There are a lot of articles out there about travel psychology. Articles that tell you about how traveling is good for your mind and body, how it can change your personality, etc. But in this blog, I am not going to talk about any of those. Those are for the experts, and I am not one in this subject matter of psychology. These are my observations and experiences during my countless trips. I am going to talk about those small things we may consider unimportant, but in reality, they matter.
How to plan your trip. It seems simple. Pack your bags, book your tickets, and travel. Does it work this way every single time? Well, let me tell you a little more than that.
Have you ever watched the movie, ” The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly”?
There is a dialogue in that movie that I am going to reinvent for our context.
“There are two types of people in this world. The one who is waiting for that perfect time for their trip and the other one who makes that perfect time happen “
There are many thoughts in our minds whenever we plan our trip. Mostly about the money that needed to be spent, also about safety. Well!! Money is something that can be easily managed and, with proper planning, it is very safe to travel.
“Travelling may be the only thing where we can spend money and we will never regret it! “
Travel Psychology – Planning
Deciding where to go
There are times when we are so confused when deciding where to go on our trip. In most cases, we have a lot of places in our mind and it is hard to choose the right one. It may seem like a simple problem. But it is not. I have made that easy for you all.
We can tackle these issues by asking a few questions ourselves. Try to find honest answers and, trust me, it works like a charm. This is a long topic and I don’t want this blog to be super lengthy. Also, the purpose of this article is mostly to discuss various topics related to travel. So I am sharing the link to my in-depth details on this topic and it is a must-read. If it works out for you, you can thank me later: How to choose the best trip for you
Thinking about money and safety
No one wants to spend money unnecessarily, even if they have too much. Money is something so volatile that it keeps moving. We can relate to all those small expenses that we incur in our daily life. A little here, a little there. But when we check out the bank balance at the end of the month, we will be surprised at how these small unplanned expenses turn into big sums.
How did this happen? Can we reduce it? How is this even related to traveling?
Well, this is the same in the case of traveling. All those small credit card swipes, small spending here and there during the trip, will end up consuming a lot of your travel expenses.
This small expenditure is unavoidable and it will always be there. But the trick is how we reduce it to a minimum.
The answer is planning. Proper planning before starting the trip, and sticking with it during the trip as well.
We all plan our trips. But maybe yours will be completely different from mine. You have certain priorities and I have mine, which is completely different. Some of us plan it so rigorously, and many of us travel with no plans, and that is good too. I have a friend in Delhi. You will see him roaming inertly in his boxers in the room and the next you will see him backpacking and heading towards the Kashmiri Gate bus stand.
Read more books and articles on how to travel effectively. What videos? There are a lot out there.
You can also read my blog: How to plan your budget trips.
TIME- More valuable than money and less valuable than the happiness
There is a saying, ” Time and tide wait for none”. It is also true in the case of traveling. We should not wait for that perfect time to plan and start our travels. Need to plan first and, then wait for the plan to be executed.
We hear people saying :
“I don’t have any leaves”,
“1’m already married and have kids”,
“I don’t have enough money”
“It’s too late for me now”
These are more like excuses and are not problems. There is not a single problem that we can not solve. We manage more complex decisions in life and, when compared to those, these excuses can be easily tackled.
How do we tackle it?
When we understand the value of time, which is more valuable than money and all our lazy excuses. Stop scrolling through the Instagram reels or close your Netflix for an hour. Use this time to think about how to tackle those problems. Read about people who did unbelievable things and watch videos that inspire you to overcome your excuses.
Some people overcome their disadvantages and limitations and achieve unbelievable things, and in front of them, our excuses are worthless.
We need to come out of our comfortable shell now and stop telling lies to ourselves. If we do that, happiness follows.
One more time, “There is not a single problem that we can not solve.”
Travel Psychology – Emotions
I have mentioned that we plan differently, but when it comes to travel emotions, it is even more contrasting. I am not talking about the obvious emotions like excitement or anticipation of the travel day… or the amazement and happiness when we see those beautiful places.
I am even going deeper. I am talking about those feelings deep inside us… So private and unique that only you can feel it. No one else can.
“What are the emotions when traveling?”
It is as simple as… those feelings inside us when we travel or even think about traveling, that can not be explained.
Yes. It can not be explained. It is an emotion.. a feeling “
“If it can’t be explained, then how do we even read it on this blog?”
“I am going to talk about the triggers that are causing those emotions.”
Triggers are those scenes or places, or even as simple as experiencing the freshness of a mountain breeze.
Those memories
Memories can be a strong trigger for most of our emotions. The places that we see, the people that we meet, or any other small instances. All these sometimes take you to our memories and link to our own emotions. A rainbow of emotions materializes into vivid memories and we may be lost in time in those places and instances.
If you have good memories and can relate them to any place or people. Visit there. Travel in search of those memories and the result will be priceless.
What to expect and not to be disappointed?
The feeling of seeing or experiencing something new is unique to each one of us. Be it the joy of those surprising locations or the disappointment of not meeting your expectations, these emotions are unavoidable. How to avoid disappointment is completely up to us. Research more about the places to visit. Learn about the culture. What to do and what not to do? It is the best time of the year. Ask yourself about what you expect from the trip and do these places will help you with that.
Answers will guide you and bring more joy than disappointments.
A bit of history
Some of you must be thinking “why the history.? “
It’s always to know about what we are doing and its value. Traveling is not just a passion, it is part of our lives from time immemorial and has a major role.
The history of traveling is as old as the history of humans. In earlier days traveling was part of the nomadic lifestyle and was a necessity. Early men traveled for food, shelter and to survive. All those travels contributed to our evolution and adaptability. With the invention of ships, we started exploring faraway places. Those travels were more like an expansion than survival. Wars were fought, civilizations altered. We learned and evolved with shared knowledge. Those travelers played a huge role in the technological and intellectual advancement we enjoy now. Today the definition of traveling has changed. Once we traveled to survive, to trade, and to acquire knowledge and now it has become a passion and obsession for most of us.
Maybe after learning about the places before you visit and finally when you’re there, you may share the same emotions and feelings as the people who lived there.
Travel Psychology – Packing
We always say travel light. But It’s more like a pack according to the trips. Some may need large bags and some can be done very lightly. But we are not going to talk about those. You can read more about how to pack on my blog: Essential Things to Carry on Trips
Have you ever felt over-packed? We returned home from a trip and most of the clothes that we packed remained untouched. And there are other times when we need something and we forget to pack it. Be it an umbrella or a trekking boot, sometimes we know that we need to pack it. Our mind keeps telling us that it may rain and we are too lazy to pack our umbrella. And finally, we are on our trip and when it rains, we regret the moment that we decided not to pack the umbrella or your raincoat.
Has it happened to you? It happened to me many times.
How do we avoid all this?
Start with the basic and essential stuff to bring. Like your travel documents, money, medicines, etc. Then move to the clothing part. Split the trips according to days, decide what to wear, and keep it minimal. Check the weather forecast. Take things that go with the weather, like jackets or woolen clothes during winter or raincoats/Umbrellas for the monsoon trips. Make a checklist and avoid last-minute packing.
Travel Psychology -” Telling the world ” part
For some of you, the real joy of travel is coming back and telling the world about how it was. We post pictures on Instagram or Facebook. Some of us make videos and some of us write.
People say, nowadays everyone travels not for the passion or love for travel, but just to post on Instagram. It is partly true. The real passion for travel has changed to something more complex. But telling the world through pictures, videos, and words is important as the travel itself. It inspires others to travel. It helps them to get an idea, what to expect and what to look for. Those recent Instagram pictures sometimes are even more accurate than the weather forecast. For instance, if you want to see snow in Shimla, open your Instagram; type Shimla in place search; make it recent from popular, and check the last uploaded pictures. Someone out there might have posted a recent picture. You can even comment or message that person to ask about the updates.
So maybe your pictures or videos on these social media platforms can be of real help to someone out there.
Wrapping up
I am not an expert in the field of psychology and as I have mentioned earlier, I am sharing only my views based on my experiences. Now you have read about many small things that I talked about: from planning to packing to posting. I hope I can cover some of the issues you faced during the trips. If you have any questions to ask, please leave a comment below and I am happy to reply.