The importance of 'normal days' while long-term traveling

Long term traveling is exhausting. Although we have no jobs to speak of and no real set schedules (other than our flights, trains, buses, tours, etc.) we are constantly arriving somewhere new that we may never be able to visit again. Cities and towns are filled with interesting things to see, people to meet, food to try and history to learn. Most of our stops are three days, with the occasional 5 or 6 day stay. This requires a lot of packing and unpacking and washing clothes at all opportunities. There is little routine other than making it up in time for breakfast then getting out there to do stuff - and as I said, this is exhausting. Throw into the mix the fact that we are constantly alert for scams, pickpockets, safe food, bad weather and everything in between leads us to fall into bed early and quickly each night. 

When you travel for 2 weeks, it is ok to go go go every day to try to squeeze in as much as possible. But 4.5 months of traveling? You have to build days into your schedule to just lay around and do nothing or find something that makes you feel more normal. At first, I felt a bit guilty about doing this. My internal voice shouted at me: 'You're in Rio and you're just going to sit on Pinterest?! And then go to a mall and see a film?! Why are you even traveling? Just go home!' Luckily, I got over this very shouty, judgey monologue just after the film finished. I felt refreshed and ready to be a tourist again the next day. 

Rest days are essential to help you recover from the all the seeing/doing/absorbing that a new country or city requires of you. When we arrived in Lima, Peru, we were ready for another rest day. Our time in Bolivia had been incredible, and extremely intense in terms of touring the many wonderous places across the country. Every moment I stared out the window just in awe of all the colors and constantly changing scenery. Being that in the moment can be quite exhausting. So out of our three days in Lima, we took quite a few opportunities to just recover. We ate sushi at a local restaurant. We went to a beautiful mall on the cliff side and just walked around absorbing the comfortable homey feeling. We went to an arcade and played many games (Guitar Hero, Deal or No Deal, ski ball, air hockey, Dance Dance Revolution 2, and a shoot 'em up game - Paul's choice obviously). We found a book store with English books and enjoyed browsing. Finally, we went to see a movie together - in English! - and reveled in the normalcy of popcorn, gummie candies, and soda. 

Do you ever get home from a vacation and need a vacation to recover from it? Now imagine doing that for months and months. I'm not complaining at all, in fact I am sad that my trip is slipping so quickly by. But I am taking a few moments here and there just to relax and not have to be a tourist, so I can better understand and explore my next destination. And I will not feel guilty about it, not for a moment. If you're planning long-term travel, just remember to take the time to rest every now and then. Do something familiar that requires little energy from you. Without that rest, it can be hard to appreciate your incredible surroundings. Our next rest day? Visiting Torrance, CA in 5 days to see friends, family, and yes, maybe a mall and a movie :)