Why do I feel like I wasted my vacation?
Unexpected issues like extreme weather cancellations or mistiming local hours for siestas can prevent you from fully experiencing a city. This often leads to guilt for not enjoying a highly recommended destination, leaving you wishing you had spent the time somewhere else or cut the trip short.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1reframing downtime, shopping, and everyday errands as valid parts of traveling
- 2planning a return visit to the destination in the future
- 3cutting a trip or portion of a trip short and moving on to another location
- 4letting go of strict tourist expectations and rules about how a vacation should be spent
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I’ve spent the last three days in Porto, Portugal and I feel like I spent most of my time shopping.”source ↗
“We had a Duoro river cruise booked for tonight, but extreme weather canceled it. We leave in the morning and I just can’t help but feel like I didn’t fully experience the city.”source ↗
“I didn’t care for Vienna and wish I had spent the time somewhere else, but that’s just my experience.”source ↗
“All I could do was waste time in Valencia. My fault mostly since my hours were off and they really commit to the siesta over there.”source ↗
“the one time i felt i was wasting time was in la paz (bolivia). i cut that portion of my trip short and moved on.”source ↗
“I feel so guilty that I didn’t like Japan, when my boyfriend went with his friend last year he preached that it was the best country he has ever been to.”source ↗
“Now that I’m here, I give it a solid 6/10.”source ↗
“What I’ve seen is people are really cold, some kind of rude, and there’s a lot of missing sidewalk. Foods ok.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 10Why do I feel guilty on slow work days?
- 12Why do I feel so guilty for taking a sick day?
- 10Why do I feel so anxious and want to cancel my trip?
- 10Should I quit my demanding job for a simpler, lower-paying one?
- 6Is a week-long trip to Asia worth the jet lag?
- 12Why do I feel empty and disappointed after my wedding?