Do you ever get burned out?

[goodtimes245]

Ok, so I am not sure if this is the right place to ask this, but I've been thinking about it and wanted to hear anyone's thoughts.
So, after watching A Map For Saturday again, I started thinking about what he says towards the end about long-term travelers that become "numb" to the experience. You get so used to the lifestyle that you start not realizing how cool it is, that a waterfall just becomes another waterfall.
I guess the question is, have you guys had a point where you lose the perspective of how amazing the trip is? If there is, is it better to have shorter trips so that the " I can't believe I am doing this" factor stays with you?
I have only done a few short (about a week) trips so far, but am eagerly looking forward to doing a long one in the next year. Now I just can't shake the fear that once I get out there, at some point I will become numb to it and not see it for what it is.
Anyways, a long random rant, but any thoughts?

Cheers!

[joe7f]

Burnout is sort of inevitable. I did 3 months back in 2006 and 5 in 2008 and each time I was ready to get home. My sister who accompanied me on the 5 month trip (well, the majority of it anyway) was "over" travel. She had no desire to go anywhere.

Then a funny thing happened. I started planning a trip to London and Northern Spain and she has it again.

Don't be afraid of the burnout it just means that you have already had amazing times. Stay positive and love life... it sure beats the alternative .

--Joey

[xanthuos]

Yes. Then again, I've ended up not traveling internationally as much as I'd like to have. People I know tell me how much they'd like to do what I do and my response isn't very positive any longer. I'm tired of living as a nomad, but I'm not sure what different kind of lifestyle I want yet so it's a catch-22. Easier to continue doing this for now.

[jabad17]

everybody's experience of traveling is different but i can pretty much guarantee that your long-term trip will be nothing like the week-long jaunts you've taken so far. short trips tend to be more adrenaline, everything is different and amazing, clashing of cultures, etc. during a long term trip, traveling becomes your norm, packing up your bags, different hostel beds, meeting and leaving people everyday. and yeah, pretty soon you realize that every town has its history museum and town square with a statue to one of its great heroes, cool nature sights and lots of people just going about their daily business like they have and will everyday of their life. does that mean it's not worth it? not at all. it just means your experiences and what you get out of them might be completely different than what you were expecting before you left.

i've realized that a month is the perfect length for me, gives you time to do what you want without rushing and to get the feel of being on the road and soak in the cultures you experience. but much longer than that and i want my own shower and bed, food that's familiar and some friends i've known for years and don't have to say goodbye to tomorrow.

[maracle]

Even on short trips I've always been willing to throw my itinerary out the window...I think I'll be doing the same on long trips, there's nothing wrong with just settling somewhere for a couple weeks and picking up a few hours of work at a hostel right?

[Canadian Bacon]

Yeah sometimes burnout and be intense, and its made worse by the fact that you're in city X and so much stuff to see and do and all you really wanna do is chat with people in the hostel or sleep.

I figure with burnout, the thing is - if you're forcing yourself to do something, you're not really into it. Avoiding burnout is doing what you feel like doing and listening to your body... if you need a rest, you need a rest, regardless of how many mountains you planned to climb at 6am after drinking until 4.

[leonardo]

Originally Posted by Canadian Bacon

I figure with burnout, the thing is - if you're forcing yourself to do something, you're not really into it. Avoiding burnout is doing what you feel like doing and listening to your body... if you need a rest, you need a rest, regardless of how many mountains you planned to climb at 6am after drinking until 4.

Agreed. You just have to know yourself and know what you like. I enjoy going round museums and art galleries say, but I can only take so much!

Burnout is frustrating really. I've been in places where I've really tried to see stuff, but it turned out that the only thing that would make me happy at that particular time was to waste 2 hours on the internet reading up on the sport from back home. You just think 'I haven't come all this way, spent all this money, to do this!' But if you're not in the right frame of mind you're not going to enjoy all that culture stuff anyway. Go onto facebook and fill in a "what character from transformers are you?" survey. You'll feel much better.

[ajb3000]

Having been traveling for a year now I can tell you that you definitely do get burned out, but it doesn't mean you stop enjoying the trip. The first few months I was staying 2-3 days in each place, seeing all the museums and attractions and then moving on quickly. After a while I started spending 4-5 days in each place and spending some days just relaxing. Then when I got really tired of a particular culture (in my case Islamic countries) I moved on to a country with a vastly different culture (I skipped a few countries on my planned route and went straight to India).

Now I'm no longer interested in any but the most interesting attractions and haven't been to a museum in months, but I'm enjoying amazing scenery and socialising with other westerners, so I make sure I'm going to places where they are possible.

Also, a waterfall becomes just another waterfall if you've already seen a more impressive waterfall. I've seen people amazed a sights that I thought were alright, but only because I've seen even more amazing places. Also I'm looking forward to having a base and not moving around, but the plan is to do that in Aus which being from the UK, will still be traveling for me.

So the summery of that long explanation is to be flexible and change your plans based on how you feel. Don't feel like you have to do anything because you don't, you're there to have an amazing time.

[cruella_tkill]

I agree that a strict itinerary is more likely to make you burn out. I went on a 2 week trip to Japan and after planning my days out by the hour and seeing a ton of similar sites in the first 5 days (too many temples/shrines!) and overall just cramming waaaaaay too much stuff in a day, I had had enough. I took an extra day to relax on a small island where I ended up just walking around on the beach and enjoying the scenery/talking to random people. After that, I felt a lot more invigorated. And at first I thought I was wasting time just hanging out when I should be seeing things, but looking back, experiencing the culture of another company does include doing nothing like the rest of the folk do

[astro25e]

Limit the amount of museums/churches/ruins that you see during your trip. While most capital cities have amazing 'all of the aboves' you will probably get too tired to do it all. Maybe decide that you really want to see the art museums in Paris, but in Rome, check out the ruins.

Of course, you will want to see everything, but remember, if you are feeling stressed and bored, but it's a nice, sunny day, maybe skip the Temple on the other side of the city. Instead, grab a coffee, sit back in a park and do some people watching. A day off during your trip will do wonders.

(And it doesn't hurt to take a night off from the heavy drinking! And you will feel sooo much better the next day!)