Mid-trip travel blues
Coping without the comforts of home
Do you ever get the blues while travelling?
A lot of travel bloggers talk about the post-travel blues and what to do to overcome this feeling after returning from a fabulous adventure, but no one really talks about experiencing down days or sadness DURING the act of travelling. I mean why would they? Holidays and travel time are meant to be fun! An escape from the drudgery of every day life. So why would anyone feel down when they’re off having a grand old time gallivanting around the world?
Whether your holiday is a long adventure or just a few short weeks, the blues can still hit you regardless of how well your adventure is going. Perhaps you miss the comforts of home, friends and family. Perhaps you’re stuck in a place you don’t really like, or had a bad experience with a person, a hotel or tour company, or the weather has just turned to shit. Whatever has caused you to feel a little bit blue can be managed in several ways. Obviously you won’t have the comforts of home but there are alternatives that can lift your spirits or just make a shitty day go that little bit faster.
In my 20’s I backpacked Western Europe for four weeks after attending a work/study conference in Munich. Although four weeks is not a really long time, I still had my down days. Being the year 2000 things were a little different. No smart phones for one. I remember having an extremely bad day in Milano of all places. The youth hostel I was staying at was pretty restrictive by today’s standards, out by 9am and not allowed back until 5pm. You either got locked in or locked out between 9 and 5. I was only there a couple of nights so I didn’t bother looking for some place better. But on one of those days I broke my camera, I sliced my thumb open pretty badly trying to fix it, and in the process ruined two rolls of film. I couldn’t get in touch with my boyfriend back home and it was pouring rain. I was cold, hurt, and sad.
I hated that day.
Now I’m not religious by any means but after walking around in the freezing cold, unable to phone home, and feeling pretty miserable I walked into Duomo di Milano to get out of the rain, take a seat and get my thoughts together. I sat in a pew near the centre and listened to mass in Latin. I cried. I cried until the tears no longer came. I sat there for hours until a sense of peace and calm washed over me. I ended up listening to two different sermons. When the sermons ended, I marvelled at the architecture and stained glass windows. I watched tours come and go. At one point, I pulled the Lonely Planet guide out of my drenched backpack (how ironic that I was feeling sad and lonely) and read about the duomo. I realised how wonderful this place was. Just being there brought me peace and made me feel safe. After so many hours just sitting and listening, I was thankful for having entered the duomo, perhaps not rejuvenated, but definitely thankful.
Eventually I left. I was dry, less anxious and felt much better. I grabbed an espresso and a slice pizza and headed back to the hostel. The next morning I boarded a train for a day trip to Verona, fixed my camera on the way and arrived, unexpectedly, in the middle of Carnevale! Verona Carnevale, also known as Bacanal del Gnoco, was a very bright and intense day. I ate plenty of gnocchi and the blues stayed in Milano. The contrast between the two days was immense. However, the effects of my experience in Milano was enough for me to leave as soon as I could. And the very next day I was on my way to Rome.
Most trips I will have a down day or two or three. A day to relax, replenish, refill my cup. A day to stave off the blues if they haven’t already arrived. This can manifest itself in various forms. It could be whiling away the day with a book at a good coffee shop, bar, poolside, or the beach. I do still take a physical book or two with me when travelling, but most hotels have a bookcase in the foyer or reception area where you can pickup a free book to read. It could mean going for a massage and a mani/pedi. Cheap if you are travelling through southeast Asia, but more expensive elsewhere. Perhaps a day at the cinema with popcorn. I’m not a shopper, but shopping at a local mall could relax some people or provide comfort in the familiar. Walking through a rainforest or nature reserve will instantly pick-up my mood as I love being out in nature, particularly in coastal regions.
Sometimes these days are planned, other times the weather or an experience will dictate when they occur. In 2023 while travelling through Mexico I had booked a cheap hostel in Palenque for a few nights in order to see the Mayan ruins (the best in Mexico in my humble opinion) and the nearby waterfalls of Agua Azul and Misol-Ha. For those of us old enough to remember, Misol-Ha was the waterfall featured in the movie Predator. I got off the bus in torrential rain and made a dash for the hostel when there was a short break in the weather. Because the weather was really awful and I would get absolutely saturated just stepping outside, I spent an entire day just laying about at the hostel, reading my book and using the free Wi-Fi to book future adventures and bus tickets online. I did venture out once for coffee and a bite to eat, and when I eventually got to the waterfalls they were just so powerful and extremely beautiful with all that extra water. The noise was deafening at Misol-Ha.
So while we assume that travel is all fun and games and happy times, it can also be an overwhelming, anxiety-inducing and sometimes lonely experience. I know for myself these feelings never last long and sometimes all you need is a good, long sleep to get rid of the blues. Other times it may require a little more work or a friendly, cheerful face, even if a stranger, just to know you are not alone. One thing I do know for sure, that while I experience days like this on nearly every trip, it will not stop me travelling. It will not make me fear the unknown, but allow me to keep exploring new places and learning new things, even if a little vulnerable or sad at times. I will always seek out new adventures and experience this huge wide world we live in for as long as I am able!
And I hope you do too.
What I am listening to: I’ve listed some of my favourite podcasts below. Your favourite podcasts are good for travel downtime on planes, trains or automobiles and can easily get you through a day of bad weather! I wish we had this back in the day. All the latest episodes have popped up in the links below.
Bang on for everything art, music, life and farrrshun!
One Girl Travel for solo travel tips and community.
All in the mind for fascinating stories linked to how the human mind perceives and copes with a variety of situations.
Download this show for everything tech. Very Australian oriented. The host, Marc Fennell, has some other great podcasts (e.g. Stuff the British Stole) and longer form Audible series, e.g. This is not a Game, House of Skulls, Nut Jobs.
Friend Forward for understanding the complexities of female friendship.