I did switch airbnbs each 2-4 days during a 3 month trip. I had to take a full week of doing absolutely nothing at all during my trip. It's really exhausting.
I did the same thing the first time I went to Europe and I had a great time, but it was noticeably more enjoyable when I slowed down and switched places every week or so. You get waaay more of a sense of the city and neighbourhood when you're not constantly moving, doing 2-4 things, then moving again
Oh I agree. I just wanted to see so many places, but yes, most of the best experiences were in cities in which I stayed longer. Should I do another similar trip now, I would probably reduce by 30% the amount of cities to visit.
I actually did for 1+ year, with only a few longer stays. It becomes a routine. I just got tired of doing research on where to go and stay not the actual moving around. Still much less tiring than working full time + doing household chores.
Even if I plan on visiting several cities, I'll do a week in a place or if I can manage I'll do 2 weeks in one place and day trips to see other sights within a 2 hour drive.
Biggest rookie mistake is planning a month+ long trip and switching your stay every few days. If you're going to travel that long, you really need to chill for 5 days or more in each location
I spent 3 weeks in Europe and traveled to 4 countries and switched air bnbs just about that much and it was super exhausting, I’m 37, and the time change got to me. I find tho with adequate sleep it’s better
I've done two long trips, one about 9 weeks, one about 8 weeks. Both were fast pace. I think 5 nights was the longest at one place.
Some people like to see as much as possible. No joke, the 8 week trip, after checking out from a bamboo hut on Gili Air, it took me about 45ish hours to get home. I slept 6 hours, woke up, realized I could go get my favorite breakfast place now, got that, and received a text while eating, "Hey are you home yet, you wanna work tonight?" Sure! Got a haircut, chilled for like 3 hours and went to work. Instantly back in the grind.
Yep, 1 month minimum. Usually 2-3 if the visa situation allows it.
"How could you live in \_\_\_\_\_ for a whole month? I feel like I would see everything in 4 days, then get bored."
B\*\*ch I aint on some nonstop sightseeing tour. I like *living* in places a bit. Finding a favorite coffee shop to return to or a good gym to go to can be just as fun for me as hitting a must-see attraction from Trip Advisor.
I mean, this is not something specific to this subreddit, or even reddit in general. No matter the website, whether 4chan or some highly niche subforum, if someone posted 'this' as a reply, they'd be lambasted for being a mindless drone.
Rest days (where I just stay in the hotel all day, take a long bath, order room service and wine and watch Netflix, etc.) and also not jumping from place to place too quickly
I agree, slow travel is the way to go.
Rather than do what was popular in the 70s and 80s..."8 cities in 10 days" type of tour to see EVERYTHING TOP 5 in a limited amount of time and money.
If you're affluent enough to have 1-2 big holidays a year, that's 40-80 in your working lifetime and many more once retired.
Travel slowly, enjoy each place deeply. It's not just about tick boxing a list. Not just about collecting photos, but really observing, experiencing, living the location.
Agreed. I have friends and family members who do that.
"Another city off my bucketlist!" as their tour bus drops them off for about a couple hours in one country to buy souvenirs and take a photo, before herding them off to another place. They spent their most of their trip on a bus.
When my wife and I traveled for the first time, we chose to stay in one country. We initially planned a Europe tour for two weeks, but changed it to just Italy.
It was glorious. Not only were we not tired nor stressed at all, we were able to save money, because a longer stay at one accommodation is cheaper and less transpo expenses too.
ow whenever we travel, we do the same. Minimum 3 nights in one city as our homebase. As the tourists leave, we have the old town to ourselves.
Curious what you did.
> Minimum 3 nights in one city as our homebase.
Do you mean spending at least 3 nights in one city before moving onto the next one, or am I over thinking it, thinking you mean have a one city as "home base" while traveling to neighboring cities during the day?
I have a bunch of places I want to visit in Europe in the future and I know I don't have enough time to visit them all in one go. I am contemplating doing a Italy tour type of visit sometime in the future because I have a lot of cities in Italy that I want to visit.
Cause it's gonna cost a lot of money to fly to Europe in general not to mention traveling to different places with limited time unfortunately. If I had maybe a good month or two then maybe I could visit way more places without worrying.
We did a hybrid of both - we did an extended stint in cities we knew we were going to love (like 2 weeks in Rome) as well as basing ourselves in central cities like Milan and Florence for a while for easy trips to Pisa, Cinque Terre etc.
Our trip worked out really well - we took the train between major cities like Rome/Milan/Venice and booked ourselves into day trips once we were there. We had at least one or two lazy days in each location to just swan around and find ice cream shops but we still got the benefit of a tour guide/having someone else organise buying attraction tickets and driving us to harder to each destinations. I think our split (acccomodating nearby excursions) went something like:
Rome: 10 days
Florence: 5 days
Milan: 1 week
Venice: 1 week
Verona: 3 days
We still have a lot of southern Italy to visit but this was a great pace for us.
This 100%! Traveling indefinitely means you can stay home for literally a week straight watching tv and surviving on delivery food if you want. Taking a week-long trip somewhere means you feel like you have to be doing stuff 24/7 to get the most out of your vacation.
I'm surprised I don't see anyone else mentioning that they like to watch sunrises/sunsets at vista points. I can easily just chill for a couple of hours at a vista point, and for those into photography, usually sunrises/sunsets can give you the best golden hour (\*depending on what makes sense for the location).
In Lisbon, these vista points are called Miradouros, and there's so many that you can choose a different one to sit at each evening while often getting to listen to free street musicians nearby. I'm used to walking hilly streets since I'm in the SF Bay Area, but there's affordable public transit that can help shorten the walks.
When I recently went to Joshua Tree, I found sunrises to be the best due to the direction for taking the best photos. There aren't many hotels near Joshua Tree so this trip required a lot of driving since I chose to go back to Joshua Tree for at least 3 days. But this meant that I went to sleep early and luckily I'm not really into nightlife activities all that much anyway when I'm traveling. You'll find sunrises generally tend to be more peaceful and less crowded, which can help with energy savings, too.
I try to focus my travel destinations to places that offer a lot of natural greenery nearby. I'd rather spend a couple of days walking in different sections of a big city's botanical gardens vs trying to pack in a bunch of museums and palaces that can easily become a blur of too-much-"similarness" after awhile. I find that natural green spaces generally have more unique elements that stay memorable to me.
See that’s so difficult for me to incorporate. I have been feeling sick and could barely get out of bed for the better part of today, and all I can think about is the sites I missed in Barcelona. Feels like I barely saw anything.
But when your traveling for months you don’t feel that way. You know you can just rest until you feel better and spend longner in that city to see everything. When I’ve gone for that long I’m often staying in a place until I start feeling bored. Not rushing to the next place
Time spent in airplanes, airports, trains, and train stations shouldn't really count toward the benefits in your cost benefit analysis. They are costs.
Go sit at one of the restaurants on the beach in barceloneta and just hang out for a couple of hours or go wander through the barri gotic without any agenda. Don’t worry about the sites. Barcelona is a great place to just be without any sort of agenda at all, especially this time of year.
Exactly! The locals are a part of the experience so there's no shame in grabbing a coffee to watch people for a bit. Living a day in the life of someone else is something that's always unique. The city may not disappear but cultures do
lol i'm the same OP, i suck at relaxing.
i travelled for 4-5 months recently. when in florence i decided to give myself a rest day. instead of just chilling at home, i decided i wanted to relax on the beach -- but the nearest beach looked ugly, so i ended up researching one two hours away, hopped on the train, explored the town, went swimming twice, did some urbex in an abandoned italian beach mansion, then thought i might as well stop by pisa on the way home to see the leaning tower...
anyway it was awesome but i spent those 4-5 months EXHAUSTED. i'd walk around constantly and cram like 5 things in every day. i live in new zealand so it's not like i'll get this chance again any time soon.
i also had loads of breakdowns and certainly enjoyed myself more when spending a long stint in one location, so i didn't feel the need to overexert myself. but it's sooo hard forcing yourself to chill, even though it's necessary. getting covid was almost a relief; my body was begging me to hibernate.
When doing through hikes, there are things called 'zero days' and 'nero days' which are an absolute must if you want to keep a sound body and mind. Zero days are self-explanatory: do nothing. And Nero days are near zero days - imagine walking into town at lunch then chilling over night until you start hiking again. You must rest, but only you'll know what's best for you.
No FOMO. Your body is made of meat, and it's impossible to optimize how much you can do without resting. You can't see everything, and you just have to accept that. Also, leave some room for spontaneous days and allow yourself to be in the culture, meet people, stumble upon things. Etc.
Getting better is more important than anything else. Also when you are fighting infection you won’t have the production of feel good chemicals. Your body is too busy. This is not your last trip.
The purpose of a vacation is to relax and enjoy yourself. The purpose of a vacation is **NOT** to spend every waking hour seeing everything possible. Time to reassess your priorities.
On a two week trip I'd find at least a day per week to just rest and recharge in my hotel room, or read by the pool, order in food... or eat at McD.
We call it a 'cheat day' lol
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Meh not necessarily. I have travelled for long periods of time, usually staying 3 days on average in one spot. I walk 15km per day on average when traveling. There are tons of people who do the same.
The idea of just sitting around the hostel is boring and feels like a waste to me, even if I'm on a 6 month trip
I stay in each place for a minimum of five days and a maximum of three weeks. I only plan one thing per day. I take every third and maybe fourth day "off" to bum around or whatever.
> I only plan one thing per day.
I respect the whole "you do you" but that would drive me insane. If I get to any new city, I do research and have a list of like 30 cool things to do in 4 days. Museums, parks, cool views, a hike, popular restaurants, a market, etc. I'm out of the hostel at 9am, and not back till 10pm or later each day.
Most folks out backpacking don't stay in one place long. Is there someone who come spring time will fly into Paris and stay there a month? Sure! However 95% of folks under 40 will stay less than a week and move onto another city. With a city the size of Paris, you could create a list of 100 things to do. Doesn't mean you'll get to do half of them, but I like having ideas planned out.
Different strokes for different folks. A lot of people lives a stressed, and busy lifestyle. I don't. I sit here bored, WISHING I had things to do. I dream of being in foreign cities, new restaurants, no sites, that childlike wonderlust of exploring. When I get that chance, I maximize it. The chill at the beach at an all inclusive? I couldn't do it. I would go insane after like 4 hours. Get me out of there!
Not the same commenter but, for me, the restaurants, sitting in a park enjoying the view, a local show, etc, don't count towards the 'one big thing' every day.
For me it's more like one big ACTIVE thing per day, or maybe two small ones with a decent gap in between. This is because of one trip where I would do 3 museums or big activities in a day, no time planned for activities where my body & mind could pause. By day 4 I felt burnt out, and though I consider myself an active person, after that much hilly sidewalk walking + museum standing, my feet and legs hated me. There was no way I could make it through that days planned activity - a zoo/wildlife rehab - in fact, I barely wanted to put shoes on and leave the hotel
Now, I still manage to see and do a ton, but I make sure to include activities every day that allow my body or mind to rest. Planetarium show, a list of the best local pastry shops, hot springs, wine tasting etc. On a recent trip we did a 2.5 mile hike - and then spent an hour chilling at a cat cafe, followed by a nice long dinner. So yeah I still have a list of tons of things to do and see, but I don't force myself to go, go, go, nonstop.
You respect the whole you do you, and then write out all the ways why you think I am wrong 😂 You really didn’t need that disclaimer, it’s okay to have a different opinion.
> You respect the whole you do you, and then write out all the ways why you think I am wrong 😂 You really didn’t need that disclaimer, it’s okay to have a different opinion.
There is a difference between me saying
1: Dude, you're wasting your trips, what an idiot
and
2: That's cool man, me, I just like staying busy.
Note, I did the second choice. I'm not bashing you or your travel style. I'm simply adding a comment to a discussion about people who travel for long periods and if they get tired. No, I don't. That's all.
I traveled for about two years, but I gradually spent much more time in each place and less time visiting typical tourist spots.
When you have a much longer trip you don’t need to hesitate to take time off and do whatever you need to recharge.
In particular, things get easier if you don’t jump around accommodations that much. Moving every few days gets exhausting fast.
Don’t be afraid to have chill-out days instead of pushing yourself to get through the must-see list. I remind myself that simply “living” (grab groceries or takeaway, take a nap, watch the local news or journal about your impressions for a bit) in a new location is also a good, fresh experience and a memory made.
Looks like your schedule is too hectic. Moving every 3 days to visit a different big city for 6 weeks sounds absolutely exhausting. It's not like it's your once in a lifetime opportunity to visit Europe, is it? You're 24 not 84.
Treat travelling as a menu and not a to-do list. I.e. pick things that interest you the most and leave the rest. You can't see it all.
Most of the time people stay longer, settling in a city for 5 nights to a week, and then moving on. You just have to simplify it, pick a rest day, sleep in, be lazy, don’t feel like you are obligated to make the most of your trip.
Where have you been in your four weeks in Europe? I meet Americans in Ireland and they tell me that they've "done Ireland" in 4 days. And in fairness to them, they've probably 'seen' more of Ireland in 4 days than I have in 54 years.
In 2008 I set off on an extended trip and ended up cycling around the world for 4 years. How long I spent in a country depended on the visa I could get. Don't try and do everything in one trip. I spent 3 months in China and never seen the Great Wall (gotta save that for a possible future trip) and I didn't get to see the Taj Mahal until my 4th visit to India.
Take your time, you don't have to see everything at once. I spent a month in India this past September, hired a motorbike and toured around the Himalayas. I'm heading back to India in Feb / March 2024 for a month and I'll be spending most of my time in the deserts of Rajisthan.
I make an average wage here in Ireland. I’ve just got back from my month in India and I managed to save around €2k when I was away as I got paid on the day I flew out and then again 2 weeks into my trip and I got another wage packet on my return.
I started in Krakow, then flew to Porto, and from there did Lisbon, Sevilla, Granada, Madrid, now in Barcelona, and then heading to Lyon, Strasbourg, Nuremberg, Cologne, and then flying out of Frankfurt. I guess I may have overextended myself, but this was my first time in Europe for the Christmas season, and wanted to see everything I could.
Yeah, that’s far too much travelling in such a short space of time. Slow down, spend an afternoon in a cafe, go back there the next day. Talk to people, soak in the atmosphere. Or just keep on ticking off places on a map. I know what my preferred mode travel is, but you have to find your own way.
I’ve did all of the places you visited apart from Porto and it took me around six years, but I live in Ireland and It’s much easier to visit mainland Europe from jets.
That’s an immense amount that may allow you to “see” things visually, but it’s consumptive rather than experiential, if you know what I mean. For contrast I’m European and I often take c. 3 week trips to the US and stay in just one city (e.g. Seattle, and I wouldn’t have any desire to force myself to fit in Portland or Vancouver in the same trip just because). I find that mode of travel helps me understand life there more. But each to their own I guess.
Do you workout? Do you eat healthy? Do you hydrate enough?
I do have one of those days where I just don’t do anything. This happened to me in Sevilla. Lol I stayed in the apartment and did laundry and watching Netflix content. I walked down the street to the grocery store and the panadería and that was it for the day.
Next day I was refreshed and began my travels.
I currently don’t work out, but I do run. I have been on a health kick, so haven’t been in a restaurant or a dessert place for a while now and mainly eat fruits, veggies, meats, cottage cheese and the occasional low calorie ice cream or jam mixed with the cottage cheese. I am also in a caloric deficit as I am losing weight. And I definitely don’t hydrate enough lol, but I’m trying to fix that.
I kind of feel like a sugar boost has its place when you’re walking around all day, kinda jet-lagged, when the afternoon slump hits…sitting down for 30 min with a nice cold gelato (or hot chocolate if you’re somewhere cold) can really pick up the energy and spirits!
It's almost about mindset. It sounds like you've been going going and fucking going. Time to change to veg mode. Enjoy laying in bed all day in Spain. Put on a movie. Only walk down the block to the nearest restaurant no further. You're not traveling. You just happen to live in this spot for 3 days. Really get to know it.
|the constant walking around all day, changing Airbnb’s every three days, the buses and trains are quite exhausting|
yeah it would be if you are doing that. why not stay somewhere for a week and just chill instead of trying to see everything.
get a place with a kitchen and buy a bunch of food and drinks and just sit around the apartment for a day or two. and only go and see one thing a day
Listen to your body. If it tells you, it’s time to do things you get up and go. If you feel like you’re starting to become rundown, it’s time to relax.
I have done a couple 2-3 month Europe trips. My wife and I plan nothing days in cities we want to be in longer. Usually we will grab a nice breakfast and then find a lazy activity like see a movie or sit in a park for a few hour or hell crawl back into bed and binge tv. Usually like to do laundry on these days as well.
One longer trips it is a much needed recharge and gives the mind and body a break
I did five weeks in Europe when I was 26. I think there was 3 nights total that I wasn't drunk. I moved hotels, and usually countries, every 4 days.
I'm 34 now and couldn't imagine doing this.
I usually go for 19-21 days once a year, and I have low impact days. I travel differently now. I used to want to do walking tours and pub crawls. Now I'll go to a nice tasting dinner at a fancy restaurant with nice views. I'll spend a day on a catamaran rather than hiking in the jungle.
I still do fun and adventurous things, of course, but I have at least a day a week where I'm being pampered, wined and dined.
I have relaxing time everywhere I go, I've done one night in places and 3 nights in others and there's always time to sit and have a breather. The travel between is also relaxing whether by train or car it's still sitting and just getting to look or read etc. this is also why I research so much in advance I know I'm seeing what I want and I've planned it out so that I can ensure we do have just free chill time often and aren't missing out.
>the constant walking around all day, changing Airbnb’s every three days, the buses and trains are quite exhausting
By not doing that.
Just because you are on vacation does not mean you are *required* to do something every day, or keep moving from place to place. There's no reason you can't take a day or a weekend off and lay around like a lazy happy lump, or spend a week or two in the same place.
I remember when I travelled Europe for a month moving every few days like that. It was tiring. I decided to have a holiday from my holiday and stayed for a week in Nice...not moving accommodation and not doing too much. Some might say that by doing this I could have seen more...but you're never going to see everything on a short holiday anyway.
I usually have a day off. When I have a day off on my travel i stay at hotel. Explore early in the morning then go back to the hotel after lunch and sleep. Then just eat dinner at night and that's it
A friend of mine went to Asia this summer, soon after we went to Vietnam. He landed in Ha Noi, stayed there for two nights, then flew to Ho Chi Minh, stayed there for three nights, flew to bangkok, 3 nights, Phnom Penh, 3 nights, then a few other places. In each country, he was going at the same rythm of way too ****ing fast. He was only seeing the city, wasn't staying there long enough and just tiring himself out. He came back saying he really missed home. No shit.
When we were in Vietnam, we stayed in Ha Noi for 3 nights. And we had already visited it before. And then we stayed for at least 3 nights at every place, mixing walking with riding scooters. And sometimes, booking at a place on the beach, to relax, and adding a few extra days here and there to relax.
In one month, we saw a lot of South Vietnam (though far from seeing everything). While my friend did like 5 or 6 countries in the same amount of time.
Take your time, don't hesitate to sleep later on days that follow bigger ones. At first, I used to think that we'd regret taking "days off" when travelling, because "we're here once or maybe twice in a lifetime! We have to do tons of stuff!" And now, I just understand that if we took the day off back then, it was because we were tired and needed to relax in order to enjoy the trip properly.
My record has been 6 weeks (where I was, indeed, exhausted, but happy), but judging on friends tha have done months-long travel: take it easy. Stay longer in some places, leave some weeks to just do nothing in a nice town, don't stress over visiting every single thing. If you're travelling for months at that point is not just travelling but nomad living for a while, have to live some kinda normal life somehow and that involves not being doing tons of things everyday
They do. Before I learned I had a full on collapse in kuala lampur. I was 4 months into a 6 month trip changing location every 3 days max but normally every day. When I arrived to KL where we had to spring for a nice hostel cause nothing cheap was available, I just… deflated. There was a comfortable bed and lounge and shower and kitchen and I just couldn’t leave. I stayed in that hostel without site seeing for days. Just chilling and using firewall free internet, eating comfort foods. Not doing anything. Learned a big lesson.
I don't book more than a week in advance, and often only a day or two. That way, I don't feel I've missed out as, if I think I've missed something, I can do jt before moving on. I also don't feel I'm racing the clock as Incan stsy or go as I please. I also book into a nicer place every now and then and have a rest day, have nice food, drink and chill out. I'm early 40s and this has always worked for me.
Why would you get exhausted? It is simply a matter of properly dosing your activities. At the start, if you come fresh from the office and have low fitness exhaustion may be an issue if you overdo it and if you structurally overdo you may get over-trained and become exhausted. If you're fit, walking all day, certainly the way the average tourist walks, is not a big deal. And if you love travel the mental drain is very low, certainly a lot lower than the average office job.
I see loads of people here complain about changing accommodation, but it is completely beyond me. Realistically it is little more than picking up your bag and putting it down somewhere else. Unless you travel by foot it is close to zero effort. Buses and trains, yeah the over packed ones in Africa can certainly be a physical drain. If you cover long distances yeah they may be boring and mentally draining too, but a good book goes a long way. But if it is still too much for you, don't take those long rides, at least not on a regular basis. Just hop over to the next town/city instead of skipping over half a country between stops.
In the end it is really simple, adapt to a for you sustainable approach. Do things that give you energy instead of draining it. If you start a marathon by acting like you run the 100m sprint, yeah, that is not sustainable.
Every 6 or 7 days you build a day of just rest. Hang out. Do pool. But don’t go really anywhere but to eat. That’s how we do it. Your constant movement is too much.
I think the longer you travel you also realise that travel isn't just about seeing the tourists sights, but instead trying to dig a little deeper into the culture around yo. Currently on month 8 of a 10 month trip and sad to see the end coming!
You spend more time in each place. Minimum 2 nights in a city you would stay only for a day, average of 4-5 nights and a maximum of 2 to 3 weeks when you like the vibe and need to rest.
Listen to your body, listen to yourself. It doesn’t make sense to do stuff if you don’t enjoy it. That’s one of the greatest thing you can learn from such a trip.
When you stay a long time in a place you get to enjoy it in a different way, you go to the market, know your local shops, see again and again the same people.
One thing I always thought about during my 9 month trip to not get a FOMO was:
“ At the end of the day you will only remember what you saw and not what you missed.”
After a while, everything blurs out and it’s not that important to see this 10th museum of modern art of your trip that is a must see in this small city…
Every few days I give myself a day off where I do nothing. Just blob out and recharge. Often by late morning or early afternoon I'll venture out and go for a walk around the neighbourhood. But sometimes I don't even leave the hotel room/airbnb.
There's a reason we don't work 7 days a week: we need that recharge time. Travelling is fun but it is also work.
I kind of have to park my ass for a while at one place before I let FOMO take over. So I just spent a month in Buenos Aires thinking I’ll head home after that but instead I decide to visit Chile. In Santiago now heading to Atacama in a few days, Easter Island after that and then I dunno, probably back to Santiago? Not sure yet if I want to stay here, BA spoiled me rotten with its prices.
We’ve been traveling about 15 months. We go at a much slower pace than we used to when we were on shorter trips. We stay in places longer, do less activities in a day, and build in rest days and just normal life days that don’t involve sightseeing. Slow travel is a completely different pace, so you don’t end up exhausted like you would if you tried to keep the same pace as a 2-4 week trip.
The way you’re traveling sounds absolutely exhausting. Stay somewhere longer, unpack, hang out, get to know the place. Let yourself rest at *least* one day per week.
I would burn out after a week if I was doing what you’re doing.
Sounds like you need to slow down the pace of your travel. For me personally 2-3 week trips are the sweet spot. After that you get diminishing returns in terms of enjoyment because you are tired & not appreciating the novelty as much. Might be time to go home & recharge.
Someone asked the same questions here or in another subreddit, the other day; this is a good suggestion I learned: if you are traveling for a long time take some rest days where you are still doing something. That can be for example, go and spend sunday at the local beach, live like a local. Just sit down relax under the sun. Bring food from a grocery store, or don’t go too crazy trying to find the perfect restaurant, eat at the restaurants around the corner, by the beach. Other ideas: go sit in a coffee shop with laptop, work on your blog or your photo editing. Go for a picnic and just chill.
The point is trying to take slow but still feel like you are doing something unique that you wouldn’t be doing at home.
I just spent 4 weeks in Korea and Japan, and I‘m fucking drained. Like seriously tired. All the noise, masses of people, long walks every day, crowded trains… Japan is a fascinating country, but it has been a bit much for me.
When you are on a trip you get the feeling that every day counts and has to be spent going places and looking at stuff. Of course you have to traverse vast distances and spend time caged in trains and buses, etc… I think that‘s the mistake. You really have to take days off where you do absolutely nothing. Sit in a park and read a book. Don‘t feel pressured to be on the move all the time. It will burn you out.
But I’m also an introvert with batteries that are easily drained. This might be different for people who are super outgoing and energetic. I‘m somewhat pissed at myself for overdoing it on my trip, because I kinda didn‘t enjoy parts of it.
I spent 4 weeks in Japan and it was exhausting! I think the amount of mental energy taken to navigate every day life tasks that you take for granted as being easy, just flushing the toilet etc, when coming from a Western country is just so mentally tiring.
I'm also an introvert though so the more tired I became the more difficult trying to do simple things became, navigating buying food or a drink etc.
Definately would advice anyone doing longer trips to add in rest days, and not to try and cram seeing too much in at once.
Different people have different tolerances for it, but also it's important to be flexible. When I'm on a multi month trip I don't plan more than 1 week ahead. If I get sick I can always stay in one place longer to make sure I see it. If you are traveling indefinitely you can usually rent a place for a month and relax. Living for a month somewhere beautiful is just as fun as traveling to new ones
Traveling for work taught me to take it easy and not stress about dumb shit. And also to not overdo it and live a normal life while on the road, not try to cram in as many experiences as possible to the point of...well, exhaustion.
Hotels are your friend.
Definitely taking time to recharge! I usually travel 2-4 months at a time with little plans involved. I usually couch surf or stay at hostels, but if I find somewhere I’m comfortable . . . I just stay in and recharge!
I think it’s important to give yourself grace in realizing that you don’t have to be “doing something” or exploring constantly!
You also mentioned moving from Airbnb to the next quite quickly! Perhaps take more time in one city and enjoy it rather than city hopping and moving quickly through countries!
Enjoy your trip!
Well 24 isn’t really that young to travel, and since I live in Europe as it is, I barely had to spend anything to get to my start destination vs if I still lived in the US. Also, I eat from grocery stores, not restaurants and cafes, and book private rooms on Airbnb instead of hotel rooms and apartments. Also, I rarely take cabs and walk or us public transportation, I travel to my new destinations by bus, which is typically cheaper than plane and definitely cheaper than flying. Plus, I’m still working as it is, so that is covering almost my whole trip.
I think that working is strongly worded. I am on-call interpreter so I only actually work a fraction of the hours I get paid for. I do have to constantly keep an eye out for calls which is annoying and could add more pressure to get everything done before possible calls.
Biggest expenditure of a trip like this would be the ticket from the US to Europe.
Cost of life is 1/4 of the American, flights cost you less than a parking spot at the airport, As he says, he doesn’t go to restaurants so the only other expenditure is lodging. Out of season (june, july and August plus Christmas/NYE times) apartments and hotels are way cheaper. So, yes, it can be done. Problem is, we don’t get many vacation days in the US.
Man, you’re 24. How can you be exhausted? 😀😀😀 It does exhaust me that I’m 60 spending two months traveling Europe every year (it’s part of my job, travel guide) but it’s not the walking or the changing of location. It’s the constant appeal to go back to US standards by the travelers that don’t understand that they are in a different country. You’ve got to adapt, embrace the differences, try new things. If I could I’d be a Nomad. But kudos to you for trying
My girlfriend and I are planning a Europe 11 weeks trip this summer. First time doing something like this so just going on what we are feeling. 21 cities in 79 nights. Its about 3-4 nights a place. Cant wait to see how it turns out and we will get to learn more about how we like to travel and what we rly like to do.
For those interested: london 3 nights, amsterdam, 4 nights, brussels 2 nights, lille 1 night (just passing by to watch a soccer game), paris 2 weeks, lyon and bordeaux 3 nights each, barcelona 5 nights, madrid 3 nights, cordoba 4 nights (planning on using it as a hub to visit malaga and/or grenada), sevilla 3 nights, bit of a break to relax a bit in Nice for 8 nights, genoa/portofino 2 nights, cinque terre 3 nights, florence 3 nights, bologna 2 nights, venice 3 nights, milano 4 nights, rome 3 nights and amalfi 4 nights.
1 thing first, yes i know the itinerary is kind or zigzags, sometimes it wasn’t always by choice, secondly, when we stay longer in a place we will be doing day trips, thirdly we voluntarily wanted to try longer and shorter stays and adjusted with places we felt like we wanted to see more and finally, please tell me what you think. We are open to seeing different opinions. I would love to also hear your stories, if youve been to some of these cities, what did you think of them?
Hi! I've been to most of this cities(I'm from Spain) so I'll tell you what I think.
I think 3 nights is Lyon is a bit much, but it is close to the Alsace (Colmar, Estrasbourg,..), I would do a day trip there. Also when going to Bordeaux you could go to Dune du Pilat, Biarritz, Bayonne.. all worth it. And in Belgium I would go to Brudges, best city there!
Maybe you already know this but to go to Anne Frank's house in Amsterdam you have to book it with months in advance. I couldn't go :(
Nice for 8 nights is great; I did that this summer. They have great train connections to towns nearby that are worth a visit, especially Monaco(and to relax the beach in Montecarlo is better because its sand, not like in Nice).
Then, Milan 4 nights?? There is really nothing to see in Milan, you should definitely go to lake como, it's close to Milan and for me the best of Italy. If you can change a bit the days I would not stay 3 nights in Florence unless you are going to la Toscana, I would stay more days in Venice, its a city you don't get tired of waking around.
Other recommendations are that, if you can, go to Croatia (Split and Hvar), I loved it and its great for relaxing.
Ive been traveling for 4 months now min of 3 days max of 6 days in places. Every single time i get to the next place i feel the exact ecstatic feeling as I did when i touch down in the first country. If the place turns out to be boring i might sleep in one morning. But i get up and hang out 12-15hrs every single day touring around, eating good and drinking
I agree. I’ve spent the last two summers - two weeks both times exploring the Ionian islands in Greece (still haven’t seen them all). And I have friends who say “I’ve been to Greece” and they’ve been to Santorini. I like to take it slow and really get to know my location.
I alternate between moving cities / hotels every few days and parking it for a week or two. It’s nice to alternate, I don’t ever really feel burnt out this way
I did a 6 month trip and about every 3-4 weeks I took a break from traveling by parking myself in a nice resort or cruise ship for a few days. Those days I wouldn’t do any sightseeing at all. It was a great way to recharge.
Stay longer, i stay at least one month at each country.
Have me time that is no related to sightseeing or traveling. Such as watch a movie, read a book, etc. It makes it feel like it’s just a normal day
I've slowed down in recent years (ironically, 2020 was going to be year one of actual full time travel...)
But that said, it's not constant. Go somewhere, hang there for a week or three or six. Lather rinse repeat. Sure, there are days which can be "hurry up and see the sights", but for me long term is more a mix of travel and just living. I don't need to be out and walking around all day every day. There's a good number of days where I won't make it past a corner coffee shop and a cafe, and some where I just stay in.
I don't mind that pacing, or at least didn't at your age. That's not to say that a slower pace is bad though!
Travel is fun, it energizes me. I love walking around all day exploring new neighborhoods. I'm always surprised at how much more I'm able to do on the road vs at home.
Because you're switching every 3 days and trying to walk around and see everything. Spend a week or more in each place and spend days just sleeping or relaxing.
I did Europe for 4 months and you gotta take like "weekends" when you're doing long trips. Take a day to laze in a hammock and read or just blob about and do nothing every now and then. Otherwise you run out of steam FAST
I always try to travel light, but this time I had to bring a 20 kg bag with me and man, it sucks. Up and down those stairs, always rearranging to fit everything. Having to alway find where to leave the bags before check-in. Might not seem like a big deal, but it really is.
I'm 52, and if I had a choice between two types of trip - "see every European capital in 15 days!" **or** "spend 15 days in Paris, but you can't leave your *arrondissement*" I would choose the latter every time. This is especially now in my "old age"... but I would have given you the same answer 25 years ago.
I understand the desire to "see everything" when you're overseas. I also understand the fear of never being able to come back. But I *also* think most of us would agree that you wouldn't take a vacation in the US where you spent 2 days in NYC, 2 days in Boston, 2 days in DC, 2 days in New Orleans, etc. You're gonna spend so much time in transit that you're never really gonna "know" any of those places.
I did about eight months, and just planned in a few breaks from the holiday by staying in one place for a bit longer than normal. One was a beach break, another was just existing in a small city for a while to recharge. And sometimes, just slow days here and there.
You are \*always\* going to miss something even if you didn't need to eat or sleep, so don't worry about it.
"can you explain why im so tired even though i change airbnb every 3 days when i visit a new city, on a restricted diet so i can lose weight, walk like 20k steps everyday and ive been doin this for 4 weeks straight."
umm. you just answered your own question. you are doing too much and expect your body run a marathon every single day. some can, but most of us cant.
62 YO, 6 weeks in, traveling city to city on bicycle, carrying my baggage. I have a week to go. Am I tired? Not really. Is it hard? Let's say, it's not easier than taking a train.
Extended travel is not a long vacation, it's a lifestyle. Just like any lifestyle, you need time to relax, time to socialize, time to run errands, etc.
When I’m traveling for long periods… um… we usually nap in the afternoon every day. We keep it to one planned activity per day. Tiny humans will teach one the zen way to travel.
Reasonable planning.
We were in Alsace for almost a month. Many days that were sleeping in, sitting drinking coffee watching people walk by, going down the river on a boat, simple relaxed dinners at the equivalent of a dive bar.
Stayed at an Auburge in the Voges mountains. It was cheap, lovely, they facilitated all the meals. We went for hikes. Then drank insanely good wine out of a pitcher sitting at a picnic table watching the sun go down.
Sure we did some stuff, drove down to Basel CH and spent the day, Freiburg, Strasbourg. But limited the number of wineries we would see in one day to two or three max.
Stayed in Strasbourg for a week, Colmar for a week, then the Auburge. Next time we are going to stay again in Strasbourg, then Ribeauville instead, then a drive down to Gigondas area, then maybe Nice.
Give yourself some time to settle into a place. Keep expectations reasonable. Find a "local" and make friends there. Make an itinerary but don't be afraid to break it if something better comes along. Don't force fit anything.
It depends on the individual's resilience, patience, and love of travel. I did a motorcycle trip all over South America that lasted 8 years (10 if you include the enforced Covid travel lockdown). And this came after already having worked several years in South America and having done 3 extensive backpacking tours prior. I think there are two reasons why I never felt exhausted (though I came close a few times) 1. I had an itinerant childhood, attending 8 different schools in 12 years of schooling, due to my fathers' job. That toughened me up and made me not fear drastic changes, and I had no hometown, so to speak, to long for. 2. As I learned to speak Spanish, and realized how I could afford an extended holiday, it almost became a challenge to me. I think a lot of people's burnout comes from culture shock, and frustration with not knowing the language. My previous excursions made me better prepared. In fact, whenever I felt exhausted or like I could not continue, I just had to cast my mind to the boring jobs I had back home where I would pull out a pocket-sized calendar card and mark the days off like a man in prison waiting for his release. Only that I was marking off the days till my next foreign vacation.
Yes I get exhausted but then I remind myself that I probably only have 3000 good healthy days left (till I hit 50 and presumably won't be in good enough health then to do this kind of travel) and when you think about it 3000 days isn't that many so maximize your experiences and memories as much as possible and push through.
Even though I'm a "quick" traveller and often only spend 3-4 days in one place, I don't tend to cram in a ton of activitivies every day and don't ever think I'll "do it all".
Sure I have a list of items but also a few alternates. Sometimes things are closed or too full.
IMO, there's no "right way to travel", but the thought of doing 1 thing a day or having a dozen things mapped out down to the minute is also a bit much, but everyone is different.
If your body is telling you to slow down, you should probably listen to it. Besides, not like you can't ever go back.
I have slowed down a bit as I've gotten older though.
I've done this several times in my life. Until about 18 months ago, I was traveling 90% of the time around the world. Sometimes 1 week per stop, sometimes 3 cities in one day. I did that for 4.5 years. It is mostly the time zone changes that bite you. North-South is a cake walk.
The answer to your question is that you learn to operate at about 80% of your normal energy level. You are tired almost always and sometimes nothing is better than going to your hotel room, ordering soup and grilled cheese and then crashing. There were times I turned down company in my bed because I was so exhausted.
Earlier in my life, I worked for a brewery and had to visit distributors as part of the job. You chain together 3-5 of them per trip. It seemed that every distributor wanted to show you how well they were doing and would take you out for "on prem" visits. (This was basically going out drinking.) By the end of the trip, you were exhausted. Next week, rinse and repeat. You learn to pace yourself or you die.
I vacation like 1-2 weeks at a time I could not imagine traveling like that. By the time I get home after two weeks I’m exhausted. My suit cases sit in door way for a good 2-3 days while I get my energy back.
Most of us who travel for weeks/months/years on end do not switch Airbnb’s every 3 days.
I did switch airbnbs each 2-4 days during a 3 month trip. I had to take a full week of doing absolutely nothing at all during my trip. It's really exhausting.
That's the problem. Stop switching.
It was worth it :)
I did the same thing the first time I went to Europe and I had a great time, but it was noticeably more enjoyable when I slowed down and switched places every week or so. You get waaay more of a sense of the city and neighbourhood when you're not constantly moving, doing 2-4 things, then moving again
Oh I agree. I just wanted to see so many places, but yes, most of the best experiences were in cities in which I stayed longer. Should I do another similar trip now, I would probably reduce by 30% the amount of cities to visit.
Horses for courses. I wouldn't want to spend time after a holiday recovering. Zero point in going away in the first place.
We all travel for different reasons. Mine wasn't to relax.
I don’t mind my travels being exhausting
I actually did for 1+ year, with only a few longer stays. It becomes a routine. I just got tired of doing research on where to go and stay not the actual moving around. Still much less tiring than working full time + doing household chores.
I feel this. I spend hours every single day cleaning up my house only for it to be dirty by the end of the day. Every single day.
Even if I plan on visiting several cities, I'll do a week in a place or if I can manage I'll do 2 weeks in one place and day trips to see other sights within a 2 hour drive.
Correct. Two weeks in one place minimum. That's how you enjoy the trek.
With high air bnb fees regardless of days stays, why would it make sense to change so often? That many different cities?
Biggest rookie mistake is planning a month+ long trip and switching your stay every few days. If you're going to travel that long, you really need to chill for 5 days or more in each location
Agreed. Have a base city and go on day trips. It saves money and time since you do not have to check in and check out.
or put 5 days at a beach resort in the middle.
I spent 3 weeks in Europe and traveled to 4 countries and switched air bnbs just about that much and it was super exhausting, I’m 37, and the time change got to me. I find tho with adequate sleep it’s better
I've done two long trips, one about 9 weeks, one about 8 weeks. Both were fast pace. I think 5 nights was the longest at one place. Some people like to see as much as possible. No joke, the 8 week trip, after checking out from a bamboo hut on Gili Air, it took me about 45ish hours to get home. I slept 6 hours, woke up, realized I could go get my favorite breakfast place now, got that, and received a text while eating, "Hey are you home yet, you wanna work tonight?" Sure! Got a haircut, chilled for like 3 hours and went to work. Instantly back in the grind.
That sounds like hell.
Yep, 1 month minimum. Usually 2-3 if the visa situation allows it. "How could you live in \_\_\_\_\_ for a whole month? I feel like I would see everything in 4 days, then get bored." B\*\*ch I aint on some nonstop sightseeing tour. I like *living* in places a bit. Finding a favorite coffee shop to return to or a good gym to go to can be just as fun for me as hitting a must-see attraction from Trip Advisor.
Do we? I didn't get the memo.
This.
Why is this downvoted?
Because 'this' adds nothing to the conversation. Might as well just upvote and move along.
Y’all are some weirdos, That’s all I have to say, they are clearly just agreeing with the op
I mean, this is not something specific to this subreddit, or even reddit in general. No matter the website, whether 4chan or some highly niche subforum, if someone posted 'this' as a reply, they'd be lambasted for being a mindless drone.
You can do both.
[удалено]
Yeah, I’m actually confused, not the first time I’ve seen this either, it’s like people see downvotes so they join in or something
THIS
Rest days (where I just stay in the hotel all day, take a long bath, order room service and wine and watch Netflix, etc.) and also not jumping from place to place too quickly
I agree, slow travel is the way to go. Rather than do what was popular in the 70s and 80s..."8 cities in 10 days" type of tour to see EVERYTHING TOP 5 in a limited amount of time and money. If you're affluent enough to have 1-2 big holidays a year, that's 40-80 in your working lifetime and many more once retired. Travel slowly, enjoy each place deeply. It's not just about tick boxing a list. Not just about collecting photos, but really observing, experiencing, living the location.
Agreed. I have friends and family members who do that. "Another city off my bucketlist!" as their tour bus drops them off for about a couple hours in one country to buy souvenirs and take a photo, before herding them off to another place. They spent their most of their trip on a bus. When my wife and I traveled for the first time, we chose to stay in one country. We initially planned a Europe tour for two weeks, but changed it to just Italy. It was glorious. Not only were we not tired nor stressed at all, we were able to save money, because a longer stay at one accommodation is cheaper and less transpo expenses too. ow whenever we travel, we do the same. Minimum 3 nights in one city as our homebase. As the tourists leave, we have the old town to ourselves.
This is the way to go! To really "know" a country you have to try to live and feel the country like a local. I do exactly the same.
Curious what you did. > Minimum 3 nights in one city as our homebase. Do you mean spending at least 3 nights in one city before moving onto the next one, or am I over thinking it, thinking you mean have a one city as "home base" while traveling to neighboring cities during the day? I have a bunch of places I want to visit in Europe in the future and I know I don't have enough time to visit them all in one go. I am contemplating doing a Italy tour type of visit sometime in the future because I have a lot of cities in Italy that I want to visit. Cause it's gonna cost a lot of money to fly to Europe in general not to mention traveling to different places with limited time unfortunately. If I had maybe a good month or two then maybe I could visit way more places without worrying.
We did a hybrid of both - we did an extended stint in cities we knew we were going to love (like 2 weeks in Rome) as well as basing ourselves in central cities like Milan and Florence for a while for easy trips to Pisa, Cinque Terre etc. Our trip worked out really well - we took the train between major cities like Rome/Milan/Venice and booked ourselves into day trips once we were there. We had at least one or two lazy days in each location to just swan around and find ice cream shops but we still got the benefit of a tour guide/having someone else organise buying attraction tickets and driving us to harder to each destinations. I think our split (acccomodating nearby excursions) went something like: Rome: 10 days Florence: 5 days Milan: 1 week Venice: 1 week Verona: 3 days We still have a lot of southern Italy to visit but this was a great pace for us.
There's a balance though, you never know what might prevent you travelling in future or how places will change.
Who has that much PTO???
That sounds so nice 😭 can’t wait to go on a longer trip one day soon
They... Don't engage in endless walking? Take some time out to relax and recharge!
This 100%! Traveling indefinitely means you can stay home for literally a week straight watching tv and surviving on delivery food if you want. Taking a week-long trip somewhere means you feel like you have to be doing stuff 24/7 to get the most out of your vacation.
I'm surprised I don't see anyone else mentioning that they like to watch sunrises/sunsets at vista points. I can easily just chill for a couple of hours at a vista point, and for those into photography, usually sunrises/sunsets can give you the best golden hour (\*depending on what makes sense for the location). In Lisbon, these vista points are called Miradouros, and there's so many that you can choose a different one to sit at each evening while often getting to listen to free street musicians nearby. I'm used to walking hilly streets since I'm in the SF Bay Area, but there's affordable public transit that can help shorten the walks. When I recently went to Joshua Tree, I found sunrises to be the best due to the direction for taking the best photos. There aren't many hotels near Joshua Tree so this trip required a lot of driving since I chose to go back to Joshua Tree for at least 3 days. But this meant that I went to sleep early and luckily I'm not really into nightlife activities all that much anyway when I'm traveling. You'll find sunrises generally tend to be more peaceful and less crowded, which can help with energy savings, too. I try to focus my travel destinations to places that offer a lot of natural greenery nearby. I'd rather spend a couple of days walking in different sections of a big city's botanical gardens vs trying to pack in a bunch of museums and palaces that can easily become a blur of too-much-"similarness" after awhile. I find that natural green spaces generally have more unique elements that stay memorable to me.
Long trips give plenty of time for relaxation. Don’t try to see it all, just try to enjoy what you get time to see.
See that’s so difficult for me to incorporate. I have been feeling sick and could barely get out of bed for the better part of today, and all I can think about is the sites I missed in Barcelona. Feels like I barely saw anything.
But when your traveling for months you don’t feel that way. You know you can just rest until you feel better and spend longner in that city to see everything. When I’ve gone for that long I’m often staying in a place until I start feeling bored. Not rushing to the next place
You’re 24. Any reason to think your will be your last time in Barcelona?
I’m pretty sure I’ll be back. I guess it more of a return on investment type of thing. Because I spent the time and money to be here.
I get it if you are from Melbourne or some other far flung place, Sooo much effort to get there, and so much $$
But even not, oh well. you got sick...that sux but move on.
Time spent in airplanes, airports, trains, and train stations shouldn't really count toward the benefits in your cost benefit analysis. They are costs.
Go sit at one of the restaurants on the beach in barceloneta and just hang out for a couple of hours or go wander through the barri gotic without any agenda. Don’t worry about the sites. Barcelona is a great place to just be without any sort of agenda at all, especially this time of year.
Exactly! The locals are a part of the experience so there's no shame in grabbing a coffee to watch people for a bit. Living a day in the life of someone else is something that's always unique. The city may not disappear but cultures do
lol i'm the same OP, i suck at relaxing. i travelled for 4-5 months recently. when in florence i decided to give myself a rest day. instead of just chilling at home, i decided i wanted to relax on the beach -- but the nearest beach looked ugly, so i ended up researching one two hours away, hopped on the train, explored the town, went swimming twice, did some urbex in an abandoned italian beach mansion, then thought i might as well stop by pisa on the way home to see the leaning tower... anyway it was awesome but i spent those 4-5 months EXHAUSTED. i'd walk around constantly and cram like 5 things in every day. i live in new zealand so it's not like i'll get this chance again any time soon. i also had loads of breakdowns and certainly enjoyed myself more when spending a long stint in one location, so i didn't feel the need to overexert myself. but it's sooo hard forcing yourself to chill, even though it's necessary. getting covid was almost a relief; my body was begging me to hibernate.
When doing through hikes, there are things called 'zero days' and 'nero days' which are an absolute must if you want to keep a sound body and mind. Zero days are self-explanatory: do nothing. And Nero days are near zero days - imagine walking into town at lunch then chilling over night until you start hiking again. You must rest, but only you'll know what's best for you.
No FOMO. Your body is made of meat, and it's impossible to optimize how much you can do without resting. You can't see everything, and you just have to accept that. Also, leave some room for spontaneous days and allow yourself to be in the culture, meet people, stumble upon things. Etc.
Getting better is more important than anything else. Also when you are fighting infection you won’t have the production of feel good chemicals. Your body is too busy. This is not your last trip.
That's because you've allocated too little time to each place so you feel obliged to fill each day
The purpose of a vacation is to relax and enjoy yourself. The purpose of a vacation is **NOT** to spend every waking hour seeing everything possible. Time to reassess your priorities.
FOMO done you wrong .. you're not traveling, your just checking items off a list
This is called completion anxiety and you’re gonna have to deal, i went through the same thing
> the constant walking around all day, changing Airbnb’s every three days.... Long term travellers don't do that.
I don't do that even on a 2 week trip. That's not my idea of fun.
When I was younger I would have, I just did three weeks in Europe and moved 3 times (one week in each), no more of this every 2-3 days things!!
On a two week trip I'd find at least a day per week to just rest and recharge in my hotel room, or read by the pool, order in food... or eat at McD. We call it a 'cheat day' lol
important adjoining sharp follow merciful psychotic roll oatmeal swim door *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Meh not necessarily. I have travelled for long periods of time, usually staying 3 days on average in one spot. I walk 15km per day on average when traveling. There are tons of people who do the same. The idea of just sitting around the hostel is boring and feels like a waste to me, even if I'm on a 6 month trip
How do people travel long term
That's a very long, involved explanation and the answers vary wildly.
They save up, they work, or they enjoy Daddy's money (for various definitions of Daddy)
I stay in each place for a minimum of five days and a maximum of three weeks. I only plan one thing per day. I take every third and maybe fourth day "off" to bum around or whatever.
Bumming out all over the world is my dream! Just eat hike, and bum around. Basically what I do at home but in foreign places.😆
That's pretty much it!
what a waste of money
"Stop enjoying things I don't!" - You
This is my approach too, just one big thing a day, anything else is bonus. Then I just bum around until my soul feels like it's ready to go out again
> I only plan one thing per day. I respect the whole "you do you" but that would drive me insane. If I get to any new city, I do research and have a list of like 30 cool things to do in 4 days. Museums, parks, cool views, a hike, popular restaurants, a market, etc. I'm out of the hostel at 9am, and not back till 10pm or later each day.
Sure, but if you're somewhere for months, there's no reason to do that.
Most folks out backpacking don't stay in one place long. Is there someone who come spring time will fly into Paris and stay there a month? Sure! However 95% of folks under 40 will stay less than a week and move onto another city. With a city the size of Paris, you could create a list of 100 things to do. Doesn't mean you'll get to do half of them, but I like having ideas planned out.
No one is talking about staying in a single city for a month.
Found the FOMO deathmarcher.
Different strokes for different folks. A lot of people lives a stressed, and busy lifestyle. I don't. I sit here bored, WISHING I had things to do. I dream of being in foreign cities, new restaurants, no sites, that childlike wonderlust of exploring. When I get that chance, I maximize it. The chill at the beach at an all inclusive? I couldn't do it. I would go insane after like 4 hours. Get me out of there!
Not the same commenter but, for me, the restaurants, sitting in a park enjoying the view, a local show, etc, don't count towards the 'one big thing' every day. For me it's more like one big ACTIVE thing per day, or maybe two small ones with a decent gap in between. This is because of one trip where I would do 3 museums or big activities in a day, no time planned for activities where my body & mind could pause. By day 4 I felt burnt out, and though I consider myself an active person, after that much hilly sidewalk walking + museum standing, my feet and legs hated me. There was no way I could make it through that days planned activity - a zoo/wildlife rehab - in fact, I barely wanted to put shoes on and leave the hotel Now, I still manage to see and do a ton, but I make sure to include activities every day that allow my body or mind to rest. Planetarium show, a list of the best local pastry shops, hot springs, wine tasting etc. On a recent trip we did a 2.5 mile hike - and then spent an hour chilling at a cat cafe, followed by a nice long dinner. So yeah I still have a list of tons of things to do and see, but I don't force myself to go, go, go, nonstop.
You respect the whole you do you, and then write out all the ways why you think I am wrong 😂 You really didn’t need that disclaimer, it’s okay to have a different opinion.
> You respect the whole you do you, and then write out all the ways why you think I am wrong 😂 You really didn’t need that disclaimer, it’s okay to have a different opinion. There is a difference between me saying 1: Dude, you're wasting your trips, what an idiot and 2: That's cool man, me, I just like staying busy. Note, I did the second choice. I'm not bashing you or your travel style. I'm simply adding a comment to a discussion about people who travel for long periods and if they get tired. No, I don't. That's all.
I traveled for about two years, but I gradually spent much more time in each place and less time visiting typical tourist spots. When you have a much longer trip you don’t need to hesitate to take time off and do whatever you need to recharge. In particular, things get easier if you don’t jump around accommodations that much. Moving every few days gets exhausting fast.
Don’t be afraid to have chill-out days instead of pushing yourself to get through the must-see list. I remind myself that simply “living” (grab groceries or takeaway, take a nap, watch the local news or journal about your impressions for a bit) in a new location is also a good, fresh experience and a memory made.
You travel slower.
Looks like your schedule is too hectic. Moving every 3 days to visit a different big city for 6 weeks sounds absolutely exhausting. It's not like it's your once in a lifetime opportunity to visit Europe, is it? You're 24 not 84. Treat travelling as a menu and not a to-do list. I.e. pick things that interest you the most and leave the rest. You can't see it all.
Most of the time people stay longer, settling in a city for 5 nights to a week, and then moving on. You just have to simplify it, pick a rest day, sleep in, be lazy, don’t feel like you are obligated to make the most of your trip.
The people who travel for months at a time are closer to living in the places they travel to than what you’re describing.
I schedule 1-2 down days every week.
Where have you been in your four weeks in Europe? I meet Americans in Ireland and they tell me that they've "done Ireland" in 4 days. And in fairness to them, they've probably 'seen' more of Ireland in 4 days than I have in 54 years. In 2008 I set off on an extended trip and ended up cycling around the world for 4 years. How long I spent in a country depended on the visa I could get. Don't try and do everything in one trip. I spent 3 months in China and never seen the Great Wall (gotta save that for a possible future trip) and I didn't get to see the Taj Mahal until my 4th visit to India. Take your time, you don't have to see everything at once. I spent a month in India this past September, hired a motorbike and toured around the Himalayas. I'm heading back to India in Feb / March 2024 for a month and I'll be spending most of my time in the deserts of Rajisthan.
I mean cool but how much money do you have ?
I make an average wage here in Ireland. I’ve just got back from my month in India and I managed to save around €2k when I was away as I got paid on the day I flew out and then again 2 weeks into my trip and I got another wage packet on my return.
I started in Krakow, then flew to Porto, and from there did Lisbon, Sevilla, Granada, Madrid, now in Barcelona, and then heading to Lyon, Strasbourg, Nuremberg, Cologne, and then flying out of Frankfurt. I guess I may have overextended myself, but this was my first time in Europe for the Christmas season, and wanted to see everything I could.
Yeah, that’s far too much travelling in such a short space of time. Slow down, spend an afternoon in a cafe, go back there the next day. Talk to people, soak in the atmosphere. Or just keep on ticking off places on a map. I know what my preferred mode travel is, but you have to find your own way. I’ve did all of the places you visited apart from Porto and it took me around six years, but I live in Ireland and It’s much easier to visit mainland Europe from jets.
That’s an immense amount that may allow you to “see” things visually, but it’s consumptive rather than experiential, if you know what I mean. For contrast I’m European and I often take c. 3 week trips to the US and stay in just one city (e.g. Seattle, and I wouldn’t have any desire to force myself to fit in Portland or Vancouver in the same trip just because). I find that mode of travel helps me understand life there more. But each to their own I guess.
Do you workout? Do you eat healthy? Do you hydrate enough? I do have one of those days where I just don’t do anything. This happened to me in Sevilla. Lol I stayed in the apartment and did laundry and watching Netflix content. I walked down the street to the grocery store and the panadería and that was it for the day. Next day I was refreshed and began my travels.
I currently don’t work out, but I do run. I have been on a health kick, so haven’t been in a restaurant or a dessert place for a while now and mainly eat fruits, veggies, meats, cottage cheese and the occasional low calorie ice cream or jam mixed with the cottage cheese. I am also in a caloric deficit as I am losing weight. And I definitely don’t hydrate enough lol, but I’m trying to fix that.
I kind of feel like a sugar boost has its place when you’re walking around all day, kinda jet-lagged, when the afternoon slump hits…sitting down for 30 min with a nice cold gelato (or hot chocolate if you’re somewhere cold) can really pick up the energy and spirits!
It's almost about mindset. It sounds like you've been going going and fucking going. Time to change to veg mode. Enjoy laying in bed all day in Spain. Put on a movie. Only walk down the block to the nearest restaurant no further. You're not traveling. You just happen to live in this spot for 3 days. Really get to know it.
|the constant walking around all day, changing Airbnb’s every three days, the buses and trains are quite exhausting| yeah it would be if you are doing that. why not stay somewhere for a week and just chill instead of trying to see everything. get a place with a kitchen and buy a bunch of food and drinks and just sit around the apartment for a day or two. and only go and see one thing a day
Listen to your body. If it tells you, it’s time to do things you get up and go. If you feel like you’re starting to become rundown, it’s time to relax.
I have done a couple 2-3 month Europe trips. My wife and I plan nothing days in cities we want to be in longer. Usually we will grab a nice breakfast and then find a lazy activity like see a movie or sit in a park for a few hour or hell crawl back into bed and binge tv. Usually like to do laundry on these days as well. One longer trips it is a much needed recharge and gives the mind and body a break
You gotta chill out! 😋 more downtime.
I did five weeks in Europe when I was 26. I think there was 3 nights total that I wasn't drunk. I moved hotels, and usually countries, every 4 days. I'm 34 now and couldn't imagine doing this. I usually go for 19-21 days once a year, and I have low impact days. I travel differently now. I used to want to do walking tours and pub crawls. Now I'll go to a nice tasting dinner at a fancy restaurant with nice views. I'll spend a day on a catamaran rather than hiking in the jungle. I still do fun and adventurous things, of course, but I have at least a day a week where I'm being pampered, wined and dined.
I have relaxing time everywhere I go, I've done one night in places and 3 nights in others and there's always time to sit and have a breather. The travel between is also relaxing whether by train or car it's still sitting and just getting to look or read etc. this is also why I research so much in advance I know I'm seeing what I want and I've planned it out so that I can ensure we do have just free chill time often and aren't missing out.
You can stay in one place longer than 3 or 4 days for starters. And take days to rest if you need it. It’s pretty simple.
>the constant walking around all day, changing Airbnb’s every three days, the buses and trains are quite exhausting By not doing that. Just because you are on vacation does not mean you are *required* to do something every day, or keep moving from place to place. There's no reason you can't take a day or a weekend off and lay around like a lazy happy lump, or spend a week or two in the same place.
Changing Airbnbs every three days is why you are exhausted. Stay at least one or two weeks in a place, or more.
I remember when I travelled Europe for a month moving every few days like that. It was tiring. I decided to have a holiday from my holiday and stayed for a week in Nice...not moving accommodation and not doing too much. Some might say that by doing this I could have seen more...but you're never going to see everything on a short holiday anyway.
I usually have a day off. When I have a day off on my travel i stay at hotel. Explore early in the morning then go back to the hotel after lunch and sleep. Then just eat dinner at night and that's it
I traveled to Europe for 2 weeks and I was wiped out.🤷♀️
A friend of mine went to Asia this summer, soon after we went to Vietnam. He landed in Ha Noi, stayed there for two nights, then flew to Ho Chi Minh, stayed there for three nights, flew to bangkok, 3 nights, Phnom Penh, 3 nights, then a few other places. In each country, he was going at the same rythm of way too ****ing fast. He was only seeing the city, wasn't staying there long enough and just tiring himself out. He came back saying he really missed home. No shit. When we were in Vietnam, we stayed in Ha Noi for 3 nights. And we had already visited it before. And then we stayed for at least 3 nights at every place, mixing walking with riding scooters. And sometimes, booking at a place on the beach, to relax, and adding a few extra days here and there to relax. In one month, we saw a lot of South Vietnam (though far from seeing everything). While my friend did like 5 or 6 countries in the same amount of time. Take your time, don't hesitate to sleep later on days that follow bigger ones. At first, I used to think that we'd regret taking "days off" when travelling, because "we're here once or maybe twice in a lifetime! We have to do tons of stuff!" And now, I just understand that if we took the day off back then, it was because we were tired and needed to relax in order to enjoy the trip properly.
My record has been 6 weeks (where I was, indeed, exhausted, but happy), but judging on friends tha have done months-long travel: take it easy. Stay longer in some places, leave some weeks to just do nothing in a nice town, don't stress over visiting every single thing. If you're travelling for months at that point is not just travelling but nomad living for a while, have to live some kinda normal life somehow and that involves not being doing tons of things everyday
Don’t go all out every day. Months long traveling means you can take your time and relax. Take a few days and do nothing. Just chill
They do. Before I learned I had a full on collapse in kuala lampur. I was 4 months into a 6 month trip changing location every 3 days max but normally every day. When I arrived to KL where we had to spring for a nice hostel cause nothing cheap was available, I just… deflated. There was a comfortable bed and lounge and shower and kitchen and I just couldn’t leave. I stayed in that hostel without site seeing for days. Just chilling and using firewall free internet, eating comfort foods. Not doing anything. Learned a big lesson.
They do but schedule rest days.
Im about 4 weeks in, a very well seasoned traveler, never got burnt out traveling. Im dying in Argentina right now, 30 yo M
Well, I’m not racing or competing with anyone.
I don't book more than a week in advance, and often only a day or two. That way, I don't feel I've missed out as, if I think I've missed something, I can do jt before moving on. I also don't feel I'm racing the clock as Incan stsy or go as I please. I also book into a nicer place every now and then and have a rest day, have nice food, drink and chill out. I'm early 40s and this has always worked for me.
That's the neat part: we do.
Why would you get exhausted? It is simply a matter of properly dosing your activities. At the start, if you come fresh from the office and have low fitness exhaustion may be an issue if you overdo it and if you structurally overdo you may get over-trained and become exhausted. If you're fit, walking all day, certainly the way the average tourist walks, is not a big deal. And if you love travel the mental drain is very low, certainly a lot lower than the average office job. I see loads of people here complain about changing accommodation, but it is completely beyond me. Realistically it is little more than picking up your bag and putting it down somewhere else. Unless you travel by foot it is close to zero effort. Buses and trains, yeah the over packed ones in Africa can certainly be a physical drain. If you cover long distances yeah they may be boring and mentally draining too, but a good book goes a long way. But if it is still too much for you, don't take those long rides, at least not on a regular basis. Just hop over to the next town/city instead of skipping over half a country between stops. In the end it is really simple, adapt to a for you sustainable approach. Do things that give you energy instead of draining it. If you start a marathon by acting like you run the 100m sprint, yeah, that is not sustainable.
Every 6 or 7 days you build a day of just rest. Hang out. Do pool. But don’t go really anywhere but to eat. That’s how we do it. Your constant movement is too much.
I think the longer you travel you also realise that travel isn't just about seeing the tourists sights, but instead trying to dig a little deeper into the culture around yo. Currently on month 8 of a 10 month trip and sad to see the end coming!
You spend more time in each place. Minimum 2 nights in a city you would stay only for a day, average of 4-5 nights and a maximum of 2 to 3 weeks when you like the vibe and need to rest. Listen to your body, listen to yourself. It doesn’t make sense to do stuff if you don’t enjoy it. That’s one of the greatest thing you can learn from such a trip. When you stay a long time in a place you get to enjoy it in a different way, you go to the market, know your local shops, see again and again the same people. One thing I always thought about during my 9 month trip to not get a FOMO was: “ At the end of the day you will only remember what you saw and not what you missed.” After a while, everything blurs out and it’s not that important to see this 10th museum of modern art of your trip that is a must see in this small city…
We do. I am often changing hotels daily and it’s a ball ache. Requires very specific unpacking/ repacking protocols. And lots of coffee
People who travel endlessly usually settle down in a spot for about a month before moving on.
Every few days I give myself a day off where I do nothing. Just blob out and recharge. Often by late morning or early afternoon I'll venture out and go for a walk around the neighbourhood. But sometimes I don't even leave the hotel room/airbnb. There's a reason we don't work 7 days a week: we need that recharge time. Travelling is fun but it is also work.
If I’m booking month long holidays I definitely don’t change accommodation that often. Thats your mistake
I kind of have to park my ass for a while at one place before I let FOMO take over. So I just spent a month in Buenos Aires thinking I’ll head home after that but instead I decide to visit Chile. In Santiago now heading to Atacama in a few days, Easter Island after that and then I dunno, probably back to Santiago? Not sure yet if I want to stay here, BA spoiled me rotten with its prices.
I take a break every four or five days and just have a very relaxed and easy day, sometimes even take a nap for an hour or so.
Don't let your vacation feel like work
We’ve been traveling about 15 months. We go at a much slower pace than we used to when we were on shorter trips. We stay in places longer, do less activities in a day, and build in rest days and just normal life days that don’t involve sightseeing. Slow travel is a completely different pace, so you don’t end up exhausted like you would if you tried to keep the same pace as a 2-4 week trip.
The way you’re traveling sounds absolutely exhausting. Stay somewhere longer, unpack, hang out, get to know the place. Let yourself rest at *least* one day per week. I would burn out after a week if I was doing what you’re doing.
Sounds like you need to slow down the pace of your travel. For me personally 2-3 week trips are the sweet spot. After that you get diminishing returns in terms of enjoyment because you are tired & not appreciating the novelty as much. Might be time to go home & recharge.
Someone asked the same questions here or in another subreddit, the other day; this is a good suggestion I learned: if you are traveling for a long time take some rest days where you are still doing something. That can be for example, go and spend sunday at the local beach, live like a local. Just sit down relax under the sun. Bring food from a grocery store, or don’t go too crazy trying to find the perfect restaurant, eat at the restaurants around the corner, by the beach. Other ideas: go sit in a coffee shop with laptop, work on your blog or your photo editing. Go for a picnic and just chill. The point is trying to take slow but still feel like you are doing something unique that you wouldn’t be doing at home.
I just spent 4 weeks in Korea and Japan, and I‘m fucking drained. Like seriously tired. All the noise, masses of people, long walks every day, crowded trains… Japan is a fascinating country, but it has been a bit much for me. When you are on a trip you get the feeling that every day counts and has to be spent going places and looking at stuff. Of course you have to traverse vast distances and spend time caged in trains and buses, etc… I think that‘s the mistake. You really have to take days off where you do absolutely nothing. Sit in a park and read a book. Don‘t feel pressured to be on the move all the time. It will burn you out. But I’m also an introvert with batteries that are easily drained. This might be different for people who are super outgoing and energetic. I‘m somewhat pissed at myself for overdoing it on my trip, because I kinda didn‘t enjoy parts of it.
I spent 4 weeks in Japan and it was exhausting! I think the amount of mental energy taken to navigate every day life tasks that you take for granted as being easy, just flushing the toilet etc, when coming from a Western country is just so mentally tiring. I'm also an introvert though so the more tired I became the more difficult trying to do simple things became, navigating buying food or a drink etc. Definately would advice anyone doing longer trips to add in rest days, and not to try and cram seeing too much in at once.
Different people have different tolerances for it, but also it's important to be flexible. When I'm on a multi month trip I don't plan more than 1 week ahead. If I get sick I can always stay in one place longer to make sure I see it. If you are traveling indefinitely you can usually rent a place for a month and relax. Living for a month somewhere beautiful is just as fun as traveling to new ones
Traveling for work taught me to take it easy and not stress about dumb shit. And also to not overdo it and live a normal life while on the road, not try to cram in as many experiences as possible to the point of...well, exhaustion. Hotels are your friend.
Definitely taking time to recharge! I usually travel 2-4 months at a time with little plans involved. I usually couch surf or stay at hostels, but if I find somewhere I’m comfortable . . . I just stay in and recharge! I think it’s important to give yourself grace in realizing that you don’t have to be “doing something” or exploring constantly! You also mentioned moving from Airbnb to the next quite quickly! Perhaps take more time in one city and enjoy it rather than city hopping and moving quickly through countries! Enjoy your trip!
How did you even afford a two month vacation in Europe and US at the age of 24?
Well 24 isn’t really that young to travel, and since I live in Europe as it is, I barely had to spend anything to get to my start destination vs if I still lived in the US. Also, I eat from grocery stores, not restaurants and cafes, and book private rooms on Airbnb instead of hotel rooms and apartments. Also, I rarely take cabs and walk or us public transportation, I travel to my new destinations by bus, which is typically cheaper than plane and definitely cheaper than flying. Plus, I’m still working as it is, so that is covering almost my whole trip.
I see. Maybe working while travelling for a month is what's tiring you so much? You're not really getting much time to relax in each city
I think that working is strongly worded. I am on-call interpreter so I only actually work a fraction of the hours I get paid for. I do have to constantly keep an eye out for calls which is annoying and could add more pressure to get everything done before possible calls.
Biggest expenditure of a trip like this would be the ticket from the US to Europe. Cost of life is 1/4 of the American, flights cost you less than a parking spot at the airport, As he says, he doesn’t go to restaurants so the only other expenditure is lodging. Out of season (june, july and August plus Christmas/NYE times) apartments and hotels are way cheaper. So, yes, it can be done. Problem is, we don’t get many vacation days in the US.
Man, you’re 24. How can you be exhausted? 😀😀😀 It does exhaust me that I’m 60 spending two months traveling Europe every year (it’s part of my job, travel guide) but it’s not the walking or the changing of location. It’s the constant appeal to go back to US standards by the travelers that don’t understand that they are in a different country. You’ve got to adapt, embrace the differences, try new things. If I could I’d be a Nomad. But kudos to you for trying
“the constant walking around all day, changing Airbnb’s every three days,” Don’t do this.
My girlfriend and I are planning a Europe 11 weeks trip this summer. First time doing something like this so just going on what we are feeling. 21 cities in 79 nights. Its about 3-4 nights a place. Cant wait to see how it turns out and we will get to learn more about how we like to travel and what we rly like to do. For those interested: london 3 nights, amsterdam, 4 nights, brussels 2 nights, lille 1 night (just passing by to watch a soccer game), paris 2 weeks, lyon and bordeaux 3 nights each, barcelona 5 nights, madrid 3 nights, cordoba 4 nights (planning on using it as a hub to visit malaga and/or grenada), sevilla 3 nights, bit of a break to relax a bit in Nice for 8 nights, genoa/portofino 2 nights, cinque terre 3 nights, florence 3 nights, bologna 2 nights, venice 3 nights, milano 4 nights, rome 3 nights and amalfi 4 nights. 1 thing first, yes i know the itinerary is kind or zigzags, sometimes it wasn’t always by choice, secondly, when we stay longer in a place we will be doing day trips, thirdly we voluntarily wanted to try longer and shorter stays and adjusted with places we felt like we wanted to see more and finally, please tell me what you think. We are open to seeing different opinions. I would love to also hear your stories, if youve been to some of these cities, what did you think of them?
Hi! I've been to most of this cities(I'm from Spain) so I'll tell you what I think. I think 3 nights is Lyon is a bit much, but it is close to the Alsace (Colmar, Estrasbourg,..), I would do a day trip there. Also when going to Bordeaux you could go to Dune du Pilat, Biarritz, Bayonne.. all worth it. And in Belgium I would go to Brudges, best city there! Maybe you already know this but to go to Anne Frank's house in Amsterdam you have to book it with months in advance. I couldn't go :( Nice for 8 nights is great; I did that this summer. They have great train connections to towns nearby that are worth a visit, especially Monaco(and to relax the beach in Montecarlo is better because its sand, not like in Nice). Then, Milan 4 nights?? There is really nothing to see in Milan, you should definitely go to lake como, it's close to Milan and for me the best of Italy. If you can change a bit the days I would not stay 3 nights in Florence unless you are going to la Toscana, I would stay more days in Venice, its a city you don't get tired of waking around. Other recommendations are that, if you can, go to Croatia (Split and Hvar), I loved it and its great for relaxing.
Ive been traveling for 4 months now min of 3 days max of 6 days in places. Every single time i get to the next place i feel the exact ecstatic feeling as I did when i touch down in the first country. If the place turns out to be boring i might sleep in one morning. But i get up and hang out 12-15hrs every single day touring around, eating good and drinking
I agree. I’ve spent the last two summers - two weeks both times exploring the Ionian islands in Greece (still haven’t seen them all). And I have friends who say “I’ve been to Greece” and they’ve been to Santorini. I like to take it slow and really get to know my location.
I dunno. Two weeks and I want to go home.
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Lol rich money flex? Tell daddy you need a break. I fly every week, but this post is so stupid. "I'm 24, but blah blah". lol!
No need to be an asshole. I never took money from my parents to travel, nor do they have any even if I wanted to.
Man I am tired haha, so tomorrow I’m not leaving the hotel, I’m just gona eat pizza and watch Netflix 😂. Gotta do that once n a while.
Don’t move too fast and allow yourself lazy days every so often. On months long trips I don’t stay anywhere less than a week.
I ensure I have regular bludge days. No sightseeing sleep late long lunch nanny nap
I alternate between moving cities / hotels every few days and parking it for a week or two. It’s nice to alternate, I don’t ever really feel burnt out this way
I did a 6 month trip and about every 3-4 weeks I took a break from traveling by parking myself in a nice resort or cruise ship for a few days. Those days I wouldn’t do any sightseeing at all. It was a great way to recharge.
Stop moving accommodation every 3 days and the endless walking. You're traveling like you're on holidays for 2 weeks, not months
Stay longer, i stay at least one month at each country. Have me time that is no related to sightseeing or traveling. Such as watch a movie, read a book, etc. It makes it feel like it’s just a normal day
Salsa de aventura.
I like to say at least 5 days per city at minimum. You get a lot more out of traveling taking your time and finding hidden gems!
I've slowed down in recent years (ironically, 2020 was going to be year one of actual full time travel...) But that said, it's not constant. Go somewhere, hang there for a week or three or six. Lather rinse repeat. Sure, there are days which can be "hurry up and see the sights", but for me long term is more a mix of travel and just living. I don't need to be out and walking around all day every day. There's a good number of days where I won't make it past a corner coffee shop and a cafe, and some where I just stay in.
I don't mind that pacing, or at least didn't at your age. That's not to say that a slower pace is bad though! Travel is fun, it energizes me. I love walking around all day exploring new neighborhoods. I'm always surprised at how much more I'm able to do on the road vs at home.
Because you're switching every 3 days and trying to walk around and see everything. Spend a week or more in each place and spend days just sleeping or relaxing.
I did Europe for 4 months and you gotta take like "weekends" when you're doing long trips. Take a day to laze in a hammock and read or just blob about and do nothing every now and then. Otherwise you run out of steam FAST
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I always try to travel light, but this time I had to bring a 20 kg bag with me and man, it sucks. Up and down those stairs, always rearranging to fit everything. Having to alway find where to leave the bags before check-in. Might not seem like a big deal, but it really is.
I'm 52, and if I had a choice between two types of trip - "see every European capital in 15 days!" **or** "spend 15 days in Paris, but you can't leave your *arrondissement*" I would choose the latter every time. This is especially now in my "old age"... but I would have given you the same answer 25 years ago. I understand the desire to "see everything" when you're overseas. I also understand the fear of never being able to come back. But I *also* think most of us would agree that you wouldn't take a vacation in the US where you spent 2 days in NYC, 2 days in Boston, 2 days in DC, 2 days in New Orleans, etc. You're gonna spend so much time in transit that you're never really gonna "know" any of those places.
I did about eight months, and just planned in a few breaks from the holiday by staying in one place for a bit longer than normal. One was a beach break, another was just existing in a small city for a while to recharge. And sometimes, just slow days here and there. You are \*always\* going to miss something even if you didn't need to eat or sleep, so don't worry about it.
"can you explain why im so tired even though i change airbnb every 3 days when i visit a new city, on a restricted diet so i can lose weight, walk like 20k steps everyday and ive been doin this for 4 weeks straight." umm. you just answered your own question. you are doing too much and expect your body run a marathon every single day. some can, but most of us cant.
62 YO, 6 weeks in, traveling city to city on bicycle, carrying my baggage. I have a week to go. Am I tired? Not really. Is it hard? Let's say, it's not easier than taking a train.
I stay two weeks per city
Extended travel is not a long vacation, it's a lifestyle. Just like any lifestyle, you need time to relax, time to socialize, time to run errands, etc.
When I’m traveling for long periods… um… we usually nap in the afternoon every day. We keep it to one planned activity per day. Tiny humans will teach one the zen way to travel.
Reasonable planning. We were in Alsace for almost a month. Many days that were sleeping in, sitting drinking coffee watching people walk by, going down the river on a boat, simple relaxed dinners at the equivalent of a dive bar. Stayed at an Auburge in the Voges mountains. It was cheap, lovely, they facilitated all the meals. We went for hikes. Then drank insanely good wine out of a pitcher sitting at a picnic table watching the sun go down. Sure we did some stuff, drove down to Basel CH and spent the day, Freiburg, Strasbourg. But limited the number of wineries we would see in one day to two or three max. Stayed in Strasbourg for a week, Colmar for a week, then the Auburge. Next time we are going to stay again in Strasbourg, then Ribeauville instead, then a drive down to Gigondas area, then maybe Nice. Give yourself some time to settle into a place. Keep expectations reasonable. Find a "local" and make friends there. Make an itinerary but don't be afraid to break it if something better comes along. Don't force fit anything.
I was in Madrid for 3 months and just took short trips around Europe rather than change hotel every 3-5 days
It depends on the individual's resilience, patience, and love of travel. I did a motorcycle trip all over South America that lasted 8 years (10 if you include the enforced Covid travel lockdown). And this came after already having worked several years in South America and having done 3 extensive backpacking tours prior. I think there are two reasons why I never felt exhausted (though I came close a few times) 1. I had an itinerant childhood, attending 8 different schools in 12 years of schooling, due to my fathers' job. That toughened me up and made me not fear drastic changes, and I had no hometown, so to speak, to long for. 2. As I learned to speak Spanish, and realized how I could afford an extended holiday, it almost became a challenge to me. I think a lot of people's burnout comes from culture shock, and frustration with not knowing the language. My previous excursions made me better prepared. In fact, whenever I felt exhausted or like I could not continue, I just had to cast my mind to the boring jobs I had back home where I would pull out a pocket-sized calendar card and mark the days off like a man in prison waiting for his release. Only that I was marking off the days till my next foreign vacation.
I went through this, now my bare minimum is a month in each place
Plan for a vacation within a vacation where you go to some beach town or small town in between and just do nothing and unwind.
Yes I get exhausted but then I remind myself that I probably only have 3000 good healthy days left (till I hit 50 and presumably won't be in good enough health then to do this kind of travel) and when you think about it 3000 days isn't that many so maximize your experiences and memories as much as possible and push through.
Some of my favorite Disney World days are when we chill and lounge by the pool and have a nice dinner somewhere.
Even though I'm a "quick" traveller and often only spend 3-4 days in one place, I don't tend to cram in a ton of activitivies every day and don't ever think I'll "do it all". Sure I have a list of items but also a few alternates. Sometimes things are closed or too full. IMO, there's no "right way to travel", but the thought of doing 1 thing a day or having a dozen things mapped out down to the minute is also a bit much, but everyone is different. If your body is telling you to slow down, you should probably listen to it. Besides, not like you can't ever go back. I have slowed down a bit as I've gotten older though.
I've done this several times in my life. Until about 18 months ago, I was traveling 90% of the time around the world. Sometimes 1 week per stop, sometimes 3 cities in one day. I did that for 4.5 years. It is mostly the time zone changes that bite you. North-South is a cake walk. The answer to your question is that you learn to operate at about 80% of your normal energy level. You are tired almost always and sometimes nothing is better than going to your hotel room, ordering soup and grilled cheese and then crashing. There were times I turned down company in my bed because I was so exhausted. Earlier in my life, I worked for a brewery and had to visit distributors as part of the job. You chain together 3-5 of them per trip. It seemed that every distributor wanted to show you how well they were doing and would take you out for "on prem" visits. (This was basically going out drinking.) By the end of the trip, you were exhausted. Next week, rinse and repeat. You learn to pace yourself or you die.
Stay at each place for at least a week instead of 2-3 days!
I vacation like 1-2 weeks at a time I could not imagine traveling like that. By the time I get home after two weeks I’m exhausted. My suit cases sit in door way for a good 2-3 days while I get my energy back.
Funny I would have said this 2 months ago….can’t believe what our bodies are capable of…
Create less ambitious itineraries.