Tips for Avoiding Travel Burnout & Exhaustion for Long-Term Travel

Any long-term traveler will know that sometimes travel burnout inevitably hits. As magical as travel is, sometimes the constant movement from place to place, as well as the daily different rooms, beds, foods, cultures, people, and languages, can cause the magic of a new destination to lose its luster. This is when travel burnout begins.

Sometimes, while planning your travels, everything seems SO exciting – and it’s easy to forget that travel exhaustion can happen. It may sound awesome, at first, to try to fit tons of destinations and activities into a small amount of time when all the newness is enticing. But after a little while, most long-term travelers, backpackers, and nomads (myself included) know that it is absolutely essential to have some rest.

Travel burnout, or ‘travel fatigue/travel exhaustion,’ is a mixture of physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion that can come from any length of travel. It usually comes as a feeling of fatigue or disinterest in things that once captivated you – grumpiness or crankiness and general low mood.

Always being on the move and not leaving time to rest or care for yourself can very quickly lead to travel burnout, and it’s important to be able to recognize when you need that essential downtime and find the activities that are going to help you the most. Below I will go over some of the ways that can help to avoid the dreaded travel burnout from my own experience from nearly TEN years on the road!

What to Know About Travel Burnout

“Burnout” is usually an occupational term, but it can apply to travel just the same. The main thing is that it really happens to the best of us!

Its easy to feel guilty because traveling is inherently a privilege, but be easy on yourself – humans can get tired of anything if they do it too much, and cramming millions of destinations and cultures into your head can definitely lead to overload. Here are some ways to tell if you are tired of traveling:

Trvel Burnout Can Happen to Anyone

Travel burnout can – and does – happen to anyone and everyone, whether you are budget backpacking, solo traveling, or adventure traveling. It also happens to both new travelers and the most seasoned of longtime travelers.

It can also happen whether you have been on the road for multiple years or mere weeks, and in cultures both familiar and completely diferent. Don’t feel guilty if you get burnt out – just take care of yourself. More on that below.

Travel Burnout Can Manifest in a Lot of Ways

There’s no ONE way to feel travel burnout. Usually it comes with a little bit of exhaustion and quite a lot of indifference to explore the next place. You may feel totally drained or completely unmotivated to leave your accommodation (or your bed in general) to make your way to the next place.

Travel burnout can feel like depression or sadness (which can also be associated with the loss of excitement to do something that once lit you up, which totally sucks). You may start to feel homesickness and longing for something familiar, like comfort foods or just to stay in bed.

It can also manifest in the way of irritability – crankiness/grumpiness or even pure anger. Travel burnout can be both a cause and effect for poor mental health.

It Can be Sudden or Slow

A lot of travelers mention waking up one morning and simply not being able to go on. Oftentimes after a while of budget travel, hostels, or simply doing too much, you can hit a hard, unbreakable wall that will knock you flat on your back and suck you dry of passion.

Personally, any time I have burnt out has been a bit more of a gradual process where I knew that I’d have to change something or I’d be in a world of anxiety soon. But then again, I have been doing this long enough to know when I am pushing it a little to hard, and the amount I can push it while traveling lessens with each year older I become!

Travel Bloggers and Influencers Rarely Talk About it

Burnout has become less of a taboo topic in recent years as the focus on mental health increases. But I still find that travel professionals, digital nomads, influencers, and bloggers are still reluctant to talk about the effects of travel burnout.

Maybe it’s because the world looks at travelers through rose colored glasses – thinking they have the picture-perfect life, so what could go wrong? Maybe it’s because travel is inherently a privilege not available to everyone, so it may seem ungreatful or complainy to not be enjoying every minute.

Personally I feel lots of guilt when I get tired of traveling – like, this is the life I worked so hard to achieve and show others is possible, how could I possibly be feeling negative about it?

Whichever reason it is, it’s not a hot topic of conversation so it’s easy to think you may be the only one experiencing it. But trust me – you’re not alone!

Why Does Travel Burnout Happen?

There are a lot of reasons travel burnout can happen, but a lot of them run on a similar theme – DOING TOO MUCH!

It’s Often From Trying to Fit Too Much In

Hello from the queen of always doing too much – this has been my problem for my entire life. I am no stranger to FOMO and I also may be the mayor of trying to squeeze every SINGLE thing into each day in a destination. Sometimes I thrive, other times I crash and burn. And normally if I thrive doing this for a while, it’s only a matter of time until I crash and burn.

Doing too much can be fun for a few days – if you have some rest time after. Doing too much for a week is pushing it. And doing too much for multiple months, switching cities and countries often, switching your way between cramped minibusses and tuktuks, cars and trains, new places to sleep and new languages and friends-for-a-day before they are gone again….. well, you get the picture. This can get EXHAUSTING.

Doing too much is the number one cause of burnout. While ‘doing too much’ can look different for each person, it’s usually a solid mixture of traveling too much, too quickly while letting your health slip by the wayside.

Indulging in Things That Negatively Impact your Health

I’m sorry to say it, backpackers, but partying too much can lead to a multitude of bad things happening. Sometimes when you hit a party destination, weeks go by in a flash of shots and hangover cheeseburgers, and you can’t remember the last time you went on a walk, let alone hit the gym. Trust me, as a festival blogger, I get it.

Some people love to indulge in a joint or two, especially on the road, but when it hits three, four, and five, sometimes healthy habits go out the window. The same goes for ‘party favors’ that travelers love to experiment with at parties, festivals, and even hostel parties.

None of these things are inherently bad, and most of them can supplement a fun experience most of the time. But when the experiment turns into a regular indulgence that in turn leads to your health taking a downturn – THAT is when burnout can be close. Letting your health go far from home is not fun and also a stressful road to recovery in foreign lands.

Getting Sick on the Road

We’ve all been there – truly. From a bad bout of hospitaliztion-worthy Dengue to actually sh*tting the bed after some dodgy food in South Africa to nearly missing our flight to Vietnam while queasy as hell from a street kebab… travelers know what it’s like to fall ill on the road.

Usually it’s nothing to fear, but the truly bad bouts of sickness that leave you bedridden for days can easily turn into giving up on your travels and wanting to go home. It’s especially easy to burn out if you’re sick because you’ve been partying too much and haven’t kept tabs on your health and wellness.

Slipping Out of Routines

Okay, I get it – it’s hard to have a routine while traveling. But it’s also simple to keep something up like exercising a few times a week, journaling, meditating, and having some healthy meals each week. And if you slip out of something like this, you can be well on your way to burnout city or also getting sick.

Decision Fatigue

When you are traveling, there are SOOOO many decisions to make all the time, every day – this is especially true for solo travelers. You have to make every.single.decision ALL DAY from where to stay to when to set your alarm to what to eat for breakfast to what tourist activities to do all day to how many days to stay in each place to how much money to get out at the ATM to ho many activities to fir in your day to even simple things like should you drink coffee first, or read your book?

Decision fatigue is real, and is exacerbated when moving quickly. Deciding how to structure each and every day while trying to fit as much in as possible is like an impossible, ever-changing puzzle that gets exhausting.

Getting “Stuck” in A Place Doing the Same Things

This is a different cause for travel burnout than above, and more applies to long-term backpackers or digital nomads without a fixed schedule. Sometimes you can get burnt out by getting STUCK in one place rather than going to too many.

Some backpackers end up in a destination, caught in a rut with a similar group of people doing similar activities in similar places day-in and day-out. Maybe you work from a cafe (or work at a hostel) and do morning work there, then head to the bar with the same people, get drunk, and end up at a club till the wee hours – then you do it again.

Getting stuck in an endless cycle (often involving partying) can lead to travel burnout, too – often a similar kind of burnout you left home to get away from in the first place!

Best Ways to Deal with Travel Burnout

Now, it’s time to take notes – these tips below are absolute travel essentials for fixing pesky travel burnout.

RELAX – Slow Down, or Just Stop for a while.

Seriously, the number one fix to burnout is to SLOW TF DOWN. This usually works. When Eliot and I were burnt out beyond repair after doing WAYYY too much for 3 months on our USA road trip, we got a beautiful airbnb on the lake in Guatemala for a whole month, ate healthy food, exercised, and got back into a routine. It was perfect.

For some people, slowing down can look like an entire day watching movies without leaving your hotel room (this works for me often). For other long term travelers, this can mean renting an apartment in one place for multiple months to let everything settle and stop the constant change.

Relax your itinerary down and minimize ‘extra stuff to do.’ Start to say ‘no.’ Don’t overwhelm your weeks with different activities and experiences, and start to make time for yourself. Spend longer in each place, and spend more time alone.

Get Yourself Nicer Place

This is true especially if you have been roughing it, budget traveling, staying in hostels, camping, or couchsurfing. Constantly being surrounded by strangers, in someone else’s space, or alert in the wild can quicken the path to burnout. Splurge a little and get yourself a little treat – you deserve it.

If you’re mostly staying in hostels or similar, it can be a good idea to check into a private room or hotel for a few nights (or weeks) every once in a while. This will give you some space and time to yourself that spreads wider than your bunk bed and can give you some time to charge your social battery too.

Personally, I like to book airbnbs for a week or month to keep the burnout away. Soend time cooking, having nights in and watching movies, sleeping in, and getting rid of guilt. Slowly come back to yourself and regain your passion to do what you do in a private, cushy space.

If the budget allows, you could even consider checking in to a spa for a few nights or even getting a massage and warm soak just for the day. 

Get Plenty of Sleep

A lack of sleep can play a huge part in travel exhaustion, therefore getting some undisturbed and good-quality sleep can be just the thing you need to get you back on track.

When you think you are experiencing burnout, avoid dorms or camping and try to make sure to have your own comfortable space that is conducive to good sleep. This is why I always have an eye mask and ear plugs on me no matter where I go!

Get Grounded: Spend Time in a Familiar Venue or a ‘Placeless’ Place

The unfamiliarity and culture shock of constant travel keeps your mind in a state ot perpetual newness and awareness. One of the best ways to get grounded is to immerse yourself somewhere that the constant newness is invisible and your mind can take a rest. Let me explain.

The first way to do this is by finding somewhere familiar that reminds you of home. Doing something ‘normal’ can mean anything that you do or place you visit at home. Turn on your favorite TV show or movie. Grab your favorite drink and sit in Starbucks for a few hours. Eat some comfort food that feels familiar to you – like Mcdonalds or KFC – to curb the homesickness.

Next, spend some time somewhere that could really be anywhere. One of my favorite words I have learned during my travels is ‘placelessness,’ which means somewhere that is similar to or not connected with any particular place. I think hotels rooms are quite placeless – they look similar everywhere and therefore could be anywhere. Picture your hometown outside, or New York City, or a beautiful countryside in Indonesia.

The hotel room doesn’t know the difference – hide out there and drop into your internal world. Instead of engaging in the outside world, play a video game or an online game. There are so many games out there to try, from puzzle solving to simulation games to checking out this link to sweepstakes casinos. Sometimes a little break from the world you’re in can be the best answer. Check out more fun things to do at home that can be done anywhere!

Eat Some Familiar Food and COOK

Food is surprisingly one of the most comforting things when you’re far from home. Oftentimes, while traveling, you are constantly trying to eat the local special dishes and forget to eat healthy, take a break and cook, or eat something familiar and comforting.

Many travelers will agree that simply getting a place with a kitchen and cooking your own meal is one of the greatest feelings after being on the road and eating fast/local food forever. Head to the supermarket for ingredients, cook your favorite meal, and enjoy the feeling of home.

Go Somewhere with Friends or Family

If you’re feeling burnt out from travel, sometimes a familiar face is just the anecdote. Depending on where you are traveling, it may be an idea to head to a place where you have some friends already. Seeing friends and family grounds you immensely.

Catch Up with Loved Ones On the Phone

Finding the time to catch up with friends and family can be hard when you’re traveling long-term. When you’re spending time exploring new places and the people in your life are busy with their daily life, throw in the different time zones, connecting can feel almost impossible.

Going a long period of time without speaking to friends and family can make you feel further from home than you actually are, which is another factor that can lead to travel burnout. That’s why sometimes it’s important to schedule in this time and prioritize it. 

Connecting with friends and family is extremely important, it allows you to keep up-to-date with what’s happening at home. This is especially important if you’re traveling solo – while meeting new people is great, a conversation with a familiar face can be just the thing you need. Homesickness can play a significant role in travel exhaustion and connecting with home can be the perfect way to help you feel better. 

Get Out Into Nature

It’s important to relax, but exercise is vital as well. Getting out into nature is another of the best ways to get yourself grounded. Fresh air and walking outdoors can do wonders for your mood no matter where you may be.

Add any Element of Routine into Your Schedule as You Can

The longer you travel, the more any sense of routine or normalcy cal fall away… and the more you can inch towards burnout. One of the best ways to avoid burnout is to maintain as much routine as you can. While you may not have control over everything, here are some things you might be able to control even on the road:

• Working out X times a week – from finding a gym in each place (trust me, there are gyms everywhere, you just haven’t looked), going on a few runs a week, going on 20 min morning walks, or doing a youtube pilates or yoga class every Saturday.
• Morning Routines – try to have a similar routine each morning whether it’s simply journaling over coffee or doing 5 minutes of stretching or meditation
• Waking Up/Going to Bed at the Same Time – normalizing this can help your body feel more natural even while moving around

Add in Elements of Wellness and Health to Your Day

Wellness and health often fall away when routine does, but you can keep them up! This might look different for each person, but try to add healthy elements into your schedule. Here are some ideas

• Morning/Evening vitamins
• Evening meditation
• Cutting down on caffeine or alcohol to certain days of the week (and sticking to it)
• Daily gratitude journaling
• Daily affirmations (or affirmation meditations)
• At least one healthy meal a day (maybe home made)

Go to a Place more Conducive to Wellness (and Get out of a Place that is Turning Stale)

If you are feeling unhealthy, burnt out, and disconnected in the place where you are, it’s probably time to leave that place. Any long-term traveler can agree that some places are simply BAD for your health – they might be loads of fun, but you know deep down that nothing good happens there after a few days.

The key might be to head somewhere that is more conducive to physical and mental health. Get away from whatever temptations are ailing you and head somewhere where you know you may have better habits like a morning surf, exercise classes, less parties, or less negatively influential people.

Get Productive

It’s easy to get tired or traveling when everything is a mess AND you’re stuck with a big pile of laundry! A reset and spurt of productivity can make you feel WORLDS better about yourself and prepare you for the next days or weeks of your travel.

Take care of your dirty laundry, get that work done what has been hanging over your head, organize your future travel plans, and even go through and organize your bag. Trust me, it will help.

Whenever I am feeling a bit uneasy and sluggish, I try to tick a few things off my to-do list and ALWAYS end up feeling better and much more deserving of time being a couch potato 😉

Self-Care

Take some time to look after yourself! Have a day (or even a week) of self-care. Treat yourself to a manicure, massage, facial, scrub, get your hair done, head to the jacuzzi, or tons of other things. Pamper yourself and shower yourself in the care you have been neglecting yourself.

Make Sure to Have Travel Insurance

Burning out oftentimes comes with getting sick – I know it does for me, at least. When I get sick on the road, I take it as a surefire sign I need to tone it back a little. I always make sure to have travel insurance – in case something as small as a cold can turn into something much worse. We use Heymondo – read our review here.

For Digital Nomads – Digital Detox or Reframe

If you are burning out as a digital nomad, sometimes the best answer if a full digital detox. Whether you’re working too hard or trying to get the edge on projects that simply aren’t coming together, the best way to reframe your mindset is to take some time offline. Get away from the computer and get out into nature for a little while and allow your brain to reconnect and ground.

Lastly … GO HOME!

One of the most important and lesser-talked-about parts of travel burnout is simply knowing when to (sadly) throw in the towel. Try all the things mentioned above first, but if it’s still bad, it may be time to go home.

There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with this – the world will always be there and you need to take care of YOU first.

Final Thoughts on Travel Burnout

In summary, travel burnout is inevitable and something that every long and short-term travel will feel every now and again. What’s important is finding the best ways to prevent it, and knowing how to look after yourself when you start to feel the travel exhaustion starting to brew.

How do you deal with travel burnout? Let me know in the comments below!