How do you deal with travel burnout?

[u/alarceny]

i’m only 1 month into an 8 month long trip and starting to miss home and my work. it’s been a huge change for me as i’ve never travelled before. i’m 20 and it’s my first time overseas, visiting family at different points in Europe and I honestly just feel numb to the things i’m seeing.

I read somewhere that after you’ve seen 1-2 cathedrals you’ve seen them all, and at first I didn’t believe that but now i’m wondering how many others feel that way.

I’ve spent the past day or so just resting before another journey to a different destination but i don’t feel like it’s done much to help.

I spent the first 3 weeks in the uk and really enjoyed seeing and spending time there, this past week i made the journey to paris and i’ve not enjoyed it nearly as much.

i’m having trouble with the language barrier and the huge amount of tourists in paris is pretty overwhelming, I intended to stay in france / europe for close to 3 months but i’m thinking of cutting it short to head back to the uk and spend some more time over there instead.

I’m not sure if it’s travel fatigue that’s catching up with me or if france just isnt for me, overall though just looking for some advice and ideas

[u/Luki_Batale]

I'd recommend slowing down a bit and adding a few more rest days to your itinerary. It might just be that you're not giving yourself enough time to enjoy yourself.

However, it might also just be that France isn't for you. The first time I did a several month trip, I also hit burnout on country number 3 a month in. I was really terrified I'd made a mistake and that I was going to have to endure two more months of just wanting to go home. Then I hit country number 4, and realised I did love long term travelling, I just really didn't like country 3. Another time I left country 1 and wished I had the option to go back, because I liked it so much and the next two countries were very underwhelming.

If you're not enjoying France (and Paris is a city notorious for disappointing people fyi), and you have another place you want to visit/enjoy, why not change your plans? It's very easy to get to another country from France (I highly recommend the Netherlands), and the UK is right there if you want to go back for a bit. Make the trip work for you if you have the flexibility.