Diana-Irina Iordache MSc Psychology Graduate and Guest Contributor

Travel is often imagined as a break from stress. We picture switching off, discovering somewhere new and leaving our usual responsibilities behind for a while. Yet arriving somewhere unfamiliar does not always produce an immediate sense of relaxation.

Sometimes the opposite happens. We become more alert to our surroundings. We check the route again, wonder whether we are in the right place, notice unfamiliar noises, or feel disproportionately unsettled when a plan changes. A delayed train or an unexpected turn in a taxi can suddenly feel more significant than it might at home.

One reason for this is simple: travel involves uncertainty.

When the familiar disappears

At home, we rely on an enormous amount of information without consciously thinking about it. We know how transport works, which streets feel familiar, where to buy what we need and what ordinary behaviour looks like in our environment.

Travel temporarily removes many of these reference points. Even simple decisions can require more attention. Which train do I need? Is it normal for the taxi to take this route? Is this area usually quiet at night? What happens if I miss the connection?

Uncertainty is not inherently negative, and novelty is part of what makes travel interesting. But psychologically, not knowing what will happen next can also be uncomfortable. Research on intolerance of uncertainty suggests that the absence of information can become particularly difficult when we feel unable to predict or prepare for what comes next (Carleton, 2016). Work on anxiety similarly shows that uncertainty about potential future threat can intensify anticipation and vigilance (Grupe & Nitschke, 2013).

Travel creates many small versions of this experience. We have less information than usual, and our minds have to work harder to interpret what is happening around us.

Unfamiliar does not always mean unsafe

Imagine walking back to your accommodation in a city you have never visited before and hearing footsteps behind you.

At home, you might barely notice them. You know the street and have years of experience telling you what is ordinary there. Somewhere unfamiliar, the same sound may attract much more attention.

The footsteps have not necessarily changed. The context has.

Research has found that anxiety can be associated with greater attention to potentially threatening information (Bar-Haim et al., 2007). This does not mean that every traveller who becomes alert is anxious, or that vigilance while travelling is unnecessary. Paying attention to our environment is often sensible, particularly when we do not know an area well.

The useful distinction is between something feeling unfamiliar and there being concrete information that something is unsafe.

Travel can blur that distinction because we have fewer familiar cues available to help us interpret a situation. A different social custom, an unfamiliar noise outside a hotel room or a taxi taking a route we did not expect can briefly leave us asking: is something wrong, or do I simply not understand this environment yet?

Recognising that question can be helpful in itself. It allows us to take genuine safety concerns seriously without automatically treating every unfamiliar experience as evidence of danger.

The hidden stress of having less control

Travel also reduces our control over many ordinary details.

Flights are delayed. Weather changes. Rooms look different from photographs. Luggage goes missing. Public transport is cancelled. Language barriers can turn a straightforward interaction into something unexpectedly complicated.

For someone who usually manages stress through preparation, this can be particularly challenging. Planning creates structure, and structure can make an unfamiliar trip feel more manageable. But even the best itinerary cannot remove uncertainty altogether.

This may help explain why the same disruption can feel very different to different travellers. One person may experience a cancelled train as frustrating but manageable. Another may immediately begin thinking about the missed reservation, the next connection, the cost of another ticket and whether the whole day has now been ruined.

The event is the same. What differs is the meaning attached to not knowing what happens next.

When preparation becomes reassurance

Before a trip, preparation is useful. Checking local guidance, knowing how to reach your accommodation and keeping important information accessible can reduce avoidable stress.

But there is a point at which preparation can become an attempt to eliminate uncertainty completely.

We might check the weather repeatedly, reopen a booking confirmation we already know is correct, read another twenty hotel reviews or monitor a flight long before there is any reason to expect a change. Each check may create a brief sense of certainty, but travel can never be made entirely predictable.

A more realistic aim is not to know everything in advance, but to know enough to respond if something changes.

This distinction matters. Useful preparation gives us options. Endless reassurance-seeking can leave us feeling that we need certainty before we can relax. This stops us from learning to tolerate uncertainty.

Finding anchors in an unfamiliar place

When everything feels new, a few familiar or predictable anchors can make a difference.

That might mean knowing the route from the airport before arriving, saving the address of your accommodation offline, understanding how you will get back in the evening, or having one alternative plan if the weather changes. These are small forms of structure rather than attempts to control the entire trip.

It can also help to give yourself time to adjust.

There is often an expectation that the moment we arrive on holiday we should feel relaxed. But psychologically, we have just entered an environment filled with unfamiliar sounds, routines, people, decisions and social cues. It is reasonable for our attention to be slightly heightened while we learn what is normal in that setting.

After a day or two, the street outside the hotel is no longer simply an unknown street. We recognise the café on the corner, know which direction the station is in and understand how the neighbourhood feels at different times of day. The environment has not necessarily changed; our information about it has.

That growing familiarity can reduce some of the mental work that made the first hours of a trip feel demanding.

Travel asks us to live with not knowing

There is a paradox here. The uncertainty that can make travel stressful is also part of what makes it meaningful.

We travel partly because we do not already know exactly what we will see, who we will meet or how an experience will feel. If every detail were completely predictable, some of the curiosity and discovery would disappear with it.

Travel therefore gives us repeated opportunities to experience uncertainty without assuming that uncertainty means something has gone wrong. A plan changes and we adapt. We get briefly lost and find our way again. A place feels unfamiliar on the first evening and surprisingly comfortable three days later.

These moments can remind us that feeling uncertain and being unsafe are not the same thing. When we are able to differentiate the two and adapt, we are building psychological flexibility. This helps us to tolerate and cope with change and uncertainty in the future.

The goal is not to ignore genuine risk, nor is it to travel without planning. It is to leave enough psychological space for the unknown to be part of the experience.

Perhaps travel does not always need to feel relaxing from the moment we arrive. Sometimes feeling slightly unsettled is simply part of finding our bearings in a new place. As the unfamiliar becomes more familiar, the mind has less to interpret and predict – and we can begin to experience the destination rather than constantly trying to anticipate it.

References

Bar-Haim, Y., Lamy, D., Pergamin, L., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., & van IJzendoorn, M. H. (2007). Threat-related attentional bias in anxious and nonanxious individuals: A meta-analytic study. Psychological Bulletin, 133(1), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.133.1.1

Carleton, R. N. (2016). Into the unknown: A review and synthesis of contemporary models involving uncertainty. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 39, 30–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2016.02.007

Grupe, D. W., & Nitschke, J. B. (2013). Uncertainty and anticipation in anxiety: An integrated neurobiological and psychological perspective. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 14(7), 488–501. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3524

Author bio

Diana-Irina Iordache holds an MSc in Forensic Psychology from Goldsmiths, University of London. Her writing explores psychological responses to stress, attachment, personality and mental health, with work published by Behavioral Health News, Psychreg and JURIDICE.ro.