Travel to Hype vs Travel to Enjoy

Amsterdam 2017
I love the time we are living in. I am talking about the Fourth Industrial (Digital) Revolution. We are lucky! We have many opportunities and access to learning new things, work remotely, use new gadgets and applications.
And also… Travel.
I agree that traveling is one of the best ways to change our mindset positively, and become more open-minded, experienced and so on. If I look at the way how some people arrange their trips, I see a clear pattern.
I call this pattern “Travel to Hype."
For example, buying a 5-days tour around ten different cities, then seeing sights and eating on the go, then sleeping for a few hours (sometimes not even in the bed), and the next day, hitting the road again.
It’s hard to believe that the majority of people find this pleasant. As a result, most of the things you see would be forgotten, and at the end of the journey, travelers would feel exhausted and tired.
Like anyone else, I do love traveling.

Map of visited countries
Moreover, I want to enjoy my trip and benefit from it entirely. I don’t want to damage my physical and mental health (avoid “travel burnout”), and I want to learn something new. So, I decided to set up some “travel” rules based on my preferences.
- Visiting at least 1, preferably 2, new countries in a single year
I also look forward to discovering other cities in the countries that I have visited already. Mainly, it depends on the free time and vacation days, of course.
- Not cramming too much in one trip
Sure, it can be tempting to visit every single attraction in the 400-page guidebook. This “touristic passion” can quickly eat up all your energy reserves.
So, I have learned how to prioritize quality experiences over quantity to avoid any kind of burnout afterward.
- Spending more money than usual
I cannot say I am a big fan of wasting money, especially, when I earn them.
In spite of this, money doesn’t make me happy in the long-term because of my ambitions. It is just a tool to reach my goals and fulfill my needs.
Like traveling.
So, from my point of view, if I am traveling, I am spending much more money than I do in my everyday life. That is because I want to get an excellent, memorable, and high-quality experience.
- Not comparing my travel experiences to others’
It’s easy to beat ourselves up when we look at friends’ travel experiences, read a travel blog full of beautiful photos, and look at glowing trip reports. It makes us feel as if we are the only ones who are suffering.
It’s wrong! We don’t see bad parts of their travels.
So, comparing yourself to anyone else is a bad idea. We never know who is battling with anxiety and problems behind the scenes.
…
And there you have it! Thank you for reading!
Want to share your tips and advice? Got questions? Just contact me or find me on Twitter or Instagram.
Cheers,
ilonacodes