Aside from my friends and family, I don’t think there’s anything I love more than travel. Yes, I love them more, but the pursuit of travel, the addiction that many of us long term travellers suffer from, is stronger than my need to be around them everyday. This is wonderful and terrible all at the same time. There’s also the fact that my friends are scattered in so many places around the world. For me there’s not one place in the world I miss, because I’ve left a little of my heart in so many places.
Traveling is the greatest adventure I’ve ever been on. It’s the hardest, too. It’s also where I’ve learned more than I ever did at home, or in my university. I’ve learned about myself, about the world, about different cultures and about what purpose I truly want to serve.
There are five key things I wish I knew before I set off on my own adventure and I’ve learned them the hard way.
1) You Can Never Go Home
Okay, you can. There’s nothing stopping you from going home, but it’ll never be the same. You’ll never be the same. When you go out and do all these cool things, are in life changing situations and push yourself outside your comfort zone, most things you left behind at home will seem under stimulating, stuck in time. Yes, you’ll love to see your friends and family for approximately 2 weeks, but after then you’re probably ready to go again.
My friends Dale and Franca wrote about this exact thing the other day, feeling like a foreigner at home.
2) You’ll Always Miss Something
You’ll miss a certain cafe in Morocco that served something a certain way. You’ll miss how the sunset looked while you were on Charles’ Bridge, etching your feet into the ground. You’ll miss that person who you met who you could have talked to for 10 hours a day, every day. You’ll miss the way the water glittered due to the bioluminescent plankton in Ha Long Bay. You’ll miss it all.
3) You Can Buy It There
Aside from specialised medications and specific brand products, everything you will NEED (not want) for your time in a certain country will be able to be bought there. If you’re traveling to a third-world country, or at least a country that’s cheaper than yours, hold out buying it until you arrive. Exceptions for this rule is if you are considerably smaller or larger than the local population in terms of clothing or shoes.
4) You’ll Be Okay
Things will go wrong. Some days everything will go wrong. Other days you’ll be suspicious you’re actually staring in a feature film, because everything will seem too perfect, too coordinated, impossibly wonderful. You’ll feel lonely if you’re traveling by yourself, sick of your companion if you’re not alone. Some days you’ll make ten new friends and sometimes days will go by before you have a real conversation with anyone. You’ll miss a flight, a bus, a boat. You’ll have something stolen. You’ll get sick. You’ll miss home at some point and probably wonder why you ever came out. Through it all, you’ll be okay and you’ll be stronger, more secure and more self aware from each experience.
5) It Can Be Cheaper Than Living at Home
If you come from a relatively expensive country, like I do, much of the world will be cheaper. Want exceptional value? Head to South East Asia, you can live there on a week’s expenses for the month. Central America isn’t quite so cheap so far, but here in Granada, staying in a hotel – not long term accommodation – I’m going to be spending half of what I do at home. That includes eating out for every meal and getting my laundry done for me. It’s a good deal! Even better if you figure out how to earn money online.
Is there anything you wish you knew before you set out traveling? I’d love to hear it.
Love it! So true x
“Through it all, you’ll be okay and you’ll be stronger, more secure and more self aware from each experience.”
Nailed it. This is the thought that everyone should carry with them like a note in your back pocket.
Yes travel will be tough at times, but for every down day there are nine that are worth remembering.
Thanks for the mention too 😉
Excellent! I have so many friends and family who don’t travel that much who really don’t get the “you can buy it there” thing. Of course there are exceptions, but yes, all the things you need will be available…and probably cheaper.
Nicely written, but I’m not sure about “Never going home”. I think you need to have a purpose and a reason for heading back to where ever home is for you, but I think if you have that going home to a place you know with family and friends can be a really positive thing.
I came back to NZ after 2.5 years of living in Japan followed by 7 months of travelling through Europe and South East Asia. I really struggled to settle, just couldn’t really get used to NZ and it was almost like I was having reverse culture shock. So, after two years I left again and spent another year travelling. By the end of this I was ready to come home and I’d decided I what I wanted to do for a career and knew what I would have to study to achieve this.
When I got back, I started a degree, met someone, reconnected with friends, got involved with Occupy Auckland … and the rest is history.
I’ll travel again sometime, but for now I’m settled and happy.
Back to my initial point – I think if you have a purpose and reason to go back home then it’s pretty easy to do … if you don’t though, then yes, it can be difficult I’m sure.
Something I wish I had known was to travel light. Carry everything you really need in a small backpack, preferably one you can fit in carry on …. everything else you need you’ll find on the way.
You just about never need to book accommodation in advance. Just arrive and look for it. The only exception to this I think is if you’re arriving late at night. In this case it makes sense to have something booked and an address. In other situations, you’ll always find a room, and if you don’t like it, hey you can move the next day rather than being locked into a weeks accommodation.
Eat the local food, you’re not in your home country so don’t look for what you’d eat at home. Ate lamb at a flash restaurant in Tokyo … bad idea. Should have stuck to what Japan excels at.
Talk to the locals and hang out with them. They know the most about the country and are probably more than happy to share that knowledge with you. Sites like couchsurfing.com are a great way to look for free accommodation in expensive countries and to also use to connect to locals. I’ve used it all over the world and it’s been great … apart from when I spent a week in the same bed as a gay guy and he kept telling me I would make a great boyfriend – awkward.
People will scam you. You are a tourist and have more money than a lot of locals in poor countries. Approach everyone with an open heart but a slightly cautious mind. You’ll meet way more genuine than fake people on your travels, but there will be someone in just about any country you go to who will try to cheat you/steal from you/rip you off.
Keep calm. It’s hot, you’re sweaty, people are annoying you and pestering you. You want to raise your voice and tell the person to piss off. Don’t. It’s a bad look and you’re not only a guest in their country but a representative of your own. Don’t be the bad tourist. This includes being the tourist who takes advantage of the locals – be that via having sex with kids or really gouging someone when you’re bartering with them. If you’re loosing the plot over, what in your home country is $4 (Thai 100B) then you’re not being a good tourist. Remember, chances are high the locals in poor countries are literally surviving off what they’re selling and probably don’t need to be gouged to the point where they’re only going to break even.
I agree with every single point of this post Izy. Captured it perfectly 🙂
Thanks Ross! Least we’ve learned these along the way 🙂
I really enjoy reading your blog and have nominated you for The Liebster Award. Keep up the awesome work :). http://www.fleetingplanet.com/2015/02/the-liebster-award-travel-edition.html
Thanks so much Gemma, I really appreciate it 🙂