How to Avoid & Combat Travel Fatigue

Do you ever find yourself on the vacation that you’ve dreamed about and you start to feel exhausted, irritated, or even angry? It feels like it doesn’t make sense because you’ve been having fun and you’ve really enjoyed your trip but now you suddenly crave stability and routine instead of adventure. You could be experiencing travel fatigue.

Unlike jet lag, travel fatigue can occur when air travel is not involved. Travel fatigue is caused by being on constant alert while traveling. It can present as exhaustion, a lack of motivation, or disengagement from the enjoyment of activities that you would normally be excited about. Travel fatigue is something we’ve become intimately familiar with as we’ve begun to extend our travels over multiple weeks and months. We’ve tried many things over the years to help avoid and address it, and we’ve compiled a list of our best remedies to help you overcome this obstacle when it threatens to steal your joy.

10 Practical Remedies for Travel Fatigue

1. Ditch the guilt. It’s ok to admit when you’ve had enough. Recognizing the signs of travel fatigue and knowing that it needs to be addressed is the best first step. There’s no reason to feel guilty about skipping a planned activity. It may be exactly what’s needed so that you can all get back on track and enjoy the rest of your upcoming activities.

2. Slow Down. If you’re traveling full-time, or even for an extended time, it’s important to know your optimal speed. Some families can go for days on end with constant activities and commitments. Others, like ours, need to have some down time between activities. Find your speed and don’t exceed it.

3. Hit the pause, or even the eject, button. Sometimes slowing down isn’t enough. If you travel full-time, this is an opportunity to clear your schedule, find a comfortable Airbnb, and just rest for a few days, or even weeks. If you still have a “home-base,” it may even be time to consider cutting the activities short and heading home early. Getting back to your comfortable surroundings and routine might be the solution.

4. Recognize and address each person’s needs. A group is only as happy as the least happy person in its traveling party. If your kids are dragging because they need a break, maybe it’s time for a nap or a quiet activity. If someone’s getting “hangry,” be sure to stop and refuel before pressing on. It’s important to know that addressing these needs when they arise might mean a temporary break but will definitely help smooth the longer-term plans.

5. Get quality sleep. Sleep is a basic need. If you’re not getting regular quality sleep everything else will start to suffer as well. If your schedule is too packed or the stress is affecting your sleep, it’s time to slow down, cancel some of the adventure, and make sure everyone is well rested. Take a few days and focus on minimizing activities and getting to bed early. If possible, turn the alarm off and let everyone sleep until they wake up naturally. Once you’re well rested, you can get back to your schedule with a body and brain that are refreshed and ready for action.

6. Feed your body good quality fuel. Vacations are often packed with junk food. It’s cheap, easy, and quick, allowing for more money and time to be spent elsewhere. Long periods of travel need to be addressed differently than the typical vacation mindset. It’s important to remember that if your body isn’t getting quality nutrients, it won’t be able to run at the optimal speed. Make sure you’re prioritizing quality proteins, fruits, and vegetables over fast food and treats. Or, at the very least, balancing out the junk food with some healthier options. In addition, be sure to stay hydrated! When we’re busy traveling, we often neglect to drink enough water. Dehydration can cause headaches and brain fog. Be sure to fill your water bottle every chance you get.

7. Phone a Friend. If homesickness is part of the issue, have a video chat with someone who will brighten your day and help fill your tank. Spending significant time away from your normal routine can cause you to crave the comforts of home. Talking to a good friend might just be the thing which soothes that craving and boosts your spirit for the next several days. If you’re slow traveling for months at a time, consider scheduling a regular weekly call. It will be a constant, even as things change around you, and will give you something to look forward to if you’re having a particularly rough week (or even if you’re not).

8. Get some exercise. Being cooped up in a vehicle for days on end can make you feel stiff and sore. Take some time to stretch and maybe go for a family walk. Exercise causes your brain to release good chemicals like endorphins and serotonin, lifting your mood. Fresh air can also raise oxygen levels in your brain, helping to improve mindfulness and to aid in decision making. In addition, the activity can distract you from negative thought patterns. Regular exercise is a great and proven way to improve overall mental health.

9. Find the humor. Even when things go wrong, you can still find the humor in it. As a matter of fact, some of our most challenging and frustrating moments are the ones we laugh hardest about later. If you find yourself in a stressful situation, try taking a step back and viewing it as though you were just an observer. Reframing the situation from an outsider’s perspective depersonalizes the challenge and can not only help you find the humor but also give you new ideas for a solution.

   If you can’t find joy in your current situation, sit the family down in a comfy hotel or Airbnb and find a comedy that will get you all laughing. Our family fell in love with the movie Storks many years ago and still crack up when we quote lines from it. We like to watch The Masked Singer together and make our best guesses about who’s behind each mask. Marvel movies are always high on our list as well. My point is that whatever you do at home to decompress can also be done on the road. We use our Roku (that always travels with us) to access our streaming services. We also use SurfShark (our VPN) on our devices to protect them, but also to access content that is unavailable in the US, giving us many other options to bring comfort and laughter.

10. Keep a journal. This might seem like a strange suggestion. However, I’ve found that by journaling our day’s activities, I’m a lot more aware of how much we’re asking of each family member, especially the little ones. Sometimes, we forget how much we’ve packed into our days. Having a journal to document all of your activities, including the highs and lows, will give you a way to look back and determine what might have triggered the fatigue and bad moods. It will also be a treasured keepsake of your travels for years to come.

Bonus Tip

Bring along the most important items to keep you healthy, happy, and engaged in the journey. Part of enjoying any journey, no matter how long or short, near or far, is to make sure that you have the proper tools in your tool chest to address the issues that arise. We pack a first aid kit to be able to help aid a headache, bandage an injury, stave off car sickness, and deal with muscle aches. We pack food to keep us from getting hangry. Ellie always packs her favorite silk pillowcase and, for longer trips, she even packs a robe. These items don’t take up much room and make her feel pampered no matter where she’s staying. Sophie brings Cinnamon (her favorite stuffed friend) everywhere to help her sleep at night and Rachel doesn’t leave on trips without her sketchbook and supplies. Your list will likely look a little different than ours, but be sure to identify what your most important items are to help improve your adventures!

Knowing what triggers travel fatigue and using these tips to prevent and remedy it has helped us improve our extended travels. We still encounter travel fatigue every now and then, but, with our learnings, we are now much better equipped to identify it early on and begin addressing it before things get out of hand. We hope that adding these tips to your tool box will help you avoid and combat travel fatigue as you enjoy your own Uncommon Family Adventures!