Tips to avoid long-term travel fatigue

Have you ever found yourself on the receiving end of an opportunity to travel long-term? Perhaps you were let go at work and find yourself with a rare window to travel before starting your next position. Or maybe this was in the plans all along and you’ve finally hit your savings goal or acquired your RV and are ready to hit the open road. Perhaps you’ve retired and now the world is your oyster.

Whatever your personal situation, you’re on the road long-term now and that in itself is an incredible chance to make some wonderful memories. Now all you need to do is ensure you’re prepared and ready! Here are some tips that helped me avoid travel fatigue on my long-term travels.

Have an internet connection

“But I want to go off-grid!” I hear you object. Trust me when I say that simply having the ability to connect to the internet is a game changer. Yes, it’s wonderful to go off-grid, disappear from social media and not be contactable 24/7. But sometimes we need the internet and if you’re smack bang in the middle of the Outback without it, you may run into some trouble.

For me, the internet was paramount to planning the route ahead. My partner and I found ourselves travelling through unseasonable wet weather when we were exploring the Northern Territory. It made for a stunning and unique view of Uluru, but it proved difficult when camping in a rooftop tent. After not very much time, we found ourselves soggy, our rooftop tent smelling unpleasant and moist and our clothes covered in red mud. We have Starlink and therefore were able to connect to the internet to check the radar and work out where the rain was heading next. That way we could do our best to avoid it by either staying put or putting in a large amount of kilometres to a dry destination.

Although you probably have your satellite phone with you, having a connection to the internet also enables another line where you can call for help if needed. It just adds another level of assurance that if you need to contact someone for whatever reason, you have a plan B. You don’t need to scroll Instagram just because you have a connection. Remain off-grid, but know that you have the option to connect to the World Wide Web if needed.

Download podcasts for the road

The internet comes in handy for on-the-road entertainment too. As much as I love travelling with my partner, there are only so many yarns we can have before we run out of things to talk about. Or when the dreaded cabin fever sets in and we find ourselves swiping at each other out of frustration. Travel days that exceed 10 hours do this to me. Do yourself, and your relationship a favour and use the internet to download a range of podcasts that will keep you entertained while you drive. For us, crime podcasts were a great idea. Even though it was a little odd to start some days discovering the details of a murder while sipping a jet boil-made coffee.

Not only will you keep your mind occupied, but you’ll be more alert while driving and, depending on the podcast, may learn a thing or two.

Utilise service station showers

If you were unaware that some service stations offer shower facilities, you wouldn’t be the first. I never knew this was a thing until I began travelling with my partner, who seemingly knows the ins and outs of living on the road and has taught me so much. Many times, we found ourselves going days and days on end with no shower due to wanting to preserve the water we had in the Ute for drinking and washing dishes. We love remote, free campsites, which means we typically don’t see many campsites with showers. So, rather than stinking up the Ute, I would chuck on my thongs and shower at service stations. Not only was I pleasantly surprised with how clean they were, but they were all cost-free, allowing us to spend more money on the much-needed diesel that takes us around Australia.

Stop in at towns to use coin laundries

Space is gold in the Ute, which is why we typically don’t bring a lot of stuff when we hit the road. Not only does this mean I’m outfit repeating a lot, but it means I run out of clean clothes quite quickly. The best tip I learnt was to stop into towns or stay at caravan parks that had a coin laundry. This way we could chuck our items that needed washing in and head off to get a coffee or check out the town while our clothes washed themselves. Although it wasn’t necessarily on our planned route of the Outback, it was an invaluable must-do in order to keep us on the road for longer.

Stay at Airbnb’s along the way

If you’re travelling by 4WD, my best guess is that you’re a lover of nature and the outdoors. You like to sleep under the stars, smell the campfire from your rooftop tent or swag and are a sucker for a ‘back to basics’ setup. Though it may feel like you’re cheating on your adventure, I would highly advise you to throw an Airbnb stay into your itinerary every once in a while. When I found myself missing the comfort of my big queen-sized bed at home or the ability to shower in hot water in a private bathroom, we would book an Airbnb.

Watching TV, lying on the lounge, ordering takeaway food and relaxing in a warm environment allowed us to refresh. Instead of becoming homesick and getting what I like to call “camping fatigue”, we’d have our night of luxury and then head back more keen than ever to camp on the road. 

Remember, there’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to adventure. A night or three of luxury doesn’t mean you aren’t an off-road lover. View it as a tactic to keep yourself on your trip for longer by taking breaks from roughing it.

Bring pre-made meals

I’ve never been someone who buys the vacuum-sealed pre-made meals that you see at the grocery stores. I also really enjoy making food around the campfire. However, when we headed off for our long trip, I knew there were going to be days where we’d been driving for hours and would not feel like whipping up a meal that night. Rather than go hungry, we purchased a range of pre-made meals that simply required a 20-30 minute run in the air fryer.

Not only did it allow us to cook meals in the back of the Ute while driving and eat quickly when arriving at a campsite after the sun had gone down, but it allowed us so much more space in the fridge. When I wasn’t having to buy multiple ingredients to cook a dish because it was already made, we were able to provision our meals for so many more days. 

By purchasing pre-made meals, we saved money, could go longer without stopping in a town to grocery shop, saved time on cooking and had more room in the fridge for beer. It was a win-win scenario!

Being on the road long-term is a dream and, to be honest, often takes a lot of hard work and planning to achieve. With these tips I’ve learned along my adventures, I hope you’ll be able to stay on the road for longer and visit more places than you ever dreamed possible.