Travelling has always been known for giving a pleasant experience to both your mind and your body. It gives you a fresh perspective, an opportunity to introspect, and a whole new enriching experiences. Travelling is like a breath of fresh air. It breaks the monotony of your day to day life and daily grind. But can Travelling affect your mental health in a negative way. Yes, it can. Imagine you are travelling to a crowded place, you might undergo a burn out situation, or feel overwhelmed. Imagine your hotel booking gets cancelled without prior knowledge, the stress of finding a new hotel can creep in. Imagine you getting over powered with a old negative thought. The cases can be innumerous, and the risk is real. So here we are with some of the best tips to maintain mental well being while travelling.
Take it easy – We all want to see the most of the things in least possible time, ending up cramming up our itineraries. But this is not a good move, which can exhaust your mind and body. Instead, try to devote some time to the destination you are travelling and make a prolonged stay if needed.
Proper Planning – Always make prior planning for your trip. If needed brainstorm all you might need to plan before your trip. This will help reduce your stress as everything will be in order. This will also help you in enjoying the most of your holidays. Most importantly, it will save you from uncertainties.
Comfort yourself – Saving extra bucks by booki9ng a cheap hotel might sound alluring, but when you will find out that it doesn’t has kitchen, and you would have to leave the hotel for every breakfast, this is where the stress starts. Do not compromise on your physical comfort, the first step to mental wellness.
Stay in Touch – Travelling means meeting a lot of new people. But all these interactions are short and mostly over the surface. Hence try to keep up with people you care most about. Have meaningful conversations with them, maybe every night of your travel. This will keep you emotionally satisfied.
Sleep Well – Sleep is the best medicine you can give yourself to keep your mind fit. A jam packed itinerary can be very daunting, so stick to the basics, and spare sufficient amount of time for yourself to find rest. Sometimes, traveling can be very exhausting, and good sleep is all you need.
Exercise it – A regular exercise is something that doesn’t only keeps you in shape, but also soothes your mind. Of course, not every hotel you will stay in will have a gymnasium, but the least you can do is practice yoga, or simple workout moves, or simplest of them, push ups. This goes a long way.
Give it for a Cause – If you are travelling for a longer duration at any particular destination, try finding avenues where you can volunteer for a cause you care about, and couldn’t do it before because of hectic schedules, or work life. This will give you a sense of satisfaction, and sense of achievement.
Write it down – Mental wellness is also disturbed when you are not able to express yourself. This is where a travel journal will come to help. Write down all your experiences in the journal. Apart from expressing yourself, writing is a perfect exercise for your minds. This is where you can go creative.
Bring your routine back to life – Travelling means breaking the routine of your life to immerse in new experiences. This is sure enriching, but the drastic change in your routine can be of harm. So take a day, to catch up with things that you would do normally, like watching news or responding to mails.
A souvenir from home – Yes you heard that right, bring a souvenir from home. OF course you should take back gifts for your loved ones from the destination, but this too is important. By keeping something familiar to you from your home, will keep you attached, and refrain the thoughts of home sickness.
Stay Hydrated – Dehydration can fuel up your anxiety, and depression. So the key is to consume adequate amount of water every day. In fact consumption of water is the easiest way to keep yourself mentally and physically fit. It gives you a rush of energy, and cleanses your body off toxics.
Eat Healthy – Travel and new cuisines go hand in hand, and travelling a destination without tasting their local food is so incomplete. We truly agree to that, but you got to balance your diet with some healthy and nutrient rich diet too. The best way is to include some veggies, and salads into your diet.
Avoid Over Drinking – Chilling out yourself in a new night club in foreign lands, is absolutely normal, but don’t over drink yourself. It might lead you to severe headaches the next day along with hang over and troubled stomach. You can avoid this all, by just keeping a check on your drinking limits.
Consult a Shrink before the trip – We all see our doctors, before making any trips, and also stock ourselves up with most common medicines, then why not the same for mental well being. Yes, before embarking your trip, go meet a psychiatrist and plan ahead for your mental well being.
Your Favorite Playlist – Travelling can be very exhausting especially when you have to sit in a plane for straight 7 to 8 hours, or on a car seat or on a train seat for same time. To beat the boredom, and getting anxiety take over you, prepare a playlist with your favorite songs and stay plugged.
Stay Occupied – Plan your itinerary in a way that it keeps you occupied. Staying idle is the best way of inviting negative thoughts to your mind. So always keep yourself engaged. It could be done with help of engaging with locals, or reading a book by the beach, or checking out a new restaurant, or a simple walk.
An extra Day – Travelling to new places comes with uncertainty, so give yourself an extra day where there should be no prior plans. Use this day to accommodate uncertainties, or if not, try to immerse yourself in any activity you like the most, it could be reading, it could be exploration of arts, etc.
Pamper yourself with Mother Nature – It is proven that time spent with mother nature, in outdoor set up, decreases stress, anxiety, and soothes your mind. A breath of fresh air also can do the magic. So when travelling, try to adjust your itinerary with visits to some popular garden, or natural reserves.
Live it up – Travelling is a much needed break, that everyone working hard deserves. But when you are at your travel destinations, live the best version of it, by living in the moment. Try to keep your worries away, try to avoid the thoughts that have been bothering you, instead make memories for life long.
Travelling is the best exercise for your body and your mind!
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