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...

Bed Hopping

Accommodation is the biggest expense (after flights) when travelling, particularly if you are doing it solo.

Sticking to a shoe-string budget means that finding a cheap nights sleep will be a priority, and often a lot more time consuming than you would first expect.

When arriving in a new destination the first thing you will need to do is find somewhere to dump your backpack and rest your head. Generally speaking the cheapest accommodation for a solo backpacker will be a bunk bed in a dorm room of a youth hostel and it's really easy to compare prices and book online- www.hostelworld.com, www.hostelbookers.com. If you have booked a hostel in advance all you will need to do is find it (not as easy as it sounds) however not many South East Asian destinations have youth hostels, in this situation your best option is to resist booking accommodation in advance and find somewhere to stay when you get there. Waiting until you arrive at your destination will mean that you can walk around and compare prices to get the best deal (the cheapest options are unlikely to advertise online) it will also give you the opportunity to negotiate a cheaper room rate.

Another money saving option I used a lot was to share a room (and even a bed) with a fellow backpacker. I would make an effort to be-friend other travellers on the bus/ boat/ tuc-tuc to a new destination and suggest that we share a room when we got there, which saves money for everyone. I realise that this sounds pretty crazy to a non-traveller but backpackers are a really friendly bunch of like-minded people and sharing a room with a virtual stranger is quite normal and a great way to make friends to explore your new destination with. This also applies to camper vans, when road-tripping in New Zealand I advertised for a travel partner on gumtree.com as I could not afford to rent a van on my own, plus it was great to have some company on the journey.

Sleeping while you travel is also a good way to make the pennies stretch. When travelling long distances in countries like Thailand and Vietnam there is often an option to take a sleeper bus or a night boat which are equipped with bunk beds, pillows and blankets to allow you to sleep during the long journey. If you plan cleverly you will be able to travel over night and sleep on the bus arriving at your destination in the morning, this way you save the cost of a nights accommodation.

A free accommodation option is couch-surfing (this is more likely to be available in Western countries and bigger cities). Couch surfing involves sleeping on a sofa/ spare room/ air mattress of a person's house for free for a few days, the website www.couchsurfing.org helps to connect travelers looking for accommodation with people who have something available. This is a great way to meet local people and have an authentic experience of a new destination. I didn't do any couch-surfing on my trip, but I did get in touch with friends that lived in the countries I was travelling to and arranged to stay with them while I was in the area.

My last cheap sleep suggestion is to be prepared to bed-hop. On various occasions I moved rooms or hotels in the same destination because a cheaper option came-up part way through my stay. For example a fan room is cheaper than an air-con room, if a fan room was not available when I arrived I would stay in an air-con room but move as soon as a cheaper fan room became available. It's a bit of a faff, but every penny counts when travelling on a shoe-string.

During my six month trip I slept in 64 beds, 1 sofa, 1 night boat, 4 night buses, 1 indigenous tribe village, 1 camping bed and 1 camper van. The most expensive bed I stayed in was at Christmas in Koh Samui, Thailand which cost £37 per person in a twin room and the cheapest bed I slept in was in Chaing Mai, Thailand which cost £1.80 per person in a triple room!