Does going away boost your mental health or increase your anxiety? Tasha Kleeman explores the relationship between travel and mental wellbeing
10 October 2022
For centuries, people have written about the restorative effects of travel: the opportunity for enriched perspectives, life experiences, and the healing properties of rest and relaxation. 18th-century doctors used to prescribe a seaside holiday for a whole host of ailments. But what do we really know about how travel impacts our mental health?
I’m lucky to have travelled quite a bit in my life. I’ve lived abroad in Berlin and Philadelphia, backpacked my way through inter-rail trains and south-east Asian hostels, and sunned (read: burnt) myself on many a European coastline. Travel has opened my eyes to cultures, ideas, and communities outside of my narrow corner of the world and helped me zoom out of the mundane anxieties of daily life. However, it has also brought unique and often intense challenges.
Travel is often disorienting, tiring, and anxiety-inducing. I will never forget the sheer panic of a missed flight home from Thailand, a nerve-racking visit to a Cambodian hospital, and the countless times I have felt lost, on-edge, or frightened while travelling abroad. While I love to travel, I also cherish returning to solid ground: to familiar rituals, routines, and the safety of home.
The research on travel and mental health reflects this duality. On one hand, travel has been shown to have enormous benefits for our minds. Travelling helps us unwind and recharge, providing respite from stressors and responsibilities while increasing life satisfaction. Exploring somewhere new can help us think more flexibly and creatively, and in a world of echo chambers and increasingly polarized viewpoints, it can make us more empathetic and tolerant.
In one randomized controlled trial of German managers, going away for a short break resulted in significant increases in well-being and reduced perceived stress levels – effects that lasted 45 days after their return home. Last year, research published in the Journal of Tourism Analysis reported a 7 percent increase in happiness for those who frequently travel far from home. One study even found that women who took regular holidays were more likely to feel satisfied in their marriages.
Studies suggest that much of the beneficial impact of travel lies in anticipation. It’s having a trip to look forward to, as much as the journey itself, that makes us happy. So even if you haven’t got a trip planned anytime soon, just planning a future journey could boost your well-being.
However, travelling isn’t always good for our mental health. Much of what makes travel exciting – spontaneity, the journey into the unknown, escaping from what feels familiar and safe – can also be deeply destabilizing, stripping away the structure and routine that helps many of us stay afloat.
For those whose mental health is already fragile, travel can bring particular challenges. Jack*, who lives with anxiety, shared how travelling abroad tends to exacerbate his symptoms. “My anxiety always gets worse when I’m going away somewhere. I think it’s due to the fact that everything is out of my control and I won’t have the support of my normal coping mechanisms. A lot of it is anticipatory anxiety: worrying about being anxious before I even get there. It’s the unpredictability of what’s going to happen and the pressure of wanting to have a good time – particularly when you’ve spent a lot of money on a trip.”
Many factors at play in today’s world can compound the stress associated with travel. In an age dominated by social media, where travel is increasingly experienced through the lens of a smartphone, the pressure to capture (rather than mindfully experience) a trip may counteract its restorative effects. Observing a highlight reel of other people’s travels can harm your mental health, creating the impression that everyone else is living life better than you. This is likely to intensify as we enter an era of increased financial hardship and climate anxiety, both of which will inevitably affect our changing relationship with travel.
For author and counselling psychologist Jacqui Marson, a common factor contributing to travel stress is the gap between expectations and reality. “One of the most helpful tools for people going on holiday is to manage their expectations and step away from idealized images of happiness and perfection,” she explains. “Often people expect to be the perfect holiday version of themselves, whether that’s the ever-patient parent, the perfectly loved-up couple, or the fun, spontaneous party-goer. The truth is, you always take yourself with you wherever you go, and the destination won’t change that.”
How can we prevent falling into this trap? “I encourage my clients to move away from expecting perfection when travelling and to notice and appreciate unexpected moments of joy,” Marson advises. Taking a break from daily life can do wonders for mental health. The difference between a holiday that helps and one that hinders can be summarized by a fundamental question: are you travelling to enrich your mind, or to escape it? Here are five tips on how to care for your mental health while travelling.
Five Tips for Looking After Your Mental Health While Travelling
If you’re concerned about your mental health while abroad, consider the following tips to help you stay grounded.
1. Prioritize Self-Care
Mental health doesn’t take a break when you’re on holiday. If routine is something that helps you feel safe and in control, try to create your own routine while away. It’s important to maintain the rituals that keep you grounded at home, whether that’s eating well, getting daily exercise, taking medication, or making time for activities you enjoy.
2. Set Boundaries
Travel is meant to push you outside of your comfort zone; however, this doesn’t mean you should force yourself into activities that upset or provoke anxiety. Know your limits and communicate these to your travel companions.
3. Don’t Suffer in Silence
It can be challenging to communicate feelings of distress while travelling, especially if you fear bringing down the mood. This can be particularly difficult if you’re not around people you trust. Nevertheless, sharing anxious thoughts or feelings with others can diminish their power and help you feel less alone. You may even discover that you’re not the only one struggling.
4. Manage Your Expectations
While on holiday, we can place considerable pressure on ourselves to have the best time or be the best version of ourselves. Like all aspects of life, travel includes ups and downs, and feeling low or anxious at times is perfectly normal.
5. Seek Support If Needed
Just as you would seek medical attention for a physical ailment, it’s crucial to find support for your mental health if you are struggling. This might involve reaching out to friends or family, confiding in someone you are travelling with, or finding a mental health professional at your hotel or in the local area.
If you anticipate challenges while travelling, it may be helpful to research local healthcare services before your departure. Relevant travel information can be a valuable resource.
