BootsnAll Travel Community

I'm sure it's different for everyone, but I'm interested in your opinions.

Have you ever been on a trip that last too long and you just get tired of it?

I know we all go through short phases of travel burn out, but have any of you hit the mark where it's just too long and instead of yearning for travel you desire a home with shelves and closets and the local coffee shop, a home?

I think I might have reached that mark. I can't even tell ya'll how long it's been, I'd probably get some hate mail for such a continous trip, but I think it may be wrapping up and coming to an end, a brief end, maybe more like a break, but still I need some regularity in my life, even if it's just for a few months.

So how 'bout ya'll? Ever gotten there? How long did it take?

Yes, it has happened to me, and I ended up managing to alleviate the situation by changing the "way" I was travelling.

I think it's always possible to have too much of anything, even if that one thing is too much constant change, and you need to rid your life of that for a while for something a little more stable.

In my case, it wasn't an official "home" I needed, just a slower pace, knowing where I was going to sleep 3 days from one point, actually having a fridge and being able to go grocery shopping and cook my own favorite meals, some of the niceties that make life "nice."

Maybe it's the destination you've been in that's wearing you down, the same group you're hanging with, the way you go about each day or choosing the next path.......I think it boils down to just too much of any one thing. So, if "travelling" to you is just being in a country other than your own, exploring it, etc., maybe all you need now is stability in that place, not necessarily the traditional "home." ??

I feel yuh Travis.

I'm going on my 15th month and I was doing fine till I fell in love (what a dumb ass)! Now she's back home (UK) and I'm not the same...

My sister happens to be on her way out (that's cool), other wise I'd be outta here.

Dude did you just say you fell in love with your sister!?

JK

Right, 15 months, approaching my style, I like it, but it's getting to be burn out for me but I think it's cause I want to 'fall in love'. Not quite, but a girlfriend for more than a few weeks would sure be nice.

And I understand all about that change of pace, it sure can be a life saver at times, unfortunatly that's just not that case right now. I'm now traveling the US and doing it slowly, so maybe I gotta speed up, but that's not really my style, so I just don't know. Actually I'm not really getting burnt out, I'm just more wondering about other people.

When ever I feel like this I just pick up a travel book, like now that I'm in the USA I just grabbed a Kerouac book and afterwards I'll read a little 'Travels with Charley' and it'll be all good.

quote:

In my case, it wasn't an official "home" I needed, just a slower pace, knowing where I was going to sleep 3 days from one point, actually having a fridge and being able to go grocery shopping and cook my own favorite meals, some of the niceties that make life "nice."

And Justine that is so true! I've just posted up at a good friends for a while, got myself a fridge, stove and bedroom, with my own bathroom!!

How many times has too long been too long until you return to constancy to discover once more that 1 second can become an eternity?
Hang in there and reflect on how it was before you left.
Shouldn't we learn by our mistakes?

I was going to agree with the burnout (18 months at the moment), but Amadeus has made a great point - wishing for home is great, but once there? I don't know, we've decided to call it a day and go back to London, I know it'll be great to see everyone and back to normality and all that, BUT I'm already planning my next trip (BF has decided he's not flying ever again), oh well! My last 10 days here are going to be the best.

I can't relate...I haven't gotten to travel for as long as I'd like yet.

Go hang out in the old port, go to that ghetto Denny's on congress street. Go to the great lost bear. Once you've done all that, you'll realize that there isn't too much to do back home and you'll long for cultural nirvana again

OK, I been to that Denys plenty, don't remember much but still, I miss it. haha. And com'on dude, Old port and night, like 1-2, that can be fun! An GLB is out, it's all about the Flat Bread, 'cept they cut their pizza into squares, bastards! Yeah yeah I know the P-town isn't that great but still it's a hell of alot better than crap town america that persists in every little nook and cranny of this country, damn gentrifcation. And it's not that I'm really looking forward to going home but maybe establishing a new 'home' for a while, getting off the road and having a closet, a kitchen, a local coffee shop, community, relationships, etc...But still I think Maine is one of the best places in the world, let alone this country, seriously, Maine rules!

And Croz you say you haven't gotten to travel that long yet, get out and do, when ya get the chance, the burn out phase is worth it!!

I think I asked a similar question in the Vagabonding forum some months ago...not too many responses...I'll try and find it...

Here it is:

http://boards.bootsnall.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/209091657/m/66610883/r/66610883#66610883

In summary - straight non-stop travel was 7 months (Longest stay in 1 place was 2 weeks, other than that, no more than 3-5 days)

If you include some earlier travels that were mixed with (3) 4-6 week home breaks:

3 weeks US West Coast driving - 5 weeks home rest - 6 weeks lower South America - 1 month home rest - 3 months X-Country drive US - 5 week home rest - 7 months Int'l, mostly Asia and Australia with a little Arabia and London thrown in.

So...16 months...total: Jan 2003 - late April 2004.

I came back for my sister's May 2004 wedding in California (Supposed to only be 2 weeks). I had a ticket back to London to pick up the rest of my RTW air ticket which would have taken me around Turkey, Finland, West and East Europe (Including the Olympics), and Russia.

I couldn't do it. So mentally tired was I.

I stayed home pretty much (A couple of weekends in Vancouver, Canada don't count!) for 9 months (Wrote the 1st draft of my book though!) until arriving in Bangkok in late Jan 2005 to do some more Asia region traveling from an apartment I am in. Though it looks like I am going to cut back my plans a bit and head home earlier in May rather than also go to the Philippines and Papua New Guinea. I think my travel mojo (Which I thought had recharged) is not so strong.

Yes, know the feeling...

Nothing like bit of routine, until the next flight out!

Travel burn out could be an interesting study. I wonder if anyone has done a study on that?

As an ex-pat we were warned to expect a period of depression to hit between 6 - 9 months into our work project. It could last a few weeks or months, but then we'd rise out of it to a plateau.
I wonder if constant travelling brings about a similar fluctuation of emotions. For us knowing what to expect helped us fight it off.