Let’s face it, everyone knows smoking is bad for you. If you feel like you want to quit, travelling provides a perfect environment for you to give it a go. This article sets out a rough guide on how to start, based on the experiences of a member of our very own BackHacker Team.
Stress Free
Travelling…no daily stresses, no routine, and a desire to save as much money as possible; these are three great aspects that will help you quit. The only rule? You have to decide you want to quit. And you have to do it for you, not because someone has asked you to. Otherwise it will never work.
28 Days Later
What you have to do? Set yourself a cut-down period of 28 days, each day smoking fewer and fewer cigarettes. Be realistic with your cut-downs, don’t go too hard on yourself and only try to cut down by 1 or 2 initially. Gradually as the days go by, set yourself a goal of cutting down by an extra 2 or 3 on a daily basis. By day 27-28 you should only be smoking 1-2 a day and on day 29, don’t have any cigarettes at all. From then on, you shouldn’t feel as much of a need to have one. It sounds simple but it really can be if you set your mind to it.
Distractions
Although travelling will present you with a lot of distractions, you may find yourself twiddling your thumbs or just not being able to sit still. You might find the hardest thing for you will be to learn to chill, but you’ll have to do it. Stay active and distracted at first, but make sure you don’t completely eliminate chill time. Buy some gum or chewy sweets if you feel you need something but don’t start subbing in eating for your cigarettes or you will turn into one big fat non-smoker. And no one wants that. Persevere, and one day you might be sitting there thinking about your wonderful travelling experience and realise you haven’t thought about having a cigarette in a long time…SUCCESS!
Tasty!
Stuff you’ll start to notice once you’ve quit? Well, apart from the obvious improvement in your general smell, you’ll find you won’t become out of breath as quickly, will be able to take in deeper breaths, will be able to enjoy staying inside as opposed to popping out every 15 minutes and will generally become more energetic. Your taste buds will also become more sensitive and your sense of smell will probably become more powerful – you might also become much more sensitive towards the smell of other smokers which may seem odd as it’s not something you’d have noticed before. Of course, there are many other benefits – as we all know, we don’t need to tell you the basics.
If you choose to take us up on this guide, let us know how you get on and the absolute best of luck to you! Think of all the pennies you can spend on tacky travel souvenirs instead of tobacco!