The Globetrotters Nemesis: Travel Burnout

When planning an exciting round-the-world trip you will probably imagine yourself on the beach, meeting new friends and partying. You may worry about potential problems like getting ripped off or loosing your passport but you are unlikely to imagine getting sick and tired of the whole travel experience, but getting tired of travel on a long trip is actually quite a normal (even inevitable) part of the experience, so here's my guide to dealing with the dreaded travel burnout.

What is travel burnout?

Travel burnout is the point during your trip where you get fed-up. You're not enjoying experiences the way you once were; a beautiful sunset is now just another sunset, a bustling city is now overcrowded and meeting new friends feels like a chore. But when you take a long trip on your own, on a budget, you will be putting yourself under quite a lot of pressure; transport will be hot, overcrowded and unreliable, budget accommodation will be uncomfortable, haggling can be difficult and travelling solo can be lonely, so at some point during your trip it's quite likely you will snap.

Personal Experience

My worst episode of travel burnout happened 4 months into my trip in Siem Reap, Cambodia. I'd had quite a difficult few days travelling across the Laos border spending hours on buses, so I was tired, jaded and primed for burnout.

There were no seats left on the bus, so I'm sitting on the engine casing at the back... it was so HOT, there was nothing to sit back against and the journey took hours.

I decided to get my laundry done when I arrived in Siem Reap and took advantage of my hostel's laundry service. I got my clothes back the next day and although on first appearances they looked clean and pressed when I got them out of the bag they were still fairly dirty and four pairs of my knickers had big holes in the crotch.

Normally I would have been a bit annoyed or disappointed about this, but I was on the edge of travel burnout and the knickers were the final straw... I became inconsolable. I started crying and couldn't stop myself, I felt like I had looked after my possessions for months and suddenly they had been ruined, I felt like my knickers were irreplaceable and I felt fed up of travelling. My poor roommate came in during my melt down and although she sympathised with my situation I think she was very confused by my reaction. I complained to the management and despite trying to remain composed I was very teary, again the poor guy looked a little taken aback, but they re-washed my clothes and he was quite apologetic about the knickers.

At the time I knew I was being fairly ridiculous but I couldn't help my reaction, I was exhausted and feeling lonely and needed some time-out. I spent a few days being miserable but luckily for me I happened to meet up with some friends who were also in Siem Reap. I spent the next few weeks travelling with them which resolved my burnout, for the rest of my time in Cambodia I had two friends to share the fun experiences with but I also had someone else do the planning, organising and haggling for a bit!

How to fix travel burnout:

Slow down- trying to visit a long list of destinations and attractions in a short space of time is exhausting. Take a few days to chill out, have a lie-in and just enjoy where you are. Don't think of this break as a waste of time, this is time well spent if it helps to shake off the burnout.

Upgrade- Travelling on a budget is hard work, so give yourself a break. Stay in a nice (air-con) room for a few nights, eat at a restaurant rather than eating street food, or take the tourist bus rather than the local bus. You don't have to blow your budget, but a little treat is a good investment.

Have a dose of normality- Sometimes a trip to the cinema is all you need to beat the blues, it will feel like you're at home again for a few hours!

Change your itinerary- Don't be afraid to change your plans, if you don't like a destination just leave. Similarly if you have made friends somewhere and you're having fun stay a bit longer. I did exactly that in Koh Tao. Also, if you are travelling solo, it is definitely worth adjusting your itinerary to travel with new friends for a bit.

Change continent- It may not be enough to change city or country, it might be time to change the continent you are travelling! After 5 months in South East Asia I was ready for a change; although each country was different with it's own attractions, food and culture I was feeling fed-up. When I arrived in New Zealand  the change of culture and scenery left me feeling re-energised and motivated.

But if you really can't shake the blues, it may also be time to just go home...

'In the Tubing'

Like full moon parties in Ko Phangan, tubing in Vang Vieng is infamous on the South East Asia backpacker trail. It's virtually impossible to travel around without seeing someone wearing an 'In the Tubing' shirt or meeting someone who has recently been, so I knew that at some point I would have to pass through Vang Vieng to try it out myself! The tubing experience basically involves floating down the Nam Song river in an inflated tractor inner tyre, stopping to drink at riverside bars along the way. Over the years it has got very popular, and the town of Vang Vieng has grown into a backpacker hub with thousands of westerners passing through to party..... and occasionally go tubing.

I didn't really want to visit Vang Vieng on my own, as I thought I'd have more fun with a group of friends, and quite conveniently I made 4 new friends on the bus from Luang Prabang. Three of the girls were from New Zealand on holiday from Uni, and the fourth was a school teacher, Mariana, from Holland. One of the Kiwi girls had been to Vang Vieng before, so she guided us through the tubing process. She explained that most people don't actually go tubing they just drink at the river-side bars that are accessible by foot, so on our first day that's what we did!


We arrived at the river and were met by lots of drunken backpackers, dressed up, drinking buckets and launching themselves into river from rope swings. It was slightly hard-core for 2PM, but we soon got into the swing of things and had a fun afternoon playing beer pong, dancing to music, drinking free shots and the doing the occasional bucket-stand. When it got dark we made our way back into town and finished the evening in the 'bucket bar'.

The next day the Kiwis decided that they still didn't fancy tubing and were going swimming in a near-by lagoon. Mariana and I felt that we couldn't come to Vang Vieng and not tube (we'd bought the T-shirts!) So we left the girls to it, and headed down to the river with our big yellow tubes in tow.
I had been in contact with my friend from home, Sandra, and knew she was going to be in Vang Vieng for the day, but we hadn't been able to make specific plans to meet up. I was hoping we'd bump into each other in one of the riverside bars... and as luck would have it, we did! While floating down the river I spotted Sandra in a bar, so we signaled to a local guy on the shore that we wanted to stop and he threw us a rope and pulled us in. It was FANTASTIC to see Sandra again, and we spent the rest of the day leisurely floating down the river, drinking Beer Lao and stopping at various bars along the way.

After an awesome day on the river, it was time to say goodbye to Sandra for the second time this trip. It was only a short reunion this time, but I was so glad that we had managed to meet up in Vang Vieng and party together one more time in Asia!

I decided to leave Vang Vieng the next day, I'd had a lot of fun but I didn't want to get sucked into staying and partying for days on end, it was time to see a little more of real Laos.