CHAOS OF TRAVEL

Reducing The CHAOS of Travel

Ethan Palgon, staff writer

When you think about going on vacation and traveling, you think about taking a break from your chaotic everyday life. But for many people, traveling can cause even more stress. Travel stress is a feeling of mental strain and pressure. Although traveling has several positive aspects and benefits, it can lead to people having a negative vacation experience. Feeling overwhelmed with planning, air travel experiences, concerns about the safety of a destination, difficulty handling unexpected events, financial strains and unrealistic expectations can be a lot for some people. Traveling is chaotic, but how do you prevent it? The most stressful part of traveling for people starts before the trip even begins; this includes doing travel research, making travel arrangements, making an itinerary and packing. It is also when people often begin to have financial concerns related to the trip. The easiest way to make the process less stressful is to approach it in parts and stages rather than being overwhelmed by everything you need to do at once. Make a checklist and slowly work through it, starting with the most urgent and leaving the rest for later. Enlist any fellow travel companions to help so you can divide up the tasks. Also, being organized is a big step in reducing the pressure of traveling. Set aside some dedicated time to work on travel planning. You also might want to dedicate a special notebook or computer folder to keep documents and notes together. Financial-related concerns may be one of the most stressful issues, and they affect our relationships, our work and even our health. Money plays a significant role in travel, as it can limit where we go, how we get there, where we stay and what we can do once we get there. Trips can be expensive and although there are many ways to save money on travel, it is a considerable expense for most people. This extra spending can put a strain on a person’s finances. Some ways to reduce the hassle are to check your finances and make a realistic budget plan. It doesn’t have to be complex, just something simple so you know how much you feel comfortable spending and how that might be budgeted across your trip. Also, do some research to make the most of your travel money by comapring prices before booking, checking for discount city passes and looking for deals and coupons. Booking plane tickets, hotels and rental cars in advance will often save you money and help you better anticipate your costs. Research finds that people feel more relieved about the price if they book at least a month in advance (likely due to the passing of time). Now that you know how to manage your stress while traveling, you can finally vacay at ease. You deserve it!