After years of planning, saving, and dreaming about months-long backpacking through Southeast Asia, one traveler is confronting an uncomfortable truth: they're not enjoying it. The honest account on r/backpacking raises questions about the romanticization of long-term travel and the pressure to "find yourself" on the road.
"I dont feel any excitement or joy often travelling," they wrote from Vietnam after four months through Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. "I do tours and activities just because I feel i have to... I was just like ..okay? guess ive done that now too."
Even activities many would consider thrilling left them feeling nothing. The famous zipline in Pakse, Laos - a "must-do" they'd planned their entire route around - elicited no excitement. They compared it to skydiving two years ago: "I thought jumping out a plane would make me feel something. But I was just there."
The traveler's experience touches on something rarely discussed in travel media: the myth that travel will fix whatever's wrong in your life.
The Instagram narrative versus reality:
Social media sells a specific story: quit your job, travel the world, find yourself, return transformed. But as mental health professionals and experienced long-term travelers emphasize, travel doesn't cure depression or give you purpose - it just relocates your existing mental state to new environments.
According to discussions on travel and mental health forums, common signs you're experiencing travel burnout versus deeper issues include:
Travel fatigue (temporary, fixable): • Exhaustion from constant planning and logistics • Sensory overload from always being in new places • Missing routine, familiar foods, your own language • Feeling isolated despite meeting people • Solution: Slow down, stay somewhere longer, establish temporary routines
Deeper concerns (may have existed before travel): • Anhedonia - inability to feel pleasure from normally enjoyable activities • Doing things because you "should" rather than wanting to • Feeling disconnected from experiences as they happen • Questioning your purpose and calling • Solution: This likely requires professional support, not just travel changes
The traveler's statement that "I dont want to go home. But I dont want to be here. I dont know where I want to be" suggests something beyond simple travel burnout.
The question: Should they go home?
Commenters were split. Some encouraged pushing through, suggesting the breakthrough might be just ahead. Others recognized signs of depression and suggested that continuing to travel while feeling this way might be actively harmful - spending money and time on experiences you're not absorbing or enjoying.
Mental health professionals who work with travelers emphasize that there's no shame in cutting a trip short. The sunk cost fallacy - continuing because you've already invested so much - doesn't serve you if you're genuinely struggling.
Practical considerations:
If you're experiencing similar feelings: • Stop moving for two weeks: Rent a place, establish routine, see if you acclimate • Evaluate honestly: Did you feel this way before traveling? Or is this new? • Contact support systems: Friends, family, or therapists back home via video • Check in with yourself: Are you running from something or toward something? • Give yourself permission: To go home, to stay, to change plans entirely
The best travel isn't about the destination - it's about what you learn along the way. Sometimes what you learn is that travel isn't a cure-all, and that's okay. Your journey - geographic or emotional - doesn't have to look like anyone else's.
