To find travelling EXTREMELY exhausting all of a sudden?

[whysotiring]

I'm only in my late thirties and can't believe how tiring and depleting I find travel now. Planes especially but all sorts of hauling luggage any distance and staying in unfamiliar places really. Don't get me wrong I really enjoy being away on holiday, but I am amazed how exhausted and achey I am now on return. I need a few days rest and quiet to recover - this can't be normal?

It makes me feel so filthy and dishevelled, traipsing through train stations or airports. I hate this aspect I can't seem to feel properly clean. I have no idea how on earth some women look so perfectly fresh and put together at the airport. I just look like complete shit.

I don't class myself as a fussy type of person but when staying away often I find the shower isn't as good as at home - crap water pressure or whatever.

I don't have children so it's not travel with children that's tiring me so much but I do have several autoimmune conditions. However, they never did this to me up until maybe 5 years ago.

My mum died a year ago and we lived abroad so there was a lot of stressful travelling involved with that and I honestly think I have changed since that.

Does anyone else find travelling extremely tiring and like it drains your strength? Am I just turning into a tired cranky woman?

I definitely know what you mean ! Especially the hotel showers etc. Nothing quite feels as comfortable as home. Generally I love travel, but I've come to realise that unless you pay mega bucks, parts of it are not going to be comfortable. I guess you have to weigh up if its worth it. I've been spending more on shorter breaks, and found this more achievable and enjoyable. I know that grotty airport feeling too! There's nothing like that first bath or shower when you get home

Yes i find that I don’t enjoy traveling and I hate airports and flying, too clostraphobic and too many germs.

OP - I completely agree. I'm a notorious non-traveller, though. I have always been amazed at the amount of inconvenience, discomfort, sometimes danger and time that people are prepared to expend on travel. Over the years I've given it lots of thought and at times I've wondered if there's something wrong with me!!

I've never been outside Europe and I have no interest in doing so. I am bored senseless when people talk about their holidays and have never had 'wanderlust'. Yes, I know I'm a freak - it's the middle-class, 21st century version of heresy, isn't it, admitting that you have no interest in travel? I do feel embarrassed about it. It's not that I'm not interested in places - but I read about them or watch them on the telly.

I do genuinely believe that we all travel too much and the planet cannot really sustain it, not just in terms of flying, but in the way that mass tourism has damaged and even destroyed so much. Look at the horrors of the over -development of the Costas and the French Riviera. I don't know why anyone needs to go and bother delicate ecosystems like, say, the Galapagos, in person. Just watch a TV programme and leave those toroises and sea iguanas alone!!!

Yes, the dream of easy, cheap and trouble-free world travel has gone, I think - with all the time-consuming stuff we need to do in response to terror threats etc. When I first went on Eurostar it was great - like getting on the tube. More recently it's been like going to an airport with the long check-in time and security checks.

Rant and rave over! Feel better for it, though.

I was ok with it all until about 45.

To be honest doing anything since then has been an eye-rolly faff 😂

I hide it. I do holidays and the long bloody trips to the inlaws with a smile on my face so i'm not the party pooper, but inside i'm looking forward to getting back to normal days at home.

I shock myself because i was always an enthusiastic traveller and someone who loved spontaneous chaos. I'm the opposite now.

I've been nearly eaten by a shark and been through the desert in the middle of a tribal war with bullets fired, and still loved every minute, but now even just the thought of a weekend in Bournmouth makes me feel stressed!

It's definitely exhausting, especially long haul. I still really want to go to Japan one day but I think short hops to Europe might be my limit other than that. Even Europe is hellish now since bloody Brexit made passport control so awful

I think there's a reason why cruises are popular amongst retirees. Probably a far less stressful/uncomfortable way to travel. If I sit in an economy seat on a plane or travel by coach, after about 3hrs I'm in actual pain. For long haul flights now, I go less often and save for BC. I'm not rich, can usually find a decent BC deal for 2x economy fare. Which is worth the extra to me to just have some space to move. But the travelling isn't fun any more regardless. I do enjoy myself on the actual holiday, but the travel does tire me out. I also really struggle dragging heavy suitcases around etc. I think by the time I'm mid 60's (a decade from now) I'll be more or less done with it!

I'm glad I didn't wait until retirement to do all my travelling as I don't think I would have enjoyed it anywhere near as much. For me it's also beds. No bed seems to be as comfortable as mine at home!

We used to travel a fair bit pre covid. But I can honestly say I haven't missed going abroad. We've had some lovely breaks in the New Forest, up to Cumbria and around the lakes. Next on my list is Scotland. My bucket list of long haul destinations just doesn't have the same appeal.

And I'm with you, we did a (long) day out in London with our kids last week and I was shattered. We got home at 8pm, showered everyone and I was in bed by 9!

I loathe it. I frequently flew long distances when young. And all over Europe by train, car and plane. I find it dreadful nowadays. There’s nearly always long queues, a delay, some sort of over-booking, or a cancellation, It’s so stressful. I am not old yet but I think travel is getting almost discriminatory towards the elderly and disabled. Costs are all so pared to the bone and flights are so expensive. I used to love Eurostar but even that is hellish and prohibitively expensive now unless you book months and months in advance.

Yeah in recent years I've come to loathe the actual process of travelling - airports, flights etc. They were never especially enjoyable but I travelled all over the place in my 20s and I'm sure I never actively hated them like I do now.

I've never gone on holiday to relax though, so I've always needed a few days to actually rest when I come home!

From about 30 i stopped enjoying roughing it, i used to not care if i was in a shabby accomodation and went for the cheapest transport then one day i thought this is shit, this isnt a holiday its a punishment! id rather be in my cosy bedroom, which is far nicer than this shithole with poor TV and internet. I can walk to my fridge and eat and drink whenever, i hated relying on opening times at the mercy of foreign dishes and ingredients.

I decided since that unless the trip is equal or better standards to my home and the journey is comfortable eg upgrade the class or add stopovers to break up a long journey then i would just rather stay at home and save my money or spend it on treats at home.

as for tiredness, We tend to walk more and lug around heavy items, do you think there is an element of you being unfit or even anemic?

There are so many travel vlogs these days and with books, social media and globalisation you can learn and see so much without physical travel and i say this as someone who traveled and lived in many places. The resources are so good now you can travel the world from your bedroom!

I think this sort of thing can happen very suddenly around the 30s. For me it was sharing rooms with friends on trips. It just suddenly stopped being ok and I couldn't tell you exactly why.

Over the years the shrinking seats and leg space makes me feel so cramped and leads to back and leg pain. Escalators and moving walkways at airports frequently don't work, long queues, delays, fellow passengers who sometimes don't follow rules of basic hygiene all makes me feel terrible at the end of it. I still love visiting new places, but travelling to get there is getting increasingly uncomfortable and exhausting.

Thanks all, it's interesting to see other people have experienced the travel exhaustion too!

I'm resting today and basically eating my bodyweight in both healthy foods and tempting snacks. My trousers are falling off me, I feel as though I've been ill and need to build myself back up!

Any tips on getting reasonable BC flights?

Any tips on getting reasonable BC flights

What works to my advantage is I now generally travel alone and my work is extremely flexible so I can fly on less popular dates. That can knock ££ off the cost. If you are a couple, look out for 2 for 1 deals. They do come up sometimes. I got one with qatar Airways once for me and an ex, which was amazing.

There is usually a stopover but it's generally 1-2hrs, which by the time you get off the first flight and go to the gate for the second, most of that is passed! (And its usually in a european city so the flight there is short). But often people don't want stopovers so that's another thing.

Another thing to try is whether it's cheaper to go from another European city. We got the eurostar to Paris once as there was a good offer from there which was several hundreds cheaper than going from Heathrow. I live in London anyway so that worked well for me.

I think most other people tend to use points they accumulate from things like credit cards (which is something I should look into!).

Definitely agree about avoiding London for stopovers! We avoid when we possibly can. I went to Jersey via Amsterdam last year and it sounds mad but it was far better than going through H’row!

I used to share rooms and get early flights to save money. It was tiring but I bounced back quickly. I could also maximise my holiday by getting an early flight back and working the same day. Now I need my own room, decent flights, Ubers and 2 days to recover.

It's stressful and tiring. I sleep poorly the night before which doesn't help. I love holidays but I refuse to have worst accommodation and amenities than at home. I also need time to de-stress when I come back.

I used to travel for work and get early trains or drive for hours. I just couldn't do it now.

I think it's age but also since the pandemic I've changed. I no longer like noise and lots of people.

I remember a couple of times years ago getting a night flight from the US that landed at Heathrow around 7am and then going straight to work.... Couldn't imagine that now.

I also used to travel a lot and now I really can't be arsed. I'm also late 30s.

Maybe if I could afford business I wouldn't mind so much, alas...

It's mentally and physically draining. I'm thankful to have been to nearly all the places I want to see.

I'm mid sixties now but I still love travelling. Not the long haul stuff anymore though, been there done that when younger so I'm not missing anything, well that's what I keep telling myself! Because I'm retired I can go at the drop of a hat, and get some great deals for a quick getaway. I'll pay premium for longer journeys (max 4 hours) and get a chauffeured car to pick me up and take me places instead of hiring a car. The traffic abroad freaks me out now so I make it easy on myself.

I am not rich, but I do prioritise my comfort when travelling so economise in other areas to achieve that. Makes it so much more enjoyable.

Anyway for those of you travelling across the pond, I can 100% recommend flying from either Dublin or Shannon in Ireland if you can connect there. You can clear immigration and customs under the "pre clearance" scheme which means you go straight out of your US destination airport as if on a domestic flight. It is great! Of course you have to Q in the departure airport, but that's better than at the arrival airport when you're tired and cranky!

Oh definitely go to Japan ! It’s something else !

I don’t enjoy the airport queues 🙁, long haul flights in economy , cancellations when you’ve got up at stupid o’clock to check in for an early flight .

This! @WhatNoRaisins I shared a room with a great friend last Easter for 5 nights on holiday & barely got any sleep. Not her fault but she's a deep sleeper & snored a lot. I can tolerate my DH but that's about it now. I'm not sharing with friends again.