Adventure is a State of Mind
Greg and I are in the process of starting to plan a travel adventure with another couple. They are dear friends who introduced us 34 years ago. Where are we going? Well, that’s a funny story.
We don’t really know… yet.
Trying to Decide Where We Want to Go
In trying to decide where we want to go, we’ve currently considered three or four completely different regions of Europe, not to mention looking at a variety of countries within those regions.
Today we’re looking at southern Italy, but I honestly don’t know yet whether that will be where we end up going.
Personally, I think it’s fun thinking through all the possibilities, but not everyone feels that way. Some people get frustrated and overwhelmed when faced with making a decision between too many options.
That’s usually the source of the frustration – too many options.
The Paradox of Choice
Have you heard of “the paradox of choice?” It’s a phrase coined by Dr. Barry Schwartz in his book The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less.
The paradox of choice refers to the observation that rather than being a good thing (as our consumerist culture tries to convince us), too many choices paradoxically make us feel overwhelmed, make it harder to make a decision, and leave us feeling less satisfied with the choices we ultimately make.
This is true whether we are deciding which toothpaste to buy, which shoes to wear, what to have for dinner, or where we want to go on our next travel adventure.
Having too many options often leads to choice paralysis, such as when we spend all evening scrolling through Netflix trying to decide what to watch, only to eventually shut off the television and go to bed.
If we’re not careful, the paradox of choice can also negatively impact our ability to plan our own travel adventures.
The World is Your Destination
One of the best things about independent travel is that you can plan to go where you want to go and do what you want to do. You’re not stuck on a boat or a bus, and you don’t have to follow an itinerary developed by someone else. You can spend your time prioritizing the sites and activities that are the most interesting or important to you.
That’s what I love about independent travel. But that also means there are almost infinite options for where you can go and what you can do.
That is the situation that is currently happening with us and our friends. The four of us can choose to go anywhere we want to go and do whatever we want to do. That’s a lot of options, and it’s taking some effort to mentally sort through them to decide what we really want to do.
The Trap
Unfortunately, feeling overwhelmed and paralyzed by too many options can sometimes stop people from planning their own travel adventures. They know they want to go somewhere, but because they can’t narrow down the choices and decide, they end up going nowhere.
Being a brave, wise traveler, however, means not giving up when the decision-making process gets difficult. Instead, we use strategies to help us continue moving forward in planning our next travel adventure.
The Solution
So how do we cope with overwhelm and choice paralysis? There are several strategies, but they all follow one guiding rule: simplify your decision.
This concept was illustrated by the famous “jam study.” Well, if you’re a psychologist like me, it’s famous. For those of you who haven’t heard of it, you can read a little about the experiment here. To sum it up, the outcome showed that people were actually significantly more likely to make a purchase when they were given fewer choices than when they were given more choices. Yes, it’s paradoxical (hence the name The Paradox of Choice), but it’s true. When humans are given too many choices, decision fatigue sets in and they default to not making any choice at all.
This is the concept behind many successful boutique stores. Instead of having 50 shirts hanging on a rack, they might have eight different designs. The shopper with fewer choices is more likely to make a decision to buy and tends to be happier with their purchase.
So, if you’re managing a store (or selling jam), it’s easy to apply this solution. Just give your buyers a limited number of options. But, how does this apply to travel?
It’s not possible to decrease the number of amazing places there are to visit in this world. (Nor do we want to!) We can, however, simplify by using the natural constraints we’re presented with. And, when these aren’t enough to reduce our overwhelm, we can create artificial constraints. Let’s start with the constraints that already exist and how to make the best use of them.
Natural Constraints
Many of us, especially Americans, are taught that constraints are something negative and are to be avoided. After all, constraints are the opposite of freedom, right? And we’re supposed to value freedom, right?
Instead of thinking of constraints as something like shackles that chain you in one place and prevent you from having the freedom to go where you want to go, think of constraints more like guardrails. Have you ever driven on a narrow road through the mountains? I’m far more comfortable, and therefore more likely to drive on that road, when there are guardrails giving me a better idea of where the edge of the road is… and keeping me from accidentally tumbling over that edge!
Constraints act like guardrails. They create a fence around your options so you don’t feel as overwhelmed. You still have a lot of choices, but you’re less likely to feel overwhelmed because of the choices no longer being infinite. Here are some of the natural constraints that most travelers experience:
- Time. If you have a job and/or family responsibilities, you have constraints on your time. For example, if your job only allows you four weeks of vacation a year, you are not going to plan a six-week travel adventure. You probably won’t even plan a four-week adventure since some of your vacation will need to be saved for other activities or trips. Even if you are retired, there are likely events you will need to plan your travel around, such as holidays or family reunions. And when and how long you can travel will impact the destinations that will work for you.
- Money. All of us have limits to our travel budgets. The amount can differ between individuals, but no matter how wealthy you are, there is some limit to how much you can or are willing to spend traveling. This creates a natural constraint regarding your travel options since some locations are more expensive to visit or require significantly more expensive tickets to get there.
- Safety. We all have different comfort levels, and different places differ in their safety. This can change over time. For example, there are places I’d be interested in visiting, such as Russia, but not while they are actively involved in a war. Considering which locations are safe enough for you to visit will naturally eliminate some options.
- Mobility. As we age, most of us have to start considering physical limitations and mobility issues. Because of health issues, some have to consider these issues even at young ages. There are often adaptations that can be made, but some options are going to be eliminated because of mobility issues. As an example, it is unlikely that someone who has joint problems and difficulty walking long distances is going to be able to hike into a remote wilderness area. Similarly, an awareness that our bodies change over time can also create natural constraints on our choices if we prioritize locations and activities that we know we can do but suspect we might be less able to do in the future. For example, if you really want to bicycle in Denmark, you might move that higher on your priority list of travel adventures and save less active trips for your later years.
We often think that we want an open road and the ability to choose any direction for ourselves. But sometimes what we need is a tunnel that can reduce our choices and send us in a focused direction.
James Clear
Artificial Constraints
If you’ve considered the natural constraints and eliminated some options, but you’re still feeling overwhelmed by too many choices, you may need to apply some extra constraints (AKA guardrails). Luckily, these are usually kind of fun:
- Rules. I know some of you have an oppositional streak and naturally rebel against rules, but I’m not talking about rules imposed on you by society or someone else. What I’m talking about are guidelines that you and your travel companions create regarding the type of trip you want to have. An example might be deciding you only want to travel someplace with good public transportation so you don’t have to rent a car. Or if it’s your first trip abroad, you might choose to travel only to countries that speak a language you understand.
- Themes. Again, these are constraints that you and your travel companions figure out for yourselves. You might decide you want your travel adventure to emphasize whisky tastings, in which case, you likely need to limit your travel to an area with a high concentration of whisky distilleries. Similarly, your travel might center around a hobby or an interest you have. I have a friend who builds her travel plans around her favorite band – she chooses when and where to go so that in addition to exploring a new area, she also sees her favorite band in concert.
- Goals. This is very similar to the idea of themes, but creating a travel goal can also create some helpful constraints on your travel options. For example, if your goal is to improve your ability to speak French, you are necessarily going to limit your travel to French-speaking countries.
- Bucket Lists. Provided your bucket list has some limits, trying to check off something new can help create constraints. Your list may be countries you want to visit or experiences you want to have. It doesn’t really matter. Both will limit your choices in a fun manner.
- Quests. I previously discussed the idea of travel quests as an alternative to bucket lists. Sometimes quests develop while we are traveling, but if you develop a quest ahead of time, it can create some helpful guardrails. For example, if you are obsessed with your favorite television show and decide you want to visit the locations where it is filmed, you will easily limit your travel options to one or a handful of countries, depending on how many places it is filmed.
Our Current Plans
Back to our current attempts to plan a travel adventure with our friends. Part of the problem was we started out without any constraints, other than wanting to spend time together. One of the friends has never been to Europe, so we chose that region, but obviously that still leaves us with too many options.
As often happens in decision-making, as we’ve tried to make a decision, we’ve clarified what our constraints are, both natural and artificially created. There’s nothing wrong with this approach other than it makes for a messier process rather than clarifying those constraints at the beginning. For example, for a brief period, we considered visiting Scandinavia. But once we started looking at the weather, one of our friends decided it was too cold for them to enjoy the trip.
In addition to the weather, we have created some artificial constraints, such as making sure a large part of the trip is a new location for all of us, prioritizing public transportation over renting a car, and choosing a location near water.
And as the choices dwindle, I’m actually getting more and more excited about the trip because I know it’s becoming a real plan.
Ah, the paradox of choice!
Have you tried planning your own independent travel adventure and become overwhelmed or paralyzed by the number of options? How can you simplify your choices to help you turn your dreams into reality?
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