Being mentally exhausted can happen at any point in your life. Whether it is after a long workday or after you explored a new city in Europe. As I sit at my computer writing this, I feel my mind shutting down itself. Many people feel uncomfortable talking about the subject of mental health. I am not a psychologist. I am just someone who is very open about my struggles regarding my mental health.
First, I will give you some backstory about myself. I have grown up in a headspace where I felt like I was living someone else's life. From a young age, I wanted to make others happy and felt like I had to participate in certain events, act a specific way, and be overall perfect to have them accept and love me. After years of portraying myself this way, I started to turn from this happy young girl to someone filled with regret and inner turmoil. I didn't know who I was, and I blamed others rather than look inward, which made me angry, depressed, and unsatisfied.
When I was in high school, I would come home from school and go to my room and decompress from the perfect girl I thought I needed to be. I would turn on my portable DVD player and put in the latest show I was watching. That was a way to let my mind escape and separate myself from my life. It gave my brain a break from being who I thought I needed to be and became my first coping mechanism of mental exhaustion. The saddest part about this method was no one knew what I was going through internally. My parents thought I was your typical happy teenager, satisfied with my life. When in actuality, I was mentally exhausted from playing a role I no longer wanted to partake.
Mental health in college is talked about consistently. Let me tell you why. College is a large part of your transformative years within your life. That is the first time many kids are away from home, have more freedom, have a significant amount of responsibility, and are confronted with a lot more choices than before. Due to all the change, some people breakdown, don't do well in their studies and decide to go home. But, other people are silent strugglers. These people do well in school, they succeed in a sport, make lots of friends, but are still significantly unhappy. I was one of those kids who silently suffered. I felt like I was living a lie and wanted to break free.
I had found that drawing and painted helped me escape the same way binging television shows did. I was about to mentally relax and heal enough to power through and keep going. Even though I felt like my life was a day by day trance, the beauty of being creative just gave me enough energy to forget my other issues. Shortly after this discovery, I picked up a studio art minor and experimented with more art forms. Over time, I realized the more I expressed what I was feeling within art, the happier I became. Finding another coping mechanism was slowly helping me better my mental health.
So, I know you must be thinking, how does this relate to travel? Isn't this a travel blog? It is, but I don't think everyone who travels realizes how exhausting and mentally draining it can be for your mental health even though it can help better it. Everyone is different. I love to travel. I use traveling as the ultimate escape from my life, which helps maintain a better mental help. Have you met someone who hates traveling? I have. I asked them why and they responded with a very valid reason. "It exhausts me mentally and physically and emotionally."
I have always loved to travel on vacation and see new places. Everything that is involved with travel is exciting for me. The packing, flying or driving, the hotel stays or rent Airbnbs, every aspect of traveling I love. My heart races, and I can never sleep because I am always ready to explore the next state, country, or continent. I can detach myself from my everyday life and only think about being present when I am someplace else. The cultures I experience along with the new food and smells that I encounter make me feel like I am dreaming. I can honestly say I feel alive when someplace new. The adventure and the exploring bring enlightenment to my senses along with my soul. It rejuvenates my mental health and almost gives me a sense of a life high. When I was old enough to comprehend how fortunate I was to be able to travel, this is when my love and excitement helped cleanse my mind. Staying busy and doing something while on trips is my ideal vacation. I want to see as much as possible in the time allotted. That makes my trips a go, go, go, experience. I thrive off this mentally, physically, and emotionally.
I know many people who find traveling to be a pain. They hate preparing and planning. They dislike flying and driving, and when they arrive, all they long for is their bed. I have asked these people why they don't feel the same way I do, and most respond with the same answer, "It is so tiring." Being someone who doesn't understand this, I probe further into their minds and ask them what makes it so exhausting. Why aren't they excited about the new opportunity? They explain that the planning for the trip stressed them out. Coordinating schedules and booking flights and hotels they seem to worry about. Their anxiety goes through the roof. Those stress levels rise higher on the day they have to travel. They are agitated, annoyed, anxious, and overall in a bad headspace. They don't want to deal with anyone, and they wish they could teleport to their destination. Lastly, while on vacation, the go, go, go, aspect is physically exhausting. They don't like to be moving, the different atmosphere might make them uncomfortable, and if there is a language barrier, their social anxiety heightens. They have told me that all of these factors make traveling a horror for them. They would rather have a staycation and do nothing.
Mental health affects everyone differently. I understand why people do not like to travel if it is not beneficial for their mental health. For me, it works, but no one is expected to enjoy entering a new culture or city. Finding your coping mechanisms to help enhance your mental health is key, whether it is outdoor activities, shopping, watching movies, etc. If it helps elevate your mindset to a more positive one, then it is what works for you. Once I found my love for traveling and started taking the right steps in my life to break free from the negativity surrounding my mental health, I was able to become a more positive and outgoing person. I have been able to meet some of the most interesting people and experience some wild things. I make sure to make my mental health a priority, and traveling for me is the ultimate way to cleanse my mind and get back on track.
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