Planes Trains and Automobiles: The importance of travelling during your degree.

I was once told in my undergrad that one big change would occur when I started my grad degree - I was never going to travel again. Ever again. Conferences only. But the days of leisurely break travels were gone. How depressing!


Needless to say, this was an opinion of a colleague who was never told they couldn't take a break, but just chose not to. During my undergrad I realized how important going on vacation from "real life" was. There were many instances where I "burnt out"...by that I mean my stress level got to a point that I couldn't handle in my undergrad. In hindsight, things were not too bad. But it was amazing how one small road trip to Chicago could make me feel so much better.

I didn't travel much (correction...ever) before I started university. I took my first flight back from dropping a friend off in Florida after we road tripped from Chicago to St. Augustine, FL. We passed along the way various Bourbon Distilleries, gorgeous hills in Tennessee, and the worst rain cloud I have ever seen in my life in Georgia.

I always knew more was out there. But as a big city girl living in a suburb with almost a million people and a downtown core just 30 minutes away, everything was at my fingertips. But what started as small travels has ballooned into visiting friends in Vancouver, Washington DC, Chicago, Florida,  and New York City. All of these small trips geared me up to a solo adventure from San Fransisco to Los Angeles and a scary Pacific Coast Highway drive in between.

Grad students live the perfect lives for travelling. Not only do we get to travel for conferences, but for the most part our time is our own. WE set our schedule (aside from looming conference abstract deadlines) and therefore we decide whether we have time for vacation. If we were being 100% honest with ourselves, none of us really have time. But its understanding that your productivity isn't being helped when you are burnt out. Two weeks off can save you so much time in the long run. We also don't really answer to anyone. I mean we have a supervisor who wants us to stay on track and be productive, but we don't have vacation days that we have to book out. Like I said, our time is our own.

There are some obvious downsides to traveling. One main one being you NEVER want to return. I read an article recently that said people shouldn't travel because of the "travel blues" they get upon their return. I think it is true that it does take a bit of time to get back on track post vacation. But overall, the article was BS. Feel the blues or miss out on seeing some of the greatest places in the world...right.

The opportunities for academic travel are also endless. Collaborative research projects with universities abroad are great ways to get some travel in while doing work. You might also find a great place to pick up and go for a post-doc opportunity! And who knows...maybe thats where you will live forever :)

In the end, I would say this. If you have the time, travel somewhere at least once a year. If you don't have time for long distance travel, then maybe short weekend vacations are what you need. In the end, you need to think about yourself and your mental health. And ask yourself this: would you rather be looking at the California coast line in person or stuck in a burnt out rut staring at a picture of a beach someone else took?