I’m going to risk sounding slightly ungrateful or whiney—though perhaps other long term travelers will understand—in an attempt to bring some resolution to the way I am feeling today. I woke up this morning to this view:
(note, I took this with the iPad, just now. No extra care was taken, it looks more beautiful in real life).
It’s gorgeous right? I mean, more gorgeous than usual. Yet somehow my reaction to it was meh-ish. Vick thinks this might be the most stunning place we have been so far, but I am more interested in a nap and maybe a few days of book reading than going for a hike or zip line.
I knew the moment I started thinking about it that I was suffering from a mild case of travel fatigue. This is common enough for travelers and tends to be the result of over stimulation, homesickness, and/or repeated culture shock. Each of these has touched me to some extent but the over stimulation has been the most significant. Every few days we pull into a new harbor, gape at the unbelievable surroundings, and then have chain-social-events until we collapse into our berths. I meet a new cool cruiser every few days and wish that I could spend a week or two getting to know them, but then we are off again or other friends stop by and my attention is split. Split once, twice, thrice… and so on until I feel stretched as thin as a nanotube, at once greater and yet so minute.
So that’s how I’m feeling currently. My plan of attack is to try to minimize side trips, maximize chilling out, and try to remain present when that fails. In two weeks we will be back in La Cruz where I can fall into some sort of routine, see our good friends from California, and stay put for a month or so before heading out to the South Pacific. I would love to say that I planned it this way, but I guess I am just lucky.
If you are suffering from a similar funk, you might like to check out these two blogs.
10 Ways to Kick Travel Fataigue’s Ass
and
Slowing the Pace of Travel