My Biggest Travel Regrets

This post was originally done by one of my favourite travel bloggers: Man Versus World, and then Flashpacker Family. 

So I decided I’d join the cool kids and write about my biggest travel regrets.

 

Before I start, I’d like to say that I don’t really believe in regrets – because whatever you chose to do at that moment was the thing that you thought best at the time, so how can you regret that? But hindsight is a luxury we all have now and there are things I’d certainly do differently, if I could.

Not going up the Eiffel Tower
I didn’t like Paris. I am just going to outright say it. It was the third city I’d visited in Europe and I guess because I’d spent my entire life dreaming of visiting Paris it simply didn’t measure up. I stood below the Eiffel Tower and looked up – my phobia of heights talked me out of going up and I thought I’d return one day. But there are so many places I prefer over Paris, I’m not sure I’ll bother visiting again which means maybe I’ll never get sweeping views of Paris from the Eiffel Tower.

I didn’t get to climb Rinjani volcano 
Indonesia isn’t the easiest country to travel; distances are large and it cost a lot more than I anticipated. But there was one thing I was certain I wanted to do on Lombok island and that was to climb Rinjani volcano. Unfortunately I was stabbed and found myself rushing back to Ubud, Bali, to relax and recover.

Leaving India
On my second day in Calcutta, India there was a big earthquake in my hometown and I lost a family member. A few days of misery and sulking later and I was on a flight back to Christchurch to be with family. I’m glad I went home and I would never regret being there with my family, but I wish I hadn’t left India. After four days in Calcutta I finally scratched the surface and the sensory violations subsided. I was finally seeing the charms and appeal of this magical country just as I was thrust on a flight back home to a city that resembled a war zone.

I didn’t take their photo
There have been a few friends I’ve met along the way, locals who I’ve sat and talked with. We’ve shared secrets, dreams and fears and then gone our separate ways. There was the lovely boy from Ubud who took me on the back of his scooter to his family’s home and the shop keeper in India who comforted me when nothing else could. For me, travel photography is important and I do fairly well to document things well, but there are no photos of some of my favourite people and for that I’ll always be a little sorry.

I’ve never been to South America
When I was in University I was saving to travel; I was saving for South America. I reached a little over half of my budget and then family issues came up and I stayed home. When I finally went traveling on my own, I couldn’t afford flights to South America so found myself in Asia instead. Since that first trip I’ve been to Europe and Asia a few more times, never actually making my way to South America. It’s still high on my list and somewhere I want to go within the next two years, but I know it’s going to be a commitment of at least six months so I’m hoping to find a travel buddy; feel free to apply!

 I didn’t budget more time for America
When my friend and I decided we were going to Coachella I budgeted as little time for America as possible. Just enough time to see Los Angeles, head to Coachella and maybe even a sneaky little trip to Mexico. I didn’t think I’d like America and part of me didn’t want to. All I saw was California, but I really, really like America. I’d happily live in San Diego (Green Card please) as it’s one of the most chilled out places I’ve ever been with a great climate and that friendly Californian vibe. Now I’m curious about America – I want to see New York while I’m young and to visit Austin, Texas just cause.

Have you got any travel regrets? I’d love to hear them!