Traveling is a unique way of discovering the world and yourself. Travel can help change our worldview, raise cultural and historical awareness, enable us to spend more time with the people we love, and improve our health.
Although it has an indefinite positive influence on a human’s condition, it can cause stress, feelings of psychological strain, and pressure. During the trip, we might have to deal with numerous difficulties such as acclimatization, unusual modes of transportation, flight delays, another style of living, financial and safety concerns.
But that is not all! Do not forget about pre-travel concerns such as itinerary and packing planning, visa processing, and booking tickets or accommodation. Feeling overwhelmed by all the obstacles, we cannot enjoy our journey.
Read the following tips on how to prevent or reduce travel stress so you will feel comfortable and ready for your next trip, despite any travel restrictions due to the pandemic.
This post is part of our best travel advice series
1. Do Not Try to Copy the Dream Vacation from the Instagram
In certain situations, travel is a form of escapism. Globetrotting, we change the surrounding environment, and it is a big chance to eventually find time to relax and unwind from personal and professional problems.
There is a preconception that traveling can change people in a fantastic way, everyone might solve psychological problems, find themselves and start life from scratch. However, those people are facing reality when coming back home.
Our life is in our hands, and it is possible to make a holiday great. You have a number of options which hotel, restaurant and transport to choose. Just remember that it will likely have its flaws.
Some Actionable Tips
- Do not try to keep up with your neighbors. If you cannot spend as much money as they do not do that. Jealousy is a distractive feeling. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. Stick to your budget and make the best trip with your limits!
- Avoid working routine during your vacation. Today the vast majority of people cannot relax for real. Going for a holiday with family, they keep working remotely. Tell co-workers that you will not answer work calls during your vacation. We can refresh our minds only in case we have detachment from work or study. Let every issue go. You have to start a fight with renewed vigour after weekends.
- To capture your best moments, remember to bring your camera with you and prepare some content ideas ready in advance.
2. Choose Your Destination Wisely and Pack Accordingly
Tourism is a phenomenon in which a person personally or in a group of people moves to a place where they do not live for any purpose. So for the best trip, you should recognize the purpose of traveling, is it a family trip or are you going with friends?
Some Actionable Tips
- If it’s a family adventure, you usually need a more comfortable apartment, rather than long-haul flights that can extremely exhaust you. The travel bag must contain road essentials, a full package of documents, toys, clothes suitable for the climate.
- To build rewarding life-worthy memories, you certainly need to avoid touts, hassles, and scams for which annoying merchants resort to stress you out and achieve some benefits from your non-acquaintance.
- On condition that you travel with a group, agree on all the details together. This will help avoid conflicts.
#3 Plan Everything Beforehand
A journey is always stepping outside your comfort zone. If you are going to a new place, it can be stressful to live in an unwonted area with special local customs and foreign language that you do not know, even using the professional service for travel planning.
It can contribute to travel stress, especially making tours independently, when you might also concern organizational moments.
Some Actionable Tips
- Start with the most important things and leave the rest for later. First, set your limits and work with them. Then you should find essentials such as tickets to destination and back, accommodation and only then choose places to go.
- Use the Trip Planner or simply create a spreadsheet in Excel and follow the checklist. Approach all tasks in parts and steps, and you do not need to worry about doing everything at once. These are the basics of planning. When you have a lot of small tasks, it is perceived better than one task in which there are a lot of them.
- Tell your friends and family where and at what time you will be on the road and during your vacation so as not to worry about missing a call from your grandmother or spouse. In case something goes wrong, it will also make it easier for your relatives to get in touch with you and provide essential help.
4. Be Prepared for the Unexpected
In fact, the best advice to travelers is to book your travel in advance. It helps to avoid the stress associated with haste and inconsistencies. Likewise, tickets and accommodation are cheaper if you book it beforehand, which saves our hard-earned money.
When you hold the tickets you have already bought, you can be sure that everything will go according to plan. To travel safely, we also recommend purchasing travel insurance. However, this is not always enough to feel comfortable.
Some Actionable Tips
- Record the addresses and phone numbers of the local consulate of the country of origin and local law enforcement agencies. Do not hesitate to ask for an interpreter in case of emergency.
- Before going on a trip, watch the news feeds, learn about the latest events from people who were at the destination no later than the newest events. Resources like YouTube can help you with this.
- Print at least two copies of your tickets, map screens (for example, may include a map of an airport and city), and reservations in case your phone is out of power.
Conclusion
We hope that these tips will help you avoid stress when traveling. Traveling is a great way to immerse yourself in the culture of other countries and become a better person. So that nothing spoils your adventure, use our tips.
Remember that our wellness can depend on our actions, so the more you will be prepared, the better you enjoy your holiday. Do not fall for the hype, as well. To each their own, trust your gut intellect and choose the best options for you and your family!