Travel fatigue is something not frequently discussed among travelers, but it's very real according to science. While you can avoid it a lot of the time by being aware and proactive, it will eventually set in on any long-term trip.
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Jet lag symptoms usually occur within a day or two after traveling across at least two time zones. Symptoms are likely to be worse or last longer the farther you travel. This is especially true if you fly east. It usually takes about a day to recover for each time zone crossed.
There are several physiological reasons. tl;dr Travelling is stressful on the body, and stress can make you tired or fatigued. Most travelling involves sitting. Sitting is not as easy on the body as one might expect, especially when the seat is not ergonomic.
In fact, frequent business travelers tend to suffer from health problems ranging from obesity to insomnia. “Oddly enough, those who never travel and those who travel the most seem to be the sickest,” says Soumya Panchagnula, M.D., a family medicine specialist with Henry Ford Health.
You could be experiencing a burnout if you ever wake up feeling dejected and exhausted, like you want to give up on the day before it has even started. These are the days when all you want to do is crawl back under the covers and not move all day.
One reason people feel post-vacation fatigue is that they push themselves too hard when they're back home. If someone's effort to take care of as many home tasks as possible before leaving fell a little short, there can be an overwhelming feeling of “I need to catch up to get back on track”.
Practice self-care to avoid post-travel fatigueStay hydrated, eat nutritious foods, get some exercise, and try to take it easy on alcohol and caffeine—at least while your body's trying to overcome jet lag.
It manifests as apathy toward travel activities that usually excite you, and a lack of motivation enjoy local culture and cuisine. Like other types of burnout, travel fatigue is a feeling of deep weariness and disengagement.
How long does it take your body to recover from vacation? But vacations don't always leave us feeling as refreshed as we would like. New research has found that it takes at least three days to return to a normal sleep pattern after a holiday, increasing to four days after a two-week break.
As annoying (and uncomfortabe) as it can be, Trotman reminds us that “some degree of bloating after a plane trip is normal, and it should typically resolve itself within a couple of days.
Travel is generally enjoyable and sometimes life transforming, but it can be stressful. Lack of familiar support systems, disrupted daily routines, language barriers, culture shock, and unexpected situations can intensify stress levels rather than alleviate them.
People may experience travel anxiety because of the unknown. For example, they may wonder what would happen if they ran out of money, got lost, or became ill. Having a plan in place for worst-case scenarios may help ease these fears.
Excess travel is defined as the arithmetic difference between total actual highway use, exclusive of destination-free pleasure driving, and the use that would have resulted if all such travel had been made by using the optimum route connecting each individual origin-destination pair.
The truth is that a one-size-fits-all answer doesn't exist here. Your goals and available vacation time will affect how often you can and should take a vacation. However, most studies agree that at least two vacations a year can do wonders for your mental and physical health.