SAKSUN, Faroe Islands — The tide had gone out to sea, leaving the impression that it was not home; in its stead, an empty house: vast deposits of black sand stretching from one side of the deserted fjord to the other. We walked along the makeshift beach toward a clearing of large rocks. The trail continued, but I sprawled out on one of the stones.
“You guys go ahead,” I said. “I’ll be here.”
This group of friends is not known to tolerate a cop-out; in order to skip a night out, some have been asked to provide a doctor’s note. In other circumstances, I would have been dragged off the rock. But like birds before a storm, we could sense something in the air. We needed a little space. No one said anything—a rare moment of quiet—and we parted our separate ways, at least for half an hour or so.
When they returned, the air felt refreshed and relaxed. I could admire the steep cliffs and snow-white birds without the tension that comes with excessive time in shared company.
“Woah,” someone said after a minute. “That was, like, a reset.”
With all the pomp and circumstance that surrounds travel, the act of being on the road often gets less attention. I don’t think that’s a bad thing; in fact, I sometimes get restless when people want to talk about their flight durations or jet lag instead of the trip itself.
There are biological components to the ever-familiar feeling of “I just need a break from this” when traveling (even on the best trips), like low blood sugar or a lack of sleep. Mentally, too, travel is taxing: new languages, customs, food, even road signs.
Being attuned to these changes—noticing the physical sensation of impatience or frustration before it becomes all-encompassing—makes a huge difference in the moment. Take a nap on a rock if you must. It might seem like the flow of something is being interrupted, but trust me: if travel is like a river, it’s much better to toss a log in the stream than to build a metaphorical dam of grievances and annoyances.
If you’re like me, you might pick up on the fact that you somehow only seem to be peeved by the little things after that third cup of coffee or in the hour window before lunch.
🇫🇴 Read more from the Faroe Islands.