By: Margyle
Have you ever loved what you are doing but can’t wait for it to end?
I love travelling. It is probably my favourite hobby and from it I have learned more about the world and myself than I dare say I have in almost any other pursuit in my short life. I plan out all the details, save the money and look forward to it so much it’s scary, and before I even depart I start thinking about later adventures. With so much to see out there, I have to act soon and often if I hope to see and do as much as the world has to offer.
Which is why it probably comes as a surprise to many that it exhausts me rather quickly. Sometimes I have to stay somewhere nice at the airport for a night before coming home or I might die. To me, it’s worth the money to stay places like the The Courtyard by Marriott at Gatwick Airport or the Bewley’s Hotel Manchester Airport on my way home from Europe. Yes, after all the time, expense and attention put towards this venture, I would want nothing more than to go home. It’s messed up, I know.
Take my latest adventure, for example. Paris, Rome, Pisa, Cinque Terre, Florence, Venice, Edinburgh, Highlands, London. Six months of planning and a few thousand dollars later, I found myself in Scotland – 2 weeks into my Euro-trip – and I felt something snap inside me. I wanted to go home… but I still had a week to go. I don’t know if it was the length of time (25 days) or the weather (mid 30’s and humid to low teens and wet) or the irksome nature of my travel companions coupled with maintaining a positive and adventuresome attitude (I was pretty testy to some) for said duration, but I just wanted it to end.
In all likelihood, it was the pace. We had a rather fixed itinerary and were trying to cram many things into a relatively short period of time. I saw a butt load of things while living in Australia and Japan, but in between the adventures I got to go home and chill out – sleep in, have some alone time, eat regular food and not always being a tourist. Hogga and I have discussed this before: go go go drives us nuts and you will be dealing with a very cranky Margyle if that is the agenda… and if you think I’m bad, try dealing with a grumpy pants Hogga. Note: She does not like to be poked.
I had a great time on the trip but I think in the future, either a shorter trip is in store or the same duration but at a more relaxed pace. The only problem you run across, which is undoubtedly everyone’s major issue, is cost. Getting to and from your destination is pricey and everyone tries to make the most of their time, particularly if crossing an ocean is involved. There just comes a time where less is more and doing nothing is better than something.
But man oh man I can’t wait for next time!
21 Comments
Traveling quickly on tours can definitely lead to burning out quickly.
No bed is as cozy as home bed maybe.
I think it might be a comfort thing too and some hostel beds are brutal, but I’ve also been in some amazingly cozy ones as well.
It’s a lesson I definitely learned too.. traveling is great but it’s effing exhausting, and down time is just as important as go time. No matter how much time you give yourself in a place, you will NEVER be able to see and do all the things there are to do. So the best you can do is to do only what you can, at a relaxed pace, and enjoy what you’re doing–whether that’s climbing a mountain or taking a fat nap.
HAHA. I do enjoy naps! And you’re right, I rushed a lot of things in my travels and now there’s a few countries I would like to go back too and explore more of.
Beds suck and downtime sucks as well. I’m in “downtime” now and I’m bored to death. We got one life to live, rest is for people who live vanilla gay lives.
That is all
True! Gotta make sure you don’t burn yourself out though as well.
After going so slow on our current trip I couldn’t imagine trying to go back to the breakneck pace “vacations” where we come back to work more tired than we left. Sure, we had experiences but good lord! 😛
Yeah, even slow vacations can be tiring when you get back, fly in the day before work and you have to do laundry and get groceries etc. Rushing around to get ready for going back on Monday.
I learned a solid lesson about pacing on my recent rtw. Next time ( 😉 ) I’ll take a much different approach and not be in constant motion. Too tiring and makes me miss out on a lot…
Where were you?
I have learned that I enjoy traveling more the slower I go. I get way too tired if I try to move to different places too frequently or jam-pack every day.
And you miss things when you’re rushing
That is a whole lot of cities geographically spread out in just 25 days! Wow! And I thought our Semester at Sea trip was a whirlwind.
It was a great time but there were definitely some modifications I could’ve made to it. That being said… I’d probably do something similar again if the price was right:p
That is A LOT to do in a short time!! I would have had a meltdown, too. I think the key to travel is not packing so much in. I know it costs a lot of money to get over to places, but what’s the point of going and experiencing other places if your heart isn’t in it and it is just a race to the finish line? I have done that to myself and it makes me miserable.
Yeah, I don’t know how Mike does it either. I need hammock days during my trips. I love to explore, but I also need some relax time as most of my trips I worked really hard for and deserve to have some pampering time to myself.
Whenever I complete a long backpacking expedition I always feel happy to be back home for a while; however, that only last for a couple of weeks and then I start to regret that I ever had such feelings.
HAHA don’t we all? So happy to be home – friends, family, food, bed and then a few weeks later all you want to do is get on a plane!
To each their own as far as travel pace goes… all I know is the ‘sleep when you’re dead’ approach usually means you’ll get your wish sooner than you expected.
Cramming a bunch in makes for exciting times but no matter how much you see it doesn’t mean you’ve seen it all – some of the best experiences and memories are during the so called downtime!
And Nomadic Samuel, I feel exactly the same way!
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