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Traveling is n’t simply our passion, it’s our attitude and our subsistence. We live, eat and sleep vacation. We’ve been exploring the world about nonstop for the past six years, and it’s been an incredible journey filled with valuable thoughts. But it’s not all been rainbows and insects. Throughout those six times on the road, we’ve had to make our good share of concessions and agreements to grow our travel company.
We therefore thought it might be interesting to read about our 10 biggest drawbacks to long-term go based on our own experiences. Now, please do n’t mistake this as whining or complaining. We all know that we could have stopped at any time. In the event that you’re planning to do something related in the near future, we want it to read more like raising awareness about the drawbacks of vacation.
On Christmas Day 1, we are at a diner in South East Asia. Missing Family + Friends Events
We have to admit that missing some life events like weddings, significant birthdays, stag/hen do’s ( bachelor/bachelorette ), and even funerals within our families or circle of friends in the UK and the US has been one of the worst parts of our lives when we look back and consider the negative aspects of traveling for a long period of time.
It was difficult to tell 15-year-old friends that we could n’t attend their bridal because we were away from home. But at the same time we could n’t keep going home for every event that happened. Even going away from our friends taking weekend outings or smaller family gatherings rapidly added up. And soon after that, we realized we had missed out on so much. Video calls were helpful, but doing so did not mean being in people.
2. Time Areas
We were more messed up than we had anticipated because we were constantly in different time zones. Trying to accomplish movie calls to catch up with parents or friends when we’re in Argentina, then Japan, next Italy was always challenging. We were hardly ever aware of which time area we were in. One piece of advice we ca n’t stress enough is the value of maintaining contact with your loved ones if you ever decide to travel long-term.
We also had to hold discussions and work calls to the US from nations all over the world at all times of day and evening. The worst incident occurred during the soccer world cup in November and December of 2022, when Mark had to wake up early to watch the England sports begin at 3:00 am. It was n’t much fun!
This required Mark to awaken in the middle of the night to enjoy England games 3. Limited Control Over Eating
If you’ve always traveled long phrase, you’ll realize how much of a burden ( both physically and mentally ) it takes on your body when you have limited power over what you’re eating. We’re both naturally good eating, but traveling through Vietnam for a fortnight or traveling extensively in America made it nearly impossible for us to eat well. We’d have out 3 times a day, spend lots of income, get out of shape and feel sleepy.
We know we’ve been fortunate to have eaten wonderful meals in places like Bolivia, Cambodia and Hungary. However, one of our biggest drawbacks to long-term go was not being able to eat what we want when we want. Since we stopped traveling, our bodies and minds have been refueled with fresh, wholesome foods three days per day.
4. Hard to exercise
Getting into any kind of fitness regimen or exercise regimen was essentially impossible, to add insult to injury. No matter how good our intentions were at the outset, it fell by the wayside virtually instantly. We tried running, resistance training in hotels, and lifting our backpacks like dumbbells, but it was n’t as easy as sticking to a routine at home. Our beliefs were n’t best, our food were n’t correctly, it was often too hot and we had too much to do each day without even trying to fit in a routine.
Sure, we’ve walked hundreds of thousands of ways around places, national parks and walking paths over the years. However, walking merely accomplishes so much. Getting access to facilities and weights is n’t quick in a lot of sites, so tissue deterioration is obvious. And even when that exclusive hotel gyms was only for a day or two, there was no consistency. Since we’ve had to travel for a long time, we’ve been able to return to the gym, go for goes and swims, and add healthy eating to the mix. It’s been a big win for our emotional wellbeing!
One of the few facilities we could use while traveling for a long time. Frequently Planning
We’re really good at planning trips, and we always make the most of every spot we attend. That’s simply always been our journey style. You’ll find out how much we enjoy planning by browsing through our go guides! But think having to plan out your entire day, every single day, month after month, year after year. Trust us, it gets older.
Where are we going to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner now? Which monuments are we visiting? When do they empty? Do we need to guide in progress? What resort should we reserve? Is it in a secure area? Do they offer WiFi for our use? Where are we going future? It’s always ending decision creating. Choices, options and more selections. Decision stress is a real phenomenon.
6. Frequently Packing
Six times is a long time to comfortably sit in a backpack. We also partied of it without using up our 40L backpacks. We would have to wash ourselves frequently, and doing the same stuff over and over is actually boring. We also had very few options. Every time we visited a new location, our backpacks and suitcases were constantly unpacked and repacked. And we made numerous fresh discoveries. The sound of backpack zipper closures sounds like an obnoxious alarm that is going to appear in the morning for us right now!
Putting aside the joke, packing became a habit for us and we eventually adapted to living in a minimalist world. We completely forgotten what we wore to our kids ‘ homes in the past. But now that we have stopped traveling a lot, it’s great to have our whole wardrobes again. We never imagined we’d been so happy to be able to move into our bedroom and look at our tops hung up in a range.
Over the past ten years, we have spent many days in airports7. Spending Lots Of Time In Transit
Do you find it annoying to travel there and have a full day without sleep? Even a small aircraft consumes the majority of your time when you factor in transportation to and from airports, waiting times, etc., and it’s all dead period. Then, imagine doing that hundreds of times over, and then mix it with mentor adventures, train rides and many vehicles. We ca n’t ( and do n’t want to! ) Count the number of days lost in travel around the world.
We’ve taken a 24 hour coach ride from Bolivia to Peru, 18 hour flights from the US to Singapore, a 9 hour train ride from Serbia to Austria, a 5 hour minibus journey from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai ( one of the worst! ) and so many more. And since it’s so difficult to be creative while traveling, we wasted a lot of time waiting to reach the next destination.
8. Security Concerns
Fortunately, we never had any major health problems in any of the sites we visited in Asia, Europe, South America or the US. But that’s primarily because we were constantly health conscious, wise and risk averse. We once had some money stolen from our finances in Vietnam, and we almost had to confront some untrained Italians at the train depot in Pisa.
Nevertheless, we did really well, but being constantly on our guard makes things tiresome. Thinking about our environment, gauging the people around us, considering what to do in case there’s an incident, keeping our cash secure. It takes a lot of power, and these activities would require us to do them each day when we traveled for a long time. In some places we’d spend more time being twitchy- conscious of our health than really enjoying the tradition, atmosphere, food or attractions.
Although it’s great to eat tasty food all over the world, three meals a day add up and cost$ 9. It’s Cheap
Although it may seem obvious, traveling for years on end is very costly. Yet when we traveled to places where the cost of living is lower than that of the UK or the US, we still ended up spending more on food, transportation, and attractions than we had anticipated. We are aware of how expensive living everywhere is in the current economic climate, but it’s not nearly as expensive as making a living.
In 2023 alone, we spent over$ 50, 000 on vacation. And by nature, we’re very conservative, always saving money ( Mark is from Yorkshire, after all! ). In fact, that number could have been so much higher if we’d splurged on resorts, eateries, attractions or trips. Therefore, be aware of the financial ramifications and do n’t just anticipate inexpensive travel in Southeast Asia.
10. Worrying It’s The Wrong Decision
We took a great personal risk by leaving our work to travel the world. We both have degree, we had careers in science and we always made reasonable lifestyle choices. Our friends and families could n’t believe what we were doing. But obviously, we’ve had plenty of time in the last 6 times where we’d problem whether we’d made the right decision. particularly those exhausting time spent in travel when our minds had plenty of room to move.
We know it was the correct decision now that we have a successful go business, but we had to wait a while before making a decision. Although it’s human nature to doubt our decisions, long-term traveling has a funny way of making you subject your choices in life. It might have been the result of a never-ending combination of new activities and interruption, which caused it to come in waves. However, if you ask someone you know who has spent a lot of time traveling extensively, we’re certain they will tell you that they also experienced the same feelings.
More Private Guidelines
10 stuff we love about long term vacation
Do you want to learn more about us? To satisfy Mark and Kristen, head over to our About Where Are Those Stanley site.
We hope you enjoyed our analysis of the drawbacks of long-term go!
If you have any questions or comments below, please let us know.
Content Moves,
Mark and Kristen
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Mark and Kristen Morgan are go, walking and photography professionals. Over the last 6 years traveling full time, they have explored more than 40 locations and 30 US state.
Where Are Those Stanley has been featured in USA Today, Gestalten, Getting Your Guide, CityPASS and Condé Nast Traveler along with several other blogs. Learn more about us.
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