HOI AN, VIETNAM – Seeing the world is a very exciting prospect, and being able to travel long-term is a great privilege. However, whether you’re working while you travel, or taking an extended vacation by storm, it turns out that long-term travel is actually a ton of work. If you’re moving locations every few days, or even every week, there is a lot of effort that goes into everything you do: where to eat, where to sleep, what to do, how much to spend, how to get there, dealing with any problems, and of course, the constant energy of meeting new people and making new friends.

I am currently in the middle of a year-long trip across Asia. And somewhere between the five-to-six month mark I hit a wall. Researching things and making constant decisions stopped being a fun challenge and started being a huge source of anxiety. I experienced what I call decision fatigue: making constant decisions was making me really tired and was sucking the enjoyment out of everything. I longed for the simplicity of home, but I wasn’t ready to call it quits and head back to more familiar pastures.

Since I am creature for whom lists are very comforting, I made myself this list of strategies to reference when I was feeling decision fatigued, and I thought it I would share it for any other long-term travellers who are struggling with the same thing.

Whether you are travelling for a week or a year, there is a lot of pressure to “make the most” out of your time abroad. However, trying to do everything all of the time can be exhausting, and I think you can stop appreciating the experiences you are having because you are tired, stressed, or have repeated a lot of the same types of activities. Letting go of having the “perfect” experience is important, because no one can do the “best” things all of the time (whatever those might be), or be their best all of the time. Sometimes all of the planning in the world results in a crappy experience, and accepting the inevitability of this is going to make you happier while travelling. Sometimes things will be perfect, other times they will be so-so, and other times they will suck. And that is okay.

Find a place that you like and stay there for a while. This can mean a few days, or a few weeks, but removing the constant pressure of finding a new place to sleep every few nights removes a lot of stress and can establish some normalcy to your days. Going to the same places, seeing the same people, and sleeping in the same bed can do a lot for your mental health. Sometimes it’s also nice to just live in an area for a while: eat at the same restaurants, shop at the same corner store, and learn the back streets of the neighbourhood you are visiting. It’s also totally okay to take some days off from travelling: hole up in your bed and binge-watch Netflix, or spend a few days reading on the beach. Although it may not feel like you’re accomplishing enough with your days, trust me, you are.

Constantly researching, looking at booking sites, reading reviews, and trying to pick the best possible places and tours can take up a lot of time. Let your hostel, hotel, or a travel agency book your transport or tour. They will take care of everything, and you don’t have to worry about doing anything other than just showing up.

Up front, I’m not a huge fan of group tours. They tend to pack a lot into a short amount of time, are usually more expensive than travelling on your own, and there’s always the concern that people in your group will be jerks. However, I found that adding a couple of week-long group tours into my travels gave me a break from needing to make dozens of decisions a day, and it was relieving to just go with the flow. Someone will take care of your accommodations, and how you’re travelling to see the major sites. They will tell you where to eat, and take care of paying for most things. It’s easy. And on the upside, you will probably also meet some people who are not jerks, and get to spend a decent amount of time getting to know them.

I am not someone who does overly well with an abundance of choice. My preference is to go to restaurants that have five items on the menu, and stay in small towns where there are three hotels to choose from. But when you’re travelling, especially in big cities or countries where tourism supports the economy, there are often hundreds (if not thousands) of options to choose from, and it can be very overwhelming to know where to begin. Travel books are a super helpful tool to cut through a lot of the chatter, and have a smaller pool of choices to pick from. Writers for your Lonely Planet or Rough Guide will have done a lot of research to put together their list of recommendations, and you don’t need to duplicate their research.

Asking other travellers IRL for personal recommendations about where to stay and what to do can be super helpful in dealing with decision fatigue. I am always very happy to tell other travellers, “I stayed here and it was great!” Or, “I stayed here and it was nothing special but fine for the price.” I have also followed the recommendations of other travellers and been mostly happy with the results. I think there’s a lot of competition between travellers to say they did something special or unique, which is totally okay. But some days, all I want is to do something interesting, and I don’t care if I do it exactly the same as the twenty guys before me.

If you’re having trouble making decisions, especially about big things like which country you should go to next, connect with your friends and family for some advice. They know you well, maybe even better than you do. They will be able to hear where you’re at and offer some solid advice. Plus, it’s always nice to hear a friendly voice when you’re feeling tired or burned out, and just connecting with home might have you feeling a little bit better.