How to Slow Down As a Busy Traveler

If you hold yourself to a busy personal traveling schedule, it can start to feel stressful and overwhelming after a short amount of time. While travel allows people to encounter new regions and cultures, it can also be remarkably taxing and what began as a vacation can feel more like an ordeal. Business-related travel can also quickly lose its appeal as one fast-paced trip blurs into the next. To slow down your traveling pace, focus on getting the most out of every trip you do take, balance the amount of pleasure and stress you receive from each trip, and take advantages of the amenities that many airports and other travel destinations offer.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Preparing for Low-Stress Travel

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Prepare a packing list ahead of time. Packing your bags can be one of the most frantic and stressful aspects of travel–not to mention one that’s often left until the last minute. To slow down this aspect of your traveling, create a packing list months in advance of your trip. Write down travel necessities (clothes, passport, computer) first, and add new items to the list when they come to mind.^{[1]XResearch source}
- Don’t throw away your list after you return from your trip. A well-made travel list can serve you for years, since you’ll typically take the same items with you from one trip to the next.
- Consider laminating your packing list and placing it in your suitcase or backpack, so you won’t have to search for it each time you’re planning a new trip.
2
Pack well in advance, and travel light. To slow down the speed of your travel preparation and to avoid stress, start packing in advance. Although some items—such as clothes and toiletries—may need to be packed the day before you leave, others can be set aside weeks in advance. This will allow you to pack more slowly, and decrease travel-associated stress.^{[2]XResearch source}
- As a busy traveler, it’s also important that you travel light. This will help you move with less stress through busy airports, security lines, and bus terminals. Packing light will also help you focus on the places you’re traveling to see, as you won’t be weighed down by several heavy bags.
- Only focus on bringing the essentials; you can always pick up incidental objects on your trip.
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3
Consider booking through a travel agent. Especially if you’re planning a long trip—or several short trips—with multiple destinations, hotel stays, rental cars, and other logistics, plan to talk with a travel agent. Although the profession may seem outdated, an agent can put together all of these bookings for you, so that you’re not searching through countless travel websites on your own time. ^{[3]XResearch source}
- For long, complex trips, working with a travel agent could also save you money. Your travel agent may be able to find lucrative deals that you wouldn’t have access to, or may know ways to package flight, hotel, and rental car purchases together to decrease the cost.
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Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Slowing Down While You’re Traveling

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Let the hotel front desk staff do some of the work. A large part of the headache of fast-paced travel comes from the plethora of details that can consume your time and generate stress. Rather than micro-managing each detail yourself, seek assistance from the front-desk staff or hotel concierge. For example, ask the front desk of your hotel to make you a dinner reservation, call you a cab, or put together an outline of a travel plan for a day.^{[4]XResearch source}
- Especially if you’re traveling with children, you’ll need to rely on others around you to make your trip less stressful and busy. Ask the front desk staff for restaurant recommendations, and recommendations of local activities that are fun for children.
2
Schedule in “required” extra time for delays. As a busy traveler, you’ll often have a tight schedule to keep: flight times, bus schedules, and train timetables may be your first priority. However, delays are an unfortunate but inevitable part of travel. Slow down your travel schedule by allowing extra time around all plane, bus, and train travel, and you’ll find yourself feeling less busy and enjoying your travel time more.^{[5]XResearch source}
- By accepting that delays are a part of travel, you can save yourself stress and worry. You can also pan to be productive during your delays—call ahead to alert the hotel that you’ll be arriving late, or if you have a longer delay, walk around a local neighborhood to absorb the culture.
3
Plan to do fewer activities. This may seem like an intuitive step, but it’s one that many busy travelers forget. Rather than filling your time when you’re traveling with a dozen plans, which will leave you feeling rushed and drained, simplify your trip and only do the three or four activities that you’re most excited about. ^{[6]XResearch source}
- For example, if a city is known for its world-class art museum but you’d rather spend the day exploring a local forest, don’t feel obliged to do both. Stick with the forest.
- Filling your time with fewer activities—but ones that are more interesting, pleasurable, and meaningful to you as an individual—will help you slow down your travel pace. This will allow you to savor and enjoy each activity more.
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Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Using Slow-Paced Travel Methods

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Slow down your method of travel by staying on the ground. If you’re used to traveling primarily by plane—a fast-paced, high-stress mode of travel—look into alternate options. For example, a road trip is a great way to see local attractions and parts of a country or region that you haven’t visited before. A road trip also allows you to slow down and travel at your own leisurely pace.^{[7]XResearch source}
- If you’ve never traveled by train, it can be an excellent way to slow down the pace of your travel and have more local-color experiences while traveling. Train travel moves at a leisurely pace, and you won’t have to worry about catching connecting flights or navigating unfamiliar—and stressful—airports.^{[8]XResearch source}
2
Take a local approach and travel somewhere nearby. You can also slow down the busy pace of your travel by focusing on in-depth exploration of a single local city, town, or region, rather than traveling across the country or world. Treating your own local environment like a travel destination will allow you to absorb local color that you haven’t noticed before, and you’ll be able to avoid the stressful tourist traps that draw inexperienced travelers in new cities and countries.^{[9]XResearch source}
- As long as you’re traveling locally, you can try eating locally too. If there’s a farmer’s market open in the area, do your shopping there; you’ll doubtlessly be surprised by the varieties of local food that you’ve never sampled before.
- You don’t have to stay in your own house to explore a local area. Look into local AirBnBs, traditional Bed and Breakfasts, and “mom and pop”-type hotel: say, within 30 miles of where you live.
3
Take an affordable cruise. A cruise offers many conveniences that will help you keep your travel slow paced and not too stressful. The cruise ship will offer you a “home base” to start your daily explorations from, so you won’t have to worry about rushing from hotel to hotel, or from AirBnB to AirBnB. Cruise ships tend to travel at a moderate pace, giving their customers plenty of time to explore local cities and sites. The cruise will also confine you to a single region, which is beneficial to a slow-paced, low-stress travel plan.^{[10]XResearch source}
- To book a cruise, first check large travel websites, including Expedia and Priceline. You can also book cruises directly through the websites of large providers, such as Carnival and Royal Caribbean Cruise.
- If you travel with several family members or friends, the cruise line may offer you a group discount. Cruises can be surprisingly inexpensive, especially if booked for the off season.
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Tips

If you travel frequently, consider making use of the VIP lounges airport offered by airlines such as Delta and United. These can be a great place to relax, have a snack or a drink, and unwind before your next flight.
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If you have the time, try to do something fun during a layover. Get out of the airport (or out of the bus terminal, etc.) and into the surrounding city or region. Have a meal or walk for several blocks and absorb the local sights and sounds.
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