How to Avoid Burnout While Travelling (with or without a chronic illness!)

I recently got diagnosed with a chronic illness, one that I’ve had for years without even really recognising it for what it was. Before my diagnosis, I just assumed that everyone got home after a day at work and crashed out in bed, unable to muster the energy to do anything else. I thought that everyone got agonising back pain just from standing in one spot for fifteen minutes. And I thought that everyone was getting by on two or three hours of sleep a night just like I was. Apparently, I was wrong. And with my diagnosis came another sudden realisation: that for years I’d unknowingly been adapting the way I travel to compensate for it.

So now that it all makes sense, I thought I’d share some of the adaptations and considerations I’ve often used to make sure that I can still have the best possible time while travelling....because not travelling at all is never going to be an option!

You don't need to have a chronic illness to use these tips, by the way. I was using them before I even knew I had one, after all! If you've ever over-packed your itinerary, struggled to sleep in a strange hotel bed, got hangry while hunting for a decent place to eat, or found yourself wandering around your fifth museum of the trip in a daze, wondering why your feet hurt so much, then you're in the right place!

Want to climb that mountain? Climb it! Go on! Do it!

Tip 1: Don't rush it!

When I was younger, I used to take trips that ticked off five or more destinations in just as many days - the most chaotic being a ten-day coach trip that brought us to six different European countries...six countries in ten days! I wouldn’t recommend a trip like that to even the healthiest traveller, since you’ll barely be able to scratch the surface of a place if you’ve only got a few hours to spend there; but for a traveller with a chronic illness? Just forget it. It’s a fast-track to burnout.

Instead, opt for slow travel, focusing on one country and spending an absolute minimum of three nights in each location. That way, not only do you have time to breathe, but you also get the chance to develop a more meaningful relationship with a new place, discovering its history, food, people and culture.

To give you a tangible example, my longest trip yet was five weeks driving through North America, and it almost broke both me and Patrick, my husband! By the end of the trip, there were some days when we’d happily have done nothing at all, but we had a fairly strict itinerary to stick to - one that took us through two countries and seven different states - so we just had to keep soldiering on! In future, we’d probably choose a single base for each week, taking day trips from that base as and when we felt like it, rather than being bound by the need to get from A to B on a specific date. We did this in Egypt, in fact, opting for an all-inclusive beach resort and taking day trips to historic sights in between the relaxation!

Day-tripping in Egypt, with a relaxing hotel as our base

Tip 2: Factor in downtime

Downtime comes hand-in-hand with slow travel, really. I used to get stressed about cramming as much into a day as possible, filling any dead time between sightseeing with things I wasn’t all that interested in, such as yet another museum visit (what is it with museums, anyway? Why is it so exhausting walking around them?) Now, I factor in a few hours of downtime into every single day of travel. I like to get up bright and early when I’m sightseeing, to photograph places without the crowds that appear around mid-morning, and I also love a good sunset. For me, then, my downtime naturally fits in between lunchtime and dinner time. I used to feel guilty about holing up in my hotel room in the afternoon, but I’ve recently come to realise how silly this guilt is. Would I rather spend the time traipsing like a zombie around yet another art gallery only to crash out by 6pm, or would I rather re-emerge like a butterfly from its cocoon, refreshed and resplendent, in time for a spectacular sunset and a fancy dinner? Even with my downtime, I still manage to see everything I want to see, and end my trip with no regrets. Depending on your travel priorities, find a downtime window that works for you, and make sure you honour it without feeling like you're wasting time!

Another often overlooked factor when planning downtime is the weather. In the summer especially, temperatures can skyrocket between midday and early evening, and yet so many travellers intend to go about their sightseeing without adapting to this. The result is dehydration, sunstroke and heat exhaustion, which can lead to headaches, nausea and even passing out. Listen: there's nothing wrong with taking it easy during the hottest part of the day. Nobody's judging you, I promise. If it's not practical to go back to your hotel room during these hours, find a cool cafe or bar to hole up in, and rehydrate. Your body will thank you!

I got to enjoy this sunset in Venice after a few hours' afternoon downtime in my room!

Tip 3: Plan your public transport

I hate the fear of being exploited by private transportation when travelling - I’ve never forgotten the time in Italy when my taxi driver pocketed the fifty euro note I'd accidentally given him instead of a twenty, because it was too dark to see the difference - so I tend to walk as much as I can, sometimes clocking in 20+ kilometres a day. Sometimes, this is fine, especially if I plan in my afternoon downtime to recover. But sometimes, out of nowhere, I hit the wall: my back hurts, I get dizzy and nauseous, and it starts to feel like my feet are encased in concrete. When this happens, I don’t have to worry, because I’ve done some advance research into the public transit system.

If there’s a metro/subway system at your destination, make this your first choice: it’s quick, cheap and usually well-signposted. It’s hard to get too lost when you’re riding the subway, and if you do, it’s easy to rectify your mistake! Buses require a little more research, but with an app like Google Maps it’s often fairly self-explanatory! One absolute must before using public transport is to find out ticket rates - day passes are often better value than single tickets - and also where they can be bought: some tickets must be bought on the platform, others from automated machines on the bus; some bus drivers give change, while others accept only exact change. I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a ticket machine in a major city that didn’t have an English-language option for selecting tickets and routes, so make sure you use it! Knowing these things in advance takes the stress out of travelling by public transport, so you can save your energy for more important matters!

After hours walking around Barcelona, the metro system was a life-saver!

Tip 4: Plan your meals

One of the most exhausting aspects of travelling used to be hunting down somewhere to eat. You’re usually already hungry, but you don’t want to take a chance on just any old restaurant, so you find yourself traipsing around for far too long until your stomach starts to grumble too loudly for you to ignore and you find yourself submitting to the nearest English-menu-toting host beckoning you into a generic-looking ‘ristorante’ with the promise overpriced burgers or an all-you-can-eat pasta bar. We’ve all been there. Instead, do your research in advance to filter out the tourist traps, make a reservation if you can: the most popular places often require at least a week’s advance booking, so don’t delay! Being the foodies that we are, we can often spend hours researching the best local dishes and where to eat them: but at least I can do it from the comfort of my living room before I travel, so that when we arrive at the restaurant we’re refreshed and excited, rather than frazzled and ready for the night to be over!

I’ve written an extensive post about how to research, plan and book meals in advance HERE.

You'd better believe all these meals in Japan were planned in advance!

Tip 5: Get a good night’s sleep

I really struggle to fall asleep no matter where I am, but it’s always been worse when travelling: the combination of unfamiliar and often uncomfortable beds, thin curtains, variable temperatures and general excitement for the next day’s adventures can often lead to sleepless nights, which then have an impact on my energy levels the next day. To combat this, I’ve learned how to create a sleep-friendly environment when I travel.

-Bring an eye mask and some ear plugs. The eye mask ensures that you’re not waking up as soon as the sun rises, or being bothered by the glow of electronics in hotel rooms or the flashing lights of passing traffic outside. Ear plugs are an absolute must: they’re great for drowning out traffic noise, loud air conditioning units, or rowdy neighbours.

-Consider bringing your own pillow. I have a soft, feather pillow that I always bring with me when I travel - even if it takes up half my luggage space! This way, I never have to worry about hard or lumpy pillows, and I can feel a little more like I’m cosied up in my own bed.

-Choose accommodation with air-conditioning. There’s nothing worse than a sweaty, sleepless summer night spent regretting this oversight! We’ve made this mistake enough times that we’re now happy to pay a little more for the improved sleep quality that comes with having air-conditioning!

-Avoid accommodation located in nightlife hotspots. Check the reviews to make sure that the hotel you’re thinking of booking isn’t located beside a bar or similar all-night venue! You might like the convenience of being in the centre of town, but it’s usually just as loud at night as it is during the day, if not more: all things considered, isn’t it better to wake up half an hour earlier to make your way into the centre from a quieter neighbourhood, rather than spending the whole night awake and wishing you were anywhere else?

-Consider your bed-sharing arrangements. If you’re travelling alone or with friends, this probably doesn’t apply to you, but if you’re travelling as a couple, perhaps consider whether a couple of nights in twin beds might be a better option than squeezing yourselves into a tiny, cramped so-called ‘double’ where every tiny movement creaks the bed springs and makes you feel seasick! We’ve certainly sacrificed the odd evening snuggle in the name of a good night’s sleep before, and we will again in the future!

-Check the reviews for warning signs. Before you book your accommodation, look for key phrases in the reviews regarding issues that might affect your ability to relax at night. I spend more time than most people trawling through reviews before booking hotels, searching for any of the following red-alert phrases: “thin walls”, “no soundproofing”, “traffic noise”, “next to main road”, “hard bed”, “small bed”, “air conditioning broken”, “stuffy”, “strong smell”, “party neighbourhood”, “nightlife”, “no privacy”. What can I say? Once bitten, twice shy!

Ear plugs and an eye mask helped us to ignore the midnight sun and this roaring waterfall while camping in Iceland!

Tip 6: Plan your itinerary mindfully

Another mistake we used to make when travelling was planning too many high-intensity activities for the same day. Then, a couple of years ago, someone we know gave us a fantastic tip that we've used ever since: plan just one 'Big Thing' a day, and then let the rest of the day come together around this.

What does this look like in practice? I'll use three days in Paris as an example. Say we want to climb the Eiffel Tower, explore the Louvre, visit Versailles, explore all the different neighbourhoods, and try quintessential French cuisine.

How we used to travel:

Day 1: The Louvre (BT - Big Thing), Eiffel Tower (BT), cram in another museum or two (BT) to make the day seem 'worthwhile'

Day 2: day trip to Versailles (BT), explore Montmartre, too tired for a nice dinner

Day 3: crash out, exhausted, forced to abandon our other plans for the day!

How we travel now:

Day 1: The Louvre (BT), leisurely explore Montmartre, stopping for drinks and food along the way

Day 2: day trip to Versailles (BT), nice dinner

Day 3: Eiffel Tower (BT), leisurely explore local neighbourhoods, another nice dinner

As you can see, pacing yourself means that you have something big to look forward to each day, without feeling completely overwhelmed. Travelling should be a marathon, not a sprint: if you spend the first couple of days ticking everything off your bucket list, it's all very quickly going to become a big, exhausted blur! If you find you've ended up with more Big Things than days, you need to either think about extending your trip by another day or so, or be ruthless and ditch a Big Thing: as Patrick always (infuriatingly, yet wisely) tells me, "It just gives us another reason to come back!"

Climbing the Eiffel tower was our day's Big Thing in Paris...photographing it was just an added bonus!

Tip 7: know your limits

As much as you might want to jump at the chance to travel wherever you want, whenever you want, sometimes it’s important to be realistic and know your limits.

For example, we’re often invited on weekend trips that might involve a 4-6 hour train journey or car ride on a Friday right after work, a Saturday jam-packed with sightseeing from morning until night, and a return journey on the Sunday. Just the thought of this stresses me out, and before my diagnosis I couldn’t understand how anyone could possibly survive this kind of trip: the journey time-to-sightseeing time ratio just seemed all out of whack and a recipe for burnout!

If you’ve got a chronic illness, the thought of spending your weekend doing anything other than recovering from the working week and recharging for the next one can often seem like madness. As a result, we turn down these offers of weekend trips more often than we accept them, which can often make me feel like a bit of a social pariah!

However, it’s important to remember that good friends shouldn’t begrudge you for turning them down when it all feels like too much. Weekend trips aren’t the only way to socialise, after all: we try to compensate by hosting dinners or game nights whenever we can!

Note that "knowing your limits" isn't the same as "don't do anything, ever!" You'll have some limits, it's true, but doesn't everyone? And for every limit you encounter, there will still be a hundred things you can do instead...so go and do them!