How I Manage Decision Fatigue While Travelling

How I Manage Decision Fatigue While Travelling: A Complete Guide

They never tell you this before you set off — that travel can be tiring in the head. It’s not the walking or the waiting that wears you down, it’s the constant deciding. 

Where to eat, which route to take, what to do next, when to rest. After a week abroad, even choosing a sandwich can feel like algebra.

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I first noticed it in Rome. I’d spent four hours zig-zagging through streets looking for the “perfect” pasta place and ended up eating crisps on the Spanish Steps. That’s when I realised the cure for decision fatigue isn’t more research — it’s less choice.

Now, when I travel, I keep things simple. I pick one café in the morning and go there every day, even if the croissants aren’t perfect. I limit the number of must-see sights and leave gaps for wandering. I plan travel logistics in advance — little things like sorting short stay parking Gatwick or checking reliable airport parking deals before flying. Those details might seem dull, but they save me from starting a trip already stressed.

I’ve also learnt to trust rhythm over routine. One day might be for museums, the next for nothing but reading in a park. If I get tired of thinking, I let the place decide for me — follow the sound of music, the smell of food, the crowd heading somewhere I don’t yet know.

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The joy of travel, I’ve found, lives in moments you don’t plan — and those moments only come when your mind isn’t cluttered with a thousand small choices. So now I let go of perfect itineraries. I choose calm. And somehow, that’s made every trip feel lighter, easier, and far more alive.