How to overcome the unsettling feeling of permanent travel

My husband and I have just arrived in Cape Town for the next 3 months after a nightmare journey leaving Dubai – I agree with Abha who despairs at Dubai’s short notice announcing a public holiday with less than 24 hours notice for residents, shutting of all the main roads to the airport and those around the city. After a 2 hour journey, a 3.5km walk along the side of a busy highway (after our cab driver had lost the will to keep driving and chucked us out) we finally arrived at the airport and managed to fly out.

We now find ourselves having to settle in to our 7th destination in 11 months. Of course it’s exciting but there’s also a familiar sense of feeling unsettled and having yet another place to suss out and find our way around.

There are a few things we do each time however, which help us acclimatise and overcome the unsettled feelings that we’re currently experiencing…

Get back into a good sleeping routine

As exciting and tempting as it is to trip the light fantastic upon arrival, one of the most effective ways to acclimatise is to overcome jetlag as fast as possible and get back to your typical sleeping habits. I’m not an expert on jetlag and despite the advice above, I personally often find that one of the best ways to overcome jetlag when traveling from west to east is to go out for one really good night out on your first night, sleep in till no later than 10am the next day (irrespective of what time you get to bed), have a busy day sussing out your new ‘home’ and you should then be set for a good night’s sleep that night!!

Use the first day to be a tourist, walk around and get your bearings

There’s nothing I find more useful than a good walk around your new area (providing it’s safe), checking out where everything is and sussing out the lay of the land. You also get a good feel for the place and the areas you walk around – much more so than if you take a cab, hire a car or jump on one of those big red tourist buses (although I was tempted this week when my legs got tired).

Establish some of your usual habits

Of course one of the reasons many people go traveling is to get themselves out of staid routines and wander freely and routine-less. If you travel permanently however (and run a business whilst you do), it sometimes helps to get back to some of your usual routines as quickly as possible. For me, this means getting up to exercise each morning and then over breakfast planning when to work that day and when to go out exploring.

Get some local input

Aside from the advice in your trusty guidebook (we don’t currently have one for South Africa, living life on the wild side!!), a copy of the latest Time Out guide and your internet research, one of the best ways to suss out the place is to have a chat with a local. We usually head for the nearest breakfast cafe on the first morning and see if there are any friendly locals who can give us the low down on the areas to check out and what to avoid or look out for. Sometimes this results in making a new friend but if not, you’ve got some valuable input which may not be in the guidebooks.

As creatures of habit, humans tend to like their routines which is why traveling is often so exhilirating. When you’re feeling unsettled, getting some of your familiar routines back can feel very comforting and help you settle in.

Right now though, we need to go and find somewhere to stay for the next 3 months so the routines will have to wait.