How to Avoid Travel Burnout and What to Do When it Strikes

Travel burnout is something that usually hits after you've been on the road for a while, though that 'while' is very elastic. Some people suffer from burnout within weeks of leaving home, and for others it may take years.

However long it takes, though, chances are it will strike you at some point, especially if you're traveling solo.

Ratty rooms for tired travelers
Photo: A_of_DooM via Flickr

You'll miss your family, your partner or friends, the food will start tasting strange rather than exciting, rooms will start feeling tawdry, foreign faces will look strange instead of exotic... in other words, things on the road will start looking a lot dimmer than they did just a few days or weeks ago.

Don't fret - this happens to just about all of us!

The good news is that there's plenty you can do about it. I've had travel burnout - or the travel blues - a number of times during my travels.

I once woke up in tears in a rural Kenyan hotel room - I still remember the peeling turquoise paint and the geckoes scurrying along the ceiling - wondering where I was, and why. I felt sad, alone, adrift from everything I knew. I had been backpacking across Africa for about six months then and I just felt like giving up and going home.

I persevered. I tried some of the techniques below. And I decided then and there that I wouldn't get caught out like this again. I did what I usually do in these cases - I made a list, a list of all the ways I could pull myself out of the blues when they hit. I've tried most of these myself, and they work! Because I continued on that particular trip for an additional two-and-a-half years... and could have kept on even longer, happily, glad I was still on the road.

Change your pace
Too often, travel becomes a question of miles traveled and sights ticked off a list. A good antidote is to slow down. If you've been hopping on a bus every second day, try it every third. Or travel one week, sit out the next. Conversely, if you've been dawdling in town for a week or two, get moving. Grab a seat and leave town sooner than you'd planned.

Slow down, stay put...
Photo: Javier Volcan via Flickr

Stay put
Putting down roots is a great way of beating travel burnout. I actually stayed put in Bangkok for more than a year once just because my travels didn't seem as fresh. I became part of the city's life, learned some Thai, found work and settled down until the urge to travel struck again - and it did. I don't recommend staying put for a year - but try it for a week. Simply setting up a daily routine will do plenty to wipe away those travel burnout blues.

Go to the beach
And if it's not the beach, head for some other relaxing place, where you can swing in a hammock, read a book from the second-hand shop, and just chill.

Change directions, take a hike...
Photo: Adam Baker via Flickr

Change directions
That's right - if you've been heading East, head North. Get somewhere different. Change the scenery. Ditch the plan. Go for the unexpected.

Take a hike
Literally. Go to the mountains, the river, the lake... find a place of natural beauty and go for a long walk. Take someone with you - with the proviso that they won't say a word. Just enjoy your surroundings and get out of yourself.

Make some friends
Sometimes managing travel loneliness is part of our travel burnout. We're not burned out at all - we're just lonely. At least this is something we can change.

Don't feel guilty
Just because you miss some sights doesn't mean you're doing anything wrong. I went to Zimbabwe and missed Victoria Falls. I also didn't make it to Table Mountain or Kruger National Park in that region. But I made it to a whole bunch of places that weren't in my guidebook at all. Reevaluate the 'how' of your trip: how do you envision your journey? Try to go back to that original vision.

Pull out your journal
You can write down what you feel - getting it on paper (or on-screen) takes it out of you. Acknowledging your travel burnout is a huge step towards getting rid of it. Read back to how you felt when you started your trip, and why you're even traveling in the first place. It should help put things into perspective.

Volunteer
Have you ever noticed how thinking of others helps us out of our own pain or self-indulgence. I don't have time to think about my own problems when I'm busy helping someone else. There are plenty of opportunities for volunteer work overseas - or you can just walk into a local charity or school and ask if they need your help. In my experience, they nearly always do.

Get out of yourself by helping others
Photo: truelifeplanet/Gigi via Flickr

Stop and learn something
This can help give your trip some purpose if you feel it's lacking. You can sign up for a language course, or pull out that speed-reading book you've been meaning to get through. Travel is often sensual and emotional. Switch to an intellectual plane.

And if none of this dissipates your travel burnout...

It's time to pull out the major artillery. If you're fortunate enough to be in a city, it's time for a bit of pampering and luxury. Here are a few things you can do that will probably help whisk away those travel burnout blues. It might break your budget, but it's only this once, and so very worth it!

• Travel differently. Fly instead of taking the bus. It's amazing what skipping a 24-hour trip with chickens on your lap can do for morale.
• Go out to a nice restaurant. It'll give you a chance to dust off that wrinkle-proof skirt you've been carrying in your backpack for several months, even if it does mean solo dining.
• Indulge in a beauty salon. Different countries have different approaches to hair washing - I've had a one-hour head massage as part of the service. Believe me, I saw the world differently when I left.
• Have a bubble bath. This is more challenging than it seems, since it requires finding a bathtub - not that easy when you're staying in a dorm. This may be a good time to try couchsurfing if you never have - just make sure they have a tub!
• Have a Sunday brunch in a luxury hotel. When I decide to do this, I find strange dreams of pancakes and maple syrup entering my subconscious for days beforehand.

Take a beach massage break
Photo: sigkyrre via Flickr

Whatever you do, you can beat the travel burnout blues. It may not be instantaneous, and it may not be complete. But unless your trip has really come to its end, it's often a case of tweaking your attitude and of looking at things just a little bit differently.