Whether done at home or abroad travel is stressful. The debilitating effects of travel fatigue afflicts travelers of all ages, but you can avoid it by preparing for it ahead of time.
Use these steps to avoid travel fatigue and reduce stress levels to ensure a truly joyful vacation experience!
Organize Early
To avoid any set-backs like a missed flight, poor accommodation or lack of an affordable hotel room, plan early. Search the net for special deals and when found, research the hotel and review the airline or travel company’s terms and conditions. If you are happy with the results, then book immediately.
Better still, enlist the aid of a professional to help take the strain from planning. Travel agents are indispensable resources who can save you money, time and trouble. A badly planned trip can sap the energy and drain the stamina of the most experienced of travelers. If you have doubts about your itinerary, it’s worth partnering with a travel professional to ensure you have a great trip.
Ease the Pace
Do not try to cram in everything into a holiday schedule, it’s impossible and will only cause disappointment. After a long air, train or car journey, too full an itinerary is exhausting. Pace your schedule to sight-see those charming villages, historic buildings and fantastic shopping experiences.
Rushing from one stop to another is tiring and debilitating. Build in some ‘down time’, a time to relax in the hotel room or soaking up the local atmosphere and culture by enjoying a break at a street-side coffee shop. After a long journey by air, rail or road a full itinerary is exhausting. It doesn’t all have to be done in one day!
Use Circadian Rhythms Keep you On Track
Even though sleep is an important restorative, keep to the local hours. When reaching a destination at, say mid-day after a long flight, take a walk on the streets, go window shopping or take a stroll in a local park. Then, go to bed in accordance with local time. This will quickly reset your internal clock and restore normal circadian rhythms.
Request a room away from the hurley-burley of the hotel’s high use areas like lift lobbies. Avoid the noise of street traffic if at all possible to aid you in getting a good night’s rest.
Schedule Time for Road-side Rest
When taking a long drive ensure you build in some rest time to get out and stretch your legs or simply to take a short nap to avoid tiredness that can prove fatal.
Have a hot coffee or tea. Keep moist facial wipes not just to cleanse the road grime and dirt but to freshen up. They really do keep you awake if used frequently. Stop for five or ten minutes every two hours.
Exercise for Wakefulness
Despite what may be expected, maintaining an exercise regime when travelling will keep fatigue at bay. Sensible levels of exercise will boost your energy, leaving you feel physically and mentally refreshed and revived.
If your itinerary is packed with opportunities for exercise, like long walks or kayaking journeys, you’ll satisfy this easily. If you have a lot of down time where you will be sitting or lounging, do be sure to hit the hotel gym or schedule in some long walks to help maintain balance.
Avoid Homesickness
If you are away for an extended time and homesickness creeps up, then a quick phone call to friends and relatives is an excellent morale booster. It will quickly banish those homesick blues.
Travel is exciting and exhilarating, it is challenging and educational, and it broadens the mind, but it can sap stamina and energy. Following these tips will help to banish the negative effects of travel and improve personal well-being, allowing you, the traveler, to get more out of new experiences.
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