Give Yourself Permission to Travel Right Now

I wish I could travel more. Maybe next week? Next month? I can’t take any time off work. It’s too expensive. I’m too old, too anxious, or too overwhelmed by travel itself. I’m not even sure I deserve to go traveling. Do any of these comments sound familiar to you? In this post, learn the process of how to give yourself permission to travel.

You’re not alone if the excuses pile up for reasons why it’s difficult to give yourself permission to travel. To be clear, some of these are quite legitimate reasons like personal safety, government or travel industry restrictions, or if the cost would prevent you from affording basic necessities. You may have a specific project to finalize or a particular obligation to fulfill. There are real barriers to travel.

With that said, some of the reasons why we think we can’t travel may not be so rational after all. Let’s explore some of these not-so-rational reasons that prevent us from traveling. This will likely help you give yourself permission to travel.

I Can’t Take Time off From Work

I can’t take time off from work to go travel. Things will fall apart in the office. I will get too far behind in my work. That alone would stress me out, so I couldn’t possibly have a relaxing vacation anyway. Ever told yourself any of these comments?

If so, you may be surprised to learn that taking time off for relaxation actually helps improve work performance. So in contrast to the idea that you can never travel because you’ve got work to do, research suggests that it may actually help your work in the long run. Keep this in mind when those pesky work-related thoughts try to enter your mind when on vacation.

Also, many people overestimate the degree to which missing time from work would be detrimental to the overall flow of their work environment. Will things really fall apart if you take brief time off for travel, or does it simply feel that way?

One of the cognitive or “thinking” errors we sometimes make is called Emotional Reasoning, or inferring that things must be true because we feel like they are true. With some reasonable accommodations while you’re out, you may actually be able to take time off without the office falling apart.

Traveling is Too Expensive

If you’re like me, you may dream of beautiful exotic hotels and beaches with a hint of envy when looking at the glittering people in the gorgeous travel photography. One of my first thoughts is that it would be way too expensive to go to a place like that right now. Maybe I’ll save up some money…maybe someday I’ll go there. Traveling is too expensive.

One of the most amazing things I’ve learned within the travel industry is that there is a whole segment devoted to budget travel. Do a quick Google search of budget travel and the problem will be narrowing down the information rather than finding it. A few examples are offered here to guide you along the way.

People like you and me are learning ways to travel with budget-friendly planning. For example, check out the top budget-friendly travel destinations from pro blogger and travel expert “Nomadic Matt” (Matt Kepnes) here.

There are even some ways to travel for free, including certain volunteer opportunities where travel is included. Faith-based travel such as mission trips may be sponsored through church sponsorships or fundraising endeavors.

An aspiration for many travel bloggers is sponsored travel, where tourism boards will host a compensated travel experience. Basically, you get a free trip in exchange for exposure on your blog. To start your blog, I would recommend using the gold standard Bluehost for website hosting; it’s cheap, reliable, and has excellent customer support.

There are travel contests galore to win travel excursions, including sites like UltraContest.com. Even some travel photography contests offer travel gear and experiences for the contest winners.

Perhaps most practically, set aside a small amount of money each month for several months in advance, and then enjoy finding out how far those funds will take you!

Other Personal Reasons for Why I Can’t Travel

Sometimes it’s not a matter of time or cost, but other more personal reasons. Various types of personal circumstances can interfere with giving yourself permission to take a vacation. What stops you personally?

Take, for example, caregivers of those who are dealing with chronic illness. The notion of going on a vacation while your loved one is too ill to join with you may seem off-putting, uncaring, or even mean-spirited. In many cases, with appropriate planning and coordination of caregiving by others in your temporary absence, it can actually help you restore and refresh that deeply caring part of yourself. As the saying goes, it’s hard to pour from an empty cup.

So, with frank conversation with your loved one, you may even find that they might feel a sense of relief that you are able to travel, as they may hold some feelings of guilt regarding the impact of their illness on your wellbeing. I’m not suggesting this is an accurate perception or not, just noting that it is certainly an experience held by many with travel-restrictive chronic illnesses.

I’m too old to travel. Tell that to 123 year-old Swami Sivananda, purported to have stunned airport staff as he independently flew to international destinations. I’m scared to allow myself to travel again after the global pandemic. If that rings true for you, click on this previous Psychology of Travel post on dealing with post-pandemic travel anxiety.

Depression, Anxiety, & Travel

Depression, anxiety, and other forms of mental health concerns can interfere with giving yourself permission for travel. One symptom of depression is called anhedonia, or difficulty experiencing enjoyment and satisfaction when doing things you normally would enjoy. So actually, this symptom of depression can actually lead you to feeling less motivated for travel. Sometimes you need to do enjoyable activities to help yourself feel better rather than waiting until you feel better to do those enjoyable activities.

It may be that you don’t feel that you deserve to travel. Particularly when you experience depression, self-esteem can decrease to the point of feeling as though you don’t feel you have a right to do enjoyable activities like traveling. As it turns out, travel is actually a great way to help build self-esteem!

Talk with your psychologist about how your mental health limits your travel, and develop creative ways to help you understand and manage the related anxiety. If you need some assistance with a particular kind of relaxation technique called Guided Imagery, click here for a free travel-related Guided Imagery script to help you develop a sense of calm in your travels.

For other resources, I enjoyed the lighthearted book Baggage: Confessions of a Globe-trotting Hypochondriac by Jeremy Hance. Plus, take a look at this post about the mental health benefits of travel, not the least of which includes positivity about conquering your fears!

Give Yourself Permission to Travel

There’s a common thread between all of these reasons that make it difficult to give yourself permission to travel. They all involve a disruption of the status quo, the feeling of getting out of your comfort zone. Importantly, with a little bit of planning, preparation, and courage, each of these are hills rather than mountains. Waves rather than tsunamis. Hurdles rather than roadblocks.

I can’t give you permission to travel, that has to come from within you and with thoughtful consideration of your circumstances. We can certainly acknowledge that it’s not necessarily appropriate to travel in one hundred percent of cases. However, take a rational look at what you think is stopping you from allowing yourself to travel and then challenge those assumptions. This may well lead you to give yourself that permission to travel that you’ve been waiting for all this time.

Happy Travels,

Dr. L
Founder, PsychologyofTravel.com

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