Stress and Travel
Hank Schrader, USMA '71, Europe Destination & Europe River Cruise Expert
Is it just me, or do you feel a lot of stress and uncertainty in travel today?
Do you long for the good old days of travel, maybe even before the 9/11 attacks?
Even in uncertain times, a new normal emerges. Yet we can manage travel stress and perhaps this blog will help.
So, let’s look at travel stress. We will begin by asking ourselves 3 questions about travel stress, then look at time stress during travel, and finally the stress of planning your trip by yourself.
3 Questions to Ask Yourself Before the Trip to Help Reduce Stress
As a coach and retired Army Officer, the most successful folks always seem to have a plan to adjust to problems. I like to think of this as 3 possible outcomes. They are
1. What is the worse that could happen during my trip?
2. What is the best that could happen during my trip?
3. What is the most likely to happen during my trip?
Planning For the Worse
I don’t like to dwell on the negative, but problems do arise during travel and if you don’t have a plan, your stress levels often go through the roof. So, if you can’t eliminate potential problems—what can you do to mitigate them?
First, evaluate your risk for medical problems, trip interruption and/or trip cancellation. The most obvious answer is travel insurance. To help remove that stress factor, we always travel with insurance and recommend our clients also do so. Once you have your travel insurance, just make sure you know how to contact the provider if an emergency comes up.
COVID-19 issues are a big concern for both domestic and international travelers (much more internationally), but just some simple steps can really reduce this stress.
First, get vaccinated and have proof. Second, have a digital copy and a paper copy of your vaccination. Get a PCR test 72 hours before you depart overseas. Load up a QR code on your smart phone. Wear a mask when required.
This is our mobile hot spot. You can rent these or buy it as we have.
In our recent trip to Europe in August 2021, we learned we could reduce our stress by bringing some items to deal with these challenges. First, a smart phone and back-up power supply charger for all our electronics. Second, our own hot spot internet connection device. Third, Anne carries all our documents in a passport/wallet type purse that is relatively easy to carry everywhere.
This is my travel vest. Lots of pockets that zip up.
I am also dusting off an old idea—seems like a great time to start bringing my travel vest, with multiple zipper pockets. This solves having to carry a lot of extra things and have a place for each item.
Transportation hassles. Airport delays and cancellations are the most often cited by travelers as huge stress factors. Another problem, while not common, is rail strikes in Europe. So, what do you do?
Air—make sure you buy a ticket with a no-change fee. We always look for a direct flight to our destination, especially to Europe—less chance for a problem. But the most important, don’t make the travel time so close to the key events (like a river cruise sailing)—allow a day or 2 extra.
Train—how can you get there by alternate means, a different route or maybe air, a bus or car? Could you stay an extra day or 2 and then get to your destination?
Unfamiliar Places. This one may be the easiest of all—just line up your transfers, hotels and maybe even a language APP. Or, better yet use us, our guides, and most of all, our experience. It also helps if you look at it from the perspective it will be great new experiences instead of being potentially scary.
Almost all of these problems seem a lot worse than they actually are—trust me we have faced them all and still love to travel, even in these uncertain times.
Planning for the Best
Not many worries here, but just don’t rush things. A reasonable plan means time to see the key sights, but down time to just explore something new that pops up or to just chill. Changing cities every day works when you are 21 and eager to see it all. It just doesn’t work at your 60’s and later.
Planning for the Most Likely
The key is to eliminate the worst as much as possible and make the plan for the best more likely. I promise you, stress almost goes away when you get the plan just right. A little tip—use us and it will almost all go away!
Time Stressors for Travelers
There are many time stresses when you travel. Moving from one place to another in an uncomfortable or rushed manner is often a big stress factor and can make the trip really horrible.
We love train travel in Europe. It has a lot of advantages, especially, high speed train (almost all require an advanced reservation). They are more environmentally friendly than short flights, avoids security checks at airports and a couple of hours waiting for the flight to take off. With a train, you just hop on, and find your seat.
But even these advantages has challenges. Boarding the trains with too much luggage is always a challenge—short boarding times, limited storage space on the train can turn a great method of travel into a stress filled event.
One solution—take twice as much money and half as less clothes. We never have really gotten there but are getting closer.
Even great ideas of train travel can go bad, as the following story will explain how we caused a lot of unnecessary stress on an overnight train.
A Rookie Mistake—A Poor Overnight Train Story
Let me share a story about traveling way back in 1990—we were in Europe during the World Cup soccer tournament. To save money, we decided to take an overnight train from Paris to Amsterdam. It was our first time on an overnight train in Europe.
Seemed like a great idea—we would save one nights hotel cost. The only problem was that our sleeping compartment was not for us alone—when we got on the train we found we were sharing the compartment with 2 strangers from Argentina who were following their soccer team. It was a very uncomfortable situation to say the least, but luckily since I am fluent in Spanish, we were able to communicate our discomfort and work out who would sleep where.
The train was not air-conditioned or it was not working, so our options were a very hot night of little or no sleep or constant screeching noises with the windows open as other trains roared past us.
When we finally arrived the next morning and found a hotel in a smaller town outside of Amsterdam, we slept for a whole day. And to add to our discomfort, we both had heat rashes on our legs.
So folks, we saved some bucks, but lost almost 2 days of our trip. This is poor travel and our stress levels were through the roof.
Now we still use overnight trains on occasions but have learned to carefully research all the details and levels of service—a great lesson learned!
Hotel Stressers
Another time stressor is searching for the right hotel. If you are winging it, this can be another problem. If you expect a certain level of accommodations, you could be aced out.
Also consider noise—we once stayed in a very wonderful little village but it was less than 50 meters from the train tracks. You guessed it, all night long we heard constant trains screaming along the tracks. Here is a photo of how pretty it was:
What a wonderful German Village but a hotel too close to the train tracks will often result in a poor night’s sleep, even with ear plugs!
Another stress factor is spending too much or being located in an unsafe part of town—trust me, we had also made these mistakes. The solution—do your homework, or better yet let us plan it for you.
Seeing the Sights and Avoiding Waiting in Long Lines
Even if you get the moving from place to place correctly, and find the right place to stay, perhaps the biggest stress factor is missing a chance to see what you came to see or waiting in long lines to see or experience the sights.
Most key sights are closed on certain days or holidays and can require advance reservations. For example, few people want to stand in line to see the Vatican Museum for 4 or more hours in the blazing sun during July in Italy—we have witnessed many who have made this travel mistake—if they had reservations, they would have skipped the line altogether.
The Vatican is always crowded. These folks are going towards the Vatican Museum and may have very long waits if they don’t have a reservation.
To get in St. Peter’s Basilica, you must wait in line. This just gives you an idea how many will wait in line and it is worse at the Vatican Museum.
Perhaps one of the most common errors is how many travelers try to see the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam at the last minute—unless you make reservations 2 or more months in advance, you will not get in. The same goes for the Last Supper painting in Milan—reservations required, often a month or so in advance and only 15 minutes viewing time to see this masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci.
The Stress of Making Your Own Plans
Another stress factor is making your own plans.
Will your selections match your expectations (are you sure or just guessing it will be OK)?
Will you miss out on a key experience you did not know about?
Did you forget the transfer from the airport to your hotel?
Did you allow enough time to make a train connection?
Are you in the right place on the right day of your cruise to see the sight you just spent thousands of dollars to see?
Are you prepared to travel during COVID?
The list goes on and on.
Addressing the Stress Factors
To me, this all boils down to two factors—trip satisfaction and convenience.
Every time we plan our own travel, and I see how complex it is to get the trip right, I just can’t understand why some folks believe they can achieve trip satisfaction by doing their own planning. Maybe they get satisfaction from extensive research. Maybe it is a control factor—I’m just not sure.
Time value experts often ask this question when evaluating convenience and satisfaction—what would you be willing to pay someone to do the work for you? This is a great question in my mind, and my answer is even better—it usually costs you nothing extra, as the vendors pay us—the price of our services is already factored in to the vacation price.
The reason is simple—the vendors alone can’t reach enough folks to sell their products by themselves, so they use travel professionals like us, to find customers for them.
It is a huge win-win—you are hiring us as your travel expert for free in most case.
As Anne likes to say, “Free is good!”
My Final Thoughts
Get rid of the Stress—let us figure it out for you. Trip planning is not easy. Time and money issues are complex—we all want the best at the least possible price.
We help you solve those complex issues, saving you hassles, time and worry.
We are travel experts, ocean and river cruise specialists, and Europe destination experts. We have first-hand knowledge of almost anywhere you want to visit in Europe. We know our products and the vendors who sell them to you. We have designed special tours for dozens of clients, led several and will continue to find just the right vacation that will exceed your expectations.
When you are spending your hard-earned money for a vacation, you want an advisor who can match you with the right trip. You want someone who will understand your expectations and fuel your anticipation (or excitement) to get you the best possible trip experience. And, you want someone who can help you with the decision making process. We think we have all these qualities.
Whatever your Dream Destinations are, we are here to help you get the best possible vacation based on what is important to you! We will provide you high quality, expertly planned travel. Please give me a call 713-397-0188 (Hank) or email me at hschrader@dreamdestinations.com. We want to help you: Savor life…make memories…Visit Dream Destinations! Your journey begins here!
HANK is a certified Western European Destination Specialist (DS) who has been traveling to Europe for 50 years. He is also an Accredited Cruise Counselor (ACC), conferred by the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA). This recognized expert in cruise and leisure travel is a retired Army Officer, and taught World Geography for 8 years. He is a `71 graduate of West Point and has earned 2 master’s degrees. His other Certifications:
AmaWaterways River Cruise Specialist
Viking River Cruise Specialist
Scenic River Cruise Specialist
Emerald Waterways Specialist
Avalon Waterways Specialist
Brit Agent
