Most people have this idea that travelling is an easy peasy lemon squeezy walk in the park where you get to lounge on beaches, drink cocktails and flirt with foreigners. (And hey, sometimes that’s the case). But most of them time it entails waiting in lines for hours, getting lost (often), getting your things stolen (or losing them yourself), running low on funds, waking up multiple times a night from loud hostel roommates, frustrating cancelations and delays, missing trains/planes/buses, attempting to sleep in awfully
uncomfortable spots while muscles you didn’t even know you had are spasming like crazy, missing your home but not wanting to go back (this weird homesickness feeling), or all the fun that comes with packing – packing too much/too little, or figuring out you do not have enough space for all your crap on the way home. For those of us who actually do travel day in and day out, we realize that while travelling fucking rocks, it can also be super stressful.
So, over the past two months I’ve made a little list of things I do to help me de-stress during all those times I’ve lost my ipod, purse, missed a train, been harassed, failed an exam, realized how little money I actually have, gotten lost in a Parisian ghetto, etc. Note: some of them are healthier than others but they’ve all worked just as well. #1 might be good for my health but #12 is great for my soul. Right? That’s what I tell myself always. Enjoy.
1. Get workout apps (my favorite is the Nike training app) and sweat it out. They are fun and free and exercise is the perfect healthy way to de-stress.
2. Go outside and go for a walk. Sometimes all you need is some clean fresh air to give your mind the space it needs. Get some perspective and enjoy the little things in life.
3. Helloooo Netflix. OITNB and New Girl re-runs? Don’t mind if I do.
4. FaceTime, txt, call, Skype, write, telegram. whatever- get in touch with your family and friends back home.
5. Run!! The only time I run like I actually can is when I’m stressed out. I run faster and I run longer when I’m stressed. It’s like you’re sweating out all your worries and it’s absolutely wonderful.
6. Bueno!!!! I literally watched my train leave the station. What did I do knowing I had to spend another 100 euros on a stupid train ticket and wait for hours in a busy train station? I bought bueno. I think I even bought it before I bought my next train ticket…
7. Sleep. Sleeping is free and fantastic. Nap times are the best times.
8. Volunteer. this is great to get to know the little corner of the world that you are in (for free!). You’ll be doing something enjoyable, rewarding and hopefully you’ll be making friends too!
9. Baths! And for those who hate baths, long, hot, showers.
10. Cook something fun. This isn’t free but you’re going to have to spend money on food anyways so why not have fun with it? Make something exotic or something you’ve never had before, or just bake cookies and eat all of them and then go into a food coma and do #3 and #7.
11.Is it appropriate to say have sex to de-stress? I’m not positive but I’m saying it anyways. Have sex people. DO IT. You’re distracted, you feel great, and it’s good for you. <– Questioning why I even need to put reasons down to persuade people to do it….
12. Wine. Drink. All. The. Wine.
13. Read a book. Escape whatever is stressing you out for a little while! I know that looks like a super nice photo below, as I was sitting by a beautiful fountain in France reading a lovely book in the warm sun (and it was) but that only happened because I was locked out of my apartment and had to wait 3 hours till my roommate got home.
14. Grab your friends and together you guys can laugh and cry and drink until you forget about how stressed you are
15. Go on youtube and watch Ellen videos or videos of cats or dogs or babies doing funny things
Some of my favorites:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LtjzQaFZ3k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQ1HKCYJM5U
16. Clean! I know. Bo-ring. But it’s mindless and productive. Your space will me more organized and sometimes that’s all you need. Put on your favorite tunes and get to work!
17. Give yourself some you time. Nails, hair, whatever. Go all girl-out. Pamper yourselves ladiiiessss!
18. Dance around to the new taylor swift album “I fucking hate this song” two minutes later “HEART BREAKERS GONNA BREAK, BREAK, BREAK, I’M JUST GONNA SHAKE, SHAKE, SHAKE” Or just listen to happy songs in general. Up by Shania Twain also helps.
10. Write. In a journal. On a blog. To a friend. Just write. (this blog post is my de-stressor of the evening)
20. I was having a crummy day and my mom was like “with time this too shall pass” (slightly joking but serious at the same time) and I looked at her with eyes that were like “fuck off woman I obviously know this is going to pass but I’m having a fucking bad day okay so don’t tell me that it’s going to fucking pass. FUCK” And then the next day when I was not in a crummy mood and was dancing around she’s like “see I told you it would pass”. Needless to say, I gave her the same eyes. BUT, my point is that it actually does pass. Always. Our problems, however “big” they seem are usually insignificant in the grand scheme of things. The only thing we can ever do is make the most of them. We’re always going to have bad days and good days, that’s just life. It’s how we turn those bad days around and how we handle the things that get thrown in our paths that matter. Drink wine, exercise, laugh, smile, cry, eat chocolate, and know that no matter how stressed out, broke, alone, sick, or fed up you are that with time this too shall pass.
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