A solo traveler three months into a long-term trip through Brazil is constantly checking flights home and feeling miserable—but struggling with whether giving up means failure.
The question posted on r/solotravel resonates with a truth rarely discussed in travel content: sometimes extended travel stops being fun, and it's unclear whether pushing through or going home is the right choice.
The Misery Metrics
"I've been traveling for almost 3 months and I just keep checking flights back home at this point," the European traveler wrote from Brazil.
The distance from home matters psychologically. Brazil is far from Europe, making leaving feel like "giving up" after the investment of getting there.
The core problem: "I keep trying to push through with the trip but I can't seem to have a good time."
The Unfinished Goal Problem
One of the trip's original goals was volunteering, which hasn't happened yet. This creates pressure to stay—the sense that leaving now means the trip was pointless.
But forcing yourself to continue travel you're not enjoying in order to check off a goal you're not currently motivated to pursue is a recipe for resentment, not fulfillment.
The Loneliness Factor
"I feel pretty lonely and I just can't seem to click with anyone and it feels depressing seeing people forming groups and having fun."
This is perhaps the hardest aspect of solo travel to predict or control. Some trips deliver easy social connections. Others don't, regardless of how outgoing or friendly you are.
The traveler notes having had "tons of great backpacking trips" in the past. This one is simply different—"off" in ways that aren't immediately fixable.
Push Through or Go Home?
The question has no universal answer, but several factors suggest when each choice makes sense:
Reasons to go home: - You're not enjoying anything, not just having bad days - You're forcing yourself to continue only to avoid feeling like you failed - The money you're spending would be better saved for a trip you actually want - You're feeling genuinely depressed rather than temporarily lonely
Reasons to adjust and continue: - You haven't tried changing locations or travel style significantly - The volunteering opportunity still genuinely interests you - You have specific goals or places you'd regret missing - The loneliness is situational rather than constant
The Middle Path
Going home isn't the only alternative to continuing the current miserable path. Options include:
Drastically changing location. Brazil might not be clicking. A completely different country or region might reset the experience.
Changing travel style. If hostel social scenes aren't working, try different accommodation. If moving frequently is exhausting, stay somewhere for several weeks.
Actually starting the volunteering. Sometimes having structure and purpose improves everything.
Taking a complete break. Book a comfortable Airbnb somewhere affordable for two weeks and just exist. No sightseeing, no socializing pressure, no moving.
The Real Failure
Continuing travel you hate because you feel obligated isn't perseverance. It's stubbornness.
The actual failure would be spending months being miserable because you couldn't admit a plan wasn't working.
Good travelers adapt. Sometimes that means going home. Sometimes it means radically changing the plan. But it never means forcing yourself to be unhappy because that's what the original itinerary said.
The best travel isn't about the destination - it's about what you learn along the way. Sometimes what you learn is that it's okay to change your mind.
