traveling as an autistic adult: my advice & experiences
Hey friends! Welcome back to another blog post :) this week, we are talking about traveling as an autistic adult!
I won't lie, I have been super hesitant to write this blog post for many reasons. For starters, autism is a spectrum and every single person that is on that spectrum has different needs and capabilities, and those can even vary day to day. It is not possible to give blanket advice that every autistic person could relate to and apply to their own lives.
With that being said, I have found little to no articles online about traveling as an autistic adult. Most articles I have read are about traveling with your autistic child. Those are helpful in their own ways, but news flash! Autistic children turn into autistic adults!
Now I can only speak from my personal experience so PLEASE take what resonates and leave what doesn't. Use your own discernment. I am a level 1, lower support needs autistic. Yes, I am still autistic, but my needs are going to be very different from someone who is not level 1, with higher support needs, or someone who is need of more consistent care. Travel is also a special interest of mine and one of my biggest dreams so it definitely impacts what I am willing to put myself through.
With that being said, I really hope this can help someone who is wanting to travel but is anxious about, well, everything! You might not even want to travel, but maybe you need to for work or with your family. No matter your situation, I got you.
1. PLAN
Yep, this will definitely feel like a no brainer! This applies to anyone who is traveling, but especially autistic people. As someone with ADHD and autism, I simultaneously hate and love this part of travel.
I think we can all agree that we do not love the unknown. Visiting a new city, with new restaurants, ways of transportation, sleeping in new places, and just about everything that could possibly be different from our daily routine, it can be really difficult for a lot of us. We tend to be creatures of habit, and rightfully so! Our brains are working at different paces and we are taking in so much new information that it can be extremely overwhelming to be in a new place.
Planning helps alleviate a lot of unknown parts about travel. Spending time researching your destination is so important when wanting to be as prepared as possible. Take the time to research what activities there are to do in that location. If you have a special interest in something, maybe checking to see if there are any museums or activities that you can do that pertain to it. Research restaurants and check to see if they have your safe foods. If you are traveling with other people, seeing if there are places that you can all eat at and be satisfied. Become familiar with the transport of the city you are visiting (public transport is great, but a nightmare for me!)
Do as much research and planning as you want to feel as prepared as possible. I personally like to leave room for some spontaneity, but I still do a ton of research, even if that is only a few days prior to arriving in a new location. Traveling/backpacking long term has changed me in a lot of ways, but I am more willing to be more last minute now. It all works out. Travel is full of so many variables, but if you can at least be aware of those variables, I truly think you can head out onto your next adventure with a little less anxiety about it all.
2. KNOW YOUR NEEDS
I am writing this as a VERY general tip. If you are autistic, you know that your needs might differ from mine. We know it is a spectrum and we all have differing things we can handle and sometimes those things even can change from day to day.
Things I really struggle with are social interactions. I struggle with social anxiety and I often find my social battery burning out quite quickly. For me when I am traveling, I need to stay ahead of this and ensure I am getting plenty of alone time. Sometimes this looks like drawing the curtains in a hostel and watching Netflix. I find myself feeling guilty doing things like this when I am traveling, but if I don't, the consequences of my actions are worse than just feeling guilty.
I don't like being pushed to points of shutting down and becoming non verbal or having meltdowns in public, I try my best to avoid those by being aware of the things I can control. Sometimes I cannot avoid a meltdown, so I just feel those emotions and know that it won't last forever.
I really struggle with food, especially while I am traveling. I can try new foods and I try at least one main dish in every country I visit, but on the daily, I do like to stick to safe foods. I have no problem eating things from the grocery store everyday or finding a cheap restaurant I feel comfortable in and going there everyday. I struggle with ARFID, so this is something I am extra aware of while on the road.
While this is a very general tip, I think it is the most important. It's very important to spend time with yourself and get to know who you are and what your limits are. I am thankful that I am pretty self aware and have developed the ability to know my autistic needs, because I think it would be really challenging to travel by myself if I was completely in the dark.
3. PACK ACCOMODATIONS
As someone who is traveling long term and only carrying 2 backpacks, I am very limited on space, but it is really important that I pack things to help me accommodate my needs in certain situations.
For me, this includes a couple comfort items, a fidget toys, and earplugs. These are the things that I need to accommodate my autistic needs.
I bring comfort items because I am an anxious person and it can help to just have an item from home to bring you back down when you are feeling overwhelmed or homesick. I pack a crystal, a mini giraffe figurine, and sometimes a tiny stuffed animal, depends on how much room I have.
For fidget toys, I love those magnetic balls or one of those snake fidgets. I am not someone who needs a fidget at all times, but I like having them. I don't need them as often because I wear rings and I mainly use those as fidgets. I am constantly playing with my rings and that helps a lot because they are discrete and fashionable, but also serve a deeper purpose.
Now, regardless of your neurotype, if you are going to be staying in hostels, you NEED earplugs. I have two different kinds of earplugs. Both are LOOP earplugs, I have a discount code for 15% if you want to use, LOOPXJORDAN. I don't get commission from it. I have their experience pros that I use for more everyday use as it allows me to feel comfortable talking with people with my earplugs in. I use their Quiets for when I am in public transport situations and when I am wanting to go to sleep. If you are staying in mixed dorms, they are a nonnegotiable because the big, sweaty men snore really loud.
4. VOLUNTEER ABROAD
Not only is this my best tip for budget travelers, I also love this tip for my fellow autistic travelers.
I have done a total of 4 volunteer experiences, and 3 of them have been through the Worldpackers app. My dream collab was with Worldpackers, I wrote it in my manifestations at the start of 2023 and I achieved that goal midway through the year! You can use my code, JORDAN, for money off your subscriptions. I earn a small commission if you use my code. I haven't convinced too many people to buy through my link, maybe I suck at selling it, but I promise you this is a MUST if you are searching for routine, community, and budget friendly traveling experiences.
I obviously love not having to pay for a place to sleep. I am cheap, I want to do things as cheap as I can most of the time. I would rather pay for other experiences. When you volunteer through Worldpackers, you work a few hours a day in exchange for accommodation and often food is included as well.
My favorite travel experiences are my volunteer ones. My first Worldpackers was spent in a small mountain town in Switzerland for 6 weeks. I spent the first 2 weeks helping out at a language camp and the other 4 weeks at a coliving space. My second Worldpackers was in Bled, Slovenia cleaning for 5 hours a day at a hostel. I spent a month there. As I write this, I am doing another volunteer experience for a month in Bosnia & Herzegovina.
I say this as a tip for autistic travelers because I love the routine and stability it allows me to have while still traveling and experiencing new things. I know we love our routines! You have to do a little bit of work everyday and then you have the rest of the day to do what you please. I love cleaning, so I have no problem spending a few hours a day doing this. Cleaning is easy, I feel like I can't screw it up!
I love that I am able to develop other crucial routines around my volunteer schedule. I can buy a temporary gym membership, journal in the mornings, get daily walks in, and cook proper meals.
I also love that I can further my travel connections and deepen those bonds. Often times when you travel, you are creating fleeting friendships. Sometimes all you manage is small talk in your hostel dorm room. These quick, whirlwind travel friendships are valuable and fun in their own right, but sometimes it is really nice to get to know people on a deeper level and spend a few weeks together.
The people I have met on my Worldpackers experiences are some of the best people I have ever met. I felt like they got to know me for me. I even met another autistic person in Switzerland and was able to bond with them about our experiences traveling.
By staying in one place, you eliminate the stress of catching trains and dealing with a new environment every few days. If you have the privilege of time and can spend a couple weeks volunteering through Worldpackers, I cannot recommend it enough.
5. DONT EXPECT TO TRAVEL LIKE AN ALLISTIC
It doesn't seem like there are a ton of autistic travel influencers/bloggers, whatever you wish to call them. I recently found a couple, but they are no where near as saturated as allistics in the field. It doesn't seem like we have a super visible part in this realm. Because of this, we are fed allistic travel guides and tips that just might not work for us.
When I first stated traveling by myself, I felt a lot of guilt because I was not doing as much as the people I was seeing on the internet. Which to be fair, you should really never compare yourself to people on the internet no matter what. I would watch Tik Toks of these travel influencers traveling and I felt sad when I couldn't replicate the same travels.
There is this idea that when you are traveling you need to be taking full advantage of every second you are away from home. I agree with this to an extent. Obviously, if you are somewhere new, you should be exploring and doing the things you cannot do when you are at home. What is the point of flying to a new country or driving to anew state and sitting in your hostel dorm the entire time? Go out and see the world, but you don't need to see, do, and try EVERYTHING.
This all connects back to understanding your needs. Some days you will wake up like those neurotypical travel influencers and you will go see all the touristy sights, and try new foods and some days, it just might not be possible for you, and that's okay.
It is best to relieve yourself of the guilt you might be feeling. I might be projecting my own experiences a ton because I always feel super guilty, and unfortunately that feeling still is present when I travel.
I am currently spending a month doing a Worldpackers in Bosnia. I am living with this guy and helping him out with some cleaning and cat sitting. I chose this volunteer opportunity because I have been experiencing some travel burnout and wanted a place to rest and recover as much as I could for a month.
I am struggling trying to explain this to the man I am living with. He wants me to be more social and do all these things, but I really cannot right now. I just want to focus on my creative projects, reading, resting, and regathering myself for the travels that lie ahead once I leave here.
It's okay to slow down and travel the way you want to travel. Whether you are on a week long vacation or you are solo traveling for weeks or months at a time, this journey is YOURS. The days can be spent doing whatever you please. Listen to your intuition and only do the things you feel called to do, not what others might be pressuring you to do. You're the one paying for your travels, unless you have sugar daddy, in which case, congrats!
I hope if you read this blog post, you got something beneficial out of it. Autism is a spectrum and we all deal with things differently. Travel is a special interest of mine and I love it dearly, not every autistic person is going to feel the same way and that is okay. Whether you are wanting to start solo traveling around the world or your friends are dragging you on a spring break trip, be prepared and accommodate yourself! This is just a little blog post that barely scratches the surface, so if you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me!
Remember to live a life that charges your soul. Let's talk next week. Thanks for being here, friends.
best,
Jordan