Exhaustion at Walt Disney World

Last Updated on March 30, 2020

How do you avoid exhaustion at Disney World? Managing vacation fatigue is tough when you are at the happiest place on Earth and want to accomplish EVERYTHING on your Disney bucket list. 

Disney Burnout is when you are so exhausted and tired you simply can’t enjoy your vacation anymore – here is how to avoid it!

Stay close to the parks

Staying close to the parks doesn’t mean you HAVE to stay onsite but there is nothing closer to the parks than staying within Walt Disney World itself. 

Avoiding or minimizing the amount of time you are in transit will help reduce Disney anxiety and keep everyone relaxed. 

Staying onsite also means you can take advantage of Early Magic Hours and reduce the amount of time you spend in long lines at attractions. 

• Pro’s and Con’s of Staying On-Site Visiting Walt Disney World

Use the FastPass System

Using your FastPass selections wisely will go a long way to reducing exhaustion at Walt Disney World. It would surprise you to know how draining it can be just standing around and waiting. The act of not doing anything, while simultaneously enduring others’ impatience and crowding are exhausting. 

Make your FastPasses for the most popular rides on YOUR bucket list. It doesn’t matter what others think are the best rides, look at what are the popular rides aka rides with the longest queues. Once you have decided what your priorities are, and which rides are destined to be the longest wait, 

• Walt Disney World FastPass+ Attractions & FAQ

Bring your own snacks

Instead of stopping everywhere to buy snacks, which may or may not include long lines, bring your own. This also means you will have exactly what you need to meet your energy requirements.

Snacking often is also a great way to save money, as you will be less likely to eat large meals.

• Favourite Snacks to Pack for Disney Parks

Have A Touring Plan

Know what you are going to ride and when. Standing around or walking aimlessly just wastes time and energy. Based on strategic information gathered in the planning stages of your vacation, have an idea of what attractions or shows you plan on visiting, and in which order. 

Ideally, these will be clumped together to avoid rushing back and forth across the Park

Advanced Dining Reservations

Knowing you have a nice meal and a comfortable chair waiting for you after this next ride can be just enough to make it through the long queue.  Again, wasting time jumping from one restaurant to another, hoping there is a seat available for your group, is not conducive to saving energy.

When you choose to schedule your meals is also important. We prefer to have our larger, sit down meals, in the evening, when everyone is tired. Lunch is a quick service meal but dinner is more elaborate. We require more calories and a good rest by this point and a character meal can typically last 60-90 minutes. 

• Guide to Disney’s Advanced Dining Reservations
• Walt Disney World Dining Main Page

Go at your own pace

Just because everyone is pushing and running around, doesn’t mean you have to as well. Go as slow or fast as you are comfortable with. The attractions will still be there when you get to where you are going. 

The waiting game

There will be times when you can’t avoid a queue. Have a plan on what to do when you get to long lines in order to keep those with a short supply of patience on track. 

There are many interactive and themed queues, including Toy Story Mania, Soarin’ and Pirates of the Caribean. These will surely keep everyone entertained and relaxed while waiting. 

For everything else, have a list of things to do with the kids while waiting. Play games, read a book, tell stories. Anything to keep the stress low.

There is so much walking at Walt Disney World. Readers have reported walking anywhere from 9-14 miles (14.4 – 22.5 km) per day, every day, of their 7-10 day Disney vacation. That is a lot of walking! 

Proper shoes will absolutely save you and your vacation. Make sure they are supportive, breathable, worn-in (but not too worn in) walking shoes. Flip flops are great if it starts to rain (as it doesn’t usually last long) or you are headed for a water ride, but in general, you will want a closed-toed sneaker or hiking sandal. 

Bringing a change of socks can help with walking as well. Once those feet start to sweat, or you have removed the shoes for one reason or another, changing up the socks will help reduce the swelling and keep you comfortable. Look for white cotton socks, and avoid nylon.

• Best Shoes for Disney 

Have frequent breaks within the parks, even if it’s just for a few minutes at a time. Find the nearest park bench and just sit. People watch, rock the kids to sleep, have a snack or wait for the next parade. 

Mealtimes are our favourite ways to take a break. It lasts just long enough to recover from the morning and re-energize before heading back out. Our lunches tend to be quick service so we can focus more on touring during the day, but 30 minutes is better than nothing.

We do, however, suggest eating at odd times; before or after the regular meal hours, in order to avoid long lines when ordered and not enough seats when eating. 

Check out some Low Key rides at each Park and see if that is enough to revive your enthusiasm. Sometimes a little rest is all you need to refresh. Magic Kingdon’s People Mover and Carousel of Progress, Epcot’s American Adventure, Animal Kingdom’s Finding Nemo and Hollywood Studio’s Muppey Vision 3D come to mind. 

• Top Spots for Nap Time at Walt Disney World

Back at the hotel for a swim or a midday nap. There is no right or wrong way to vacation at Disney. Taking a break for a nap isn’t my jam but it’s totally up his alley. To each their own, you do you. If you feel you are overwhelmed with the crowds, the heat or Disney in general, take a breather, head back for a cooling swim and start fresh when you are ready. 

Skip the Hopper Pass

Until teleportation is invented, using the Hopper Pass is exhausting in its own right. The time it takes to exit one park, transportation and entering a second park, security check included, will eat into your park touring time and none of this is as comfortable or relaxing as it sounds.

• Should You Get the Park Hopper Pass?

Dates and Flight times

This is another big area that contributes to exhaustion. Choose dates that aren’t too crowded, not too hot and humid (summer months and hurricane season) and choose flights that don’t interrupt your natural sleep patterns too much. 

I’ve mentioned it a few times on the travel blog;  Opportunity Cost (not Disney) . Just because it’s cheaper, it doesn’t make it the best deal. 

Packing list

Having everything you need to stay comfortable is very relaxing. Not having to worry about where to pick something up in the middle of “nowhere” or how much it will cost you.

• How to Pack the Perfect Disney Park Bag Ever!

Have a day off

There is so much to do without actually going into the parks. Sleeping in and spending the after at the pool is a great way to decompress, let your body recuperate from the toll that touring has done to your joints and just relax.

It doesn’t even need to be a full day. Try Early Morning Magic to get in extra early, or  Disney After Hours for evening fun. 

• 40 Things to do Near Walt Disney World Without Visiting a Theme Park

Stay Hydrated

Getting dehydrated or overheated is going to put a serious dampener on your vacation and absolutely contribute to exhaustion at Walt Disney World.

• Best Water Bottles for Disney
• Dehydration and Heat Stroke on Your Disney Holiday
• Where to Get Wet at Walt Disney World
• How to Stay Cool at Walt Disney World this Summer

Special Tours

Disney has a huge selection of guided tours that will take you behind the scenes at a slow and steady pace. They can also fast track your fast passes by getting you on all the Classic Rides or all the Thrill rides. The possibilities are endless when you have the know-how and the resources to ask for them. 

Arrival Day Plans

Definitely don’t waste an expensive park ticket for 2 hours in the evening. 

When you arrive at your hotel, after a day of travelling, stay there. Don’t have anything planned. Just relax, enjoy the resort, maybe go shopping. Starting your vacation on the right foot sets the tone for the rest of your stay.

Your Thoughts...

Please share your thoughts in the comments or reach out on social media...We would love to hear from you.

Follow Mouse Travel Matters for Disney Parks news, the latest info and park insights, follow MTM on Twitter , Facebook , and Instagram .

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Coachella 2024: Shakira surprises crowd at Bizarrap’s set, announces Acrisure Arena show

Global superstar Shakira made a guest appearance at Argentine producer Bizarrap’s set at the Sahara tent Friday night, bringing her world-famous diss song to the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and announcing an upcoming world tour — that just so happens to kick off locally at Acrisure Arena.

The crowd, already energized throughout the start of Bizarrap’s DJ set, became fully rapturous when the Colombian star emerged to first perform “La Fuerte,” a collaboration with the producer. She followed it with her Vol. 53 of the Bzrp sessions, a scathing diss song aimed at her ex-husband Gerard Piqué, appearing about halfway through the hour-long set.

Shakira entered with the words “La Loba Se Viene” (Spanish for “the wolf is coming”) sprawled across the large screen behind her. She later announced a world tour for her latest album, “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran,” calling her Coachella appearance the informal kickoff to the tour.

The official kickoff to the tour, on the other hand, will be in Palm Desert at Acrisure Arena. Shakira announced the concert before the local venue got a chance to, so we don't have a date or information about tickets yet, but Acrisure did share Shakira's Instagram story Friday night, which showed the superstar stopped off the side of I-10 to look at Acrisure Arena, which put a message on its huge roadside sign saying "Shakira Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour" with a QR code that brings you to a page on Shakira's website to sign up for alerts.

Bizarrap, who’s collaborated with a who’s who list of renowned Latino artists , played a litany of his popular BZRP sessions, including collaborations with Eladio Carrión, Milo J and Nicky Jam, during his set.

Shakira was the only guest appearance during the lengthy show, which featured plenty of cool visuals and impressive remixes by the Argentine producer. Bizarrap didn’t say much during his set, beyond imploring the crowd to keep dancing and to up the energy. But his stage presence was confident, particularly for a producer making his Coachella debut.

Though neither appeared on stage with him, Bizarrap also played his songs with Young Miko and Peso Pluma , both of whom also had their own Friday performances at the Empire Polo Club.

More: Coachella Day 1 updates: Sabrina Carpenter shines sans Swift, Shakira surprise guest stars

More: Coachella 2024 first look: From new merch tent placement to the brand-new Quasar stage

More: Coachella 2024: Paris Hilton, Megan Fox, Barry Keoghan among celebs at the festival

Tom Coulter is The Desert Sun's mid-valley reporter, but this weekend he's one of the paper's several returning Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival writers.

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Moscow-City: 7 surprising facts about the Russian capital’s business center

1. Guinness World Record in highlining

The record was set in 2019 by a team of seven athletes from Russia, Germany, France and Canada. They did it on September 8, on which the ‘Moscow-City Day’ is celebrated. The cord was stretched at the height of 350 m between the ‘OKO’ (“Eye”) and ‘Neva Towers’ skyscrapers. The distance between them is 245 m. The first of the athletes to cross was Friede Kuhne from Germany. The athletes didn't just walk, but also performed some daredevil tricks. Their record is 103 meters higher than the previous one set in Mexico City in December 2016.

2. Domination of Europe's top-10 highest skyscrapers

7 out of 10 Europe’s highest skyscrapers are located in Moscow-City. Earlier, the  ‘Federation Tower’ complex’s ‘Vostok’ (“East”) skyscraper was the considered the tallest in Europe.

Left to right: the lower of the ‘Neva Towers’ (296 m), Commerzbank Tower in Frankfurt (300 m), Gorod Stolits (“City of Capitals”) Moscow tower (302 m), Eurasia tower (309 m), The Shard’ skyscraper in London (310 m), Mercury City Tower (339 m), Neva Towers (345 m).

However, in 2018, the construction of the 462 meter tall ‘Lakhta Center’ in Saint-Petersburg was completed, pushing ‘Vostok’ (374 m) into 2nd place. The 3rd place is taken by OKO’s southern tower (354 m).

3. The unrealized ‘Rossiya’ tower

If all the building plans of Moscow-City were realized, the ‘Lakhta Center’ in St. Petersburg wouldn't have a chance to be Europe's highest skyscraper. Boris Tkhor, the architect who designed the concept of Moscow-City, had planned for the ‘Rossiya’ tower to be the tallest. In his project, it was a 600 meter tall golden cylindrical skyscraper ending with a spire that was inspired by traditional Russian bell towers. Then, the project was reinvented by famous British architect Sir Norman Foster. He had designed ‘Rossiya’ as a pyramid ending with a spire. The skyscraper itself would have been 612 meters tall, and the height including the spire would have reached 744,5 meters (for comparison, the ‘Burj Khalifa’ in Dubai, UAE, would have been just 83,5 meters taller). Unfortunately, the investors faced a lot of economic problems, due to the 2008 financial crisis, so the ‘Rossiya’ skyscraper was never built. A shopping mall and the ‘Neva Towers’ complex was constructed at its place in 2019.

4. Changed appearance of ‘Federation Tower’

In its first project, the ‘Federation Tower’ was designed to resemble a ship with a mast and two sails. The mast was to be represented by a tall glass spire with passages between the towers. It was planned to make a high-speed lift in it. The top of the spire was going to be turned into an observation deck. But the ship lost its mast in the middle of its construction. Experts at the Moscow-city Museum based in the ‘Imperia’ (“Empire”) tower say, that the construction of the spire was stopped, firstly, due to fire safety reasons and secondly, because it posed a threat to helicopter flights – the flickering glass of the spire could potentially blind the pilots. So, the half-built construction was disassembled. However, an observation deck was opened in the ‘Vostok’ tower.

5. Open windows of ‘Federation Tower’

We all know that the windows of the upper floors in different buildings don’t usually open. Experts say that it’s not actually for people’s safety. Falling from a big height is likely to be fatal in any building. The actual reason is the ventilation system. In a skyscraper, it’s managed with a mechanical system, and the building has its own climate. But in the ‘Zapad’ (“West”) tower of the ‘Federation Tower’ complex, the windows can open. The 62nd and last floor of the tower are taken up by a restaurant called ‘Sixty’. There, the windows are equipped with a special hydraulic system. They open for a short period of time accompanied by classical music, so the guests can take breathtaking photos of Moscow.

6. Broken glass units of ‘Federation Tower’

The guests of the ‘Sixty’ restaurant at the top of the ‘Zapad’ tower can be surprised to see cracked glass window panes. It is particularly strange, if we take into consideration the special type of this glass. It is extremely solid and can’t be broken once installed. For example, during experiments people threw all sorts of heavy items at the windows, but the glass wouldn’t break. The broken glass units of ‘Zapad’ were already damaged during shipment . As each of them is curved in its own way to make the tower’s curvature smooth, making a new set of window panes and bringing them to Russia was deemed too expensive . Moreover, the investors had financial problems (again, due to the 2008 financial crisis), so the ‘Vostok’ tower even stood unfinished for several years. Eventually, the cracked window panes were installed in their place.

7. The highest restaurant in Europe

‘Birds’, another restaurant in Moscow-City, is remarkable for its location. It was opened at the end of 2019 on the 84th floor of the ‘OKO’ complex’s southern tower. Guests at the restaurant can enjoy an amazing panoramic view at a height of 336 meters. On January 28, the experts of ‘Kniga Recordov Rossii’ (“Russian Records Book”) declared ‘Birds’ the highest restaurant in Europe, a step toward an application for a Guinness World Record.

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Shakira announces world tour during surprise coachella performance, shakira pops up at coachella ... makes world tour announcement.

Shakira had a double surprise for the crowd at Coachella on opening night ... first, she popped up for an unexpected performance, and then she announced a world tour!

The singer made her dramatic debut Friday evening at the 23rd annual festival in Indio, CA, joining Bizarrap onstage to play their songs, “La Fuerte” and “BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 53.”

Check out this video, obtained by TMZ -- Shakira was standing on an elevated platform, which gradually lowered her to the floor.

In classic Shakira style, she took over the stage, strutting back and forth while belting out her lyrics and engaging with the audience.

🚨SHAKIRA JUST ANNOUNCED HER WORLD TOUR AT COACHELLA 🚨 Starting this November in CA. The tour is called Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour #LMYNLWT We are so beyond ready! We have been waiting for this moment! Make sure to head to https://t.co/MoY9OkiFhH to sign up to receive… pic.twitter.com/N4zoQJ9oa4 — ShakiraUnited (@ShakiraUnited) April 13, 2024 @ShakiraUnited

After polishing off the tunes with Bizarrap, Shakira broke major news, telling all of her fans in Spanish that she's goin' on a world tour ... adding it'll kick off in Cali in November -- which got her fans to scream even louder.

The words “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour” then flashed on large screens at the site. In case you forgot ... Shakira's recently released 12th album shares the same name as the tour.

Make sure you get tickets now before they sell out!

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Shakira Joins Bizarrap at Coachella, Announces World Tour

Shakira just joined Bizarrap , the Argentine DJ and hitmaker instrumental in her massive comeback, for her first-ever Coachella appearance at the Sahara Tent.

After introducing herself with a she-wolf howl, the Colombian pop legend took the mic to perform two collaborations with Bizarrap: “Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53,” the scathing 2023 highlight of her new album, Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran , as well as their club-ready banger, “La Fuerte.” A swarm of screaming fans scrambled to the front, waving Argentine and Mexican flags to welcome the diva to the desert.

Shakira also broke some big news onstage: she’s embarking on a world tour to promote Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran . “Starting here this November, in this city,” she added, though it was unclear whether she meant the City of Indio.

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Shakira’s Coachella debut comes months after a Hits Daily Double report alleged that her team pushed for her to headline the festival, but that “Coachella ultimately passed.” In March, Shakira drew a crowd of more than 40,000 in Times Square as she performed songs from Las Mujeres No Lloran .

In a  Rolling Stone review , Suzy Exposito wrote about the album: “Shakira finally gets to turn the page on these tempestuous past two years, and reintroduce herself — not as Shakira the soccer mom, nor Shakira the heartbroken — but Shakira fucking Mebarak, international pop icon and undefeated champ.”

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Watch CBS News

Eclipse watchers stuck in heavy traffic driving home: "Worst traffic I've ever seen"

By Megan Cerullo

Edited By Aimee Picchi

Updated on: April 9, 2024 / 2:37 PM EDT / CBS News

Drivers returning home Monday from watching the solar eclipse in cities and towns in the path of totality described traffic jams that were among the worst they'd ever experienced, keeping them on roads all night and into Tuesday morning. 

Indeed, cities and towns in the eclipse's path experienced some of their  largest influxes of tourists in their histories, providing  an economic boom  to states from Texas to Vermont. While eclipse tourists tended to stagger their arrivals during the weekend leading up to the event, many departed roughly at the same time after the eclipse ended on Monday afternoon, clogging highways and local roads.

Traffic on I-89 in Vermont, which links Burlington, a city in the path of the totality, with Boston, and on the state's I-91 was heavy on Monday afternoon, according to the Vermont Agency of Transportation. "Worst traffic I've ever seen," wrote Richard Chen of the venture fund 1confirmation on X, formerly known as Twitter, after visiting northern Vermont to view the eclipse. But, he added, "[I]t was totally worth it."

It took us over 6 hours to drive 110 miles in MO. last night after the eclipse. I’ve never been in that long of a traffic jam. The majority of it we were only going 8 miles an hour. I guess that’s the price you pay for center line totality! Cell service was out too!🤯 pic.twitter.com/GGVkXEcLn7 — Anne Jones (@1neatgirl) April 9, 2024

Along I-75 near Dixie Highway around Perrysburg, Ohio, motorists were stuck in miles of bumper-to-bumper traffic, according to a local media report . 

Michigan residents who had driven to Ohio to watch the eclipse described their return trips as taking twice as long as they should have, according to WTOL 11. 

The Maine Department of Transportation said the state had 10 times the volume of normal traffic in its western and southern regions Monday evening, according to Fox23 Maine . Most eclipse watchers departed at around the same time on Monday, even though they had arrived at different points leading up to the eclipse, according to The Maine Turnpike Authority.

The Maine DOT had earlier advised visitors to arrive early and leave late to avoid congestion on the roads. 

On TikTok, user @schoolhousecaulk said he had anticipated bad traffic in Vermont and that it was "worth it," despite driving overnight for 150 miles at a "snails pace."

At 5:30 in the morning, he said he finally reached his home in New York City. It had taken him 13 hours to drive 370 miles, he said. 

Megan Cerullo is a New York-based reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering small business, workplace, health care, consumer spending and personal finance topics. She regularly appears on CBS News Streaming to discuss her reporting.

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Germany to send new Patriot air defence system to Kyiv at 'critical time', Zelenskiy says

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