Tourists Should Ignore This Common Advice To Save Time And Enjoy Traveling Their Own Way

When every travel guide pushes lists of "must-see" spots, and social media bombards you with "unmissable" experiences, the message is clear: see it all, or live to regret it. This relentless pursuit of the perfect journey is feeding into a pernicious fear of missing out (FOMO), and robbing you of something much more valuable: allowing time for serendipity and the freedom to discover what truly resonates with you.

Planning every little detail of a trip can be a bad idea. Rushing to fit every popular spot into the itinerary to avoid FOMO urges travelers to tick off destinations like a robotic checklist. But what if consciously avoiding FOMO pressure and traveling your own way made your trip better? The best travel tip when planning your next trip may be to dial down the planning. Feel free to skip attractions that don't interest you, and choose sights because they excite you, not because they're famous or someone says you should see it. This may be easier to do when visiting a place that you expect to be able to come back to, but when you are looking forward to the trip of a lifetime, FOMO is harder to resist.

Social media doesn't help. If anything, it can be a megaphone for FOMO. While scrolling through beautifully curated feeds, you might feel compelled to want to replicate the same, from A to Z. This mental charge can turn vacations, meant to be restful and restorative, into exhausting sprints from one attraction to the next, preventing you from really connecting with a place and its people.

If you were planning your first trip to Paris, for example, cramming in too many activities could be a mistake. What if instead of the top 10 places on the list, you got to the top three, and saved the rest of the time to sit at a café and people-watch? Or even (gasp) take a bath and a long nap to recharge? So what if you don't make it to the Eiffel Tower at sunset? You may spare yourself from a mad dash against the clock, fighting public transportation and long lines. Once you recognize that missing some attractions is part of traveling, you can see it as an invitation to return someday, and simply enjoy your trip without pressure.

Venture capitalist Patrick McGinnis coined the term FOMO, and its companion FOBO (fear of a better option), in 2004 in a humor column for Harvard Business School, naming the feeling of pervasive anxiety about missing out on social experiences as he tried to do everything. Despite its tongue-in-cheek origin, FOMO describes a very real phenomenon that can have a negative impact on your well-being.

Social connection is a basic human need, and individuals can perceive missed opportunities with different degrees of intensity. FOMO captures the idea of social exclusion based on choosing certain activities over others — even if it's not necessarily something you would do. This fear is exacerbated by social media usage, and stems from a need to belong. But if you've ever suffered from FOMO, you are not alone, as some 56% of people worry about missing big happenings, talking points, or updates if they don't check their social networks frequently. But you don't have to travel that way. 

Enter the third acronym, and your new travel best friend, JOMO: the joy of missing out. This mindset can take the stress out of creating full travel itineraries and make room for your own traveler personality to bloom. Instead of developing a fixation with a trip that is billed as "perfect" by someone else, decide what excites you most and build your trip with your interests in mind — and embrace the unexpected.

Travel fails are often the things that make the best stories later. u/Phantomluvr14 writes on Reddit about a JOMO experience regarding the Cliffs of Moher, one of Ireland's popular scenic spots. After finding in dismay that the bus they were waiting for did not run on a Sunday, the commenter said, "We were essentially stranded in Galway for the whole day until we could take our scheduled train back to Dublin that evening. So we just spent the day wandering around Galway, watching the swans, shopping, collecting shells on the shore, and walking around. It was soooo lovely. And the people of Galway were so nice!"

JOMO gives you the freedom to be present, to savor the small discoveries that don't make every top 10 list. You are at the wheel to create travel stories that are more personal and less prescribed, and result in more meaningful memories. It is in those seemingly insignificant moments, and in how you react to them, that your travel experience can turn truly joyful.