Have you wrestled to commit to a travel decision because you were drowning in too many choices? Left procrastinating and hastily patching together a last-minute getaway? Second-guessing your decisions? Or, worse, staying home wallowing in regret for not organizing something more fulfilling? I certainly have. In a world of possibilities, here we’ll look at a few ways to simplify and conquer travel analysis paralysis.
Often, the pressure of executing that much-needed or dreamed-about vacation can feel overwhelming. Time and money are precious and limited. How and where you spend both can feel critical and complicated. Let’s also add the weight of curating priceless memories and the “perfect” trip. Yikes! It can certainly feel like sailing on rough waters.
On the back end of this decision is acceptance. Acceptance and acknowledgment that you have done everything in your power to achieve the best possible outcome, but certain things are out of your control.
Understanding Analysis Paralysis
Analysis Paralysis is the feeling surrounding too many choices and overthinking the problem. The feeling of being stuck in a loop of indecision can be mentally exhausting and is completely normal and you’re not alone.
And Travel Analysis Paralysis?
Simply put, travel analysis paralysis is the feeling overwhelmed by too many travel-related decisions. Because travel is designed to shake up your day-to-day routine, you are often making far more decisions than usual.
There are many considerations such as selecting a destination to transportation, accommodation, libation, and exploration. We are riddled with choices. Not to mention, “Can I take the time? Can I afford this?” And one of the most prevalent is “what if I am shelling out a ton of money and the hotel/food/experience is rotten and a complete letdown?” How can I accept that risk?
It’s a common problem to feel torn between wanting the perfect vacation and the fear of making the wrong choice. These decisions are not just about destinations, they are about crafting experiences that resonate with your underlying needs and desires.
Reminding ourselves that the appeal of travel is embracing new opportunities and experiences while getting out of daily routines will help with accepting any difficult decisions you may face.
These 14 tips can help you overcome travel analysis paralysis, commit to the trip, and feel confident and resolute in your decisions.
Clarify Your Reason to Take the Trip.
Designing a clear vision and understanding of why you want to travel can help better define your goals. Whatever your real reason for going is, the idea is to establish a decision foundation. Ask yourself:
Why do I want to take this trip?
What do I hope to get out of it?
How would I know if I achieved this?
Create your Must-Have List.
Identify your must-haves and prioritize them. What do you want and what are your non-negotiables? These can range from getting an idea of the setting, to how you will spend your time, activities, budget, weather, or accommodation needs to name a few.
Define Your Deal Breakers.
These are your no-go’s. The things that you do not want for your trip. Returning to the mantra that travel is unpredictable, the good news is there are three things you can control: your perspective, your expectations, and how prepared you are.
Narrow It Down.
These two lists become your guidelines and filters and a major step in conquering your travel analysis paralysis.
If you are traveling with others, have them ALSO do this exercise and then see where they overlap.
Our Most Common Scenario:
This is a frequent topic of conversation for us. Note, we are location flexible, but maintain a 35-40 hour work week. While visiting friends and family in the USA, we slept in 13 different accommodations in 12 different cities in 6 weeks.
Sometimes our must-haves and dealbreakers change based on our circumstances, but it’s not uncommon to hold our breath as we open the door and hope for the best.
We learned to clearly articulate what we each need from our crash pad and what we don’t want.
For example, my non-negotiables are access to a kitchen with a stove (not just a microwave), natural light especially in the bedroom, wifi over 10Mbps, aircon or heating options based on the location, and nature accessible.
My partner’s non-negotiables are having a proper table and chair that can fit two laptops and a monitor for working (not a bar with barstools), immediate access to nature and running areas, preferably not in a city, and fitting our budget.
Sometimes it feels like we are chasing unicorns, but listing what it was we want scales down the field. Occasionally, we will have to make compromises based on availability, but we will exhaust all our resources and research before that happens.
Bucket list approach
Make a list of all the experiences and places you have dreamed of visiting. Consider each destination as an independent trip and build each one individually. You don’t need to get into the nitty-gritty. Just expand on what it is you have always dreamed of doing.
When you have a clearer inspiration, devoting yourself to working through it is far simpler. It goes from “I need a vacation, ” to “I have a two-week holiday and I’m finally taking that trip to the Galapagos, get my diving certification, and swim with the sea turtles.”
Keep an ongoing list, maps with pins, Pinterest boards, vision boards, bookmarks on websites, and start working your way through them. I keep lists on hand of hikes I want to do, waterfalls I want to swim in, restaurants to eat at, and experiences I’m curious to try.
Always and again reconnect with your list.
Consider Your Time Constraints.
What is feasible with the time you will take? Knowing time limitations can quickly eliminate impractical choices. Is it this coming Saturday or a three-month sabbatical?
I like to use this theory:
The Radius Theory.
My partner loosely made this up, and one of the approaches I often use.
You start with where you are at home:
One day = One hour of travel time.
Two days = Two hours of travel time.
Long weekends = Three to four hours of travel time.
You get to deeply discover the area around you, maximize your time, and reduce your travel time.
A Story of Exceptions
While I was living in Austria, a friend from the USA asked if I could meet her in Milan, Italy for a long weekend. My response was an unwavering and spontaneous, “Yes!”
It’s a 4-hour train from our house to Vienna Airport, check-in 2 hours ahead, a 1.5-hour flight, and a 1-hour bus to her hotel in the city center. That’s 8.5 hours of travel time each way, on Friday and again on Tuesday. The trade-off was an entire weekend of fun sandwiched between. There are always exceptions.
Speaking of sandwiches…
The Oreo Approach
I had to throw this one in here because the Superbowl ad timing was perfect AND I love Oreos. They are my go-to comfort cookies and are available in 100+ countries around the world (just a fun fact).
No need to feel burdened with the actual decision-making. If you narrowed down your choices to two, why not keep it playful and flip a coin or twist a cookie?
“Do we go here or there?” The Oreo answer is to “Twist on it.”
Explore New Resources.
Google Flight Explore. This can open a world of possibilities based on finding a cheap flight from where you are. Reach into your bucket list or stay open and curious. You can build your itinerary from there. Maybe it’s discovering the BBQ and art scene of St. Louis or the tropical beaches of St. Lucia?
RyanAir is a great budget carrier in Europe and can be incredibly affordable. That Milan trip cost $40 for the roundtrip flight and squeezed my weekend wardrobe into a personal item. Breeze Airlines does weekender packages in Southeast USA.
In the last year, I’ve enjoyed playing with ChatGPT for road trip ideas and quirky digressions to break up a long trip.
Look for travel deals that align with your core purpose, your non-negotiables, and your bucket list.
Here is a list of my 30 favourite travel apps.
If you feel like these tools complicate your decision, then step away. The decision-making plus planning can feel like a lot. Consider the idea of a travel agent that does the booking work.
If you feel like you need support and to talk through your options, book a Travel Coaching call with me. Together, we can help you find resolve and go on that trip!
Recommendations and Reviews- The Good, Bad, and the Ugly.
Real experiences can guide you and reduce uncertainty. Seek advice from friends, family, or online travel communities. These can offer you a richer picture from people you already entrust in your life. Often the people in your circles have similar interests, lifestyles, and passions and can offer candid feedback.
However, not everyone will have great experiences. Not every destination is everyone’s cup of tea. Know when to take a piece of advice with a grain of salt. As humans, we learn from our mistakes and sometimes we must make determinations ourselves.
Don’t allow someone to deter you from having an experience you have always dreamed of, just because they didn’t enjoy it.
To get a more well-rounded idea of what to expect read the reviews thoroughly, see if and how the businesses respond. In this day and age, be mindful of who the reviewer is. Is this a paid partnership? Are they benefiting from this in some way? Are the reviews inconsistent? Look at both the marketing pictures and reviewer pictures.
Ask questions directly to businesses, visitor bureaus, travel agents, and local communities for the answers, confirmation, and peace of mind you are seeking.
While booking AirBnB’s, open up the conversation with the hosts to get clarity on the space, express your needs, get local recommendations, and other helpful tips for the area.
Let Go of Expectations.
Let’s assume that you may get a few surprises. Stay open to the possibility that not everything will work out exactly as planned. The unplanned and unexpected can be even BETTER!
The travel industry, destinations, and situations can make these experiences largely unpredictable. Filtered photos, biased articles, and romanticized situations fuel our expectations of what can be and should be.
Those “should be expectations” are a surefire way to lead to disappointment even when everything goes as exactly as planned. Boarding a plane to France may not lead you to a life like Emily in Paris, but it will certainly be a launching pad for your very own adventure.
Travel is about exploration, staying open and flexible, and letting adventures play out. It helps us build resilience to the unexpected.
Recently, we fulfilled one of my lifetime dreams, riding an airboat through the Florida Everglades to see the alligators, swamps, and Mangroves. The airboat tour company competition is fierce in that region and we knew we would probably only do this once, so in snuck a little travel analysis paralysis. We gathered intel via local recommendations and listed reviews and picked a warm and sunny afternoon to ensure prime gator viewing.
We drove 1 hour each way and paid a solid amount per person and could you guess what happened?
Unseasonal weather patterns fell just 10 minutes before we boarded the boat. The gators hid in their mudholes. And we spent most of our time shivering in the wind as we skipped around a lake. The only thing we could do was accept that we had zero control over the weather or the wildlife and admire the Ibis.
Share your Plans
Accountability counts. Sharing your plans to travel is committing to both yourself and the Universe that this is important. Tell a friend, write it down, make plans with a coach, check in, and see how your travel decisions are coming along.
Accountability partners are found in with co-workers, weight loss, addiction recovery, why not apply it to dream chasing? They bring you up when you are feeling low.
When I first had the idea to travel solo for one year, the only person who knew was my mom. I held my secret close to my heart, fearful I wouldn’t follow through and commit to myself. It took almost 6 months before let anyone in, and when I did, I was overwhelmed by the support, love, and enthusiasm received for following my dreams.
Set a Decision Deadline.
Set a date. A deadline prevents endless deliberation, ensures progress, and avoids procrastination.
Write it on a board, mark it in your calendar, and buy that pack of Oreos. This is not doomsday, this is your next big adventure calling!
Don’t allow your dreams to slip away with time because of too many choices. Take small steps and commit to both yourself and your dreams.
Trust Yourself & Crush Travel Analysis Paralysis
Listen to your gut. Is it butterflies? Excitement? Anticipation? Are you still feeling uncertain? Did you eat the whole sleeve of cookies and book your entire trip?
Go back to your goals and remind yourself of what you want to achieve from traveling.
Be proud and celebrate that you committed to a travel decision. And the next time you do, it will be easier.
As a recent coffee shop pavement board quoted, “What’s the best that can happen?”
If this was helpful or you have travel decision techniques, you’d like to share use, I would love to hear them. Leave a comment below or subscribe to get more posts sent to you.
2 Responses
Love that last pic. AND I MADE IT IN THE BOG!!!
you sure did! Thanks for coming all this way to meet us in Colombia. Happy travels for the next leg of this amazing journey you are on!