Travel Without the Tension: Stress Management Tips for Adventurers

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Travel is an opportunity to see the world outside your bubble and freshen your outlook on life. It’s also inherently stressful because you’re going to a new destination that’s unfamiliar to you. With careful planning, you can reduce the amount of stress that you’ll encounter, have a better time during your trip, and get the most out of the experience.

The following tips are intended to help you prepare for a variety of circumstances and issues you may encounter during your trip. Of course, it’s wonderful if you don’t run into any problems during your trip, but if you do, the tips will help you deal with just about any problem.

Plan Your Itinerary Before You Leave

It’s good to have a solid travel plan in place before you leave for the destination. That includes making a list of the sights and destinations that you have to see while you’re in town. In the event your trip has multiple destinations, figure out how much time you have to devote to each stop and check the distances between each one.

You’ll find it easier and you will experience less stress to get to your desired stops when planning. If you go over your allotted time at a stop, you can reassess your itinerary and decide to skip a destination or spend less time at the next one.

Disconnect From Your Work

There are no ifs, ands, and buts about this tip. You need to tell work that you are on vacation, don’t check your email and voicemail, and do not pick up the phone when it’s a work number. Ultimately, you are on vacation and there’s nothing more important than yourself in the moment. Vacation is a time to take a break from daily stress, experience something new, and feel good again.

Make sure the coworkers you interact with the most are fully aware of your vacation and know you won’t be reachable. This way, they’ll know they need to work around your absence and can’t complain that no one told them you were out of the office.

Make a Physical Copy of Your Travel Paperwork

Smartphones and cloud backups make it easy to access your travel paperwork in case you need to find some information. But you can’t always guarantee that you’ll have access to a computer or an internet connection, even if you’re traveling domestically. Printing out one or more copies of your travel paperwork creates a physical copy that’s easy to retrieve in case of an emergency.

For example, in the event you wind up in an auto accident in Houston that puts you in the hospital, you can have someone go to your hotel room and get your paperwork. You’ll have access to necessary contact information for airlines and hotels that may be otherwise difficult to find if you’re incapacitated. It’s a low-tech action that aids your peace of mind when traveling.

Keep in Touch With Your Travel Companions

It’s easy to get lost or separated from the people you’re traveling with, especially if you’re in an unfamiliar location. Working out a communication strategy with your companions goes a long way towards building confidence in everyone’s ability to be responsible and checking in if something’s taking longer than expected to complete. Everyone knows where everyone is at, and there’s no worrying about who’s going to show up when.

This saves everyone the worry about someone getting into trouble, getting lost, or having a hard time locating the group. Some may feel the act of communicating is overkill, but it helps reduce stress by creating a sense of reassurance that everyone in the group is OK.

Stay Out of the Hotel Room as Much as Possible

The goal of being on vacation is to explore a new destination, learn about a new culture, and try new things. This can’t be done when spending time in a hotel room due to travel stress creating irrational fear. However, you shouldn’t try to avoid the anxiety by staying home as this doesn’t solve the issue.

Going out to explore the destination is the best way to calm anxiety and reduce stress. Moving around, even if it’s only walking, serves to burn off the excess energy that’s created by anxiety. Your stress levels go down as a result, you stay out of the hotel room, and you’ll ultimately get as much out of your vacation as you were hoping.

Bring the Right Gear

Check into the idiosyncrasies of the destination before you leave home to make sure you bring the right equipment with you. You may be heading to a destination known for sunny and warm weather, but are you going during a time of year when inclement weather is likely? A little research on the internet helps you learn more about what extras you should bring to cover a weather contingency. The same goes for an active destination where you’ll be doing some kind of activity regularly.

Make sure to bring the gear and clothing you expect to be wearing, and make that the dominant selection you pack in your suitcase. Pack the rest of the space with the items needed for a bad weather day, or for recovery after a long day. This helps you anticipate bad weather or an adverse event during your trip and spares you the effort of buying something you already have back at home.

Conclusion

Travel can be stressful, even when done with the intent of relaxing and getting away from routines. You’re heading to a destination that’s unfamiliar to you and that requires learning how to navigate the destination without a lot of help. These tips help you get around the stressors that come with travel, and make it easier to understand the destination.

Preparation, being ready for the unknown, and getting out and about all make the experience that much better. While it’s not possible to anticipate every contingency and emergency, you greatly reduce their odds when you have what you need at hand for your trip. In turn, you get to enjoy your destination with confidence because you’re not so stressed out.

Megan Isola

Megan Isola holds a Bachelor of Science in Hospitality and a minor in Business Marketing from Cal State University Chico. She enjoys going to concerts, trying new restaurants, and hanging out with friends.