Life Anecdote: Skipping the Tour - A Travel Reflection on Burnout & Self-Care

Learning to honour my energy instead of chasing every moment — in travel and in life.

There’s a lesson I relearn every time I travel - and Guatemala made me sit with it once again:

I don’t have to do everything, see everything or go everywhere.

I can rest. I can skip the tour. I can honour my energy.

Missing out on something doesn’t reduce the value of my trip, or my life for that matter.

I’m currently in Guatemala and we took a small trip to Petén, Guatemala (all the details on Guatemala will come in the future, I promise). My friends planned a beautiful itinerary filled with adventure, but yesterday… I didn’t have it in me to do anything else.

I’ve been sick. On my period. Adjusting to a new place - new time zone, new weather. Recovering from climbing Mayan pyramids (which completely exhausted me). Still balancing work. Still tending to personal matters. Still trying to care for myself. Still trying to be active on social media.

I’m exhausted just typing that!

Tikal Mayan Ruins in Petén, Guatemala

My plate is always full, my mind is always thinking what’s next and slowing down, though necessary, often feels uncomfortable.

But this reminder, I keep coming back to, while sparked by travel goes beyond itineraries and excursions. It’s about life.

When we pressure ourselves to do it all and be it all, the inevitable happens, we burn out and if you’re anything like me, when we can’t meet the unrealistic expectations we place on ourselves, we spiral into guilt, shame and disappointment.

This morning as I’m back in the city, I stared at my neglected to do list and I began to spiral but then, as I was journaling, I remembered something I wrote a while ago, in another moment like this one:

“Again is the order of life.”

Each day is a new invitation to begin again.

No, I can’t go back and do everything I planned but I can pause, I can reset, I can revise, I can go again, with tenderness, clarity and devotion to myself.

If you’ve ever felt the weight of your own expectations and the guilt of not doing enough, I invite you to revisit that older piece. It still rings true:

And if you’re here now, reading this, this is your reminder too.

You don’t need to be everything or do it all. You’re allowed to pause. You’re allowed to reset and you are allowed to begin again.

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If you resonated with this post and found value in the reminder to pause, reset, and go again, I’d love to hear from you! Feel free to connect with me on Instagram (@zoe.mercedes) or drop a comment below.

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