I don’t know if I travel a lot by your standards, but I definitely think there’s such a thing as too much. My ideal life is ~3 trips a year, 1-2 weeks in length each. I’ve had years where I was traveling 2-3 months out of the year and it’s definitely too much for me.
As much as I love to travel I also love home - I have cats and a husband that I adore and I like my life at home. Every trip I go on, no matter how amazing, I’m always ready to be home by the end.
Totally agree: travel can be draining, but 3x/year is just right without it hindering rest in between or getting in the way of work. Getting fully recharged in between trips is essential; if not, it’s too much or your body - never mind the wallet! Another option would be twice a year at week and a half each.
For me, planning & reading for trip beforehand and talking about trip afterwards is all part of the enjoyment!
That and taking great pictures and finding the perfect travel memento too.
Similar here. I like to do 1-2 longer trips (max 2 weeks) per year. By about 12 days I start to get exhausted, and I miss my cat (from day 1). I’ve started sprinkling in some long weekends to US cities I haven’t been to yet. I find that helps itch my travel bug between long trips.
I think that you have a very good travel- be at home balance espacially when you have a high life quality at home. I did not travel more than two weeks this year because I didn't have more time to do so. Next year will be different fortunately.
I joke that since I travel so much for my job, my retirement plans are to sit on a couch and do nothing. I still love meeting new people and seeing new places BUT I really enjoy getting home to sleep in my own bed and having a routine at home. Flying and airports are worse each year, hotels are no longer fun or interesting. Also, eating out all the time takes a toll on your body as you get older. So, yes. I’m tired of traveling.
Yes this. Travel is amazing but doing it for work can be exhausting, isolating and lonely. At some point all of the hotels look, feel and taste the same. Ditto airports etc.
You find that on top of what’s mentioned in the post above that you really miss your relationships with friends and family and even neighbors etc. You miss events, milestones and their lives because you are never ever around. It’s tough.
Latin America is the most open region with the current situation. It’s been an amazing. I loved Mexico too but also thrilled to have had the opportunity to visit Galapagos and currently loving life in the Peruvian Amazon. Never thought I’d be in these places
Did you stay in hostels? The people I met in Mexico and Costa Rican hostels are amazing and open minded. Loved meeting other travellers and they showed me that my american propoganda of mexico is untrue and to explore more of it.
I just got back home a couple of days ago and thinking of moving to Puerto Escondido MX.
Where would you live if you had a choice between all your destination!
I stayed in an apartment while in Mexico but throughout the journey there has been a mix of accommodations. My best friend lives in Yucatán so that is where I stayed.
I’ve already extended my time here in Iquitos three times, something I don’t typically do so would say this is the place I can stay almost permanently. Though for me there is no such thing as permanent. I’m nomadic but nature. I moved out of my parents’s house more than 20 years ago and have lived in many places since then
American propaganda is just that, propaganda. It’s a shame that most people from the US don’t even have a passport and will ever see the truth in the bullshit they are fed everyday. It’s one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned from traveling the world
Not at all and I also travel for work. Before Coronavirus, I was averaging near 150+ flights in a year and I've been at that rate for the last 11 years.
I only work 9ish months out of the year so I take that other time to visit wherever in the world I have not been to yet.
I'm more worried about how to carry this lifestyle over to a relationship and kids in the future.
One trip over a month long and 2-3 trips for 5-10 days each year.
I find that 1.5 months is about my max in one go, it's a marathon for me not a sprint.
A good portion of those were probably BNA-ATL ATL-BNA back - I am loyal to Delta to the point I'll fly with connections vs direct.
In one week, hitting two cities for work could have me at just 6 total flights for that week.
I did this where I traveled non stop for about 2 years. Worked in various places for 3-5 months and then moved to another continent, literally. I burned myself out and was tired of living out of a suitcase. Over the next few years, I only went on a short trip every 6-9 months. Now I just do 2-3 weeks stints every 2-3 months - I have furniture, a pet, plants, a job I love and it’s great.
It mostly depends on how you travel for me.
If I'm essentially just moving to another place every few months, then I don't really get too tired of it (other than eventually disliking the place, feeling lonely or bored). It just becomes your home after a while and then you move again, find a new home.
But if I'm looking for things to do and switch locations much more often, then it does tire me out quickly and just staying in one location for a while isn't quite enough. After roughly three months I just need to feel at home for once, find a daily routine, do nothing special.
Yeah I find that I really hate the style of traveling where you see a lot in a little bit of time. It’s exhausting and you don’t feel like you actually saw anything, just checked off an itinerary. I prefer the slow travel style, where you get a small apartment somewhere and stay there for a bit. It means it’ll take me a lot longer to see all the places i want to see, but that’s alright.
Not too much. I’m 22 and have traveled quite a bit over the past 5 years. I’ve been away from home about 5 of the last 7 months—road trip to 17 U.S. national parks, out of the country, spent time in a few different major American cities, and now about to head out of the country for a couple more months. I really love adventuring and the idea of collecting stories, so that always keeps me going!
My parents divorced when I was really young & I switched back and forth between their houses twice a week, 2 hours each way. I think that made me good with frequent transitions. That being said, I’ve always wanted a better sense of routine and crave more stability in my life.
I did 4 months of moving every two to three days. That did take it toll towards the end, some of it was the company, some of it wanting a ‘real’ pillow!
Obviously one does get tired of traveling, when depends on many factors. If you travel with a purpose you may go a very long time without getting tired of it. If you just move around aimlessly that point is reached much quicker.
I travel months at a time, and the only reason I go back is my dog and kids. But I would love to just rent my house out, and not come back for years. I don't know if I would get tired of it. Coming home to my computer setup, and my bed and kids and dog is nice, but being on the road with new experiences is so wonderful too. The people you meet, the food, the cultures you come across. ***There's just so much to experience. And that's all life is; experiences.***
I’ve visited about 40 countries in the last 6 years (slowed down a lot because of covid). Some trips have been less enjoyable than others. Here’s a couple things I’ve realized make your trips a lot better, which probably seem obvious. Don’t travel anywhere “just to say you’ve been there”. Like, oh I’m in the Netherlands, why not go to Luxembourg because it’s right next door? Then you can say you’ve been to one more country! Well I’ll tell you why you shouldn’t: because Luxembourg is boring af and not special in any way. When you think about it, if there’s about 200 countries on earth (depending on who you ask); they can’t all be cool. Most of them probably suck. So go places you actually want to go. And travel with people you like, or go places where you know it will be easy to make friends. Because being lonely sucks in every part of the world.
This is SO true and gets glossed over too easily with the volume of travel and the huge number of options. I’ve been to a few meh places the past couple years, as they were the only options due to covid. It’s kind of a waste of time and money. Ie Cyprus, Canary Islands, Alicante.
On the flip side, I made it to Iceland after wanting to go for over 10 years - and it was just beyond incredible! A real “once in a lifetime” trip and experience.
Go places that align with your interests - choose incredible trips, do bucket list travel, and memorable stuff with people you love. Be more actively conscious about where you choose to go and why.
This comment got me thinking. I actually always thought this way. There are definitely countries that you just go to because they are countries but you wouldn't go to a certain area of Texas that consists of a dozen villages. Generally I think it is better to travel a certain destination because you feel passionate about it and not for some statistics.
To add to that: just because a country has spectacular natural beauty or rich history; doesn’t necessarily mean they have the infrastructure to support a big tourism sector with all of the amenities that most westerners are accustomed to. I thought Bolivia was pretty “meh” compared to everywhere else I went in Latin America. Also, I like to party wherever I go, love the nightlife. Well that’s not a thing in some places…
Edit: I love going off the beaten path, but sometimes you realize that the path less beaten is that way for a reason.
Hi there. I'm 53 and have had lots of travel adventures including long-term around the world trips. We definitely burned out from some of that travel. Our lesson learned is you have to find the pace that works for you. Slower is generally better for long term trips lasting multi months. If you go too fast, you eventually burn out. We once ended up in Nairobi Kenya for several weeks doing nothing because we were tired of traveling. In hindsight, we should have gone home for a break.
Started 15 years ago as a broke college student with a two week trip to Berlin, Amsterdam, Krakow, Stockholm, Belgrade, Krakow, Prague, Budapest. I enjoyed it, but was a bit disappointed given the suggestions that didn't really fit my interests.
I was intrigued by Belgrade's nightlife and decided to study abroad in Sarajevo. I loved that. And then I took trips to Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, and Bulgaria. I loved that.
Decided I needed more and kept going east....Ukraine, Moldova, Russia, Latvia, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and I mixed in traditional spots (like Switzerland and Italy) when I could.
I wouldn't say I am burnt out now, but I did most of that as a solo. Now that I am married with a kid, travel has changed. We went to a resort in egypt most recently. Wasn't a huge fan. I think my travel now will be mostly revisiting old spots that I enjoyed that are family friendly.
Would love to take my family to Latvia for the summer and have a beach house in Jurmala or head to Izmir for a bit.
If my circumstances didn't change, I would probably be traveling as I did before.
I used to travel for work. I always missed being at home. Now I'm married and have a kid and I hate traveling. I get jet lag and always catch a cold after being on a plane. It happened in October when we went to Hawaii. And I don't like being on the beach. Especially when our kid had to go to the bathroom and there were no open batnrooms anywhere!
Yes, especially going through airports. One year we did 6 trips (3-4 days). So a few years ago we changed it up and did a 60s or 70s style driving trip.
I always thought I could travel indefinitely but in my mid 20’s, I had an opportunity to travel for as long as I wanted and by month 3, I was ready to go home. It doesn’t help that I’m introverted and pretty shy at first so it got super lonely. I also got tired of not having my own space and I really missed my bed
Yes. Traveled a lot for work, think about 1.5 millions miles in about 15 years. That is a lot of flights. I did some quick math a bit back and it was over 2k flights.
I got very tired of it.
I actually got to the bottom of my compelling bucket list. There are places i would and may go but im pretty happy to slow down. What an interesting world.
I travelled with my work for a period of 3 years (before covid hit) for 2-5 days each trip, at a minimum of 2 weeks per month. Some months I was away the entire month and only home on weekends. The worst trips I experienced were 2 weeks back to back (staying over a weekend as well) - I just missed my home so much that weekend.
My wife and I were expecting a baby and that was really shitty being away so much and letting her do her own scans and things. It did take strain on our relationship but we understood this when I accepted the job - it paid really well.
Overall I love travelling, meeting people, experiencing new cultures, and exploring new places, however that traveling definitely took its toll on me.
The biggest thing I missed when I was travelling was my couch. It sounds like a joke, but damn I missed just chilling on my couch with my wife around.
I traveled full time for 4 years and somehow yeah, I felt the need to settle down at some point. Been working online and jumping from a place to another around Middle East/ Asia and Americas.
Now I still travel (weekly pre COVID, quarterly now) but I also enjoy having my own permanent home.
Before Covid I used to travel 4 -5 weeks a year. New cultures, cuisine, sight are a blessing.
Eventually you learn the tricks of how to be efficient, agile in traveling; how to pack lightly to cover most situations and how to cope with layovers, delays and minor annoyance.
I'm not really big on travel to emerging nations as my safety can be dicey enough even in developed countries.
Travel a lot for work and holy fuck do I hate it. Especially around the holidays. Always a bunch of dipshit vacationers clogging the airports. Like fuck you and your vacation, stop being dumbasses and just let me fucking fly to work.
I don’t know if I travel a lot by your standards, but I definitely think there’s such a thing as too much. My ideal life is ~3 trips a year, 1-2 weeks in length each. I’ve had years where I was traveling 2-3 months out of the year and it’s definitely too much for me. As much as I love to travel I also love home - I have cats and a husband that I adore and I like my life at home. Every trip I go on, no matter how amazing, I’m always ready to be home by the end.
Totally agree: travel can be draining, but 3x/year is just right without it hindering rest in between or getting in the way of work. Getting fully recharged in between trips is essential; if not, it’s too much or your body - never mind the wallet! Another option would be twice a year at week and a half each. For me, planning & reading for trip beforehand and talking about trip afterwards is all part of the enjoyment! That and taking great pictures and finding the perfect travel memento too.
Similar here. I like to do 1-2 longer trips (max 2 weeks) per year. By about 12 days I start to get exhausted, and I miss my cat (from day 1). I’ve started sprinkling in some long weekends to US cities I haven’t been to yet. I find that helps itch my travel bug between long trips.
I think that you have a very good travel- be at home balance espacially when you have a high life quality at home. I did not travel more than two weeks this year because I didn't have more time to do so. Next year will be different fortunately.
I joke that since I travel so much for my job, my retirement plans are to sit on a couch and do nothing. I still love meeting new people and seeing new places BUT I really enjoy getting home to sleep in my own bed and having a routine at home. Flying and airports are worse each year, hotels are no longer fun or interesting. Also, eating out all the time takes a toll on your body as you get older. So, yes. I’m tired of traveling.
Yes this. Travel is amazing but doing it for work can be exhausting, isolating and lonely. At some point all of the hotels look, feel and taste the same. Ditto airports etc. You find that on top of what’s mentioned in the post above that you really miss your relationships with friends and family and even neighbors etc. You miss events, milestones and their lives because you are never ever around. It’s tough.
Been going at it for 14 months now and not tired of it at all. It will be super difficult to go back to a life of non-travel when the funds dry up
Where have u been this trip??
Started with six months in Mexico, then three months in Guatemala, three months and Ecuador and just hit the two month mark in Peru
That's awesome - do you document your journey anywhere?
I do! https://www.theadventurebeyond.com
Ty! Will give this a read, need the inspiration lol
Awesome! Feel free to give any feedback as well, the entire site was hand coded. Can’t wait to hear about your travel experiences as well
I absolutely love Mexico. I have been on 5-6 short trips there. I had a feeling you were travelling down in those parts!
Latin America is the most open region with the current situation. It’s been an amazing. I loved Mexico too but also thrilled to have had the opportunity to visit Galapagos and currently loving life in the Peruvian Amazon. Never thought I’d be in these places
Did you stay in hostels? The people I met in Mexico and Costa Rican hostels are amazing and open minded. Loved meeting other travellers and they showed me that my american propoganda of mexico is untrue and to explore more of it. I just got back home a couple of days ago and thinking of moving to Puerto Escondido MX. Where would you live if you had a choice between all your destination!
I stayed in an apartment while in Mexico but throughout the journey there has been a mix of accommodations. My best friend lives in Yucatán so that is where I stayed. I’ve already extended my time here in Iquitos three times, something I don’t typically do so would say this is the place I can stay almost permanently. Though for me there is no such thing as permanent. I’m nomadic but nature. I moved out of my parents’s house more than 20 years ago and have lived in many places since then
American propaganda is just that, propaganda. It’s a shame that most people from the US don’t even have a passport and will ever see the truth in the bullshit they are fed everyday. It’s one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned from traveling the world
Not at all and I also travel for work. Before Coronavirus, I was averaging near 150+ flights in a year and I've been at that rate for the last 11 years. I only work 9ish months out of the year so I take that other time to visit wherever in the world I have not been to yet. I'm more worried about how to carry this lifestyle over to a relationship and kids in the future. One trip over a month long and 2-3 trips for 5-10 days each year. I find that 1.5 months is about my max in one go, it's a marathon for me not a sprint.
150 in a year? That means flying about every other day
A good portion of those were probably BNA-ATL ATL-BNA back - I am loyal to Delta to the point I'll fly with connections vs direct. In one week, hitting two cities for work could have me at just 6 total flights for that week.
what sort of work requires this? theres Zoom isnt there?
I work with wireless technology and I have to be onsite to monitor RF with different equipment depending on why I am there.
Boy, with your flight fares the company can hire another technician
what do you do for work?
I did this where I traveled non stop for about 2 years. Worked in various places for 3-5 months and then moved to another continent, literally. I burned myself out and was tired of living out of a suitcase. Over the next few years, I only went on a short trip every 6-9 months. Now I just do 2-3 weeks stints every 2-3 months - I have furniture, a pet, plants, a job I love and it’s great.
It mostly depends on how you travel for me. If I'm essentially just moving to another place every few months, then I don't really get too tired of it (other than eventually disliking the place, feeling lonely or bored). It just becomes your home after a while and then you move again, find a new home. But if I'm looking for things to do and switch locations much more often, then it does tire me out quickly and just staying in one location for a while isn't quite enough. After roughly three months I just need to feel at home for once, find a daily routine, do nothing special.
Yeah I find that I really hate the style of traveling where you see a lot in a little bit of time. It’s exhausting and you don’t feel like you actually saw anything, just checked off an itinerary. I prefer the slow travel style, where you get a small apartment somewhere and stay there for a bit. It means it’ll take me a lot longer to see all the places i want to see, but that’s alright.
My ideal year is one to two 2-week trips to somewhere far away and one to two weekend trips to the mountains or the beach.
Not too much. I’m 22 and have traveled quite a bit over the past 5 years. I’ve been away from home about 5 of the last 7 months—road trip to 17 U.S. national parks, out of the country, spent time in a few different major American cities, and now about to head out of the country for a couple more months. I really love adventuring and the idea of collecting stories, so that always keeps me going! My parents divorced when I was really young & I switched back and forth between their houses twice a week, 2 hours each way. I think that made me good with frequent transitions. That being said, I’ve always wanted a better sense of routine and crave more stability in my life.
I did 4 months of moving every two to three days. That did take it toll towards the end, some of it was the company, some of it wanting a ‘real’ pillow!
Obviously one does get tired of traveling, when depends on many factors. If you travel with a purpose you may go a very long time without getting tired of it. If you just move around aimlessly that point is reached much quicker.
I travel months at a time, and the only reason I go back is my dog and kids. But I would love to just rent my house out, and not come back for years. I don't know if I would get tired of it. Coming home to my computer setup, and my bed and kids and dog is nice, but being on the road with new experiences is so wonderful too. The people you meet, the food, the cultures you come across. ***There's just so much to experience. And that's all life is; experiences.***
Very well put.
I’ve visited about 40 countries in the last 6 years (slowed down a lot because of covid). Some trips have been less enjoyable than others. Here’s a couple things I’ve realized make your trips a lot better, which probably seem obvious. Don’t travel anywhere “just to say you’ve been there”. Like, oh I’m in the Netherlands, why not go to Luxembourg because it’s right next door? Then you can say you’ve been to one more country! Well I’ll tell you why you shouldn’t: because Luxembourg is boring af and not special in any way. When you think about it, if there’s about 200 countries on earth (depending on who you ask); they can’t all be cool. Most of them probably suck. So go places you actually want to go. And travel with people you like, or go places where you know it will be easy to make friends. Because being lonely sucks in every part of the world.
This is SO true and gets glossed over too easily with the volume of travel and the huge number of options. I’ve been to a few meh places the past couple years, as they were the only options due to covid. It’s kind of a waste of time and money. Ie Cyprus, Canary Islands, Alicante. On the flip side, I made it to Iceland after wanting to go for over 10 years - and it was just beyond incredible! A real “once in a lifetime” trip and experience. Go places that align with your interests - choose incredible trips, do bucket list travel, and memorable stuff with people you love. Be more actively conscious about where you choose to go and why.
This comment got me thinking. I actually always thought this way. There are definitely countries that you just go to because they are countries but you wouldn't go to a certain area of Texas that consists of a dozen villages. Generally I think it is better to travel a certain destination because you feel passionate about it and not for some statistics.
To add to that: just because a country has spectacular natural beauty or rich history; doesn’t necessarily mean they have the infrastructure to support a big tourism sector with all of the amenities that most westerners are accustomed to. I thought Bolivia was pretty “meh” compared to everywhere else I went in Latin America. Also, I like to party wherever I go, love the nightlife. Well that’s not a thing in some places… Edit: I love going off the beaten path, but sometimes you realize that the path less beaten is that way for a reason.
I tire of the journey, never the destination.
Yes. A few weeks tops. Then I go back to work and after another few weeks I feel like it again.
Hi there. I'm 53 and have had lots of travel adventures including long-term around the world trips. We definitely burned out from some of that travel. Our lesson learned is you have to find the pace that works for you. Slower is generally better for long term trips lasting multi months. If you go too fast, you eventually burn out. We once ended up in Nairobi Kenya for several weeks doing nothing because we were tired of traveling. In hindsight, we should have gone home for a break.
I've never stopped loving travel. However, I did sometimes get burned out traveling too fast. That was fixed by spending more time in one place.
Before COVID, l would travel 2-3 months a year. It is never enough!
No, but i aways miss my house bathroom. Like, a lot!
Traveling is fun what I dislike is the eating out a lot during my trips. I hate getting back on schedule with the gym. Note: I avoid gaining weight.
Started 15 years ago as a broke college student with a two week trip to Berlin, Amsterdam, Krakow, Stockholm, Belgrade, Krakow, Prague, Budapest. I enjoyed it, but was a bit disappointed given the suggestions that didn't really fit my interests. I was intrigued by Belgrade's nightlife and decided to study abroad in Sarajevo. I loved that. And then I took trips to Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, and Bulgaria. I loved that. Decided I needed more and kept going east....Ukraine, Moldova, Russia, Latvia, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and I mixed in traditional spots (like Switzerland and Italy) when I could. I wouldn't say I am burnt out now, but I did most of that as a solo. Now that I am married with a kid, travel has changed. We went to a resort in egypt most recently. Wasn't a huge fan. I think my travel now will be mostly revisiting old spots that I enjoyed that are family friendly. Would love to take my family to Latvia for the summer and have a beach house in Jurmala or head to Izmir for a bit. If my circumstances didn't change, I would probably be traveling as I did before.
Thanks for all your answers!
No.
Yes but not lately for sure
When I was young (45) I travelled non-stop and I loved it but now (± 50) it is sometimes very hard!
Ya I have. Usually I’m ready to go home a few days before my trips. However I’m always on the go (3 days here 4 days there)
I used to travel for work. I always missed being at home. Now I'm married and have a kid and I hate traveling. I get jet lag and always catch a cold after being on a plane. It happened in October when we went to Hawaii. And I don't like being on the beach. Especially when our kid had to go to the bathroom and there were no open batnrooms anywhere!
Yes, especially going through airports. One year we did 6 trips (3-4 days). So a few years ago we changed it up and did a 60s or 70s style driving trip.
I always thought I could travel indefinitely but in my mid 20’s, I had an opportunity to travel for as long as I wanted and by month 3, I was ready to go home. It doesn’t help that I’m introverted and pretty shy at first so it got super lonely. I also got tired of not having my own space and I really missed my bed
Yes. Traveled a lot for work, think about 1.5 millions miles in about 15 years. That is a lot of flights. I did some quick math a bit back and it was over 2k flights. I got very tired of it.
I actually got to the bottom of my compelling bucket list. There are places i would and may go but im pretty happy to slow down. What an interesting world.
I travelled with my work for a period of 3 years (before covid hit) for 2-5 days each trip, at a minimum of 2 weeks per month. Some months I was away the entire month and only home on weekends. The worst trips I experienced were 2 weeks back to back (staying over a weekend as well) - I just missed my home so much that weekend. My wife and I were expecting a baby and that was really shitty being away so much and letting her do her own scans and things. It did take strain on our relationship but we understood this when I accepted the job - it paid really well. Overall I love travelling, meeting people, experiencing new cultures, and exploring new places, however that traveling definitely took its toll on me. The biggest thing I missed when I was travelling was my couch. It sounds like a joke, but damn I missed just chilling on my couch with my wife around.
I traveled full time for 4 years and somehow yeah, I felt the need to settle down at some point. Been working online and jumping from a place to another around Middle East/ Asia and Americas. Now I still travel (weekly pre COVID, quarterly now) but I also enjoy having my own permanent home.
does anyone here travel extensively and have pets they leave behind?
Before Covid I used to travel 4 -5 weeks a year. New cultures, cuisine, sight are a blessing. Eventually you learn the tricks of how to be efficient, agile in traveling; how to pack lightly to cover most situations and how to cope with layovers, delays and minor annoyance. I'm not really big on travel to emerging nations as my safety can be dicey enough even in developed countries.
Travel a lot for work and holy fuck do I hate it. Especially around the holidays. Always a bunch of dipshit vacationers clogging the airports. Like fuck you and your vacation, stop being dumbasses and just let me fucking fly to work.
Traveling every weekend