If you travel for work, do you need to 'recover' the next day?

[Boxingshibes]

This is about me (not dh, incase anyone just reads the title)
I travel a lot for work and I am completely wiped after. I always need to sleep a lot after.
I'm about to go away for my 4th week in a row and I am knackered. I get home on Friday late usually and just want to sleep so Saturday is a write off, then Sunday I'm either leaving for somewhere or packing to go somewhere the next day.
I know people often think they'd love to be away in a hotel for a few nights, and yes, it's nice not cooking and cleaning but it's very lonely.
I'm always in different places with new people so always 100% on. I have adhd so find myself exhausted when I get back to the hotel.
Is this my age nearly 50 or do I need supplements?

No. I travel quite a bit nationally and my DH internationally, we’re about your age and neither of us need recovery time.

I think it’s an adhd thing because I’m the same, even after a day out it takes me a day to recover

Yes, I do (45 yo F).

I had to travel at the end of last week and ended up sleeping for 14 hours when I got home.

It probably didn't help that I only had 24 hours notice of the meeting- I don't do well with sudden changes of plan.

Honestly, no.

Up till last year, my job involved this-
Up on Tues at 0430
Drive to alternative worksite for 9am
Work full day
630pm, gym for 2h
8.30pm check into hotel, crash
Weds up at 6am, work full day
530pm, drive home >> arrive about 9pm
Thurs up and to work as usual

Is it that kind of thing? Cos I did that weekly for 18 mos and yes it was tiring and I was glad when it changed, but I never had to sleep in next day.

I also last yr went to Chengdu/ Shanghai for 2w and arr home at 11.30pm on the Sunday and was at work in a 7h meeting by 0930 on the Mon. Bit tired but fine.

That isn't meant to sound annoying, it's just a baseline so if you are v tired after stuff like that, might be worth seeing if there is an underlying cause?

I am 46 btw with 3 primary aged kids.

I'm also always sent 4-5 hrs away by train ( I love trains) but usually means I don't get home till nearly midnight!
Also ( silly) complaint I am so sick of the premier inn dinner menu. I could pay/go somewhere else but I get a meal prepaid for so it seems stupid not to use it.

I think it’s an ND thing. I’m the same.

Wow, I could never travel that much and not be tired.

I need to get it checked out. Sometimes have to take the 6.30am train and don’t get back home until 7pm and feel like I can’t even make dinner!

I don’t know how other people do it.

It depends - if it results in a long day, up at 5am, not home till 10pm, then yes. If it's an overnight where I travel home in the morning, then no, not usually, unless I'd had a bad night in the hotel, like the one I stayed in once that was right next to a clocktower that chimed every quarter hour and bonged the hours all night long 😡

Within Europe - no, beyond, sometimes.

I think it depends on the rest of your life and responsibilities. I travel a lot. Long and short haul, usually away Monday to Thursday or Friday and 1 or 2 weeks a month. Jet lag can affect things a bit, but I don’t feel like you describe (45F). However, I have no children, a really great partner, quite a relaxed life outside of work and since being on HRT my mood and energy levels are like that of the 35 year old me! So I’d say it might not be the travel alone, but the combination of that and what the rest of your life looks like.

I also feel wiped out but I’m ND

Interesting about the ADHD. We just went for a 2 week holiday (Europe + Morocco). Got back Sat eve but not late. Met friends for a longish walk (15-20k?) on Sunday 10am. She expressed surprise that we were up for an outing after having got back the night before. We didn't think anything of it at all. She has ADHD.

I've not travelled for work very much since I was in my 20s. In those days I sometimes worked a day in NY, flew back overnight, and went straight into the London office for another full day. I don't think I could cope with that in my 50s. But even now I can't really imagine any activity I could do on a Friday that got me back in time for a normal-ish bedtime, didn't involve huge jet lag, or running a marathon (or similar!) that would make Saturday a write-off.

that's not much more than a normal working day with a commute for a lot of people. but it does depend on what you are doing during the day,

I am not ND and I used to find work travel exhausting, even in my 30s. Yes, I would be in fancy hotels and yes someone else did the cooking and cleaning but you are “on” so much of the time. You can’t relax in a hotel room in the same way you can at home, for me, at least.
I grew to hate it and I rarely do it anymore.

Yes, but I'm autistic and struggle massively when I'm out of my routine and not sleeping in my home.

Yes, travelling is knackering! I do it for work and I'm at the age (late forties) where I can't manage multiple trips in a row anymore, just max one a month. I don't sleep well in hotels, the food is too greasy, the change from my exercise routine is too hard, and driving long distances hurts my eyes and gives me headaches. I'm off tomorrow on another trip after one last week and I have spent most of the weekend having preparatory naps.

I'm not neurodivergent but I have thyroid disease.

Most of my trips are within the uk but the long haul ones destroy me for weeks.

This. My work travel involves being switched on since breakfast till the after dinner drink. I never sleep well and hate living off a suitcase. I find it very stressful.