Travelling while being neurodivergent

Travelling might seem daunting when you're neurodivergent, it certainly was for me. But after a while I learnt a few things that really help me survive and actually enjoy a trip.

About me

I'm autistic. For me, that means:

• I'm easily overwhelmed by sensory input, especially sound.
• I sometimes find it difficult to connect with people (though this has gotten a lot better over the years!).
• Last minute changes of plan are possible for me, but take a lot of enery.

Everyone is different, especially neurodiverse people, but I hope this guide will help at least some people.

Predictability

I like knowing what's going to happen today, tomorrow, and ideally in the coming few days. Unfortunately that's not always possible while travelling. However, I've found that can in fact deal with changes of plans, these changes just take a lot of energy. The way I've found to deal with this is to plan ahead and have backups for changes in plans, if needed:

• I will typically book the train and hotel/hostel in advance. That way I know where I will sleep and where I will go. (This is a good idea in general since these can get expensive when booking last minute).
• Read a bit about the place you're going to. It's a lot easier to do this from the comfort of your own home than when you're already kinda tired in a hostel bed.
• Make sure you have backups of all the important stuff: a powerbank and extra cable to recharge your phone and at least two ways to pay (card and cash money for example). Also, an extra pair of (old) earphones might be a lifesaver when headphones fail, see sensory overload below.
• Make sure you have some emergency food with you, and some water. Trail mix works well for me. I also take Plenny Shake (a powdered drink in a shaker bottle) with me, since that's what works well for me.

Dealing with sensory overload

Sensory overload can happen to most neurodivergent people, especially when travelling. That's why it's important to have a system in place to be able to deal with it when needed. Unfortunately I can't say what works for you because everyone is different, but I can say what works for me.

The most important thing I got for travelling is noise cancelling headphones. They are awesome! They're also kinda expensive, but 100% worth the price for me. It literally enabled me to do things I couldn't do before.

Meltdowns are never fun, but especially not when in a strange place. I try to avoid them in the first place by taking regular breaks where I try to relax as much as possible. Usually I try to find a spot where I can lie down or at least can sit down, I put my headphones on, and listen to some relaxing music (drone or ambient often works well). I might even put on an eye mask. It's a bit of a skill, and took me years to learn to do this even in busy environments. So don't worry if you can't manage to relax on a busy train station just yet, it takes practice.

Not losing stuff

Of course you don't want to lose stuff, and losing stuff is something that used to happen to me a lot. But I've learned to avoid most of it nowadays:

• I try to take just one bag with me that contains everything. I can remember to take a single bag, but am terrible with multiple bags. Plus, it's way more practical if you have just one thing to worry about.
• Whenver you leave a place (hotel, train seat, etc), check the place again for lost stuff. This takes just a few seconds, but are very well worth it when it means you see that you forgot your phone or wallet. It has saved me multiple times already.

Sleep

I stay in a hostel or a hotel, depending on the place and whether someone else is paying for it. Hostels are cheap, but you're not alone so that might make it harder to sleep. But in my case, I actually sometimes find it easier to sleep when I'm not alone.

I have a specific bedtime routine, and I've found that it is very important to keep it as similar as reasonably possible when I sleep in another place.

If you're booking a hostel (or a hotel for that matter), be sure to check out the reviews! There's a huge difference between them: some hostels are party hostels and you'll want to avoid those. Also check out the various services they have (bed linen, towels, curfew, lockout, etc). Personally I try to go for about 4 people in a room, it's typically not much more expensive and definitely more comfortable than 8 people in a single room.

Conclusion

I hope this will help you! Travelling is absolutely possible, but may take some practice and some extra preparation.

Also, take things slowly, and enjoy anywhere you go! The goal is not to see and do everything, but to actually enjoy your time. If that means you need to take a day off and just stay in the hotel or hostel all day, that's perfectly fine. It means you get to actually enjoy the next day more :)