life to travelling

How to Live a Life of Travel: Tips to Getting Started

Written By: The Planet D

Digital Nomads

Updated On: June 3, 2023

Recently we’ve received a lot of emails asking us how we financially supported our travels since we decided to take the plunge to live a life of travel in our unconventional life.

I realize that we’ve written a lot of inspirational pieces about following your dreams and pushing yourself to step outside your comfort zone, but we haven’t given real practical advice in quite a while. So we decided it was time to share some of our tips and tricks to living an unconventional life.

Table of Contents

How to Live an Unconventional Life of Travel

Our journey to becoming full-time travel bloggers was not a quick and easy one. We had many failures and setbacks along the way. It took time for us to find what we wanted to do with our lives and what would make us happy. We knew way back in 2003 and we wanted to be together traveling the world forever, we just didn’t know how to make that dream come true.

I realize that many people have that dream, but we felt it deep in our bones. It was more of a yearning than a fantasy. When we were traveling, we felt at home. We knew that on the road was where we were meant to be.

Another Backpacker

In 2004 we were like many backpackers traveling around South East Asia, but unlike the many others out there, we were already brainstorming with ideas of how we could continue to travel for the rest of our lives. We knew we wanted more than just a one-year escape.

We didn’t have the answers yet, but we knew that we couldn’t keep working at our current jobs for the next 20 years hoping that we’d one day be able to retire and finally live our dreams. So we started making plans. Check out more travel jobs by our pals at goats on the road .

Steps to Living a Life of Travel

1. change your spending habits.

We used to spend a lot of money on things that didn’t better our lives. We’d buy $4 lattes, go out to dinner several times a week and we’d buy new designer clothes. The more popular the brand name, the better.

On the weekends, we’d drop $200 on a meal and not even blink at the cheque, and then we’d go to movies spending a good $50 on tickets and popcorn.

Well, all that changed when we decided we decided that we were going to live a life of travel once and for all.

2. Find Affordable Things to do

It was a big decision but we decided to put away enough money to sustain ourselves for a year. We knew that once we took the plunge, we would have to go 100% into fulfilling our dreams, so we needed a nest egg while we worked to become professional travel bloggers.

We ate at home and cooked at home. We made our own gourmet coffees, and instead of going out to the movies all the time, we rented movies. When we wanted to go to the bar, we instead had a glass of wine at home and invited friends over, it was much more affordable.

Our activites changed from spending money on expensive meals and nightclubs, to doing free and exciting things on the weekend like mountain biking, rock climbing, or snowshoeing.

We didn’t drop cash at the bar, on expensive meals, or on expensive weekend getaways to a suite in Niagara Falls anymore. We did as many things as possible for free.

Wwe went camping and spent our time outdoors.It was much more fulfilling and a lot easier on our pocketbooks.

Note: At this time in our lives, we still didn’t know how we were going to become full-time travelers, we just knew that we wanted it to happen one day and that we had to be ready when we finally figured it out. By having a nest egg and by not having anything tying us down, we’d be ready to jump at any opportunity.

3. Downsize

People have often said to us “ I wish that I could do what you do, but I can’t afford it ” Well if you really truly want to travel. It can be really easy to save and build a nest egg. We sold our house and most of our contents and went back to renting a small one-bedroom apartment.

This freed up a lot of our income to put towards our travel savings fund. Getting a small one bedroom apartment that included utilities, cable and parking helped us plan our monthly budget.

4. Get Rid of Debt and Wasted Expenses

We also went down to one automobile. We used to drive two cars and paid an expensive monthly lease. But when the leases came due, we let them go and bought a used car. Our monthly payments were less, and our insurance cost less too because we no longer had to pay for the collision coverage since our car was so cheap. If our car was damaged it didn’t matter because we paid next to nothing for it anyway. We drove that car for the next 10 years.

5. Keep All Options Open

Like many people, we knew we wanted something more in life, but we didn’t know what it was that we wanted. We were frustrated. I remember always saying to Dave “ If I only knew what I wanted to do with my life, I know I’d be successful. ” The problem was, I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. The only thing we both knew was that travel was to be a part of it.

So, we studied ALL THINGS TRAVEL.

We went to seminars talking about Teaching English as a Second Language , we went to travel trade shows, we watched travel shows like Pilot Guides and Don’t Forget Your Passport.

Little did we know we were honing our adventure skills

We took up as many adventures as we could. We learned how to rock climb, mountain bike, scuba dive, and snowboard. We became avid campers and built our adventure gear arsenal to an impressive list where we actually started to look the part of Adventurer!

We said to ourselves, “one day maybe one of these skills would come in handy.” At the time, we didn’t know it, but all those skills eventually came in handy. We used to call ourselves “ Jacks of all trades and Masters of none. “

6. Nothing is Waste of Time When Searching for your Purpose

We had doubts, of course, we did. We thought, maybe we’re wasting our time and energy trying new things all the time, but we knew that we had yet to find something that we truly loved.

We enjoyed everything, but we didn’t have the passion that some of our rock climbing or scuba diving friends had for one particular sport. Our friends found their passion and all they wanted to do was rock climb around the world, or go scuba diving when they went to a destination. They couldn’t care less if they saw the local culture or witnessed incredible landscape. They wanted to explore under the sea or a new climbing route and that was great!

It just wasn’t for us. We wanted it all. We wanted to be able to climb in one location, dive into another, and shop at the market in yet another. We realized that we wanted it all!

Our lack of focus helped us become true explorers. It was our “Jack of All Trades” mentality that eventually lead us to become travel bloggers.

7. Focus on Strengths

Once we decided that we wanted to have the word “Adventurer” on our business card, we made plans on how we were going to make that happen. After exhausting all possibilities we decided to focus on our strengths.

We had been working in the film business for a long time and learned from the successful people around us . I watched television hosts promote themselves and create their brand and identities and Dave picked the brains of photographers and cinematographers on the movie set.

We knew that we were good at self-promotion and that we knew the TV business well, so we decided to sell an idea.

8. Do Something Epic

We knew that we would have to do something epic to stand out from the crowd. In 2008, backpacking around the world was becoming very popular. When we did it in 2000, not many people were leaving their jobs to travel the world, but now it seemed to be that everyone was taking a sabbatical.

If we did something epic like bicycle from Cairo to Cape Town people would take notice. So that is what we did and Canada’s Adventure Couple was born.

We had a dream of turning our adventures into a TV show. We hired a publicist, sent out press releases, and announced our epic journey. We knew we loved traveling together and that we had the mental stamina to succeed in this race down the continent.

9. Make a Plan

We invested a good chunk of our hard-earned money into this cycling race. We saved for a year putting every penny away and buying new bikes, training, and investing in the entry fee and flights. We didn’t want to take part in an epic adventure only to return to our jobs and resume our lives.

We made a plan that within two years of signing up, we’d be traveling full time. That gave us something to focus on. Having a time limit and a plan to make it happen, kept us focus don our goal. We had no choice but to to figure out a way to keep the momentum going.

10. With Failure Comes Success

We tried pitching a TV series that had a lot of interest but eventually failed. That didn’t deter us though, we had made a lot of TV appearances and were becoming minor celebrities in the online world, so we decided to nurture our 15 minutes of fame and turn it into something bigger.

Drawing on our nearly decade of travel experience, we created a blog that had a focus. We decided to focus on being inspirational and to show people that happy couples are not obsolete and that marriages can last and that the opposite sex can have fun together.

Right from the beginning of creating ThePlanetD, we knew what our message was going to be. We wanted to show that adding a bit of adventure into your everyday lives can help you feel more fulfilled. We wanted to show people that if we can do it, anyone can.

It took us a long time to figure out our purpose, but we never stopped searching and if you really want to change your life, you can do it too. Don’t let age, money or fear stand in your way, if you want something bad enough, you CAN make it happen.

So the message is, never give up, never stop searching and seize the day. What are you going to do to live an unconventional life of travel?

• How to Travel Around the World – The Ultimate Travel Resource
• 21 Ways to Get Paid to Travel
• How to Start a Travel Blog in 11 Easy Steps
• Our 27 Best Travel Tips from 10 Years of Travel
• How to Achieve Your Life Goals
• How Travel Can Change Your Life
• Best Travel Jobs to Spark New Ideas for Your Future Career

Travel Planning Resources

Looking to book your next trip? Why not use these resources that are tried and tested by yours truly.

Flights: Start planning your trip by finding the best flight deals on Skyscanner

Book your Hotel: Find the best prices on hotels with these two providers. If you are located in Europe use Booking.com and if you are anywhere else use TripAdvisor

Find Apartment Rentals: You will find the cheapest prices on apartment rentals with VRBO . 

Travel Insurance: Don't leave home without it. Here is what we recommend:

• Allianz - Occasional Travelers.
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Need more help planning your trip? Make sure to check out our Resources Page where we highlight all the great companies that we trust when we are traveling.

You May Also Like

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About The Planet D

Dave Bouskill and Debra Corbeil are the owners and founders of The Planet D. After traveling to 115 countries, on all 7 continents over the past 13 years they have become one of the foremost experts in travel. Being recognized as top travel bloggers and influencers by the likes of Forbes Magazine , the Society of American Travel Writers and USA Today has allowed them to become leaders in their field.

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59 thoughts on “How to Live a Life of Travel: Tips to Getting Started”

Thank you for being a voice of positivity and inspiration in a sometimes negative world.

We too live an unconventional life. We have 13 children, work remotely, home educate and yes, we travel with ten of them too! It *is* possible to live a life of travel – we did two months of the Balkans earlier this year and are about to set off for another couple of months. Want to know more? Let us know!

Thanks for laying this out there. You guys and your adventures are always a huge inspiration to us! Love #3 “We kept all our options open” as we try to live by that same motto. It really makes things so much fun and introduces you to some crazy and exciting experiences of a lifetime. Happy travels!

Thanks John, I’m glad that you are living the life you want as well. We agree, keeping options open is very important. YOu need to be willing to try something new and be open to new experiences. It opens up a whole new world.

LMAO at the first pic:legendary!

Congrats, it has been awesome to follow part of your journey and thanks for the inside scoop 🙂

Ha! Glad you liked it. That’s Dave’s signature pose. At least lately, ever since we downsized, he does a lot of jumping like that.!

Looks like a very happy couple! You two are living with your dreams. I owe you a lot, very inspiring story. Thanks for sharing the tips, I find it really useful. You can manage to save and budget together. Congratulations!

Thank you Marie! Glad we could inspire you. If you really set your mind to something you can do it too. At one point in our lives we didn’t think we’d ever be able to travel the way we wanted to and yet here we are now. If we can do it, anyone can too!

That is a very inspirational story! My wife and I have managed to carve out a life of travel by working in Denali National Park 8 months per year and having four months off. Many of the resorts and tour companies are seasonal up here and it is perfect for travel.

I just need to cut out those $4 lattes and I can do even more…

Wow! that’s fabulous Jeff. Denali is beautiful. I know what you mean about the $4 lattes, we still love them too.

Thanks for this blog and for sharing with us. Me and my husband are planning for a trip to African countrie’s and its first time for us where we have to visit many countrie’s, so I am nervous about the planning that how do I mange everything but your blog gives me confident about the trip. Thank you so much.

LOVED this. Luckily, my boyfriend and I were students when we discovered our love for travel so we didn’t spend a lot of money or lived in an expensive way. That made it pretty easy to take the leap – and we’re actually able to have a better life than we did in Denmark and still spend less. 🙂

Very interesting post, though! And lots of great tips that we need to follow up on. Especially about gaining more recognition and create a brand like you guys have! So inspirational.

We kicked off our nomadic lifestyle with a bike journey as well – around Europe in 3 months on city bikes, normal clothes and no training. We made it and had an epic journey. 🙂

Thanks for sharing your advice.

Awesome article! I hope others will be inspired too to travel and to save, save a lot of money for they travel escapade.

Interesting read indeed! I think turning your lifestyle pretty much upside down and opting for a life on the road requires a certain balance. The biggest hurdle might be the monetary one, but it’s probably the same with all big plans and achievements: mindset matters! I think someone who can tick of the first points on your list is probably almost on the way… 🙂 Thanks for sharing!

Thanks Oliver. You are right, all big decisions in life require balance and yes, any big plans whether travel related or not can follow these simple rules. It is possible to change your life if you are willing to sacrifice a little to achieve your dream.

Hi Guys: Enjoyed your article and great sense of adventure…I too, have been traveling all my life and now based part-time in the Philippines. I have 7 channels, with over 21 MILLION viewers from 87 countries. Take a look and learn from some of my videos….. Main channel: http://www.youtube.com/globalvideopro1 WEBSITE: http://www.globalvideoprotv.com

Great post! Great ideas! Thank you!

We left the rat-race and have not looked back. Who wants to be “normal?” Life is a journey not a destination. Live it! Take care.

Congratulations on leaving the rat race Curtis. All the best to you!

There’s really no need to clip coupons to save money; it’s not that effective anyway. The best way is to do what you did: downsize, minimize transport costs and cook. I love how you slowly realize what you want to do in life. It’s all about the journey!

Thanks Dela. You are so right, downsizing is key. So many of us in North America live beyond our means. I think back to how little I lived on fresh out of college. If we all kept living simply, we wouldn’t have the burden of all the money problems. For some reason, people feel that as they age, they need to have more ‘things’ and that just weighs them down. We are now in a good financial situation after 6 years of pursuing our dreams, but we have no desire to go back to buying a bunch of things again. Life experience is what we are loving.

This is an eye opening post. Makes one realize that we can all achieve so much with just the right strategy and not necessarily resources. Inspiring and it made me start booking amazing tours. The journey is the destination!

Congratulations! Good luck with your tours.

This is great advice, both inspirational and practical.

Thank you Mariellen!

Firstly congratulations for hanging on and living your dreams. Here I would like to speak about one of my uncles who loves to trek even at this age (he is in his 60s). He’s a quiet man. The only time I get to see a gleam in his eyes is when someone talks about travel… and I shout out in my mind…”I get that oldie..”

Sounds like you have an amazing uncle! I know how he feels, I can feel excitement come over me whenever I get the chance to talk about our own travels.

You two are an inspiration. I am so glad you are living your dream. Thank you for sharing these great tips!

Thanks Mary. I think the two of you have been living the dream as well! Congratulations right back.

Very cool post. Reducing down to one car is something I know our family needs to do if you want to start saving a significant amount, we’re just finding it so hard to bite the bullet on that one!

I know that it can be difficult to go down to one car, especially if you have kids and have to pick them up from sports or dance or hockey practice. It does save a lot of money though. Between car payments and insurance, it’s literally hundreds a month!

Very inspiring post. Traveling is such an important part of a healthy lifestyle and it is wonderful that you are now able to reach so many people to inspire them to add more travel into their lives through your adventures.

Thank you Katherine. That has been our goal in recent years. We want to let people know that it is possible. For so many years we didnt’ think it was possible to change our lives. Now that we have, we want to inspire others to take a chance and follow their dreams. If two regular people like us can do it, anyone can.

Thanks for your tips. Best of luck with your on going travels. Great read.

Great tips- that are good for day to day life as well!

Great Escapes , oh yes I have a number of interesting trips to choose from. I find it fascinating and also confusing when it comes to planning my travel, so I've opted for an unconventional way of travelling that can fund me while I spend time in the air, or on a beach.

Beautiful & Inspiring post!

There’s a point when you just gotta let it all go and dive right in, even if you have no idea what you’re diving into. I left my old work life behind to move down to Mexico about 9 months or so ago and I’ve never been happier.

Anyone can do it, and it doesn’t take a ton of money. It’s just as you said you need to change your perspective, your spending habits. It’s amazing how freeing it can be to not worry about little things like a tv(that’s what the internet is for), brand name clothes(you know you don’t need those $200 pair of jeans), or dining out all the time, even if that only means Mickey D’s. After that the money starts stacking up. 😉

If you wanna travel the world or just become an Expat the only thing stopping you is you, do whatever you can to achieve that dream!

Congratulations Devlin. Wow! It must be amazing living in Mexico. That is something we’d like to in the next year or two. Spend an extended period of time in Mexico. And you hit the nail on the head. Dropping a few of the extra expenses seriously helps the money add up. We had a lot of fun while still being able to save money, jut by changing our habits a little bit.

Good for you Don. Any great adventures planned?

Thanks for this post. Great to hear some behind the scene stories.

I left my home country a year ago, to move to London and last week I left London to travel the world – starting in Sri Lanka, where me and my boyfriend are at the moment.

It´s scary and amazing at the same time to follow your dreams. I will keep follow your adventures here 🙂

Wow! Have a great time in Sri Lanka, it’s one of our favourite countries. And congratulations to traveling the world! Well said to, it’s scary and amazing all at once, but that’s what makes you feel alive. Being comfortable can be very boring. A little fear keeps like exciting.

You are not a failure though at first you fail. But I can say that you became a successful traveler and writer. You are right at first it is difficult. It takes a lot of perseverance and dedication.

You said it Carl Joe, we didn’t have instant success, but when you know what you want, you will keep trying until you succeed and we have no intention of stopping. There will always be ups and down, but we’ll keep on working at what we want for the rest of our lives.

Saving and budgeting is indeed one of the best thing to do. Thanks for the tips that you’ve shared. I find it really useful

Thanks James, I’m glad we could share a few tips with oyu!

It’s always great to see people follow their dream and lovely to see Don’s comment about getting the travel bug at 60! 🙂

Agreed, it is never too late to get the travel bug and change your life. It’s a whole new world, you dont’ need to be 20 to follow our dreams.

Congrats on hanging in there and making your dreams to travel full-ltime come to fruition! AWESOME!!! We share the same deep passion for traveling and try to save our money to go to Europe about once a year. Our friends ask us the same kind of questions or take little "jabs" at us about the financial part and often ask how we can afford to do this. We tell them travel is "our addiction" and to feed our habit, we do many of the same things as you….such as eating at home and making lots of soups from scratch, only getting basic cable service, driving older & easy/low maintenance automobiles with great gas mileage, no big screen TV's or fancy electronics/phones, working from home, buying most of our clothes from second-hand stores, no beverages except for water when we go out for dinner, saving all our spare change, etc. Once we are on our adventures, we really enjoy staying in simple accommodations like small hotels and hostels, having "picnic" lunches and dinners with local foods from the grocery store and 'self-guiding" our trips with well researched itineraries and utilizing public transportation, whenever possible. All of this really adds up in the course of a year and equates to literally thousands of dollars!!!! We gladly sacrifice and make these relatively easy lifestyle changes, to have that money to travel!!! Best wishes for many more adventures, Cheers 🙂

Great advice, thanks for sharing Nora. You make a great point about water only when eating out. I think the most expensive part of the bill is often beverages. You can always go home afterwards to enjoy a glass of wine at a fraction the price. We don’t way to live like Paupers, but cutting back can make a big difference. I say, don’t cut back to the point of making yourself unhappy in life, but definitely cut back on the little things that you can do without. Best to you too!

Couldn’t agree more with you! More than saving and budgeting, I think the passion to travel should be there. Like I am very bad at saving, but I still manage to travel because I really want to!

Good for you Renuka, it sounds like you do well at making your dreams happen.

Awesome post, i'm just getting the bug for travel at the ripe age of 60, my wife has always loved to travel, but me not so much. I've just subscribed to your newsletter and i'm looking forward to reading more of your articles.

Thanks Don! Congrats on living your life to the fullest!

The reason we were able to leave the comfort of regular paychecks a little over 6 months ago is encompassed in your first 3 points. The last 2 are a bit of a work-in-progress, but it’s always encouraging to read about your success. Keep up the stellar work! Good luck!

Great article for all travel lovers! 🙂

Awesome article double D, shared on Twitter!

What’s amazing about all of these kinds of stories is how different they are with respect to their specifics and yet so very similar in their general approach. For the most part everyone who has ever done something like this tells a story of having a dream, shedding material things, and relentlessly working toward their goal. The execution of those steps all take different paths – some people write books, or barter web development services, or create promotional travel videos, or whatever – but they all basically had to first let go of the familiar and then chase after their dream with dogged determination. I know, because that is our story too.

Congrats you guys. Happy travels.

Well said Brian. It’s true, you need to let go of the familiar and chase your dream. Soon, the unconventional begins to feel comfortable.

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The Life of a Traveler: What It Is Really Like

Have you ever wondered what it is really like to travel the world full-time? To leave behind home, not knowing when or if you will come back?

Living the life of a traveler, especially as a solo traveler, is full of paradoxes. Full of strange feelings. Full of grandiosity. Let me tell you what traveling is really like.

Choosing this life is more than a temporary escape. It will completely and entirely transform who you are.

Are you prepared for a journey of beauty, adventure and heartbreak? Come with me.

What the life of a traveler looks like

Traveling is saying yes to life.

Traveling puts you in situations so strange they’re hard to believe. The art of traveling is saying yes to opportunities as they arise, saying yes to life. Fear has no say here (even though we all experience it, of course).

As a traveler, you choose to conquer your fears again and again. You become a first-hand witness of how letting go of fear liberates your spirit.

You choose courage. Follow your instincts of curiosity. Have that conversation with the crazy guy. Explore that shady area of town. Dance like no one is watching.

It’s a wild ride, this traveler life. One that creates endless stories and miracles, simply because you said ‘yes’ at one point along the way. You get to see things few others ever see.

And at the end of the day, you will often wonder how you have gotten here. It does not matter. Embrace it.

Uncertainty is a traveler’s homeland

Most people desperately try to hold on to certainty. They resist change. They do everything in their power to keep things as they are just to feel safe.

A traveler does the opposite.

A traveler understands that the only constant we get in life is change and that by resisting it, you only create struggle.

Uncertainty is a solo traveler’s homeland. Sometimes you may not even know where you will sleep tonight. You may not know where you are tomorrow, you don’t know what you will experience in a year, you can’t fathom how the strangers you meet will change your life.

Even if you think you know, you never know. Life has its own ideas of what’s in store for you. Certainty, as much as we try to create it, is not an option.

It is the same for everyone, only that travelers understand and follow the flow of change.

Traveling is a life of extremes

By leaving behind certainty, you enter a ride of extremes. You might get stuck in hopeless situations and be rescued by a stranger. You might land in the middle of nowhere exhausted, only to be swallowed by the kindness of the world.

The emotional extremes are always present when traveling. You experience more deeply.

Everything is amplified. You will experience the lowest lows, feel lost and lonely. You will experience the highest highs, in a rush of freedom and gratitude.

It’s never one or the other. You need to feel deeply to live deeply.

About the unknown driving force

What is it, that drives travelers? What is it that leads us to explore country after country and never feel like we’re done? What is it that makes us choose a life so far from the ordinary?

Is it curiosity? Is it lust for adventure? I don’t think so.

It is a deeper feeling, a deep longing for the world. A burning sensation to experience and expand yourself. Guided by the inner knowing that wonder awaits around every corner.

I have no words to describe this feeling inside of me but I know it is the ever-present Northern Star in the life of a solo traveler.

We are the restless souls, eager to drown in the magnificence of this world. We go, go, go, until we find it.

Discomfort as a teacher

Sleeping in a million different beds. Dealing with chaos, cultures and criticism. Being the one that stands out from a crowd. Doing what scares you. Moving forward despite physical pain. Embracing mental challenges.

Often, the experiences of travelers have one thing in common: Discomfort is more frequently present than most people would like it to be.

But the magic of discomfort is exactly what makes travelers grow so much as people. Life outside of the comfort zone changes your mindset, your outlook on life.

No, the life of a traveler is not comfortable. But a single day on the road sometimes holds as many lessons as an entire year of staying at home.

This is what makes it worth it.

Read also: Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable: The Secret Power of Discomfort

Traveling is falling in love deeply with the world

Even after all these years, I catch myself falling in lover deeper and deeper with the world. With its people. With its natural phenomenons. With its inexplicable magic.

This is where gratitude is rooted. In letting yourself fall deeply, irreversibly in love with the world.

The more you see, the more you will realize what there is to love.

And that feeling, that love, that gratitude – you take it with you wherever you go. It will be with you in your darkest nights, it will be your light to hold onto when everything else is falling apart.

The world is a kind place. Even those who struggle to express it, deep down, want to be kind, want to love and want to belong – if only you give them a chance to.

Always a stranger, but at home in the world

It is bittersweet, sometimes, being a traveler. You have no home. Your home is everywhere. You develop the ability to deeply connect with the world around you, no matter where you are. To find something in common with the strangest stranger.

And yet, you are always a stranger, too. Even in your actual home, you will stand out through the experiences you have made – never completely understood, maybe only by those who carry a similar feeling within themselves.

That’s why travelers seek the company of other travelers. They understand the feeling of everlasting seeking, the love for the loneliness of the road and what it is like to have a million homes and none at once.

Experiencing exhilarating freedom

It comes with the range of incredibly strong feelings, but it is one of the most present ones. That feeling of complete freedom.

When you know you belong to the world, know you have nothing to lose, you feel like the luckiest star child. You don’t need to be anywhere, you don’t need to do anything or be anyone, you only need to exist. In the here and now.

Standing on the back of a pick-up truck. On top of a cliff. Feeling the wind in your hair. Running naked through the fields. Being on the verge of tears simply because of the deep realization of what a freaking gift life is.

We were born free. This is how we’re meant to be, you and me.

Understanding different perspectives

Nothing makes you understand more than traveling how there is no right or wrong. You experience different cultures, different ways of living and will be challenged to question your own cultural conditioning.

Eventually, you realize all these ways of living have their place in the world. If we move beyond judgment, we open our hearts to true connection.

Let yourself discover new ways. The more you know, the more you understand. The more empathy and compassion you will have.

We label others as different, but deep down we are the same.

Dear traveling soul, I’d be honored if you chose to stay for a while:

Your first name

Your email address

This will keep you up to date with new blog posts about wanderlust & thoughts on life – and if you’d like to support and continue seeing my art, subscribing is the best way to do it.

In the life of a traveler, nothing lasts

Traveling is a life of million goodbyes. The people and places you fall in love with are predestined to depart – as is everything else in life.

You will have to learn to not hold on, to be fully present in the now and enjoy the fleeting moments while they last. Your memories are your most lasting companions.

When that thought saddens you, just remember, with a million goodbyes come a million hellos.

Travel is symbolic of the impermanence of life. Nothing ever lasts, the beauty as well as the heartbreak. Everything comes and goes in waves. Swim with it.

Travel teaches you everything

Travel teaches you everything. It teaches you you can live out of a backpack and be happy. It teaches you how misguided our more-more-more culture is. There is nothing more than life itself.

Traveling makes you grow and expand in all the ways possible. If you say yes to travel, you have chosen your teacher in life.

I am the person I am today because of travel. I may have learned many of those lessons staying in one place, too, but I would have never understood them so deeply and so quickly as out there.

Being confronted with a million different circumstances and people, in the end, always confronts you with yourself.

And that, to me, is beautiful.

This is what the life of a traveler is like

Dear friend, you have come to the end of my poetic musings about the life of a traveler. My life.

Writing this made me smile and feel deeply – because it made me realize, once again, how much travel means to me. Even though my words may be clumsy at times, this is my best effort of speaking my inner truth.

It may look very different from yours. But I hope that you, if anything in my words resonates deeply with your soul, get to go out and experience it for yourself.

Be courageous. Follow the calling of your heart. It will lead you to a million places you would have never expected.

And you will grow big. You will grow beautiful. You will grow so full of life it will make your heart burst with happiness.

Some of us simply belong to the road.

Anna Heimkreiter is an adventurer-artist who irrevocably lost her heart to solo travel. She specializes in ethereal self-portrait photography and spiritual illustrations. Her art is the direct expression of the wonder and awe she finds through her adventures.

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Hi I came upon your blog whilst researching a “traveler-born” character in a play for acting class. It explains so much. And also makes me grateful for my last adventure to Sedona,Az. You said: “Travel is symbolic of the impermanence of life. Nothing ever lasts, the beauty as well as the heartbreak. Everything comes and goes in waves. Swim with it.” I love that summary, but also all the details leading up to it. Thanks so much. Tracey

Hello Tracey, that is amazing to hear! Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope your play will turn out to be amazing 🙂 Anna xx

Hi Anna, I met a girl a year ago who was a traveler and I got to share about 8 months with her as she gathered herself. I fell in love with her soul and her unique perspective on life. She has since moved on. It was very hard and I still miss her greatly. But your articles have helped me to understand. I miss you Pebbles but wish you nothing but the best. James

Aww, I understand how heartbreaking that can be. It’s really hard having to say goodbye to someone merely because you have very different ways of living (been there myself, basically the other way round – but from that experience I can say it might have also been a very difficult and painful decision for her, at least it was for me). But that doesn’t take away from the wonderful memories you shared, keep cherishing those! Glad my article could give you a bit of insight into how she might be feeling about traveling and why it’s so important to her. Thank you for commenting, James, take good care! Anna xx

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Home » Articles » How to travel the world for life (and work while you travel)

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written by Benny Lewis

Reading time: 16 minutes

Published: Jul 10, 2014

Updated: Jun 29, 2023

How to travel the world for life (and work while you travel)

Today, July 10th , is my 32nd birthday! But it's also my 11 year travel anniversary .

Back in 2003 I left Ireland this day with no return ticket, and 132 months / 574 weeks / over 4,000 days later, I'm still on the road with no home or place I can call a base. Everything I own in the world weighs 23kg/50lb and comes with me.

On my 8 year travel anniversary, I wrote my site's most popular post ever by sharing the 29 most important life lessons I learned while travelling the world. And last year on my 10 year anniversary, I took those top-10 life lessons and presented them in a professionally edited video to summarize my travels visually.

This year, I'm doing something different and sharing my most practical tips on how you can travel the world (long-term) like I have, without winning the lottery (or having a mega savings). All throughout my travels – for over a decade – I've paid my way from money I earned while travelling .

So, how do I travel the world?

First, you don't need to save up money for years before you can travel the world. So many people make this mistake in mentality, and as a result they put off their travel goals for years unnecessarily. In fact, starting a travel lifestyle right now is well within the possibility of many people. I realize that there are exceptions, and some people might not want to travel the world long term like I do, so today I want to give you a heap of ideas for how to manage your own travel goals, whatever they may be.

I'll tackle four key points:

• How to lead a cheap travel lifestyle
• How to score cheap flights
• How to get the cheapest (and sometimes free) lodging
• How to work while you travel

If you're really serious about starting a travel lifestyle, I'll also share the best links for further reading on travel hacking. To get you started, you can't get better than checking out Nomadic Matt , since I learned a lot of the strategies I now use myself from his book How to travel the world on $50 a day .

(Oh yes – since it's my birthday, as a present request I'll ask that you share this post on your favourite social media site ( Facebook wall, retweet , Google+ share etc.) if you found it useful. Thanks! 🙂

How to travel the world for cheap

Before we discuss how to travel cheaper, it's very important to tackle how to live cheaper . This applies to you right now, even while you are settled.

If you have expensive habits now in your settled life, those habits will follow you into your travel lifestyle and rack up unnecessary expenses. It doesn't need to be this way.

So how expensive is your current life? Before you start travelling, track your actual expenses now and see where they go. Do you eat out a lot? Spend a lot on fuel costs? Does most of your money go to car or home insurance payments?

The good news is that if you start travelling for the long-term, you can live cheaper in part because you'll no longer need to spend hundreds of dollars of month to pay for your car, its insurance, its gas… and all the other major expenses that comes with leading a settled life. When you think about it, with all of these major expenses, leading a settled life is expensive!

But if you're finding that the biggest sticker shock comes from your lifestyle habits, then you'll have to make some tough choices.

Can you cut back on coffee, cigarettes and beer in exchange for extra cash you can put towards train tickets to the distant corners of the world?

Not everyone can, or wants to. But if you can save just ten dollars a day by living a cheaper lifestyle … just 10 dollars a day! … that's enough to pay the cost of your entire monthly rent for a hut on the beach in India or Thailand.

Think about that for a minute.

You might consider making other cheap lifestyle choices, like keeping a vegetarian diet and learning to cook from home. In a lot of countries, you can rely almost entirely on the use of public transport instead of a car, or get around on a bike. You can share accommodation costs by having room-mates. You can choose to be happy with the current technology and clothes that you have instead of updating them every few months.

These changes can increase the amount of your expendable cash dramatically .

After you learn to decrease the cost of your life in general, this will absolutely spill over into savings for your travel life. Then, I recommend you:

• Follow these 25 travel on the cheap tips from myself and Graham Hughes (who has visited every country on earth on a shoestring budget)
• Get rid of all your stuff. Use sites like Ebay , craigslist , gumtree , go to 2nd hand shops, the options are endless. There is no physical item that you actually can't live without unless it is the clothes on your back, food, or your means of earning money (for me, that's my laptop). This will both give you a financial boost and allow you to travel with all your posessions and not need to pay for storage or rent back home.
• Learn how to travel with everything you own carried along with you.
• When eating in a country, don't forget to try to get a place with a kitchen if you can (many youth hostels have one) and cook your meals. Otherwise, try to eat out at lunch time instead of dinner, since many places do lunch specials. Cities like Berlin and Paris have great “business lunch” options that offer several courses for just a few euro. Also, do indeed visit tourist sites, but leave the area when it's time to eat, since you'll be paying tourist rates. Find out in advance where the locals eat .

My number one biggest tip by far for how to travel for cheap is to learn the local language . This will save you heaps of money. I honestly feel this is one of the main reasons that I've been able to afford to travel so long – I've avoided paying the “English speaking tax”, and trust me, that tax exists pretty much everywhere that English is not the native language.

How to find cheap airfares

When your general lifestyle is less expensive, the next biggest expense people imagine is flights .

Flights, I'll admit, can cost thousands of dollars. But if you know where to look, there are several ways to make these dramatically cheaper than you think. Here are some rules to live by when checking out flights.

• Never go to the airline's own website. Instead, use “meta-search engines” while check and compare the rates for multiple travel sites at once. Also, try to book tickets around 3 months in advance, and choose flexible criteria – especially for the exact day of travel. See what the cheapest day is during the week or month around when you can fly. You can save hundreds of dollars by flying even a single day earlier or later! And try multiple searches on several of the following websites until you get the best results:
• www.skyscanner.com
• www.momondo.com
• www.kayak.com
• www.expedia.com
• www.hipmunk.com  [This site ranks flights by “Agony”, taking inconvenience into account]
• For long-haul, cross continental flights, use  flightfox.com. For $49 they can save hundreds or get you nice upgrades. Definitely worth it for many people. I got Lauren's return flight (from US to Spain to live with me for 3 months, then from Ireland to US for Christmas) for $450/€330, because of some strange rule where we added an extra leg to Canada 2 days after she landed in DC that she didn't even take. This website did the research for us in a way you wouldn't get on the above meta-searches.
• If your goal is to fly a lot, you can use “Round-the-world tickets”, which can cost about €3,000+ depending on the number of continents you want to visit. You can book through  airtreks.com  or flightcentre.com , but it's better if you can save miles through credit card sign-ups. This is more appropriate if you want to travel the world for a year and know where you want to go in advance. Using the above options and buying individual tickets still tends to work out cheaper most of the time though, and allows for more flexibility.

How to find cheap or free lodging

For those of you travelling very fast and moving around once every few days, travel will be more expensive, but you can reduce costs by getting last-minute prices on hotels on sites like laterooms.com ,  lastminute.com , hoteltonight.com , priceline.com ,  hotwire.com  (name your price – you won't know where you'll stay until you've paid).

I can understand why people think long term travel is not possible for them, when they think it's a $1-200/night hotel stay, but the fact of the matter is that long term travellers do not tend to stay at hotels .

Instead, we:

• Stay for free with couchsurfing , servas (reference letter required, mostly US senior travellers), hospitality club , globalfreeloaders ( I use Couchsurfing a lot for its search feature to find language learning partners too )
• If you speak Esperanto, Pasportaservo.org is like the above sites with the only catch being that you communicate with your hosts in a language you can learn in a few weeks ! ( Here's how well my girlfriend did with just an hour a day for 6 weeks )
• Use wwoof.org  (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms – about €20 per country membership – you work on a farm and get free accommodation, as well as the amazing experience)
• House-sit at housecarers.com ,  mindmyhouse.com ,  caretaker.org – This is more suited to stays of a month or longer; you get free accommodation in exchange for keeping an eye on pets, gardens, and other chores.
• Stay in youth hostels – as low as just $5/night in countries like Thailand, cheaper across Europe. Find your options on hostelworld.com or hostelbookers.com .
• For stays of a few days or a few weeks, I highly recommend staying in a serviced apartment. For mid-range budgets this is my go-to choice. Find your home away from home on 9flats.com ,  airbnb.com ,  homeaway.com , roomorama.com , or wimdu.com .
• Go camping! You are only paying for the space and can access water, electricity and other services as required in specialized campsites for a fraction of the cost of alternatives.
• Here is more on how I find accommodation while travelling

How to work while travelling

Most people think they have to save their pennies for months or years in advance until they have “enough” money to travel and live off of for a while. Unfortunately, this can only last you so long (unless you have won the lottery, in which case send a donation my way! 😛 ). The fact is that you can earn while on the road.

There are two ways to do this:

1) Get a job on-location

If you are an EU citizen you can do this automatically in any other countries in the EU. In most other situations though, you need to obtain a visa in advance.

As an Irish citizen, I got a J1-visa to work in America twice when I was a student (this was part of the 6 months of travel I did before my 11-years-non-stop travel, so I am actually approaching 12 years depending on how you count it…) I applied for this through the Irish organization USIT . They also offer Irish people working visas in many other countries. Your country may have an equivalent service.

In most other situations, you may have to see in advance what your options may be. If you are a student, your university most likely offers study abroad options, and definitely use your network of friends and colleagues to see if any of your fellow students have experience working abroad.

If you are looking for a job on your own, it is actually usually much easier to get hired by a company  before  you travel, and then have that company arrange the visa. This was a possibility for me the first time I went to the US, because I worked as a summer school teacher for a university, which was experienced in hiring foreigners, so I actually didn't need to arrange the working visa myself.

Finally, have a look at the country's embassy website and see what they recommend for working visas.

What work can you do on-location?

The easiest way by far that English speakers can work abroad is to do it as an English teacher . In countries were English teachers are in high demand, the school will arrange the visa and all logistics for you.

I've done lots of work as an ESL teacher myself, all based on an initial weekend affordable TEFL certificate I got from i-to-i , and then building upon my experience earned to get me higher paid jobs with time, eventually working for prominent schools like Berlitz and Wall Street Institute. I've also worked the following jobs on location, to give you an idea of your options (your options expand immensely if you learn the local language – don't forget to sign-up to my newsletter for a week long crash course if you aren't sure how):

• Youth hostel receptionist
• Store manager
• Photographer
• Basic office work
• Engineer (what my undergraduate degree was in – in this case I worked as an intern)
• Go Kart race controller
• Computer repair / on-site tech support
• Lots of English teaching
• On-site translator

You may find other work depending on your work skills and the opportunities available.

2) Get a location independent job

I worked on-location for my first years travel, but the catch was that my wages remained stagnant for all work other than teaching English, since I moved every few months and had to start over from scratch again.

That's why the future of many jobs (not all of course) is that they can be based online , and you can take them with you around the world!

Here are a few ideas:

• If you are good at languages, and willing to go through training for it, become a freelance location independent translator . I found my initial work on proz.com
• Teach your native language online . You can become a teacher on italki for instance and take your students with you wherever you go. My girlfriend did this for her first months of travel with me, and was working full-time with the work she got.
• Become an online coach – while I do this myself to help people expand the popularity of their websites and craft their language learning projects, there are many ways you can implement this. I once met someone who earned her living coaching people to give up smoking (her background was in psychology) over Skype!
• Write an e-book or sell a course online. My site fi3m premium supports this completely free blog (no spammy irrelevant advertising anywhere here – that's a really poor way to do anything but cover hosting costs) through a video course and resource database. I used to sell an e-book too. You can distribute this yourself if you put the time into creating a really high quality free site/Youtube channel/podcast or similar that sends traffic to it. You can also sell it directly on Amazon (self published) or through various other channels. Note that traditional publishing is not a good way to earn a living for most people – my book is an international best seller and this does not translate into money in my pocket because of traditional publishing logistics.
• Take a skill that you have and see if it works online. Here is a list of 64 ideas to work online depending on the skill. You can also see if job openings are available through various online advertising boards, or a job outsourcing site like Upwork .

What kind of working visa do I need?

The question of how you manage the logistics of working online is tricky because there are no international laws that govern such things. What many of us do is simply set ourselves up legally and officially in our home country – so we have a bank, and pay taxes there.

Then we stay in a country on a tourist visa – a grey line depending on where you go. I actually have a business visa while I'm in America right now, since its immigration tends to be the most strict about what I can and can't do here – this is despite the fact that I am not actually technically employed for any of my time here, but my book tour is business of sorts. In most countries though, a tourist visa is OK for online workers. (Disclaimer: Please don't take what I'm saying here as legal advice – I accept no responsibility if you run into issues!)

You aren't legally working in the eyes of many countries as you are not taking any money or employment from its citizens, only spending, as any tourist would. In case you are wondering, the “3 months” in my blog title comes from the 3 month visas I typically have as my limit in most places 😉

How do I set myself up as a business?

Whether you should operate as a freelancer or start your own business depends on too many factors for me to cover here, most important of which being the kind of work you'll be doing, but you can contact a lawyer in your home country if you are unsure.

You can receive payments directly to your bank account (when I was a freelance translator, my clients were European and bank transfers within Europe are free – working with American clients is a pain in the ass to be honest because they are one of the few first world countries that still insist on printing your money on dead trees, i.e. snail-mailing checks/cheques).

Another solution is to set up a pro or business paypal account, but keep in mind that you do pay fees for many transactions and withdrawals.

When everything is combined – working and travelling long-term is easier than you think

A really cool benefit of working location independently is that you can earn in a strong currency like the euro/dollar/pound and spend in a cheaper country where that money will take you really far. Leveraging currency differences is another thing that allows “technomads” to travel so extensively.

The combination of everything I've said in this post, namely

• SPENDING less through a minimalistic lifestyle
• Finding cheaper flights through a bit of research
• Finding cheaper or free accommodation, especially through slower travel
• Working online and earning in a stronger currency, while spending in a weaker one

Means that long-term travel is absolutely sustainable. I break some of these rules sometimes, like this year I'm travelling very fast on my book tour, and accommodation is much more expensive as a result, but flights are still cheap, we eat in as often as possible, we earn online, and we generally don't spend much otherwise.

This kind of fast-travel wouldn't be sustainable for me in the long-term, but we'll be back to three month stays later this year, and back to saving plenty for intensive periods like this.

Benny Lewis

Founder, Fluent in 3 Months

Fun-loving Irish guy, full-time globe trotter and international bestselling author. Benny believes the best approach to language learning is to speak from day one .

Speaks: Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Esperanto, Mandarin Chinese, American Sign Language, Dutch, Irish

Have a 15-minute conversation in your new language after 90 days

20 Life Lessons from a Life of Travel

Before the world abruptly stopped and travel was put on hold, I had been travelling for the last eight years. My lessons from travel span an entire memoir.

I started a blog back in 2012 as a way to document my journey and before I knew it, writing about my travels has become my career.

I’m from a normal upbringing but my life these past eight years has been anything but normal. I’ve been climbing mountains in Pakistan , learning how to make pastries in the basement of The Ritz in Paris, staying with Buddhist monks in Japan and too many more experiences to count.

These experiences have taught me more than I ever realised.

That is, until now.

Home is wherever feels good

After eight years of living out of a suitcase, I finally decided last year that it was time to “move home”. But where exactly is home, when you’ve spent so much time away from it?

I bought a house, renovated it, and promptly realised the childhood town I grew up in did not feel like home anymore. Firstly, because I’d met a man in the Okavango Delta who I would later move to South Africa with. Secondly, because I had grown and changed so much since my departure, that my normal wasn’t so normal anymore .

The truth is, home is wherever feels good.

It is easier now than ever to live in a new country. If you feel up for it, give it a try. Nothing is stopping you but yourself.

Experiences are better investments than things

Has anyone ever told you not to buy a new car because of devaluation? The same could be said about new handbags, designer clothes, and keeping up with interior design trends.

Experiences are investments that pay more in life gains than possessions ever will.

Sometimes you need a trip to grow, find yourself, or find answers you’ve been looking for. Why not take one of these life-changing trips .

Some trips that shaped who I am include: renting a van and driving around New Zealand , 10 days in Pakistan and every single solo trip of self-discovery .

Money does not equal happiness

Growing up in a privileged country, I was conditioned to believe that money = happiness. How wrong I was. Having met people from all over the world who have much less than the average westerner locked into a mortgage, suffice it to say they are much happier than their counterparts.

What is it then, that warrants happiness?

Acceptance of your reality. Simplicity in all things. The gift of giving.

Quality trumps quantity

So the old saying goes; quality trumps quantity. The same is true in light of travel. The more you travel, the more you start to realise those snippets of a new city, country or culture aren’t quite enough.

The further you travel, the less you want to.

You realise it is better to know a place – like really know a place – instead of just know how to ride the metro. The more I explore, the deeper I want to get to know a place.

Gone are the days of my late teens country-hopping around Europe. I’d rather move into an apartment in Berlin for a few months or pack up my life and move to Cape Town.

Learning a new language

Growing up in an English speaking nation, learning a new language was not a necessity nor was it easy. Living in Australia leaves you isolated from foreign languages, cultures and traditions.

Travel is an easy way to break that cycle.

From German to French and a hint of Afrikaans, over the years it has become easier to learn the basics to communicate in foreign languages.

If you are eager to learn, try these language courses .

You learn to stop caring what people think of you

What is it about travel that forces you to leave your inhibitions at home? I can hardly remember my pre-travel self who was insecure, shy, and fearful of what others would think of me.

The woman I have become would not have been possible without travel. Without encountering strangers, meeting local heroes and discovering that everyone has a story to be told.

I care less now about what anyone thinks of me, despite having created a career where I live online. I’m susceptible to criticism on a daily basis but I’ve learned that if you don’t stand for something, you believe anything.

Own up to your mistakes

Another one of my life lessons from travel has been to admit my wrongs. Granted, I’m still working on this as we are often the last to admit our wrongs.

But who was responsible for catching a train from Munich that was westbound instead of heading East toward Budapest? Me. Whose job is it to fix the mistake? Mine.

Travel forces you to make mistakes and this makes it easier to own up to them. Especially travelling alone – no one is responsible for your mistakes but yourself.

You learn how to problem solve

Not only do you learn to own up to your mistakes, but you learn how to problem-solve as a knee jerk reaction.

Wrong train? Get off at the next stop and start again.

Booked a plane ticket for the wrong date? You’ll need to talk your way out of those change fees.

Mugged on the streets and suddenly your cash flow is halved? Time to start budgeting and cutting your expenses in half, too.

What is important in your life

After spending so much time alone exploring foreign lands, I’ve learned to value human connection and community more than anything else in my life.

As a Virgo who loves her alone time, I’m more than comfortable being on my own. I have however learned that too much time alone is not good for me – because what is life without human connection, interaction, and mutual dependence?

The more you learn, the less you know

The further I travel, the more I learn – or so I used to believe. The truth is, with all my prejudices and a Western mentality, the more I travel the less I actually know for sure.

The more I travel, the more I learn. But the more I learn, the less I know for sure.

I’ve been forced to question what the media tells us, how stories are spun for traction, and just face straight out lies.

Vulnerability is a strength, not a weakness

I used to think being vulnerable was a weakness.

However being vulnerable is being yourself. After years of travel and meeting so many people the world over, I’ve come to realise that there is no greater power than just being yourself .

Being your most authentic self is a weight off your shoulders as you never have to try prove anything, you just are. This gives you all the time and power back to work on what really matters to you.

Books are just as much of an escape

Sometimes you just can’t escape. Whether you’re stuck in the office or have used your holidays for the year, often we have the urge to go somewhere but we just can’t yet.

I have found over the years that books provide just as much of an escape. Hence, launching my book club for travellers .

You don’t have to know someone a long time for a deep connection

Some of my greatest connections with people have been accomplished in a day – some even less.

You don’t need to know someone for a long time to have a deep connection with them. You can connect in such a life-changing way with someone who tells you just what you need to hear at the right time you need to hear it.

You can travel without leaving home

Now more than ever, I’m learning there are some great ways to travel and fulfil my wanderlust without leaving home. Whether it be trying a new recipe from a foreign cuisine you love or virtually visiting a museum, there are some great ways to travel without leaving home. Here are my favourites .

You learn to invest in yourself

While we’ve already learned that experiences are a better investment than things, only in recent years did I learn to invest in myself.

Whether it be learning how to make French pastries in a kitchen basement in Paris or investing in life-changing books on entrepreneurship , the greatest investment is yourself. If you never stop learning, you never stop growing.

Long-distance works if you want it to

I’ve had a few different experiences with long distance relationships after 8 years living out of a suitcase. Some have worked and some haven’t.

The truth is, long-distance works if you want to. It’s like any other relationship – you make sacrifices, you make it work. This is one of the lessons from travel I’d rather not admit to – but we can only learn from our mistakes.

Silence speaks as loud as words

Travel has a way of bringing out the best and worst in people. Unfortunately, the good comes with the bad and we have to learn to deal with it.

In travelling with my partner more recently, I’ve learned that silence speaks as loud as words. Sometimes not saying anything really says it all.

Travel is really just about perception

The old saying goes: you see what you want to see.

Travel and your experience abroad really come down to perception. Had a bad day? It could be worse. Life on the road will throw you many curveballs but is all about how you deal with them. Choose to be positive. Opt to be optimistic. If you want to have a great experience, you will.

Your twenties are practically made for travel

I used to be scared by that window of time between living with my family I grew up with and creating my own. But the truth is, this window of time is the perfect opportunity to go out on our own and discover ourselves for the better.

I used to be scared by that window of time between living with my family I grew up with and creating my own.

I never would have shaped my own world view without taking this time to go out on my own. Just because my parents taught me a certain way of living, doesn’t mean I need to follow it. Sure, I will always hold dear the way I was brought up to see the world – but I had to go out and add my own flavour to it.

You won’t always be alone so enjoy the solitude

After spending a lot of time alone, human connection becomes more and more desirable. But the truth is, you won’t always have this time to yourself. You won’t always be able to be selfish. To choose yourself. And to do all the things you want to do and skip all the things you do not. Enjoy the time in your life where you can be alone. It won’t always be this way.

Brooke Saward founded World of Wanderlust as a place to share inspiration from her travels and to inspire others to see our world. She now divides her time between adventures abroad and adventures in the kitchen, with a particular weakness for French pastries.

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How Choosing a Life of Travel Changed Everything

When I first published this essay in late 2016 on how living a life of travel changed my entire lifestyle, I had just turned wrapped up my first stint of long-term travel at 26 years old.

In the years since, my travel lifestyle has only continued to intensify: my husband Jeremy and I traveled full-time for more than 4 years, right up until 2020 and all of its wide-reaching consequences pushed us into signing a one-year lease in Austin, Texas.

Our life of travel is far from over, though: we consider it merely on pause (though our dog, Ranger, and the whole “running a business and not living off of savings anymore” thing will always keep our movements a bit slower than they were back in 2016).

I’ve preserved my original essay about chasing my travel dreams here–it still makes me smile to read it, and if you’re dreaming of a life of travel, I hope you’ll see a bit of yourself in it, too.

At the end of this blog post, though, I’m going to share more about where we are now, as well as some very personal specifics about what changed in us on the road–and it is a lot.

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How Pursuing a Life of Travel Changed My Life

Looking back on it, the long journey that led to me looking at Jeremy one year ago and asking, “How would you feel about selling our house and going on that RTW trip right now ?” started with a book about studying for the LSAT.

I was always going to be an attorney. From early adolescence, I confidently asserted my future plans: I was going to collect AP credits like merit badges in high school (did that), graduate early from undergrad (did that too), and head to law school (plan derailed here).

The summer before my third and final year of undergrad, I sat on the floor of the library on Oklahoma State University’s campus and pored through books about applying to law school and studying for the LSAT.

I can’t tell you the name of the book or the author, but I’ll never forget this paraphrased quote from the first chapter of the first book that I read:

“Before you decide to go to law school, think very hard about what else you could do with $100,000 and three years of your life.”

The author went on to give examples of other paths to take in life, including two that stuck out to me: a round-the-world trip, and living with a local family in a different country to become fluent in a new language.

I would be lying if I said that I had an epiphany right then.

Instead, I rolled my eyes and assured myself with the bravado that only exists in adolescence and very early adulthood that this dude clearly had no idea who I was.

I bought my LSAT study guide. I studied religiously, because that’s what good students do.

And every day, echoing in the back of my mind behind my study materials were thoughts about limited time on Earth and happiness and student debt and my then-boyfriend-now-husband and future motherhood and my fierce desire to see the world and my goal of learning other languages–despite them consistently being my worst subject in school.

Two weeks later, I announced to my family that despite almost a decade of just-as-confident proclamations that I would be doing the opposite, I would not be going to law school. I also had no idea what my career plans would be in place of that.

They were surprised, to say the least. Occasionally, years after the fact, I still have a well-meaning relative ask, “But… are you sure?”

Yes, I am sure. From the second that I made the decision, it has felt inexplicably right. Other than marrying Jeremy, not going to law school was the best decision that I ever made.

It did, however, thrust me into the directionless abyss of “What am I doing with my life?!” that is now popularly called the quarter-life-crisis.

While unnerving, it unlocked a whole new realm of possibilities.

The next 5 years of my life started with a post-grad job that I hated, and ended, several life changes later, with calling my parents with a new life announcement: “So… we’re quitting our jobs, selling our stuff, and going to travel the world for 6 months .”

Despite my best efforts to rework my 5-year plan to accommodate our new life of travel, since the moment that my 20-year-old self sat on the floor of OSU’s library and started considering seriously what adult life was going to look like, I have consistently failed to predict what my life would look like in a year.

This year was no different: despite our carefully planned and budgeted for round the world trip, life has thrown a curveball again.

Here’s the next twist: our planned time in South America is currently on hold, and we’re back in the USA.

There’s a long story associated with why–essentially, we had to come back to deal with our car, whose storage situation was no longer sustainable.

To take care of our beloved Honda Fit, we left Cambodia and are now temporarily back home, rather than flying to South America as planned.

We still fully intend to complete our South America leg, but coming home has given us the opportunity to spend a couple of months visiting family and friends, spend Thanksgiving with loved ones, and quite likely taking a couple of road trips around the USA–starting with a trip to the Albuquerque International Balloon Festival in New Mexico !

Once upon a time, this change of plans would have unnerved me.

Now, I find myself (mostly) embracing the unknown–after all, the unknown has worked out pretty well so far.

I don’t know where we will be spending Christmas, New Year’s, or 2017.

I don’t know what our income situation will look like (we can’t live off of savings forever, after all).

Honestly, one of the reasons that I procrastinated so badly on this post is because I originally intended for it to announce what was next, in addition to where we are now–but I still don’t have any concrete dates or booked trips to offer on that front yet.

What I do know, though, is that settling back into a cubicle for 40+ hours a week with very little vacation time each year is something that we are desperately trying to avoid.

As for the smaller part of me that’s not embracing the unknown?

Well, that part of me is busy anxiously calculating budgets, spontaneously planning trips to places that we may or may not actually visit for years, and stressing about the fact that I have officially given up on 5-year plans and 1-year plans and 6-month plans, and am now down to planning life just days at a time.

That’s just a tiny piece of me, though. I can manage that.

Because truthfully, despite questions of future sustainability, future income, and the stress of depleting savings, Jeremy and I are so happy with this unusual life that we are currently living.

For me, nothing has felt as right as this since the moment that I threw my carefully planned future out the window and announced that I wasn’t going to law school.

What Happened Next With Our Travel Lifestyle

So, all those predictions I made about completing our South America leg?

Yeah, that didn’t happen, though we did eventually spend a month in Colombia in early 2018.

Instead, we spent the first half of 2017 backpacking from Mexico City to Panama (mostly) using the money we got from selling the car we mentioned flying back to the US for, and then quickly became determined to make our life of travel last indefinitely–and we did.

Where Our Life of Travel Led Us

In the roughly 5+ years since I wrote this essay on living a life of travel, I am extremely proud to say that we have built a life led entirely on our own terms (until 2020 clobbered that naive assumption, but, I digress).

After visiting almost 50 countries on 5 continents, we are as enamored with our travel lifestyle as ever–granted, with a few more creature comforts these days.

Today, our lives are funded entirely by our travel blogs–and while I’m proud to say that, I’m even more proud to say it in 2021.

It was no picnic making it through 2020 in this industry, as you can imagine, but we absolutely made it through.

In addition to Our Escape Clause, we now also run Lone Star Travel Guide , about travel in Texas.

How Our Travel Lifestyle Changed Us

Running a travel blog to fund travel dreams is nice and all, but let’s be honest–that’s a pretty common story on the internet.

Outside of work (and it is  very  enjoyable work), though, there are some enormous personal differences in where we are now as opposed to where we assumed that our 2021 selves would be when I wrote this essay in 2016.

Here are just a few.

We don’t have kids.

I’m not saying we won’t ever have kids, but to be perfectly honest, we absolutely assumed we would have them by 30… and yet, we don’t find ourselves in a rush to have them these days.

We don’t own a home.

When we sold our home in San Antonio to travel the world, the plan was always to travel temporarily.

As much as we loved to travel, at the end of the day, we thought that by a couple of years down the road, surely  we’d want to be right back where we started, in a nice suburban home with our travel photos displayed on the walls.

Not so much.

We don’t use words like “never” these days, but homeownership is definitely not in our immediate plans.

We want to live abroad.

Not necessarily forever, but our life of travel has given us an intense desire to experience a full-time life abroad–specifically in southern Europe.

Living in a foreign country is absolutely different than traveling there, even compared to the slow travel that we did.

An apartment lease, a visa, bureaucratic headaches–we want to try out the good, bad, and ugly of living in a country other than our own.

We adore cities.

I almost laugh out loud every time I read one of our early blog posts where I mention we don’t like cities–LOL, no.

As it turns out, not liking commuting from the suburbs into a US city 5 days a week is not remotely the same thing as not liking cities.

We’re more adaptable.

… and patient.

If there’s anything that a life of travel will teach you, it’s those two skills.

Reading over those changes, it’s easy to imagine that our past selves would be utterly shocked to find out where we ended up in life–and they would have been.

It’s absolutely possible that given another 5-10 years, we will end up in that suburban house with 1.5 kids and our travel photos on the walls–but it’s also possible that we won’t, and 25-year-old me never would have dreamed of such a possibility.

To me, the craziest thing about the changes in our dreams, goals, preferred living situation, diet, and more that our travel lifestyle brought to us is how incredibly unexpected and yet, semi-permanent it feels.

Part of that is simply growing up, sure–everyone changes in their mid-to-late-20s–but for us, the bulk of those changes being set into motion has a very identifiable starting date: May 10, 2016, when we boarded a one-way flight to Madrid and set out to see what a life of travel would bring to us.

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About Kate Storm

In May 2016, I left my suburban life in the USA and became a full-time traveler. Since then, I have visited 50+ countries on 5 continents and lived in Portugal, developing a special love of traveling in Europe (especially Italy) along the way. Today, along with my husband Jeremy and dog Ranger, I’m working toward my eventual goal of splitting my life between Europe and the USA.

6 thoughts on “How Choosing a Life of Travel Changed Everything”

Hey Kate and Jeremy! I’m glad you guys are following your travel dreams! Where are you guys currently?

Thanks, Kara!

We are currently in the USA getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving with family in a couple of weeks. At the beginning of December, we’re off to Central America for a few months, starting in Costa Rica!

Wow, that’s quite a story! I hung on to every word. You’re a great writer, and I love this journey you’re on. Looking forward to more of the unknown ahead!

P.S. Hello from a fellow Girls v. Globe 🙂

Aw, thanks Jessica! I appreciate it. 🙂 Glad to see another Girls vs Globe member over here!

I loved reading every word of this, thank you for sharing! It feels like it’s pretty rare to get multi-year updates like this. I hope you guys keep living your best lives. I’ll definitely be following along.

Thank you so much, Angela! We are definitely continuing to live our best lives. I’ll have to do another update next year! 😉 So happy to have you here!

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• What Travel Teaches You: 23 Travelers Share Life Lessons From the Road
• June 28, 2023

FREE DOWNLOAD: 20 QUESTIONS THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE(STYLE)

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• Digital Nomad

One of the most important realizations I’ve had during my travels around the world: it’s not the place you’re in (or the work you’re doing, people you’re with, etc), it’s about the mindset. It’s always mindset. In this post, we hear from digital nomads who share life lessons from traveling the world.

Blake Miner

Travel  is the best teacher. It can open your eyes to new cultures, new landscapes and new ways of life. With every new place you visit, you gain a greater understanding of the world around you and what it means to be human. 

So pack your bags and get ready for an adventure, because travel is guaranteed to teach you something new. These digital nomads give insights into what travel teaches you as they share their most important life lessons learned.

Ready? Let’s go!

Life Lessons Learned From Traveling the World

We're more similar than we think.

Human nature at its core is good

Keep an attitude of gratitude

View the world through the lens of opportunity

Life is yours for the taking

Travel without set plans

Expect the unexpected

Get in touch with your core self

Experiences trump things

Develop a sense of wonder

Go with the flow

Appreciate the feeling of "home"

You can design your lifestyle

Appreciate humanity

People are inherently kind

You are a product of your environment

Mindset is everything

Learn to be an observer

The importance of sharing

Experiences trump possessions

People are inherently good

Carry minimal possessions and keep an open mind

A Final Word

I’ve been fortunate enough to meet some of the most inspiring, interesting and brilliant people on my travels and have learned a number of important life lessons .

I hope these insights have given you an idea of what travel teaches you and inspired you to go on an adventure of your own.

The best part is that these insights are all things you can do yourself by simply picking up your bags and heading out into the world—no passport required. They can be applied no matter where you are!

What have you learned from your own travels? We’d love to hear about it in the comments below!

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Why I Love Travelling – a personal story about how travel changed my life

Aug 6, 2022 | Feature | 0 comments

If you’re still wondering why I love travelling so much, then read on for my personal story about how travel changed my life! It’s hard to imagine where it all began because I wasn’t raised to see the world. But once the floodlights switched on and I had a taste of travel, there was no coming back. Travelling has opened my eyes to new cultures and different ways of life and shown me an endless amount of natural beauty. It has changed me as a person for the better and given me experiences that I will never forget.

There are special memories in life, like when I met my wife for the first time, my kids were born, and we bought our first house and truly felt like adults. But for me, some of my most cherished memories are from my travels. I love the adventure and excitement that comes with planning a trip, not knowing what lies ahead but being confident that it will be amazing.

Hey, not that my wedding day over 16 years ago and the day my kids were born don’t top the list; of course, they do. However, there is something about getting away from every day and exploring our big beautiful world.

From the first time I stepped foot on a plane as a young adult, I was hooked. I loved everything about flying; the anticipation of takeoff, the views from above, and finally touching down at a new destination. The sense of freedom and adventure that comes with travel is unlike anything else. And I knew that I wanted more.

So, why do I love travelling? For me, it’s all about the experiences. Each new place I visit presents an opportunity to learn something new, see things from a different perspective and make memories that will last a lifetime. 

Whether watching the sunset over the Himalayas in Nepal, I was hiking the jungle in Borneo or enjoying a coffee in a Bali cafe. While travelling, I will always create memories that I will treasure forever.

The sunrise from Chisapani in Nepal.

Why do I love travelling, and how did it change my life? Let’s go back a bit before I even saw another country outside of Australia. By the end, you’ll understand why I love travelling and how I can’t stop.

Unless a virus takes control of the world, naturally.

I never travelled internationally growing up.

I don’t think I am alone in this because international travel is undoubtedly more convenient in modern times than in my youthful years in the 80s and 90.s. But my family never went on holidays overseas, except for domestic trips to Sydney from Melbourne. That was fine, Sydney was superb, and the memories were strong, especially the beachside area of Manly. Yet, international travel remained a mystery. 

However, going overseas was a pipedream growing up. It all changed when I got my first real job and joined the Australian Army.

My first overseas trip came about a deployment in the Army.

On my first overseas trip, I didn’t even have a passport. I didn’t need one getting deployed to another country with the Army, so that’s always a remarkable fact I like to mention from time to time. How is this for a little fun fact?

Anyway, my deployment was peacekeeping in East Timor, and I was there for just three months. It was a fantastic experience and one that changed my life in so many ways that I am forever grateful for.

However, it wasn’t a holiday. Besides being based in the hills of Bobonaro with fantastic views near the Indonesian Border, there wasn’t a lot of time to be a tourist.

Visiting South Korea is when travelling truly opened my eyes.

Okay, my first real trip overseas with an official passport happened in 2005 when I visited Seoul, South Korea, with my Korean girlfriend. Spoiler alert She became my wife, and we’ve been married 16-plus years now, so happy ending and all that.

But this is where I had what I like to call my ‘travel epiphany’. I hadn’t given travel much thought, but being in Korea and seeing the sights of Seoul, exploring the city region and seeing impressive palaces and temples and so forth was genuinely fantastic. I loved it; I was beginning to get the travel bug.

The Gyeongbokgung Palace must be on your list during your vacation in Seoul.

A travelling Halt as Marriage and Kids took over.

Unfortunately, a trip to South Korea would be the last trip abroad for eight years, that’s right, eight years! Because we got married, had kids and bought a house, the critical stuff required in adulthood. Which is excellent, I love being a husband and father, but the travel itch was still there. I often researched for trips, but timing and financings were not there.

But why do I love travelling? Especially when I barely touched the surface in the travel stratosphere.

It’s hard to explain why I love travelling so much because it is an indescribable feeling whether you travel a lot or not.

But as circumstances changed, kids grew older, and we had a bit more money, we finally started to travel again.

And I haven’t stopped since!

Travel restarted with a trip to Fiji.

Suppose I ever think about why I love travelling. In that case, the paradise islands of Fiji in the Pacific stand out because it was here on the beaches of Fiji that I realized that I wanted to travel more. That I needed to see more places and explore this big wide world we live in.

However, it was not only the stunning beachside resorts and cocktails that helped too; the locals were the kindest people I had ever met. They had this unique way of life and culture that I wanted to learn more about.

If a tiny island country could get me enthusiastic about the rest of the world, I was keen to see what other countries had in store.

I was visiting a boutique island in Fiji.

Then Asia came calling again, and I never looked back.

Fiji got the blood pumping for travel. Therefore it was time to travel more frequently. With Asia being the most affordable place to travel from Australia, it became my haven for a trip.

Over the years following Fiji and before the virus hit the world, which took travel to a halt, I visited terrific destinations.

I return trips to South Korea, expanding further than Seoul and seeing beautiful destinations in Muju, Busan and Jeju. I had several trips to Bali, Malaysia and Thailand. I’ll never forget my tenth wedding Anniversary in Koh Samui, Thailand, where it became the Island of Love.

I became well-travelled in Asia, but what stands out the most was two adventures of different kinds. Firstly, in 2017, was the volunteering experience I had in Vientiane, Laos, where I tried my hand at teaching English to school kids and monks.

The second unbelievable experience was hiking in Nepal, just outside Kathmandu, and seeing the unbelievable Himalayas with my two eyes. It was better than any picture I could see on social media or television.

The continent of Asia is spectacular for many reasons, and I’m excited to see what else is out there in this big wide world. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll conquer Europe or even Africa! And that’s why I love travelling, it changes you as a person, witnessing experiences of different cultures in different destinations.

Happy and smiling from a high vantage point in Koh Samui in Thailand.

My most memorable trips to this date

Hiking in Nepal, volunteering in Laos or having a wedding anniversary in Koh Samui all stands out, but what indeed is the most memorable trip. Well, I can tell you, it’s none of the above.

• Kyoto in Japan – Japan is incredible, and Kyoto is a beautiful city to get lost in for a few days. I saw the best tourist attractions, the Fushimi Inari-Taisha and the Kinkaku-Ji, to only name a few best places to visit in Kyoto. The temples, the food and the culture make this place very special to me.
• South Korea – Whether it’s Seoul, Busan, Jeju, or Gyeongju, there’s an excellent reason I’ve returned to Korea on numerous occasions . It’s a beautiful country with something new, whether the food, the nightlife, or just exploring a new neighbourhood.
• Nusa Lembongan in Indonesia – The beautiful island of Bali, Nusa Lembongan is the perfect place to relax and escape the hustle and bustle of city life. With its turquoise waters, white sand beaches and coral reefs, it’s easy to spend a few days on the island and cherish life and what is around you.

Paradise awaits any traveller on arrival in Nusa Lembongan.

How my love for travel opened my world to travel writing

The love of travel inspired my blog, Fair Dinkum Traveller, which started in 2016. It’s a place where I share my personal travel stories, itineraries and tips to help others explore this big wide world we live in.

I have visited some unique places as a travel writer and influencer through writing. I’ve written about travel destinations, especially my immense love of Asia and my home country in Australia.

I’ve been very fortunate to have articles published in well-known travel publications, giving me more opportunities to quench my thirst for travel.

But why do I write about travel? I want to inspire others to get out there and explore this big wide world we live in. I want others to know that seeing the world is possible, whether you’re from a small town or city.

And that’s why I love travelling, because it changes you as a person, witnessing experiences of different cultures in different destinations.

How did you catch the travel bug? Please let me know in the comments below.

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How to Live a Life of Travel

Introducing the “How to Live a Life of Travel” eGuide, written specifically for anyone who wants to turn travel into an actual lifestyle. If you’re not quite sure how to make it happen, this guide will teach you exactly what you need to know…

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READ THIS GUIDE. TRAVEL THE WORLD!

What’s included:.

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Follow the specific steps in this guide and you’ll eliminate months of research

Discover how to earn money around the world – real opportunities, work visas and more

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How to travel long-term even if you’re in debt

Why you shouldn’t be afraid to travel on your own and how to easily make friends overseas

Learn how to sleep and eat for free in dozens of countries

Which countries offer the best value and are the most ideal destinations to begin your travels

Specific tactics and tricks to get the cheapest airfares possible

Why you shouldn’t wait until you save more money before starting your adventure

How to always stay safe while on the road and why travel is actually safer than you think

Money-saving details on banking and exchange rates

Best immunization and health insurance options

Cheapest ways to stay connected while traveling (wifi, phone, SIM cards)

Why long-term travel isn’t as big a risk as it seems

How to deal with people who think your desire to travel is ‘crazy’ or ‘irresponsible’

By the time you finish reading this comprehensive guide (which discusses even more topics that I didn’t mention above), you’ll know exactly how to travel, earn money overseas and explore the world.

You’ll literally be ready to turn travel into a lifestyle. Not in ten years from now. Not in five years. Right now.

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YOU’RE NOT CRAZY

I’m perfectly aware that many people you know probably think you’re crazy for wanting to travel instead of settling into a typical 9-5 lifestyle.

It’s difficult for others to understand your goals.

Well, I certainly don’t think you’re crazy, nor do the thousands of other people out here in the world who are already living their own life of travel.

In fact, every traveler I know would agree that you’re only crazy if you decide NOT to go after your goals in life.

Luckily, the choice is yours to make, and if you’re already reading this, I believe you’ve already made the decision.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Is there any catch? No catch. I’ve worked hard to build this blog and there is no way I would jeopardize the community that’s been created by offering a product that didn’t offer exactly what it promised.

Does this material only apply to North Americans? Not at all. This guide applies to everyone, no matter what country you live in. Some information may be easier for certain nationalities to utilize but every person who reads this guide will benefit.

Am I too young or too old for this guide? There’s no such thing. Whether you’re in high school, university, your 20’s, 30’s, 40’s or any age whatsoever, as long as you have a strong desire to achieve your travel goals, this material is designed for you.

Is there a guarantee? After reading the guide, if you feel it’s not for you, just send me an email within 60 days and I’ll issue you an immediate refund. My goal is to help you travel. If I can’t do that, I honestly don’t want to keep your money.

What does a ‘life of travel’ actually mean? It simply refers to a lifestyle that involves as much travel as you wish. A few months of backpacking, a one year round-the-world trip, a decade of nomadic wandering…whatever you want, that’s what it means!

Can I contact you with questions? Absolutely! By purchasing this guide, you will have proven that you’re serious about travel and as a result, I’m serious about helping you in any way possible. In fact, once you have a read of the material, I encourage you to email me with any questions you may have.

IF I CAN DO IT…

I started traveling back in 1999, shortly after graduating from university. My plan was to backpack around Southeast Asia for three months and then return to the US to become a Sports Agent. However, just one week into that trip, while celebrating the Millennium at the amazing Angkor Wat temple in the jungles of Cambodia (go there if you haven’t already been!), I realized that three months of travel simply wasn’t enough.

The only problem was that I had less than $1500 to my name.

Fast forward to today… Over the past 15 years, I have discovered, and taken advantage of, endless opportunities that have allowed me to continuously live, travel, study, volunteer and earn money in over 85 countries around the world. And I’m still going strong, with no desire to stop any time soon.

The point is, if I can make it happen with $1500 and no idea what I was doing, you can make it happen as well.

And with the knowledge and experience that I’m about to pass on to you in this guide…you’re going to have a much easier path ahead than I ever did!

If you are constantly day-dreaming about travel and wondering how you can possibly achieve all of your travel goals during this lifetime, I just want to repeat that everything you’re dreaming about really can be achieved.

It will take some hard work and determination for sure, plenty of it, but at the end of the day, when you find yourself living or traveling or working overseas, enjoying rewarding experiences, you’ll be incredibly thankful that you decided to pursue a life of travel.

And I honestly can’t wait to meet up with you in some foreign land where we can swap travel stories over a beer or coffee or tea!

Remember, you don’t have to take my word for it. You can try out the guide risk-free and see for yourself if it gets you any closer to the life of travel that you want. (I’m quite confident it will!)

Kind regards, Derek

A Life of Travel Newsletter

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Travel advice, inspiration and updates from my life of non-stop travel... sent every other Tuesday.

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Benefits of Traveling: 21 Essential Skills and Life Lessons

Have you ever wondered about the benefits of traveling? Besides believing that travel is fun, are there essential skills and life lessons to be learned? How about life skills for teens? Life skills for adults?

My husband grew up traveling. His dad flew airplanes for a living and Chris loved to fly “jumpseat” across the country while his dad worked. Travel was a thing they did together and he learned many essential skills and life skills for teens that have translated to success in his adult life.

I flew for the first time in my 20s and was a travel “newbie” when Chris met me.

Table of Contents

Traveling is Fun

As an affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This page may contain affiliate links. I would love your support through clicking on the links. Read the full disclosure here.

Learn more about how I transformed from a Travel Newbie to an Adventure Pro .

Over the past 26 years of life and experiences of traveling together—as a couple and with our girls— the importance of traveling became clear as we explored the world.

We LOVE travel—from the Philippines to Thailand, Australia to Austria, London to Florence—our wanderlust continues to grow. One trip inspires another!

We have traveled with our young adult girls as well as when they were teens, young kids and babies. The day we didn’t have to travel with car seats anymore? HEAVEN!

These adventures helped our girls develop life skills for teens that propelled them onto successful adulting moments as twentysomethings!

Chris and I know that we both love to travel together. That isn’t going to change. We are now looking forward to the spontaneity of being empty nesters . Forbes weighs in on the best bucket list for empty nesters if you haven’t already started your list.

Yet, through all of the adventures, mishaps, lost iPads , first experiences (such as paragliding of Mount Pilatus in Switzerland ), I have taken note of all the amazing lessons and essential skills learned from travel. And now it is time to pass them on to you!

21 Essential Skills You Learn from Fun Travel Moments

Beyond learning that traveling is fun, as you travel and experience the world, you learn essential skills for everyday living. Our daughters have learned important life skills for teens that help them in their twenties and essential skills that will stay with them forever.

1. Life IS Good

When you set out to explore the world, you quickly realize that the world is full of goodness. People are good. Places are good. Life is good.

For years as I have traveled, I have noticed the Life is Good® brand on t-shirts, hats, jewelry, blankets and so much more. I thought, “What a clever way to bring optimism to the world.”

Life is good all over the world . If you want to focus on the positive benefits of traveling, focus on that!

2. A Smile Can Make All the Difference

I like to smile at people when I travel. It does not seem to be the norm in Europe for people to smile in public…especially at strangers. I usually get one of three responses:

• People walk past me without even batting an eyelash…or smiling
• People do a double-take, start a hint of a smile, then realize they don’t know me, and go back to not smiling
• They actually smile back! (Rare, but it does happen occasionally)

In Malta , I was totally surprised and found many of the people to be friendly in returning my smiles. And a first for any European country—a lady actually said “hi” to me first!

Going back to #1 where I mention that people are good, I find that smiling often breaks down a barrier and invites communication .

While visiting Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island, BC in 2017, I smiled at a gentleman as he walked by. He stopped and asked in broken English, “Where you go?” I mentioned that I was just waiting for my daughters. He tried again, “Where you from?” I smiled and responded, “Colorado.”   He replied while proudly pointing at himself, “Tokyo, Japan”. We both nodded and smiled and he continued on. It was a brief interaction, but made possible with a smile.

3. You Learn to Be a Planner

For Chris and I, planning a family vacation or even just a getaway for the two of us, always takes time and research. In order to enjoy a fun travel experience, a little planning goes a long way.

We have friends who like to “wing it” when it comes to finding hotels, activities, and transportation as they go.

Our friends have fantastic vacations and always seem to find places to sleep and things to do. If you are comfortable traveling “on the fly,” awesome.

If you would appreciate a glimpse into our planning methods, I highly recommend my eBook: SUPER EASY Travel Planning

This eBook is full of the lessons learned from travel where I teach you essential skills for planning:

• Decided where and when
• Schedule flights
• Book a place to stay
• Plan places to see

I also created the Ultimate Travel Planner as a planning journal/notebook.

It is available on Amazon .

The Ultimate Travel Planner is perfect for recording ALL of the details of your trip.

It is just in our nature for Chris and I to be planners; we love travel and it gives us peace of mind to know where we will lay our heads each evening as we travel.

4. Be Spontaneous Sometimes

One of the lessons learned from travel (especially if you are a planner like me) is to sometimes forget about the plan .

What? I just finished telling you that making plans is a good thing!

Spontaneity is one of the awesome benefits of traveling.

Leave room in your day for a quick stop at an unplanned destination, for a chance to explore an amazing neighborhood, or especially for down time if you are traveling with kids! Some of our most memorable moments come from simply wandering around a new city.

One of the important benefits of traveling for ME is to be spontaneous and not plan every moment of every day. That comes easier to some than others.

Spontaneity is one of the essential life skills for teens where they can learn to balance their priorities!

5. Set Goals and Dream Big Dreams

You’ve probably heard people talk about creating a “bucket list” , whether it is for dream destinations they want to explore before they are 50, life aspirations, even books they want to read.

Make a list of your favorite destinations and then dig in to set destination-specific goals and consider your “bucket list ” places to visit within a city: museums to see, foods to try, iconic landmarks to tour, and Instagrammable picture-taking spots.

I have a post-it® note next to my desk that simply states:

An unwritten goal is merely a wish. ~Unknown

If your lists are just living in your head, write them down. Start a “bucket list” journal specific to your biggest dreams and goals—travel and others. (I am a big believer in journaling your life! )

Having a specific bucket list for travel is the perfect place to start if you want to instill the important of traveling in your kids. Now, you need to look for ways to make it happen.

Be inspired with these 70 reasons why traveling is good for you .

I mentioned creating a vacation fund. That is one of my top tips for creating fun travel moments.

Here are a few posts that can you give you more inspiration:

• How to Travel Like a Pro: 15 Essential Travel Tips from Frequent Flyers
• 10 SUPER EASY Money Saving Hacks for Travel
• 40 Travel Essentials For Women and Men: Genius Gear and Gadgets
• 20 Super Travel Resolutions You Can Make

6. Travel is an Investment in YOU

How many of you have ever thought, “I will travel…”

• When I have more time
• When I have more money
• When I retire
• When the kids are grown

Nothing is guaranteed: your health, your wealth, your obligations later in life. Don’t wait for someday; discover the importance of traveling now while you are able to enjoy it.

If you love travel like we love travel, then you’ll quickly learn that travel changes YOU. You come home with a different perspective on the world. You meet new people. You learn gratitude for your life. You reach beyond what you thought was possible.

Try new things—live outside of your comfort zone!

Don’t let your doubts talk you out of the fun travel moments to be had.

7. Travel is the Best Education for Kids

Hand in hand with “Travel is an investment in you” is the idea that travel is the best education you can give to your children.

The memories they develop, the experiences they have, the ability for them to maneuver through an airport…these are all educational experiences and life skills for teens that are priceless.

If traveling with your kids seems like a huge hurdle, begin by researching how other people have accomplished it. Follow simplyjolayne travels and other travel blogs written specifically by families who travel with their children.

Chris and I took our girls to the Philippines on their first international trip. We even hiked into a dormant volcano ! The planning alone was monumental.

At that time, our oldest was 13 and our youngest was 7. We had been traveling with them since they were infants within the United States, so they were used to travel. All steps that prepared them for the long haul of flying to the Philippines and experiencing long airport layovers .

Your fun travel moments will inspire memories, courage, and life skills for teens that will last forever. I promise.

8. Photography Captures Breathtaking Moments

Photography has become a passion and hobby for me over the years. As I travel, I can often be found with my  Canon 6d Mark II  around my neck and my iPhone in my hand. I don’t want to miss a single picturesque moment.

Photography, and improving your skills , is one of the benefits of traveling that translates to other parts of your life. Look for the beauty around you, capture memories with your family, find beauty in the small and simple things (as well as the magnificent), and record milestones.

9. Appreciate Experiences Over Things

Are you of the mindset that you don’t need more things to clutter up your life or your home? Me too.

Travel experiences build memories that will last a lifetime, surely more than electronics or clothes or  gadgets wrapped  under a Christmas tree.

When you go on travel adventures with your family you get to spend time together right? Time spent together is valuable and sometimes hard to achieve. As a parent, husband, wife, sibling, or child, you might have come to appreciate the concept of  PRESENCE versus PRESENTS .

How about surprising your family with travel adventures ?

In a world where you and I are constantly inundated with things, the challenge is to plan for experiences instead of more stuff. Explore the world, plan vacations, be adventurous…you don’t even have to go far to discover the benefits of traveling.

10. Meet Great People All Over the World for a New Perspective

Do you ever chat with others as you travel and suddenly gain a whole new perspective?

While visiting Venice a number of years ago, I started chatting with a young man named Eduardo while taking the bus from our hotel to Venice. Eduardo had come from Venice to the hardware store by our hotel to have wood cut for canvases. He was an artist. He currently lived with his parents, was studying to be a teacher (three more years), studied art in London for a year, and had a studio in Venice. He asked about our “flat” in the United States and then innocently asked, “How did you hear about Venice?” Chris and I looked at each other incredulously, both at a loss for words. I think I fumbled something like, “Well, it’s Venice. It is pretty famous throughout the world,” but that didn’t really do his question justice.  What I really wanted to say was, “Dude! You live in the most amazing city. It is ridiculously well known!” We reached our bus stop and said goodbye; however, I continued to ponder on his question.  I’m not sure Eduardo recognized the significance of where he lived. To him, it was just home.

The importance of traveling emphasize the benefits of reaching out to others.

When you meet people from different cultures, countries, and backgrounds, you share in their unique experiences and gain a broader view of the world.

11. Appreciate Beauty

One of the things I appreciate about my husband is that when we travel, and he hears my quick intake of breath, he knows that I have spied something that I just need to stop and photograph.

Chris is happy to stop and let me take pictures. In fact, he sometimes plans destinations and day trips for me simply because he read somewhere that tourists love the beauty of an area.

“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.” – Confucius

As you travel, you will surely encounter beauty, magnificence, symmetry, and old town charm that speaks to you. It is one of the benefits of traveling that reinforces why Instagram is so popular.

And what may be beautiful or unique or photo worthy to you, might just be something another person simply glances at and continues on.

12. Appreciate Coming Home

While I love the anticipation of travel, the journeying, and the exploration, I also love coming home. After days of fun travel moments and memories, what are some of the best things about coming home?

• Being home means sleeping in your own bed. That in itself is a luxury.
• No more living out of a suitcase!
• Clean clothes and variety in what you can choose to wear
• Knowing that a hot shower is available
• Food in the pantry (though you might feel some withdrawal in having to make your own meals again and feed you people everyday if you have a family)
• Seeing your family and friends
• Personal space
• Knowing your way around
• Sleeping in
• Not having to pay to pee
• A clean bathroom with nice toilet paper
• Drinking water from the tap
• Enjoying the memories of travel and reminiscing over pictures
• Anticipating your next trip

Coming back home recharges your travel batteries. If you have been bitten by the travel bug, you may not be home for long.

13. You Learn to NOT Be an Obnoxious Tourist

You may not realize when you travel that you are often the one interaction a person from another country uses to form an opinion of your entire country.

Locals respond positively when you try to speak their language. Many Europeans, for example, speak English and are willing to converse with you, but be willing to learn a few basic words and phrases in their language as well: hello, please, thank you, goodbye, and where is the bathroom?

Before you even set out for your next adventure, it is wise to learn about the new culture of your chosen destination.

While you’re at it, take time to research a few of the local customs. Consider the etiquette on tipping, hand gestures to avoid, driving rules, and clothing to help you fit in and wear as a sign of respect. (For example, many churches will refuse you entrance if you are wearing shorts and tank tops. Have a cover up or skirt to pull on.)

These are essential skills–life skills for teens and adults alike.

It is okay to look like a tourist; don’t be an obnoxious one.

14. Try New Foods

I’ll be honest. I am not very good at this.

My husband, who travels for work, is much more adventurous at trying new things. Foods such as larvae, crickets and guacamole, ant eggs, and cow tongue tacos. That is not my thing.

There are some foods that I am totally open to trying though: beignets, crepes, white asparagus soup, gnocchi, tarte flambee…mmmm.

15. Learn Essential Skills on HOW to Travel

There is definitely a skill in knowing how to travel and building on the lessons learned from travel each time you arrive home from a trip. In order to become a confident traveler , there are a few skills to learn:

• Enroll in travel reward programs
• Minimize your travel time spent at the airport
• Keep a stocked Dopp kit or toiletry bag ready to go for the next trip
• Invest in quality, light-weight luggage
• Pack like a pro (don’t overpack)
• Consider whether or not you will need to do laundry
• Use the airport lounge when available
• Be sure to carry the necessary adapters, cables and chargers
• Practice self care
• Invest in a good backpack or travel bag
• Always have a current passport
• Travel with a portable charger
• Invest in a quality cell phone
• Pack snacks and a water bottle

There are more tips to learning HOW to travel, but learning these tips will point you in the right direction.

16. Prioritize Your Health

I am a huge proponent of being healthy. Healthy to handle the challenge of everyday life at home and healthy to enjoy the blessings and benefits of traveling for many years to come.

There is so much of travel that involves movement: walking, hiking, climbing stairs, lifting, and endurance (and the occasional running to catch a train).

The lessons learned from travel for me emphasize taking care of my health while traveling, but more importantly, in my everyday life.

You know your body best. If you need to get in shape for travel, do it!

5 Top Tips for Staying Healthy

• Get enough sleep
• Drink lots of water
• Eat healthy foods
• Use hand sanitizer

>> Related : Top 10 Tips to Stay Healthy as You Travel

17. Show Gratitude

“If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.” ~ Meister Eckhart

Master the art of being thankful and showing gratitude.

I say, master it, because you often have to create the habit of looking on the bright side . For some, it is human nature to focus on the doom and gloom of current circumstances.

You may benefit from keeping a gratitude journal. That is one way for you to create your habit. Begin by writing down one thing every day that you are grateful for.

Be grateful for travel: for new experiences, for meeting new people, for taking more pictures, for sharing adventures with your family , for your circumstances, for coming home.

And learn to write thank you notes!!! This is one of my essential life skills for teens!

18. Learn to Roll With the Punches

There are times when you travel that things just don’t go your way. You may experience some not so fun travel moments with lost electronic devices, missed connections, or bad weather. One of the big lessons learned from travel is to roll with punches.

In 2019, we were traveling with our girls in Switzerland and had a flight scheduled from the Geneva International airport to Vienna, Austria .

When we arrived at the airport, we were dismayed to find that our reservations had been canceled. Chris set about rebooking our flight and fortunately there were available seats for the five of us, but being flexible while on vacation is key.

19. Pay Attention to Intuition and Use Common Sense

This is wise advice whether you are traveling solo, as a couple, or with a group. 

If it doesn’t feel right, don’t do it or simply leave !

Use common sense as you travel. Here are a few tips and lessons learned from travel that can benefit YOU:

• When it is dark outside, be extra cautious – If you aren’t comfortable being out alone in the evening, book a room with a balcony so you can still enjoy the nightlife.
• Try to blend in and dress modestly
• If traveling solo, don’t announce that you’re alone
• Leave your valuables at home – Don’t flash expensive jewelry, electronics, purses, or clothing. Again, try to blend in.
• Be confident
• Create travel habits – When Chris travels for business and veers from his travel habits, maybe due to exhaustion or a busy schedule, then he makes mistakes. Like forgetting his iPad in the seat back pocket of the airplane. Create and follow habits so you remember to gather all of your belongings.
• Do your research – When you fly to a destination, know how much it should cost to take a taxi from the airport to your hotel. Determine the best place to rent a car, the safest plazas, and the most reputable tour companies. Plan ahead to know which train or subway to take, which stops to get off, or how far it is to walk to get to your hotel.
• Keep in touch with family and friends and let them know your itinerary
• Register with STEP – It is important to register with the State Department (for US Citizens) when traveling overseas to receive important information about safety conditions. It will be helpful if they ever need to contact you in an emergency.
• Carry ID in more than one place – Keep a copy of your passport in your luggage, even travel with extra passport photos in case you ever have to replace yours. Make sure you have secure electronic copies of all of your documents .

20. Invest in Good Walking Shoes

If you plan to purchase new shoes for your vacation, be sure to spend some time breaking them in before you leave home .

Even with the most comfortable shoes that you own, you might also want to bring along band-aids or moleskin. Our family often walks over 10 miles a day when sightseeing. That’s a lot of wear and tear on shoes and feet.

Take care of your feet.

21. Technology

Technology will often be your lifeline as you travel.

Be sure to charge all of your devices and portable chargers the night before you leave for your trip. And every night while traveling.

I highly recommend that you also password protect all of your devices.

If you are using your phone throughout the day for taking photos, getting directions, checking maps, figuring out transportation, or using the internet, don’t forget to pack a portable charger (or two) so you can recharge your phone when needed. Charge them each night.

If you are using your phone for all of those activities, you may use up your battery before the end of the day. Your phone is your lifeline. If you are still in the camp that doesn’t own a smart phone, now is the time to invest in one and learn how to use it. As already noted, they are invaluable when you travel. 

But First, Just How DO You Make Travel Affordable?

When our youngest was three, Chris changed to a sales position at work and became a “ road warrior “ . He traveled every week whether it was close to home, across the country, or around the world.

What are the lessons learned and benefits of traveling as the wife of a frequent business traveler?

Sign up for all of the travel reward options and be faithful in sticking with them to accrue the most points!

Due to Chris’ Hilton Honors points, Marriott Bonvoy points, United MileagePlus , and rental car rewards, we often travel the world without adding in the expense of airline tickets, hotel charges, or rental cars.

The benefits of traveling and having reward points have been HUGE.

You can also sign up for travel reward credit cards. The Points Guy does a really great job of breaking down all of the options for you.

Additionally, there are lessons learned from travel for saving money : start saving long before you board an airplane. It is one of the essential skills you’ll thank me for later.

My #1 tip for saving money? Start a vacation fund NOW.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it traveling or travelling.

Both versions are correct based upon where you live. If you live in the UK, you will likely spell “travelling” with two l’s. In US English, “traveling” (with one “l”) is correct.

Is traveling a hobby?

100%! The dictionary defines a hobby as “an activity someone does for pleasure when they are not working’. So if fun travel adventures are important to you, you can absolutely consider your travel as a hobby.

I want to travel the world. Where do I start?

Invest in good equipment Consider travel insurance Sign up for travel reward programs Set up a travel savings fund Travel with someone who has more experience

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Finals Thoughts on the Benefits of Traveling

Travel is one of life’s greatest teachers. If you are interested in improving life skills for teens in your life, take them on adventures. If your life skills for adults are lacking, go on adventures.

The world is waiting for you to explore new cultures, people, treasures, foods, and experiences. As you set out on new adventures, you will begin to see the importance of traveling: you will step out of your comfort zones and learn about this great big world.

Just because you may have graduated from school that doesn’t mean that your educational experiences end there. The benefits of traveling help you to keep on discovering, build a sense of wonder, appreciate new cultures… you never stop learning.

Obviously, these aren’t ALL the lessons you could learn.

You may also enjoy these posts…

• Essential Travel Gear and Gift Ideas for Adventure Seekers
• Using the GuideAlong App: Audio Tours for Awesome Road Trips
• Tips to Take Better Travel Photos (And Look Good in Them Too)
• 10 SUPER EASY Money Saving Hacks for Travel
• My Favorite Crossbody Bag for Travel

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I’m a Colorado-based travel blogger with a passion for exploring the world, enjoying family time, and taking fantastic photographs. I am also a book writing, creative thinking, detail loving, frequent flying, comfort loving mom of three girls and wife to an amazing guy.

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29 comments.

This was a great read! Love all the lessons learned while traveling with your family! Very useful tips to keep in mind. I need to start journaling!

Journaling has been a lifesaver for me.

Some great examples of lessons learned from travelling. I agree that a smile is a universal communicator. And that if you make the effort to try and communicate, people will appreciate that! Don’t just talk louder in English. Don’t be one of this obnoxious tourists. It has certainly reinforced our planning skills. But being organized lets us feel confident to just wing it some days. 

Exactly. And sometimes you just realize you have been on the go for lots of days and it is nice to have a down day.

These are such great tips. While I don’t travel solo, I especially agree with not announcing that you are alone. Of course, a great pair of walking shoes is also important (like you said)!

I have flown solo to meet up with my husband but I am always happy to explore with him.

Super guide and amazing tips. Definitely a post people need to read before travelling!

Feel free to share it with friends and family.

Really enjoyed this blog and so many of your comments really resonated with me. Travel has taught me so much about myself and even helped me overcome depression and a traumatic childhood. It really is fantastic!

Thank you so much.

I really enjoyed reading this! We are big fans of using points for hotels and flights when we can. It also makes spending less painful when you know it will help pay for a trip 🙂

Definitely agree with the part about investing in good shoes – it really makes a difference! Also I love coming home and sleeping in my own bed! Travel is great, but home is great too.

What a great list!! Agree with and relate to many of the lessons you learned. My favourite one is the smile 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing!

A smile seems to be what we all resonate with.

A lovely read for those who love to travel! I agree, our traveling memories are more precious than material items we can buy!

Exactly, most of us don’t need more stuff.

These are all great tips. Sometimes the simplest things like a smile and a bit of gratitude can go far when you meet new people while traveling. Thanks for reminding us!

Agreed. Even if it is to boost your mood.

All life lessons we need to learn.

So many great tips! We really dont think about how much travelling actually influences us, other than giving us some content for social media. There is so much to see and learn!

These are such amazing lessons! Travel really does change us and makes us better people. As someone who is a planner, travel has really taught me although it’s great to be organized and plan ahead, it’s also just as rewarding to be spontaneous and go with the flow! Thanks for sharing this post. It was such a great way to reflect on my own journey with travel!

I enjoyed reading your insight here. I really jived with the section on rolling with the punches. So much of travel is accepting that places/experiences are never going to be exactly what you envisioned, but that’s part of the beauty because sometimes they are even better!

Such great insight! I love the part about smiling. The masks have really taken that away. Thank you so much for sharing your inspiration.

A good read! Travel really does remind you that life is good & using points to travel is a great idea. I’ll have to do that more often….

Sure has made a difference for our family

It’s kinda wholesome that Eduardo doesn’t know his city is famous, despite the millions of tourists descending upon it all the time. I wonder if he thinks that’s normal for all cities? lol

As for #13, I’ve actually been in the position of being the very first person of my country to ever reach a place. Diplomatic travel skills is certainly a thing to cultivate if you wish to travel to remote or unusual places.

Agreed. Eduardo was very genuine with his question.

Everything about this rings so true with me. Before we discovered miles and points, we were limited in what we could do. Travel has changed our lives.

There’s always an important lesson to be learned while travelling. Thanks for sharing your experiences with us!

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• THE BIG IDEA

Why travel should be considered an essential human activity

Travel is not rational, but it’s in our genes. Here’s why you should start planning a trip now.

In 1961, legendary National Geographic photographer Volkmar Wentzel captured two women gazing at the surf off Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia. This and all the other images in this story come from the National Geographic image collection.

I’ve been putting my passport to good use lately. I use it as a coaster and to level wobbly table legs. It makes an excellent cat toy.

Welcome to the pandemic of disappointments. Canceled trips, or ones never planned lest they be canceled. Family reunions, study-abroad years, lazy beach vacations. Poof. Gone. Obliterated by a tiny virus, and the long list of countries where United States passports are not welcome.

Only a third of Americans say they have traveled overnight for leisure since March, and only slightly more, 38 percent, say they are likely to do so by the end of the year, according to one report. Only a quarter of us plan on leaving home for Thanksgiving, typically the busiest travel time. The numbers paint a grim picture of our stilled lives.

It is not natural for us to be this sedentary. Travel is in our genes. For most of the time our species has existed, “we’ve lived as nomadic hunter-gatherers moving about in small bands of 150 or fewer people,” writes Christopher Ryan in Civilized to Death . This nomadic life was no accident. It was useful. “Moving to a neighboring band is always an option to avoid brewing conflict or just for a change in social scenery,” says Ryan. Robert Louis Stevenson put it more succinctly: “The great affair is to move.”

What if we can’t move, though? What if we’re unable to hunt or gather? What’s a traveler to do? There are many ways to answer that question. “Despair,” though, is not one of them.

In this aerial view from 1967, wall-to-wall seaside sunbathers relax under umbrellas or on beach towels in Ocean City, Maryland .

A 1967 fall festival in Guadalajara, Mexico , starred traditionally costumed musicians and dancers.

We are an adaptive species. We can tolerate brief periods of forced sedentariness. A dash of self-delusion helps. We’re not grounded, we tell ourselves. We’re merely between trips, like the unemployed salesman in between opportunities. We pass the days thumbing though old travel journals and Instagram feeds. We gaze at souvenirs. All this helps. For a while.

We put on brave faces. “Staycation Nation,” the cover of the current issue of Canadian Traveller magazine declares cheerfully, as if it were a choice, not a consolation.

Today, the U.S. Travel Association, the industry trade organization, is launching a national recovery campaign called “ Let’s Go There .” Backed by a coalition of businesses related to tourism—hotels, convention and visitor bureaus, airlines—the initiative’s goal is to encourage Americans to turn idle wanderlust into actual itineraries.

The travel industry is hurting. So are travelers. “I dwelled so much on my disappointment that it almost physically hurt,” Paris -based journalist Joelle Diderich told me recently, after canceling five trips last spring.

(Related: How hard has the coronavirus hit the travel industry? These charts tell us.)

My friend James Hopkins is a Buddhist living in Kathmandu . You’d think he’d thrive during the lockdown, a sort-of mandatory meditation retreat. For a while he did.

But during a recent Skype call, James looked haggard and dejected. He was growing restless, he confessed, and longed “for the old 10-countries-a-year schedule.” Nothing seemed to help, he told me. “No matter how many candles I lit, or how much incense I burned, and in spite of living in one of the most sacred places in South Asia, I just couldn’t change my habits.”

When we ended our call, I felt relieved, my grumpiness validated. It’s not me; it’s the pandemic. But I also worried. If a Buddhist in Kathmandu is going nuts, what hope do the rest of us stilled souls have?

I think hope lies in the very nature of travel. Travel entails wishful thinking. It demands a leap of faith, and of imagination, to board a plane for some faraway land, hoping, wishing, for a taste of the ineffable. Travel is one of the few activities we engage in not knowing the outcome and reveling in that uncertainty. Nothing is more forgettable than the trip that goes exactly as planned.

Related: Vintage photos of the glamour of travel

Travel is not a rational activity. It makes no sense to squeeze yourself into an alleged seat only to be hurled at frightening speed to a distant place where you don’t speak the language or know the customs. All at great expense. If we stopped to do the cost-benefit analysis, we’d never go anywhere. Yet we do.

That’s one reason why I’m bullish on travel’s future. In fact, I’d argue travel is an essential industry, an essential activity. It’s not essential the way hospitals and grocery stores are essential. Travel is essential the way books and hugs are essential. Food for the soul. Right now, we’re between courses, savoring where we’ve been, anticipating where we’ll go. Maybe it’s Zanzibar and maybe it’s the campground down the road that you’ve always wanted to visit.

(Related: Going camping this fall? Here’s how to get started.)

James Oglethorpe, a seasoned traveler, is happy to sit still for a while, and gaze at “the slow change of light and clouds on the Blue Ridge Mountains” in Virginia, where he lives. “My mind can take me the rest of the way around this world and beyond it.”

It’s not the place that is special but what we bring to it and, crucially, how we interact with it. Travel is not about the destination, or the journey. It is about stumbling across “a new way of looking at things,” as writer Henry Miller observed. We need not travel far to gain a fresh perspective.

No one knew this better than Henry David Thoreau , who lived nearly all of his too-short life in Concord, Massachusetts. There he observed Walden Pond from every conceivable vantage point: from a hilltop, on its shores, underwater. Sometimes he’d even bend over and peer through his legs, marveling at the inverted world. “From the right point of view, every storm and every drop in it is a rainbow,” he wrote.

Thoreau never tired of gazing at his beloved pond, nor have we outgrown the quiet beauty of our frumpy, analog world. If anything, the pandemic has rekindled our affection for it. We’ve seen what an atomized, digital existence looks like, and we (most of us anyway) don’t care for it. The bleachers at Chicago ’s Wrigley Field; the orchestra section at New York City ’s Lincoln Center; the alleyways of Tokyo . We miss these places. We are creatures of place, and always will be.

After the attacks of September 11, many predicted the end of air travel, or at least a dramatic reduction. Yet the airlines rebounded steadily and by 2017 flew a record four billion passengers. Briefly deprived of the miracle of flight, we appreciated it more and today tolerate the inconvenience of body scans and pat-downs for the privilege of transporting our flesh-and-bone selves to far-flung locations, where we break bread with other incarnate beings.

Landscape architects work in their Rio de Janeiro, Brazil , studio in 1955.

A tourist photographs a towering century plant in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, in 1956.

In our rush to return to the world, we should be mindful of the impact of mass tourism on the planet. Now is the time to embrace the fundamental values of sustainable tourism and let them guide your future journeys. Go off the beaten path. Linger longer in destinations. Travel in the off-season. Connect with communities and spend your money in ways that support locals. Consider purchasing carbon offsets. And remember that the whole point of getting out there is to embrace the differences that make the world so colorful.

“One of the great benefits of travel is meeting new people and coming into contact with different points of view,” says Pauline Frommer, travel expert and radio host.

So go ahead and plan that trip. It’s good for you, scientists say . Plotting a trip is nearly as enjoyable as actually taking one. Merely thinking about a pleasurable experience is itself pleasurable. Anticipation is its own reward.

I’ve witnessed first-hand the frisson of anticipatory travel. My wife, not usually a fan of travel photography, now spends hours on Instagram, gazing longingly at photos of Alpine lodges and Balinese rice fields. “What’s going on?” I asked one day. “They’re just absolutely captivating,” she replied. “They make me remember that there is a big, beautiful world out there.”

Many of us, myself included, have taken travel for granted. We grew lazy and entitled, and that is never good. Tom Swick, a friend and travel writer, tells me he used to view travel as a given. Now, he says, “I look forward to experiencing it as a gift.”

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How To Live A Life Of Travel and Have A Traveling Lifestyle

W e have all seen them. The travel influencers and social media stars who have a traveling lifestyle. For many, the idea of having a life of constant travel feels like a pipe dream, but we’re here to tell you that you can make traveling your life, too!

You don’t need a million followers on Instagram, nor do you need to sell your home. There are many ways to live a life of travel without making huge life changes or putting in hours of work.

If you’re wondering how to live a life of travel and not sure where to start, in this guide we’ve shared some tips and tricks for adopting a nomadic lifestyle and becoming full-time travelers.

Pros of a Traveling Lifestyle

Cons of a traveling lifestyle, why we adopted a travel lifestyle, 1. make it a working holiday, 2. travel long-term in affordable places, 3. make smart spending decisions, 4. save well, 5. create a lifestyle around travel at home, 6. make travel your focus, 7. have a strong enough why, final thoughts, pin to save on pinterest, is a travel lifestyle for me.

Before we go into how to adopt a travel lifestyle, we do want to quickly touch on whether it’s a lifestyle you really want.

Whenever we tell people we travel for a living, we’re always met with “you’re living the dream! I wish I could do that! You’re so lucky” and don’t get me wrong, we are lucky. But most of that luck we created.

There are some things that you don’t see through the screen about a traveling nomad lifestyle. It takes dedication, commitment, an unwavering desire, and plenty of sacrifices.

First, the positives of a traveling lifestyle. Of course, you get to explore so many countries, which is the number one reason for adopting this lifestyle.

You get to experience different cultures , meet new people , get out of your comfort zone and live life to your leisure.

You can find a slower pace of life while traveling , since you don’t have to rush to beat the commuter traffic to your day job.

You get to live life on your own terms and set a time limit for how long you stay in each place.

The most important thing though, is that it teaches you a lot about yourself. By engaging with the local culture and seeing how other people live, you can reflect on your own life, your contributions to the world, and realign your values.

It allows you to look at your past selves and see how far you’ve grown. Travel can be liberating and freeing, but you don’t need to make it your lifestyle to discover this.

Relevant Reading 55 lessons learned from a life of travel and 10 ways travel helps you to uncover who you truly are

Packing up your things and hitting the road requires some sacrifice, namely your relationships .

This is not always the case, but most digital nomads will tell you that your friends and family may want to deter your plans and encourage you to come back, or harbour some resentment towards you for “living the dream” while they will continue their daily routine back home.

It does become much harder to maintain relationships when you can only communicate digitally, especially with different time zones.

That being said, there is always that family member or friend who supports you 100% and encourages you on your world trip – and who knows, you may find your relationship is stronger with distance.

It’s also a lifestyle that requires some discipline . You will want to go from one adventure to the next adventure, without thinking “oh, I need to earn some money for this.”

Most people who adopt a traveling lifestyle will be remote workers, which means you need to set aside adventure time and work time.

It can also be tiring . While a travel lifestyle is fun, it doesn’t offer stability , and after a few years on the road you may start to miss having a home base and not want to travel for the rest of our lives.

It’s an unconventional life, but we love it. Make sure you know the sacrifices you’ll have to make to create this travel lifestyle . Otherwise, you might quit on your dreams and travel goals.

I left home at the age of 21, with my 3-day old teaching degree, a backpack, and only a few thousand dollars.

If I can be honest with you, that money wasn’t even mine, it came from the bank (I don’t recommend you do this by the way).

I’ve been traveling ever since, purely because I love it. Traveling is my passion, and I always knew I wanted to travel for the rest of my life.

I created a life of travel for myself so I can do this. And now I’ve created a life of travel with, and for, my children.

This does not mean I have endlessly been moving from one country to the next . I often stop for work breathers, a place to stock up again before moving on. We love slow travel and immersing ourselves deeply in other cultures.

The pauses can be acts of discovery, exploration and fun synonymous with travel as well. We’ve lived in 5 countries but have traveled through over 50.

I’m not a big counter, I count the memories, the experiences and the friendships more, because that is why you really travel.

How to Live a Life of Travel

I am often asked how to live a life of travel, and you’ll be shocked to know that I am not wealthy – far from it.

A life of full time travel is not as difficult as you may think. There are many clever strategies you can employ to travel around the world for low cost and sometimes even free.

We have created a lifestyle of travel. It’s what we do everyday, even when we are not travelling. When we are ‘settled” (not sure how to define that) we still have our travel attitude on, which is a major part of what travel is.

But to get to the nitty gritty, here are our biggest secrets to help you live a life of travel.

What? You mean I have to work? Ain’t nothing going to come to you unless you work hard for it. Glinda the Good Witch is a fantasy.

If I have disappointed you, I’m sorry, you are probably reading the wrong post and were hoping I was going to say we were rich travel bloggers, because then you’d have a good excuse to not follow your heart.

But I won’t lie to you, travel has become increasingly expensive and your hard earned cash doesn’t go as far as it used to. Which is why a digital nomad lifestyle is so popular.

If you’ve not heard the term digital nomad before, it’s simply a term used to describe someone who travels and works full time.

Since the pandemic, many companies have adopted a remote work environment to save on office costs, so you can always start by asking your current employer first if you can work from abroad.

Don’t just quit your job, talk to your employer and tell them what you want to do.

If they say “no”, then you can either look for a remote job such as becoming a freelance writer, an online English teacher, or data analyst – or try looking for work in other countries to fund your travels.

The best way to earn money on the road is to work in expensive countries, such as Hong Kong, Canada, New York, or The Middle East.

It’s better to spend the local currency and save your own money for other adventures. I never could have travelled the UK and Europe on the Aussie dollar, so I lived in an apartment in London with many other travelers and earned pounds to travel on instead.

Craig and I have followed the working holiday through 5 countries since 1997. Some of our richest travel memories come from the experiences we had living in another culture. It is by far the best strategy to have a life of travel.

We’ve had a wide variety of working holiday jobs overseas including teaching, teaching English as a Second Language , working on a pearl farm , hospitality and working for the airlines. There are so many jobs you can do!

Use platforms like WorkAway to find volunteer jobs where they provide free accommodation and meals in exchange for your service.

• Do you want to live and travel in Australia? Here is our complete guide to the Australian working holiday visa.
• Here is information on the working holiday visa in the UK
• Here are 20 ways you can work and travel in Australia – one of the most expensive places to travel in the world. A working holiday will help you make it a reality.
• Here’s another cool opportunity, How to teach English online to Chinese students , from anywhere in the world.
• One of the best ways to organize working holiday jobs – with Global Work and Travel
• Best work opportunities for Australia

Choose the countries that are cheap to travel to for the long-term. Our long-term trips have taken us through South East Asia and Africa – countries where the budget conscious could get by on $30-$50 a day or even less.

It’s much easier to afford than places in Europe or Australia . Plus, countries such as Thailand have remote worker communities, such as in Chiang Mai , so you can meet other travel nomads like you.

Traveling in cheaper countries means you can do more and travel for longer.

Read More : 20 best travel tips from 20 years of travel

It’s all about how you choose to spend your money in order to prolong your nomad life.

Is that luxury 5-star vacation rental really worth it? Especially if you are out exploring from sunrise to twinkling stars? Can you go the comfy 3-star hotel and have a little extra cash for the fun stuff?

Do you need to eat in a restaurant for three meals a day or can you cook your own breakfast and settle for a picnic lunch?

What about that city tour, couldn’t you do a self-guided one?

Prioritize how you spend money. Spend the bare minimum and always have a number in the back of your mind of what you’re willing to spend on things.

Work out what you are willing to sacrifice and what you aren’t, and craft your travel experiences around that.

Some travel experiences don’t have to cost you a penny, allowing you to make your monthly budget go further.

My advice is to make sure you leave with enough money to cover you for at least 3 months.

Read more: The better you get at spending, the more you will have a life of travel. Click to read our 52 ideas on ways to save money on travel.

Yep, not only do you have to become master budget spenders, but expert savers as well.

When adopting a travel lifestyle, there are two questions you must ask:

• How can I create more money?
• How can I save more money?

Just be careful that when you create more money, you don’t suddenly start spending more! Take the extra cash and put it in your travel fund.

Remember you also need to save for insurances, taxes, and maybe putting into a retirement plan if you’re self employed. You may also need to make a big purchase at a later date, such as if you need a new laptop or book a last minute flight back home.

To create more money, you can:

• sell your possessions
• take on boarders/lodgers
• rent out your property
• work extra hours
• work two or more jobs
• invest wisely

Look at your expenses and work out what you can cull and then work to save money in all areas.

To save more money you can:

• move in with your parents or house share
• cut out luxury items
• live off one wage (if you are a couple)
• save your bonuses
• buy in bulk
• eat out less
• reduce your entertainment costs
• use reward cards and frequent flyer programs
• use coupons
• pay off bad debt

Read more: How To Get Paid to Travel and Make Money Travel Blogging

Digital nomads and those creating their own travel lifestyles are becoming more common. If you want a life of travel, discover how you can make it happen before you hit the road.

If your current job won’t allow you to work remotely, and you have to leave to make it happen, don’t panic. There are other ways you can travel extensively without having a full time remote job.

You can travel in your own backyard. Putting the traveler’s eyes on was one way we coped with reverse culture shock and the inability to travel. We now have another site on life in Raleigh and travel in North Carolina that keeps us traveling all the time! Think about why you travel – what feelings are you looking for. Create that with experiences in your own backyard.

A creative way to be able to travel and live abroad is to try housesitting . This is when you look after someone else’s property while they travel.

You can do this locally in your own town, to get more experience before taking on international opportunities.

However, sometimes it can take years to find a way to make your travel lifestyle dream a reality.

When we first hit the road, all we had was a very clear dream of what our ideal travel lifestyle looked like , then we became 200% committed to it, and we took small steps each day with passion and conviction.

And look what the Universe delivered to us a result.

Read more: We had no idea how to create this travel lifestyle through our travel blog. We had no special talents and definitely no money (Read I want to know your secret to discover the truth).

Many people want a life of travel, but they don’t make it their focus.

You don’t always have to travel far and wide. There are plenty of ways you can make travel a focus of your everyday life.

I like to say make travel your magnificent obsession. That means it fills your daydreams and night dreams. Every decision you make from now on is directed towards making that life of travel a reality.

Once you start focusing on something, you start planning, and then usually the Universe helps you by bringing what you need to make it happen.

The small steps start to grow bigger and before you know it you are living the life of travel you thought was only possible for the lucky ones.

I knew from my first travel experience backpacking Indonesia and then living in London when I was 21 in 1997 that I was going to do whatever it took to craft a life around travel. I didn’t know how but I made it a non-negotiable, and travel has showed up in my life ever since – no matter my lifestyle, and even when everyone said it wasn’t possible once you had kids. I’ll show you!!

My keynote will offer some great insights into how you can create a life you love!

Read More: 15 tips for planning a trip – a step by step guide

Constant travel is tough, as I mentioned earlier. I often want to quit, but I never will because I have this huge why – a gigantic urge that only travel can fill.

I’m happy to ride on the back of a pick up, or sleep in a van, and eat two minute noodles for weeks, if it means I can continue to explore and experience newness every day.

There’s no other life that makes sense for me so I continue to leap over the hurdles.

For many people a life of travel would suck! Different strokes for different folks . You have to decide WHY you are traveling. What burning need are you trying to fulfill? How will this life of travel make a difference and why is this important to you?

Work that out all your paths will fall into place.

That life of travel you desire can be yours.

Most people place the idea of a life of travel in the too hard basket, or a basket that’s only accessible for the wealthy or lucky.

I mean, really, how could it be possible for someone with average, or less than average incomes, to travel the world for weeks, months or even years at a time?

Is it constant travel from one country to the next you yearn for? Or is it a slower form, with frequent pauses for a sampling of the “settled” life before travel calls you back on the road?

Or do you want to just have more travel, even if it is only an extra 2-3 weeks a year?

We hope this guide helped you learn a few tips to help you find your travel lifestyle and gave you some insight into what it is actually like. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us in the comments.

7 Personal Benefits of Travel

Forget milling around in your finest evening wear, Singapore Sling in hand: You'll be lucky to get peanuts. Flying isn't quite the party it was in Sinatra's days, and lots of time, energy, and money are expended to leave home, so why travel? How long do the  personal benefits of travel last?

Getting away from home and stepping outside of your usual routine is beneficial for both mind and body. The long-lasting personal benefits of visiting a foreign country far outweigh the costs and time to get there.

The great travel writer Pico Lyer said: "Travel is not really about leaving our homes, but leaving our habits." Here are seven ways that travel, especially  international travel, will enhance your life.

Travel Sharpens the Mind

You've done your old routine for so many years that you could run through it on autopilot. Being dropped into a new environment engages a dormant part of your mind and gets those synapses firing again.

Suddenly, you'll be required to navigate unfamiliar places, read foreign languages , try new things, make quick decisions, and choose your new eating and sleeping schedule.

Unlike at home, all the new sights, sounds, and places will require mental processing and filing. Your brain will welcome the workout! Once you return home, you'll be sharper than ever for better organizing and sprucing up your daily routine.

A Shift in Perspective

"Nobody comes back from a journey the way they started it." — Unknown

Being exposed to new cultures and people will greatly shift your paradigm and create a healthier perspective once you return back home. Seeing different social classes creates compassion and really makes you feel more blessed and content. Large portions of the world's population have to deal with daily threats such as hunger, disease , and landmines .

A hard day at work suddenly doesn't seem so bad when you see people in developing countries toiling in sun-scorched fields from morning to dark, or begging for a drink of water.

A Chance to Try New Things

"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." — Ralph Waldo Emerson

While you may branch out at home from time to time by trying new restaurants or splurging on expenditures, traveling kicks you out of the comfort zone and forces you, for better or worse, to try new things!

Even if you don't enjoy your first attempt at scuba diving , at least you'll be able to relate in a new way the next time you see it in a movie or hear someone talking about it.

Becoming a well-rounded individual enhances self-confidence and will help you find new material for conversation in social settings with a wider variety of people.

Who knows, you may accidentally discover your new favorite food or find out that you want to pursue a new career in karaoke!

Meet New People

"A journey is best measured in friends, not in miles." — Tim Cahill

You'll meet far more friendly people on the road than you will under ordinary circumstances at home.

Other travelers are always looking to share experiences, give tips on places to go, and meet people from all over. Striking up a conversation with other travelers is extraordinarily easy.

A polite "so where are you from?" breaks the ice quite easily and may lead to lasting friendships with people from all over the world.

See the Real Deal

"To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries." — Aldous Huxley

Until you visit a place and form your own opinions, your understanding only comes from what you were taught in school, read in books, or saw on media, which may or may not be a complete truth.

Don't over-research your upcoming destination in guidebooks. Do your best to avoid building a bias toward a place or installing mental filters before you visit. Wait to form your own opinion, remaining objective until you can make up your own mind.

Exercise and Sunshine

Sure, you could just go sweat in the gym under fluorescent lighting, but chances are that you'll be much more active from day to day while on the road, regardless of whether your trip is an adventurous one or simply a relaxing beach trip .

You could be exploring new cities on foot, hiking , swimming, walking between places, and hopefully soaking up some needed sunshine while doing so. And it's guaranteed to smell better than the gym.

Come Home Renewed

After stepping away from home for a while, you'll return with renewed energy, a new set of mental filters, and ready to take on the next big project or challenge. Call it a life reboot.

Getting away for some time, even though it requires effort, will greatly enhance your attitude and productivity once you return home. Sure, you may have some mail piled up and matters to attend, but those are simple challenges easily knocked out.

Breaking up the monotony for a while is a great way to reduce stress and give your life an injection of excitement. Don't be surprised if shortly after your return, you're already counting down days until the next trip!

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22 Benefits of Traveling

By: Author Zachary Friedman

Posted on Last updated: February 22, 2024

Categories Travel

Home » Travel » 22 Benefits of Traveling

Whether you’re taking a quick weekend getaway or a multi-month sabbatical around the world, travel offers a wide range of benefits. From making you happier to reducing stress to teaching you about the world, this guide outlines 25 benefits of traveling.

Over the past 12 years, I’ve traveled to over 60 countries on 6 continents. I feel that travel has greatly improved my life. In this guide, I’ll share some of the biggest benefits that I have noticed.

1. Travel Makes You Happier

According to a recent study in the Journal of Tourism Analysis, people who travel frequently report being 7% happier than those who rarely or never travel. Interestingly, you don’t have to travel far to benefit. Participants of the study reported greater levels of happiness when they traveled 75 miles or more from home.

Spending money on experiences provides longer-lasting happiness than spending money on material items. This may be because people experience more happiness from anticipating experiences rather than from waiting to obtain material possessions. You’ll be happier if you spend your money on a plane ticket to Thailand rather than a new iPhone.

There other ways travel can make you happier. For example, travel allows you to experience new and exciting things. Travel also allows you to get away from the daily grind of work and other responsibilities. In addition, travel gives you the opportunity to create memories with your friends or family. Alternatively, it can also give you some time for yourself away from your parents, kids, boss, or co-workers. All of this can improve your happiness.

Personally, I feel the most happy when I’m on the road. Most of my best memories were made while traveling.

2. Traveling Improves Your Communication Skills

If you’re traveling somewhere completely foreign, you might face a language barrier. In this case, you will have to learn how to communicate in nonverbal ways using hand gestures and body language. This can improve your overall communication skills.

Travel also forces you to speak with people who are different from you. You’ll talk to people from different religions, social classes, cultures, political affiliations, and ethnic backgrounds. This will help you learn how to communicate with people with different beliefs, values, and life philosophies. Being able to talk to anyone is a great skill to have.

Travel also teaches you about different communication styles and how to adapt your own communication style to meet the needs of others. For example, in some cultures, people communicate more directly than in others. In some cultures, people are friendlier than in others. You’ll learn how to adapt to this during a conversation.

Finally, when you travel, you’re also forced to interact with lots of people. You’ll talk to tour guides, ticketing agents, receptionists, other travelers, and random locals. Chatting with lots of people can help you improve your social skills. This is particularly beneficial if you suffer from social anxiety.

Traveling is a great way to become a more effective communicator. Communication is an important skill that can help you in both your personal life and professional life.

I am not a good communicator. It’s something I’m constantly working on. I feel that travel has helped me improve in this department. I am way more confident when talking to people I don’t know.

3. Travel Helps Reduce Stress and Anxiety

In a recent study , researchers found that travel can help to reduce stress and anxiety. During the study, a group of middle managers was sent on a short vacation (4 nights) in a hotel. This had an immediate effect on their reported levels of stress levels.

In this study, researchers also found that the mode of travel didn’t matter. Participants just needed to be outside of their normal environment for a few days to benefit. The effects were also surprisingly long-lasting. 30-45 days after the vacation ended, stress and anxiety levels were still reported to be lower among those who went on vacation than those who didn’t.

Travel can be a great way to reduce stress and anxiety in your life. If you work a stressful job, a long weekend away can help you recover.

If you’re traveling to reduce chronic stress, you will need to choose a style of travel that won’t cause you more stress. For example, if you’re afraid of flying, take a train instead. If you don’t like traveling alone, take somebody with you. Don’t give yourself more stress. It doesn’t matter where you go. You just need to leave for a few days and take a break from daily life to benefit.

4. Travel Makes Your Life Feel Longer

We all want to live longer. Travel can’t make you live longer but it can make your life feel longer. Here’s how:

Travel has a major impact on the way we perceive time. According to this interesting article, experiencing new things can slow our brain’s perception of time. This is why time seems to pass slower when we’re children. We’re constantly having new experiences.

When you’re traveling, time seems to move much more slowly because you’re constantly taking in new sights, learning new things, and tasting new foods. There’s always something new to experience.

When looking back, your vacation feels like it lasted far longer than it actually did. When you’re in your normal routine at home, months can fly by without you even noticing. It’s easy to get trapped in a routine and let years slip by.

When you travel frequently, your life will feel longer and more fulfilling because time seems to move more slowly. A month on the road can feel like a year when looking back. To me, this is one of the main benefits of travel.

5. Travel Helps You Achieve Peace of Mind

When you’re feeling stressed, burned out, or just fed up with life, sometimes, the best thing you can do is take a break and explore someplace new. Travel has a way of resetting your mind. When you return home, you can look at everything with fresh eyes. Even a short trip can help clear your head.

Being in unfamiliar surroundings makes it easier to let go of all the worries and concerns that are weighing you down at home. It takes your mind off things. When you’re exploring a new place, you don’t have time to dwell on whatever is stressing you out.

Travel is an excellent distraction. It can distract you from people in your life, your job, politics, and technology. You’re too busy taking in new sights, sounds, and experiences to think about your problems. This can bring you some inner peace.

Travel can also help you put your problems into perspective. When you view a beautiful site, you realize how great the world can be. You might also realize that your problems are minor compared to the problems of those living in other parts of the world. Someone living in poverty in a developing country might envy your life, even with all of your problems.

6. Travel Enhances Your Creativity

When you travel, you are exposed to new cultures, people, and experiences. This can open your mind to new ideas. In turn, this can lead to an increase in creativity.

Studies have shown that there is a link between travel and creativity. For example, in this article , Columbia Business School professor Adam Galinsky says, “Foreign experiences increase both cognitive flexibility and depth and integrativeness of thought, the ability to make deep connections between disparate forms.”

Cognitive flexibility is the brain’s ability to switch between different ideas, tasks, or viewpoints. This is a key part of creativity. The study found that people who had spent time abroad were more likely to come up with creative solutions to problems than those who had not traveled.

If you’re a writer, photographer, designer, or artist, and you’re looking for a way to boost your creativity, consider taking a vacation. It could be just what you need to come up with your next big idea. Travel can help you think outside the box and inspire your work.

I have been living as a digital nomad for the past few years. I have noticed that I am more creative and productive when I travel. Most of my work involves writing. The ideas flow better when I’m on the road. It makes me more creative.

7. Travel Allows You to Try Excellent Food

When you travel, you have the opportunity to try all sorts of different foods that you would never have the opportunity to taste at home. You get to experience new flavors and textures that you would never otherwise encounter.

For me, the food is one of the best parts of exploring a new culture. Some people travel for food alone. It’s a great way to immerse yourself in the local culture. If you really love the cuisine, you can learn how to cook it by taking a cooking class. This is a great way to further immerse yourself in the culture. As an added bonus, you’ll learn how to prepare some authentic meals for your family.

Even if you end up not caring for the food, it’s still worth it for the experience. For example, while in the Philippines recently, I tried Balut. This is a fertilized duck embryo that is developing in the egg. It’s sold on the street. It’s not the most appetizing thing but eating it is an experience that I will never forget.

8. Traveling Has Physical Health Benefits

Many of us live sedentary lifestyles. We don’t get as much exercise as we should. While traveling, you will be active and you will get exercise. For example, you’ll walk more. You’ll be on your feet all day while sightseeing, walking through airports, and traveling around the city you’re visiting. You might also participate in outdoor activities such as hiking, skiing, surfing, or cycling. Also, if you’re at the beach sitting out in the sun, your body produces vitamin D.

Additionally, travel has been linked with a reduction in heart disease. According to this article , “A nine-year study from the State University of New York at Oswego found that vacationing every year reduced the overall risk of death by about 20 percent, and the risk of death from heart disease by as much as 30 percent.” This means travel can reduce your risk of one of the leading causes of death.

9. International Travel Makes You More Tolerant and Understanding of Different People and Cultures

Before you travel, you might have some biases about certain groups of people. You may not even notice this. Travel challenges our beliefs.

While traveling, you’ll meet and interact with people from different backgrounds. Traveling also gives you a chance to learn about different customs, religions, and beliefs.

Travel allows you to see that people from all walks of life can be interesting, kind, and valuable members of society. You learn to accept others despite their differences. You become more tolerant towards people from different backgrounds.

In addition, people who are different from you learn to accept you. During your travels, you may encounter people who’ve never met a foreigner before. By meeting you and having a positive interaction, they may become a bit more tolerant and understanding of different people. Tolerance and acceptance can spread. This can make the world a little more peaceful.

10. Get Real-World Experience and Real-Life Education

When you travel, you gain real-world experience that can’t be replicated in a classroom. You learn how to plan ahead, problem-solve on the fly, improvise, navigate new surroundings, and deal with different types of people. It’s an education that you can’t get from a book. In other words, travel can help you become street-smart.

For example, before your trip, you need to learn how to book accommodation, transportation, tours, etc. When you arrive in a new city, you have to learn how to use the public transportation system. If you miss your bus, you have to find an alternative mode of transport. If there is a language barrier, you need to figure out how to communicate with body language. These real-world experiences teach you life lessons that come in handy in your day-to-day life.

Traveling also gives you a chance to learn about new cultures and customs. You can try new foods and experience new traditions. It’s an opportunity to learn about the world in a way that you can’t in a classroom. You learn through experience.

Travel also educates you. While traveling, you’ll learn about the history, geography, politics, art, and religion, of the places you’re visiting. You become more worldly and knowledgeable. I’ve picked up loads of interesting facts and bits of information in my travels that I otherwise would never have learned.

You also gain life experience when you travel. You might fall in love, make friends, and view the most beautiful artwork and landscapes the world has to offer. At the same time, you might fall victim to a crime, have your heart broken, get into an argument, or get in trouble with the law. All of these life experiences, both positive and negative, help you grow as a person.

11. You’ll Understand Yourself More When You Travel

When you travel, you’ll find yourself in unfamiliar situations. This is a great opportunity to learn more about yourself. You’ll see how you interact with people who are different. You’ll see how you respond to problems and setbacks. In addition, you’ll see how you react in various situations.

How do you react under pressure? How do you deal with unfamiliar situations? What kind of person are you? These are the kinds of questions that you can only answer by putting yourself in new and challenging situations. Travel forces you to grow and adapt in ways that you never would at home.

You will come back from your travels with a greater understanding of who you are and what you want out of life. Travel also helps you identify your shortcomings. After returning home, you can reevaluate yourself based on what you observed while traveling. You can work on improving yourself.

When you travel alone , you also have the opportunity to think about your emotions and thoughts. You can practice introspection. Long bus and train journeys are a great time to reflect. You have hours to yourself to just think. For some people, this is incredibly valuable.

Travel also allows you to compare your culture to other cultures. When you travel, you’ll see how others think and behave. This can help you better understand why you think, behave, or feel a certain way.

12. Travel Boosts Your Self Confidence

While some people are born confident, others have to work a little harder to find it. For those of us who struggle with self-confidence, traveling can be a great confidence booster.

If you can navigate your way around a new country or culture, you can pretty much get around anywhere. This is a great skill to have in life. It allows you to be more independent. Knowing you can get around anywhere can inspire confidence.

In addition, when you travel you learn how to talk to anybody. You might have to interact with a shopkeeper in Delhi, a flight attendant from Singapore, or a security guard from London. Being able to talk to anybody is extremely beneficial in social situations. It makes it easier to approach people, ask questions, and strike up conversations. This makes you feel more confident.

Traveling can also help you feel more comfortable in unique or challenging situations. For example, maybe you have to deal with a language barrier. Maybe you get lost. Maybe you just get confused.When you’re constantly exposed to new situations, you become desensitized. You can deal with these situations more confidently without feeling fear.

When you step out of your comfort zone, you realize that you’re more capable than you thought. You’ll overcome obstacles and take risks. Suddenly, anything feels possible and your life is no longer limited by your fears. When you’re confident, you can pursue your passions and goals without anything holding you back.

I have always struggled with self-confidence and self-doubt. Travel has helped me realize that I am more than capable of anything I set my mind to. This has been incredibly inspiring.

13. Travel Helps You Get Out of the Rut of Everyday Life

Travel can be a great way to get out of a rut. It allows you to free yourself from your daily routine and have time to yourself to relax or explore.

It can be a break from the mundane and repetitive day-to-day life of a 9-5. It’s easy to get caught up in a routine. You wake up, go to work, come home, eat dinner, watch TV and then go to bed.

When you travel, you have the opportunity to shake things up. You can try new activities, meet new people, and see new places. You escape the routine of staying in the same place.

Travel also gives you an opportunity to focus on yourself for a change. It can be a time to reflect on your life and what you want from it. While you’re traveling, you can also work on your physical health, mental health, or emotional health. Maybe you realize that you want to make some changes in your life.

14. Travel Expands Your Social Network

Making friends is one of the best parts of travel. When you travel, you meet people from all walks of life. You’ll have friends with different backgrounds. You’ll have friends from different countries and cultures.

These friends can come in handy when you visit their home countries. They can show you around, introduce you to new people, and help you get the most out of your trip.

As your social network grows, new opportunities open up. During your travels, you might meet someone who can help you get a job in a new city. A friend might connect you with other travelers. Maybe you meet your future spouse through a travel buddy.

I have made a number of lifelong friends while traveling. Some of them I still keep in contact with over a decade after meeting. Whenever we meet up, we pick up right where we left off.

15. Personal Development

Travel can make you a better person. Travel can make you a better communicator, more independent, more adaptable, more confident, more accepting, and more patient.

When you leave your comfort zone to travel, you’re forced to develop social skills. You’ll talk to people at hostels, on tours, and on public transport. Sometimes people will approach you to chat because you’re a foreigner. This can teach you better communication skills.

You also have to learn how to be independent. There is nobody there to hold your hand if you make a mistake or get lost. You will also spend a great deal of time alone while traveling. You have to learn how to live with your own thoughts.

When you travel, you also have to learn to adapt to the local culture. The locals won’t change to accommodate you. You have to change. Travel will make you more adaptable.

You also become more accepting of others. The locals may have different religious beliefs, morals, diets, languages, political beliefs, cultures, ways of life, or behaviors. You’ll learn to accept these differences and look past them. 

And as you navigate new surroundings and meet new people, you’ll become more confident. You may become more courageous after facing scary, uncomfortable, or dangerous situations.

Travel can also help you develop personality and character. This happens when you face hardships. Travel isn’t always easy. You might fall victim to a crime. People might discriminate against you. You might have to deal with a language barrier. These may seem like negative experiences when they happen but they can help build character.

You’ll also develop patience when you travel. Things don’t always go as planned. Maybe your flight gets delayed 12 hours. Maybe you have to gather a stack of documents and deal with a bunch of red tape to apply for a visa. The internet might go down or the power might go out. You learn to just roll with the punches.

16. Travel Teaches Us to Appreciate Nature and the Earth

When we travel, we get to see some of the most amazing natural wonders that the earth has to offer. For some of us, travel is the first time that we see mountains, deserts, jungles, or oceans. Travel allows us to view different types of plant life and wildlife in their natural habitats. It’s also our first experience with different types of climates and landscapes.

One of my greatest travel experiences was going on a safari in the Serengeti . Seeing the Milky Way for the first time while camping in the desert in Namibia was also unforgettable. If I stayed in my hometown and didn’t travel, I would have never seen an elephant, an ocean, or a desert.

While traveling, you’ll also witness the destruction of natural environments through pollution, deforestation, and other human activities. You’ll realize how fragile the planet is. This can be heartbreaking but educational.

Through travel, we learn to appreciate the Earth. We learn how fortunate we are to have such a diverse and beautiful planet. We start to realize that it is our responsibility to protect and preserve the Earth for future generations.

17. World Travel Makes you Appreciate Your Home Even More

Traveling can be an amazing experience. It can also be exhausting, overwhelming, and uncomfortable.

After a long vacation, there is nothing like coming home and sleeping in your own bed. While traveling, all of the little things that you took for granted, like a soft bed, a hot shower, and your own bathroom, become luxuries. During a long trip, you will miss the comforts and conveniences of home. It’s hard to get a good night of sleep while camping, sharing a room in a hostel , or simply sleeping in an unfamiliar place.

Travel can also be exhausting. Packing and unpacking. Moving from place to place. Sitting on buses, planes, and trains for hours, and walking around sightseeing takes a lot out of you. When you return home, you may actually appreciate your normal routine.

In addition, you may find a new appreciation for how things work in your home country. In some countries, nothing works. There is bureaucracy and red tape. There are long lines to withdraw cash or buy food. The power may go out frequently. The tap water might not be potable. When you return home, you may realize that most things just work. You may find a new appreciation for your country.

You may also have a feeling of relief when you return home. On your home turf, you know the local laws, customs, and culture. You know your rights and freedoms. You don’t have to worry about accidentally breaking a law or offending someone. It’s nice to feel like part of society. Like you belong. When you’re abroad, you’re always an outsider. You’re not quite sure what you can and can’t do.

You also won’t have to deal with a language barrier when you return home. It’s nice to be able to hold an in-depth conversation and talk freely with other people. Struggling to communicate gets exhausting.

All of this can help you appreciate your home country much more.

While traveling, I have gained a much greater appreciation for my home country, the United States. After traveling to 66 countries on 6 continents, I can’t think of a place I’d rather live. I think the U.S. is the greatest country, even though it has its flaws.

18. Travel Helps You Find a New Purpose

Many people find that travel can be a life-changing experience. It can help you to find a new purpose or direction in life, especially if you feel like you’re at a crossroads. Traveling can give you the time and space to reflect on your career or your life, and make decisions about what you want to do next.

Travel can also help you to see the world from a different perspective and learn new things about yourself. If you’re feeling lost or stuck, taking some time out to travel may be just what you need.

Travel certainly helped me find a purpose. When I left home on my first solo trip , I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. After returning home, One thing I knew was that I wanted to travel.

Years later, after losing my job, I felt lost I didn’t know what to do so I took a trip to Africa. After returning from that trip, I launched this website and started making a living writing about travel. These days, I live as a digital nomad . I make my living as a professional blogger. I feel happy.

19. Expand Your Horizons and Try New Things

Traveling to a new place will help you see the world in a different way. When you travel, you’ll have the opportunity to try new things. You’ll see new sites, taste new foods, talk to new people, hear new music, smell new smells, and be introduced to new thoughts and ideas.

For example, maybe you go surfing, Scuba diving, or horseback riding for the first time. Maybe you see the pyramids, taste sushi, or talk to a local student.

All of these experiences allow you to learn and see things from a different perspective. It can also simply be a lot of fun to try new things. Travel opens the mind. It might open your eyes to something new.

20. Travel Lets Us Take a Break from the Rat Race and Recharge

In today’s fast-paced world, it’s easy to get caught up in the grind. You might feel like you’re on a hamster wheel. If you’re starting to feel burned out, travel gives you an opportunity to take a break and recharge.

Travel allows you to take a step back from your normal life and just relax. Not every trip needs to be educational or challenging. You can just relax by the pool and have some drinks or take a stroll on the beach.

This can help relieve stress, anxiety, and depression. It can also give you a much-needed opportunity to simply rest and rejuvenate. An annual vacation can provide some real health benefits.

21. You Can Learn a New Language

If you’re trying to learn a new language, traveling to a foreign country where that language is spoken will help you tremendously. Actually, the only way to truly become fluent in a language is to immerse yourself in it.

When you travel, you will constantly be exposed to new words and phrases. You’ll also have the opportunity to talk to native speakers. This gives you a chance to practice and improve your comprehension and pronunciation.

Even if you’re not actively trying to learn the language, you’ll pick up some words here and there. For example, I learned basic Portuguese while traveling in Brazil for 2.5 months this year. I probably won’t use it often but it was fun to learn.

Learning a language allows you to communicate with people who only speak that language. This opens up new opportunities to travel and experience different cultures.

In addition, learning a new language can help to sharpen cognitive skills, such as memory and critical thinking. Studies have even shown that bilingualism can delay the onset of dementia.

22. You’ll Make Lifetime Memories

When you travel, you create memories that last a lifetime. Some of my most memorable life experiences have happened while traveling. I will never forget my motorcycle trip across Vietnam. I will never forget walking on the Great Wall of China .

You can tell stories about your adventures to your friends and family. My dad’s travel stories are one of the main reasons I started traveling myself. He inspired me.

If you travel with friends or family, you’ll have more stories to look back on and reminisce about when you’re older. Even though I’ve only been traveling for a decade, I still enjoy looking back at old photos and talking to travel buddies about our journeys.

How has travel benefited you? Share your experience in the comments below!

Pin it For Later !

More from Where The Road Forks

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• Checked Vs Carry-On Luggage
• How to Provide Proof of Onward Travel
• Solo Travel Vs Group Travel
• Dark Tourism Ethics and Criticisms
• 35 Types of Tourism

Zachary Friedman is an accomplished travel writer and professional blogger. Since 2011, he has traveled to 66 countries and 6 continents. He founded ‘Where The Road Forks’ in 2017 to provide readers with information and insights based on his travel and outdoor recreation experience and expertise. Zachary is also an avid cyclist and hiker. Living as a digital nomad, Zachary balances his professional life with his passions for hiking, camping, cycling, and worldwide exploration. For a deeper dive into his journey and background, visit the About page. For inquiries and collaborations, please reach out through the Contact page. You can also follow him on Facebook.

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Wednesday 17th of January 2024

I like that you talked about how traveling is a great way to become a more effective communicator. I want new experiences, so I am thinking of traveling. First off, I'll try going on a Miami tour.

Travel Tips and Trivia

Last Updated: January 23, 2024

My Love for Travelling | 100 Reasons Why I Love Travel

I love travelling more than anything. I hope these 100 reasons I love travel will help you realise if you’ll love it too! Check them out for travel inspiration!

Danny Newman

Here are 100 reasons why I love travel and why I think you’ll love discover a love for travelling too.

I literally have no idea what I’d be doing if I wasn’t travelling.

But I’m fairly sure I wouldn’t feel half as happy or fulfilled.

Indeed, I’ve been on the road for a while now and my time away from home has made me realize just how much I love to travel full time, and how uninterested I am in going back to an ‘ordinary life’!

For now, I love travelling and am totally content on the road, looking to the next adventure and earning money as I go.

Are you considering a trip, and wonder what all the fuss is about? I had a think and put together a list of 100 reasons why I love travel.

I hope it’ll help you discover a love for travellilng too. Enjoy!

My love for travelling comes down to many different things… 100 of them , to be precise!

Love travelling? You might like these posts too:

• A Complete Guide to the Travelling Blues
• How to Be a Responsible Traveller
• The Best Jobs for Adventurers
• The Advantages & Disadvantages of Travelling
• The Disadvantages of Travelling
• 15 Key Features of the Travel Experience

My Love for Travelling: 100 Reasons I Love to Travel

I love travelling because I get to…

1.   Explore New Countries (the #1 Reason Why I Love Traveling!)

Seeing new places is the number one reason to travel!

You get to see new parts of the world. You realise very quickly how much is out there, and how unique each new place can be. I want to travel to every country in the world!

2.   Experience New Cultures

I love to travel and experience new cultures.

The values, ideals, history, and art of each new place you go is always a unique and intoxicating shock to the system.

3.   Experience New Ways of Life

Go travelling and understand how your way of doing things isn’t necessarily the right way of doing things! You get to see how other people go about their lives.

4.   Meet New & Different People

Why do people like to travel?

One reason is because of the people you meet on the road. Strangers become best friends very quickly. You hang out with people from all different countries and walks of life and get on amazingly all the same.

5.   Meet the Locals

It’s easy to only spend time with travellers when you’re on the road. But meeting and interacting with the locals is always a highlight. This is how you really start to learn about a country- by talking and sharing with local people.

6.   Have Travel Romances & Relationships

Something about travel lends itself to relationships! Remember, you’re meeting masses of likeminded people. Statistically speaking, you’re bound to fancy at least one of them…

7.   Eat New & Exotic Foods

Oh man, the food. This is reason enough to explore new countries! You get to eat real, fresh, local food. It’s often stupidly cheap and tastes like 5* cuisine.

8.   Witness Incredible & Diverse Beauty

This would be one answer I’d give somebody who asked me ‘why do you like travelling so much?’:

You see the world and all of its immense beauty.

It’s in the landscapes, the scenery, the atmosphere, the wildlife, the history, the people…Going to new places confronts you with beauty you’d only ever seen on TV before.

9.   Climb Mountains

On to some of the practical joys of travelling. Climbing mountains is number 1. It depends where you are, obviously, but getting outside and climbing a mountain is always a fun, challenging thing to do. It’s also a prime way to witness that beauty I mentioned first-hand.

10.   Swim in Oceans

Being next to water is my happy place. You can’t beat swimming in crystal clear, warm and tropical turquoise waters. Again, it’s more beauty to be enjoyed.

I love travelling. You get to spend time in some of the most beautiful places in the world, like this beach in Thailand.

11.   Laze on Golden Beaches

Where there’s tropical water there’s almost always a sandy beach to laze on after a swim. It’s the picture of paradise, and you get to be there at its centre.

That idea probably explains peoples’ love of travel better than any other!

12.   Bathe in Waterfalls

You’ll almost certainly get to see your fair share of waterfalls while travelling! Ducking your head under and having a natural power shower is always amazing.

13.   Explore Ancient Ruins & Temples

Do you like to travel? Don’t know yet? Well, you’re sure to love traveling if you’re a history buff.

It’s hard not to feel in awe when you step foot through ancient ruins and temples. You know people were there, exactly where you’re standing, thousands of years before you. It’s very very cool.

14.   See Historic Monuments

Same goes for famous monuments (I’m thinking things like the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, the Tower of London, and the Golden Gate Bridge…etc). You set foot upon buildings and structures that are famous around the world.

15.   Experience New (& Sometimes Ancient) Art

The other day I went for a walk to see some Aboriginal artwork.

There were children’s handprints made of red ochre laid upon the rock, which had been made thousands of years earlier. It was genuinely awesome to see. Travel does that. You see the art (new and old) of current and ancient civilisations.

I think it’s a key reason that, as people, we love to travel.

16.   Experience Foreign Architecture

Modern global cities aside, you get to see the unique architecture styles of different countries. Some places are renowned for their architecture. This isn’t my favourite part of travelling, but it’s still cool to see the buildings of other places (past and present).

17.   See Wonders of the World (a Major Love of Travel for Many People)

Some parts of the world just shouldn’t be missed. Iconic places like the Grand Canyon and Machu Picchu are genuine world wonders that’d surely blow your mind.

18.   See Insane Natural Phenomena

The natural world boasts some crazy stuff to see. Things like the northern lights are high up on my bucket list. Going travelling puts you in front of startling displays of nature.

19.   See Crazy Wildlife

Same goes with wildlife. I was born and raised in cities. The most interesting wildlife I saw (outside of zoos) were squirrels and foxes! There’s always cool wildlife to see close to home. But it’s always special to see exotic animals in otherworldly environments on foreign shores.

20.   See Things with Your Own Eyes

One of the greatest parts of travel, for me, is just seeing things first hand. You aren’t seeing an edited version of events via screen. You aren’t hearing about it and getting glimpses of it through other people. No, you’re actually there in the thick of it.

I think seeing things with your own eyes is another reason why we love to travel.

21.   Get Out of Your Bubble

Life can seem like a bubble. You see the same people, do the same things, and spend time in the same places…It’s easy to live the same routine day in and day out for years. Travel helps you step outside of that. You realise there’s far more out there to see and do.

22.   Realize Your Way Isn’t Necessarily the Right Way

I think this one stems from meeting new people, stepping out of your bubble and experiencing new ways of life. All three factors interact and deliver the obvious conclusion that you way of walking through life isn’t necessarily the only way to do it.

You learn from others, try new things, and develop personally as a result.

23.   It Isn’t an Office

My tongue is firmly in my cheek for this one. But, let’s face it, anything is better than an office, right? It is for me, anyway. Life can get boring. It’s easy to get trapped.

I like travelling because it breaks those chains and pushes you into new and exciting situations.

24.   Have an Adventure

On that note: travel and adventure go hand in hand. When I was younger this is what I dreamed about. I wanted to go exploring and adventuring around the world. Travel is a natural part of that process.

25.   Test Yourself

It isn’t always easy, though. In fact, it’s sometimes exceptionally tough. It’s tiring, lonely, and full over discomfort all around. You’re pushed out of your comfort zone a lot.

That’s no bad thing, though. Life can get very cushy. Suffering a little bit is a great tool for growth.

26.   Do Something Different

This is another big one for me and others. We love travelling because we want to live an extra-ordinary life. I don’t want to do the same old thing over and over again, if I can help it.

It’s the whole:

‘It isn’t the years in the life, but the life in the years, that counts’

I want to look back on my time and feel as if I’ve really lived. I love travelling around the world because it makes me feel like I’m doing exactly that.

27.   Try New Diets

I’ve already mentioned the exotic foods you’ll try. This one’s a bit different, though. Depending on where you are, you may have to switch up your diet entirely.

For example, when I was in Sri Lanka I ate a vegetarian diet because that’s all that was served in my homestay. Now, in Australia, I’m travelling with a vegan, so I’ve been eating neither meat nor dairy for 6 months or so!

28.   Learn More about Yourself

It’s hard to go travelling and not discover stuff about who you are. This is actually one reason I wanted to travel in the first place.

Everything about it forces self-discovery upon you. You’re fending for yourself thousands of miles from home. It’s natural to be confronted with both the good and bad aspects of your character.

29.   Discover Hidden Talents

You’ll find yourself doing things you would never have imagined possible. You might discover a knack for negotiating, riding a scooter, living with few possessions, cooking for yourself, meditating, and so on.

30.   Figure Out What You Want from Life

Again, more learning. This time it’s about your future and where you see yourself. I think this is a natural outcome of learning more about who you are. What you want to do ends up as a natural by-product of that. You might even surprise yourself with what you decide.

Why do people like to travel? Lazing in hammocks on a tropical beaches is one compelling reason I can think of! It’s definitely one reason I enjoy travel.

31.   Realize Your Issues

There’s nothing quite like travel for highlighting your issues, insecurities, and neuroses. Again, that’s no bad thing. Knowing about them is the first step in dealing with them.

32.   Overcome Your Issues

Following on from the last point. Travelling can offer a guiding hand to help you handle the personal issues you discover. It gives you time to contemplate, situations to overcome, and lovely new friends to support you.

33.   Challenge Your Fears

I jumped out of a plane in New Zealand a few years ago. I hate heights. I still hate heights, but I’m far better with them now. That’s just one example of how travelling with confront you with scary situations for you to overcome.

34.   Challenge Your Assumptions

All of us are full of hidden prejudices, beliefs and assumptions. Travel can expose and overturn them.

As a very basic example, you might assume that poor people are unhappy. Seeing poverty in third world countries can instantly challenge that.

35.   Get Out Of Your Comfort Zone

I think I’ve already mentioned this in another point. However, it’s worth re-emphasising. Travel is tough! Unless you’re just lying on a beach somewhere, you’ll be tired, uncomfortable, and challenged at every turn.

36.   Try New Things

I love travelling and exploring because you do new stuff every single day. It’s almost impossible not to. Again, that’s unless you spend your days lying on a beach. Don’t do that (too much).

37.   Make Incredible Memories (a Major Reason I Enjoy Traveling So Much)

Everything I’ve mentioned so far (and will go on to talk about) helps you create incredible memories to relive throughout your life.

It’s said that all we are is a system of memories anyway. If that’s the case, then I’d rather be a system of awesome and adventurous ones.

38.   Gain New Stories to Tell

All those new memories deserve to be shared. You’ll never be short of a story when you’ve been travelling.

39.   Experience Freedom

I hate feeling stifled and restricted. I’ve realised more recently that I also like being my own boss. Why do people travel? Because it’s the ultimate freedom. You decide what you do and where you go at all times.

40.   Experience Independence

For me, independence goes hand in hand with freedom. I’m not reliant on anyone else. If I wish it, it’s literally me versus the world. That can be a scary prospect at times, but it’s liberating too.

Wondering why people travel? I think it’s partly to experience true freedom and independence. I think it’s a major reason you’ll love to travel as well.

41.   Experience True Happiness

Why travel? So you can feel happy!

I’ve never felt happier than I have on the road. Everything I’ve just talked about lends itself to true, deep and long-lasting happiness.

42.   Experience True Human Kindness

You come across some beautiful people on the road. You know, the ones that make you feel downright self-centred by the simple virtue of their kindness and generosity?

You’ll find yourself in a fair few pickles on the road. You’ll also come across your fair share of awesome people willing to lend a hand, asking nothing in return.

43.   Become More Aware of Tricksters

That said, there are also a fair few people who’ll try and take you for a ride. These people aren’t as nice, but they still help out in their own way.

You learn who you can and can’t believe, and to trust in your gut. Those are two invaluable life lessons.

44.   Become More Assertive

Travelling can teach you to be more assertive in yourself. There may be times when people and situations make you feel uncomfortable. There may, in worst case scenarios, be a level of danger as well.

Assertiveness is a useful trait that enables you stand up for yourself and not bow to peer pressure. Travel can help you find it within yourself.

45.   Enjoy Off the Beaten Track Experiences

Sticking to the tourist trail can be awesome. But it’s when you step away from it that the magic can really happen. Away from the hubbub and fuss, you stumble across moments in time that you’ll never forget.

46.   Find Hidden Gems

These off the beaten track experiences also have a habit of exposing hidden gems. Tourist trails are, by definition, popular. That’s where everyone goes.

But it’s the back alleys, lost temples, and forgotten hot spots where the magic really lays. Discovering these hidden gems is another reason everybody loves travel so much!

This is where interacting with the locals can be so helpful. They’ll tell you about the lesser known places to explore.

47.   Appreciate Home Comforts More

It’s insanely easy to take home comforts for granted. Travelling basically takes you away from them all! Wave goodbye to your bed, your mum’s cooking, constant WiFi connectivity, and, often, quality infrastructure. You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone!

48.   Appreciate Friends & Family More

The same goes for the people back home. In the inevitable moments of homesickness, you’re sure to feel their absence. You’ll realise how lucky you are to have these people who you in your life.

49.   Appreciate Modern Technology

You’ll value the technological side of things as well. That’s particularly true when there’s no internet where you are. However, when it is available, you’ll appreciate just how incredible modern tech has become.

Take the ability to instantly connect with friends and family, for example. It’s genuinely amazing. You can be on the other side of the world and see their faces as if they were right there.

50.   Appreciate the Simple Things

A big reason for the trip is that travel strips you back to basics. With just a backpack, you can’t take all of your home comforts with you!

Suddenly, the simple things make a big difference. It’s having the time to just sit and do what you want. It’s the freedom to explore. It’s the appreciation of having a hostel bed to sleep in.

Spending time with the local people of a country is always a highlight of the trip. It’s another reason I love travelling and exploring new places.

Related posts explaining why I love to travel the world!

• Why you should turn your dream of travel into reality
• The advantages and disadvantages of travel
• Is travelling a hobby?!

51.   Realize Your Good Fortune

If you hadn’t realized, I like travelling a lot!

Partly because all that newfound appreciation helps you understand how good you have it normally. Travelling highlights how lucky you are in comparison to the plight of others.

52.   Witness World Problems First Hand

One way in which that happens is by revealing the levels of hardship other people live with. Head to poverty-stricken countries and look around.

People have nothing to their name, living in the dirt and doing what they can to get by…And they’re often the happiest people in the world! It can be massively eye opening.

53.   Expand World Knowledge

Stepping out of your bubble will expose you to new situations and information. Your understanding of the world, and the good and bad that happens, grows all the time.

54.   Learn History of New Countries

Part of that knowledge comes from learning of a new destination’ history.

For example, I went to Cambodia a couple of years ago and found myself inundated with newfound insight into the horrors of the Khmer Rouge regime. The same thing can happen anywhere you go.

Thankfully, it isn’t always so depressing! Whatever the case, learning a country’s history is key to understanding its culture and politics. It sheds light on the context that you’re travelling through.

55.   Get Totally Lost

Getting lost has a bad reputation. I’m not a massive fan of it myself.

However, (if you can avoid the bad parts of town) it’s a sure-fire way to get to know a new place better and discover those hidden gems I mentioned earlier.

Equally, thank to mobile phones, it’s often difficult to get truly lost these days anyway.

56.   Find Yourself

There’s more ways than one to feel lost. And, as the classic travel cliché goes, hitting the road is a great way to find yourself in the process.

Remember, you’ll come away having overcome challenges and discovered more about yourself and what you want from life. I’m pretty sure that’s the definition of finding yourself!

57.   Find New Self-Confidence

Self-confidence is another natural by-product of everything you do and overcome on the road. It’s hard not to feel more confidence in your abilities and in yourself.

58.   Mature as a Person

Same goes with maturing.

I always remember getting to university at age 18 and meeting people who’d taken a gap year to go travelling. They were only a year older than me, but they seemed 50 to 10 years more worldly and mature.

Again, I think it’s a natural part of travelling. It forces you to mature.

59.   Become a Better Person All-Around

Everything about travel has the potential to make you a better person. Maturity, self-confidence, self-knowledge, world-knowledge, greater awareness, challenged assumptions…it all adds up to you becoming a better human being.

60.   Time to Relax (Another Major Reason I Like to Travel a Lot)

Travel gives you time to yourself. You might not have had that luxury in years. You might have been working hard-out for half a decade or longer. That’s what society tells us we should do.

Travel gives you a breather. You get to chill out for a change, with nobody breathing down your neck to meet targets, get better grades, and/or step your game up, and so on.

Pictures like this sum up why travel is just outrageously awesome. How could you not love to travel?!

61.   Time to Party

Of course, there’s always time to party as well.

Almost everyone who travels is sure to have their fair share of nights out. Beach parties, street parties, hostel parties, pool parties and house parties are all common.

And there’s no Sunday evening blues to dread either!

62.   Time to Do Anything You Want

You’ll never be short of something to do when you travel.

In fact, sometimes there’s too much to see and experience. In a bid not to miss out on anything, it becomes easy to burnout.

63.   Realise the World’s a Big Place

To travel to one new country is to realise how many others there are to experience as well.

This aspect of travel can actually put people off! I’ve had conversations where someone has argued the lack of point of travelling because there’s always more of it to do! You’ll never see it all, so you may as well stay in one place.

I disagree, obviously. You definitely realise how much there is to see though. I take it as encouragement to keep exploring.

64.   Realise the World’s a Small Place

The world can seem enormous and tiny in the same instance. Go travelling and you’ll almost always meet someone you have a vague (or close) connection to.

You realise how you’re never truly too far disconnected from home.

65.   Learn to Budget

I’d never budgeted before I first went travelling. And it showed! I spent thousands of pounds in the first few months. I remember spending, in 6 weeks on the road what would now last me 6 months!

It was awesome! But it wasn’t exactly sensible from a financial standpoint. Travelling definitely teaches you how to be better with money.

66.   Learn to Pack Lightly

The same goes with packing. The first time I travelled I thought I’d packed minimally, but I could hardly pick up my bag it was so heavy. You learn as you go, though.

By the end of a trip, you’re a packing pro, carrying only as much as you need.

67.   Learn to Live Simply

You learn to value the simple things on the road; you learn to live a simpler life too.

Travelling made me see how little I need to be happy. I realised I didn’t actually gain much from having lots of stuff. My favourite times on the road have been marked by living as simply as possible.

68.   Learn Possessions Aren’t Everything

Going travelling can highlight our reliance on material stuff. You realize you don’t need it. Throwing it out can lead to greater life satisfaction.

69.   Learn Money Isn’t Everything

The same goes for money. The happiest people you tend to meet on the road (especially in terms of locals) are those with the least money. Sure, you definitely need some of it to survive and thrive.

But it is by no means the be-all and end-all.

70.   Learn West Isn’t (Necessarily) Best

Going travelling reveals some of the atrocities western countries have been responsible for overseas.

I love this part of travel because, again, it’s about challenging your assumptions and learning how other countries perceive your own.

You start to understand more about the role your home country has played around the world and the impact it has had (both good and bad).

You don’t need much to be happy. Travelling can take you back to basics. Sometimes it’s the simple pleasures that are best. I like travelling for reminding me of that fact.

71.   Learn the Value of Good Company

In my experience, feeling lonely at times is inevitable when you’re travelling. You realise the importance of having kind-hearted, loving people in your life!

72.   Learn to be Less Judgmental of Yourself

I’m naturally quite critical of myself, and am quick to judge myself harshly as a result. I like travelling because it seems to help me cut this out of my life. I feel more comfortable and happy with who I am.

73.   Learn to be Less Judgmental of Others

The same goes for other people. I think most people tend to judge each other. It seems natural. However, being too quick to judge is never good.

Travel surrounds you with people you might never otherwise hang out with. It challenges stereotypes and helps you see people for who they really are.

74.   Learn that Strangers Aren’t (Always) Scary

We’re taught as children never to talk to strangers.

You can understand why, but it creates a general idea of distrust when it comes to people you don’t know. You’ll be around strangers at all times when you travel!

You realize the vast majority are lovely, friendly and helpful.

75.   Learn When Strangers Are Scary (& How to Discern)

Of course, you always get the occasional bad egg. Remember, travel helps you become more assertive, and to trust your gut.

Similarly, it can give you greater insight into the people you want to spend time with, and who you should avoid.

76.   Learn How Capable You Are

Travel helps people to flourish. They go into the trip as a caterpillar, and emerge as a beautiful butterfly! You realize you can do far more than you first thought.

77.   Learn New Skills

Travelling provides its own sort of education. Remember, you’ll be discovering hidden talents! Part of that comes from learning entirely new skills.

78.   Learn New Languages

Wherever you’re travelling, it’s always good to learn some words of the local language. It helps you connect with the locals, who’ll appreciate the effort (even if you just know how to say thank you!).

You may never become fluent, but you’ll definitely get an introduction to new world languages.

79.   Learn to Cook

Never cooked for yourself? Travel’s the time to learn. Unless you want to blow your budget by eating out every meal, then you’ll have to!

Even better, in some countries you can do a cookery course and learn how to make the local dish.

80.   Learn How to Be Alone

This is a big one for most people. Many of us never spend time alone in our daily lives. We go out of our way to surround ourselves with others.

But being alone is crucial to learning about yourself. Constant stimulation obscures how you feel and who you are. Stripping all that away by being alone can be a challenge. Solo travel often forces you into it.

You’ll be going to restaurants alone, exploring monuments alone, and touring cities alones…and so on. Before long you’ll be an expert at being by yourself, and feeling at ease in the process.

Travel teaches you how to be alone. It’s a valuable lesson.

81.   Learn to Take Things Less Seriously

The stresses of day to day life can make anyone highly strung. Things seem serious, and we lose our sense of humour. Travel can provide the time to unwind. You become more relaxed and easy going.

82.   Learn to Let Things Unfold

You also learn to take things as they come. Some things can’t be controlled, and no amount of stressing out will change them.

I think the sheer amount of uncertainty and new experience involved with travelling helps you learn that the hard way! Over time you just stop caring as much and allow things to happen.

83.   Learn the Standard Life Routine Isn’t Obligatory

This one’s big for me. Up until a few years ago I sort of assumed that life had a particular trajectory.

School, uni, job, career. That’s what I saw myself doing. But I’m not sure that’s exactly what I wanted. More than anything, I just couldn’t see outside of that path. I think I’d been fed the idea of that life for so long that it shut me off to alternatives.

Now, having travelled and had a taste of something a bit different, it’s the last thing I want.

84.   Learn You Can Do Whatever You want

In reality, there’s no limit to what you can do. Travel freed my mind up to different possibilities. At a basic level, it made me want to travel more. Sitting at a desk lost its appeal.

85.   Understand the Need to Protect the Planet

I’ve already mentioned how travelling exposes you to how beautiful the world is. You can’t see that beauty and not want to preserve and protect it.

It’s a work in progress for me. I mean, I fly to new countries and just bought an old van to drive around in. That’s hardly environmentally friendly.

But I’m far more aware of my actions now, which has to be worth something. I’m also taking steps in other areas of life to offset and reduce my personal impact.

86.   Get a Break from Technology

So, travel makes you realize how awesome modern technology is.

However, it can also be a great excuse to get a detox from it. When was the last time you spent an entire day without looking at a screen? Like me, I’m guessing it was a while ago.

Travel gives you a rest from it and reminds you there’s more to life than what’s on your mobile.

87.   Get a Much Needed Rest

Life can be hard. It’s full of ups and downs and stress and strife. It can feel non-stop.

Travel, at a very basic level, can offer a perfect break. That newfound time on your hands gets put to good use: you get a chance to chill out and rest up.

88.   Get Through Personal Hardship

Everyone goes through tough times in life. Life throws everybody their fair share of lemons. Some people get bombarded more than others.

I’ve been very lucky in my life. However, when I have experienced hardship, travel has been the best antidote I could have asked for.

It gives you time to breathe, process, have fun, and meet new people. It drags you out of yourself and back into the world.

89.   Improve Your Career Prospects

Many people worry that travel will set them back in terms of their career.

And it can! You’ll probably be behind your mates in career-terms when you get back home. However, you’ll have had an epic experience in the interim.

Even better, it can also help. Travel is increasingly common. Employers know that and realise how beneficial it can be in developing you as a potential employee.

Overall, don’t stress about the travel-sized gap on your CV.

90.   Spend Time Outdoors

Time in nature is literally good for your health. It’s been proven scientifically. You’ll almost certainly spend a fair amount of time outside in nature when you travel.

Travel gets you out into the great outdoors. Check out those views! You gotta love it.

Related travel posts you might enjoy:

• 50 Interesting Facts About Travelling
• 75 Essential Things to Take On Any Trip
• Is Travelling a Hobby? Here’s Why the Answer’s “NO”
• The Pros & Cons of Studying Abroad
• What Is Heritage Tourism?

91.   Chase the Sun

Here’s another big reason why I love travel. It takes me to the sunshine! I don’t do well with bad weather (despite being a Brit). Being in warm and sunny climates immediately raises my mood.

92.   Sleep in Novel Places

This one’s a little out of left field.

However, go travelling and you may find yourself sleeping in some funny old places. A bad night’s sleep isn’t necessarily something I love about travel. But the stories behind them are always fun.

93.   Live in Novel Places

Travel takes you to the farthest corners of the globe and some of the weirdest and most wonderful experiences you’ll ever have.

You end up living a totally different life, in entirely new places. And it’s awesome.

94.   Get Comfortable Being Dirty

I feel very clean when I’m not travelling!

Obviously you don’t have to live dirtily when you’re on the road.

However, there may be times when you don’t have access to a shower, and you’ve been on the move for a while. You start to realise that a bit of dirt and grime isn’t the end of the world.

95.   Do Things You Never Thought Possible

You’ll find yourself in genuinely mind-blowing situations when you travel.

I remember going caving in New Zealand a few years ago. At one point we were deep underground in the pitch black, floating on rubber rings down a river, staring upwards at luminescent glow worms.

It was genuinely surreal- one of those moments you really have to pinch yourself to make sure it’s actually happening.

You’ll find yourself in similar situations if you decide to travel as well.

96.   Tick Things off Your Bucket List

Got a bucket list of things you have to do before you die?

Travel will help you tick items off it. You don’t even need an actual list of things you want to do.

At the end of your travels you’ll look back on the experience and realize how many incredible things you’ve done, and how you’ve contributed to your life.

Writing your bucket list? Here are 50 simple ideas to help out.

97.   Feel Inspired

It’s difficult to travel and not be inspired by the experience. You step outside your day to day and realize how much more is possible.

The people, the sights, the experiences, the memories…there’s almost always something inspirational to enjoy.

Want to feel inspired? This guide should help you find inspiration in your life.

98.   Feel Meaning and Purpose

Meaning and purpose are central to living a happy life. Without them, everything can start to feel pointless.

Travelling can imbue life with both. Or, perhaps, the question of ‘what’s the point?’ just matters less when you’re doing such incredible things. Either way, life feels that bit more fulfilling.

99.   Feel More Connected

Travel creates a sense of connection.

You’re there, present, and living it. You feel connected with the moment, connected to the rest of the world, connected within yourself, connected with other people.

You feel less of a lonely individual, and part of something greater than yourself.

100.   Feel Care Free

Last but not least: a liberating sense of being totally care-free.

Life can be stressful! How often do you feel overwhelmed and anxious about one thing or another? When was the last time you felt truly free of worries?

Holidays are good, but you know you’ll be back to reality in a few days.

Travel, by contrast, can be truly restorative. Worries and concerns don’t just disappear; travel comes with its fair share of trials and tribulations. However, it’s totally different in nature.

In general, life on the road can be entirely care-free, and lived with true, unadulterated abandon. And I love it.

Travelling helps you feel totally care free. I’ve never been happier than I have on the road.

Remember My Reasons for Travelling & Why I Love Travel!

As you can tell, I love travelling…a lot! I hope those 100 reasons for travel justify why that’s the case, and why I think you’ll love to travel too.

For me, more often than not, my love for travelling boils down to three little words: life is short.

It’s clichéd, for sure. But it’s also fact. Pretending it isn’t is a recipe for wasted time. If you’re determined to make the most of your time, then I think travel’s the perfect way to do it.

I’d love to know if any of the reasons I love travelling sound particularly compelling!?

Which, if any, could convince you to travel? Let me know in the comments!

Understand the reason for travelling? Pin this post to help others do the same!

Like this post overing the reasons is travelling? Pin it!

Like this post explaining why to travel? Pin it!

2 thoughts on “My Love for Travelling | 100 Reasons Why I Love Travel”

how long do u like to go travelling for. I want to travel the world but im still unsure hoe long i want to go for

Hey Jim! I actually travel full-time these days as I work online, which works great for me. I think it’s different for everyone though- for some people, a few weeks does the trick; for others, it might be 3, 6 or 12 months that’s best. If you’ve not travelled before, then why not test the waters? Buy yourself a one-way ticket somewhere (with enough cash in the bank for a return flight at some point in future) and see what you think. Keep on going until you’re ready to come home! Hope that helps, and enjoy the travels, wherever and whenever you go (and for however long!) 🙂

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19 Inspiring Travel Experience Stories About Life-Changing Trips

Love inspiring travel experience stories ?

Then you’re in the right place!

Grab a snack and your favorite beverage and get ready to settle in, as you’re about to read some truly inspiring travel stories about life-changing trips.

In this roundup, some of my favorite bloggers share their best travel stories.

You’ll hear about travelers embarking on sacred pilgrimages, growing after a first solo female travel trip, deeply connecting with locals on the road, and getting out of their comfort zones in ways that completely alter the course of their life.

And if you’re looking for a unique travel experience, you’ll likely find it in the short stories about travel below.

Table of Contents

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There is so much included!

Plus, I’m constantly adding new resources, guides, and personality quizzes to help you travel beyond the guidebook!

On that note, let’s dive into the inspiring travel stories .

1. Travel Experience Stories In South America

My travel story takes place in South America, back when I used to travel solo for months at a time.

I was in my mid-20s, and even though I’d backpacked Europe, Southeast Asia, and China and had studied abroad in Australia, the mix of intense excitement and nerves I had leading up to my South America backpacking trip was different.

And despite family and friends warning me that South America wasn’t a place for a solo female traveler , it ended up being my best trip ever.

There are so many interesting short travel stories and unforgettable travel experiences woven into this trip, like:

• Getting invited to have dinner with my Brazilian plane seatmate and her grandma
• Having a group of complete strangers on Couchsurfing take me out for dinner and dancing on my birthday in Mendoza
• Attending a small house party in Argentina and learning about the tradition of mate
• Getting stuck on a broken-down bus and having an impromptu language exchange with an elderly woman in Peru
• Having a love interest back home break up with me via text, and then experiencing the kindness of strangers as a woman in my hostel who I barely knew treated me to ice cream to cheer me up
• Having a romance with a hostel mate in Ecuador and then traveling through the country together
• Living in a giant treehouse with a group of strangers during a solo trip in Brazil and spending our days exploring hiking trails and swimming and our nights drinking and exchanging stories about traveling
• Taking a 4×4 from Chile to Bolivia across the Siloli Desert to see otherwordly sites like rainbow lagoons and train graveyards in the middle of nowhere
• Experiencing some of the world’s most incredible natural wonders, like Iguazu Falls, Torres del Paine, the Amazon River, Uyuni Salt Flats, and Perito Moreno Glacier

At times the trip was also challenging, from dealing with long bus rides and car sickness to flipping over my bicycle handlebars in Peru and getting my body (and ego) badly bruised.

But, I was okay.

In fact, I was more than okay, as the trip showed me how independent I could be and what I was truly capable of. It also showed me the beauty of immersing yourself in cultures different than your own and connecting with locals who want to share them with you.

Years later, when people ask what my best travel experience has been this is the trip that comes to mind.

-Jessie from Jessie on a Journey

2. Traveling With An Open Mind

Many people think of travel as an experience and rightly so. Sometimes, however, you cannot choose the places you travel to.

This happened to me in 2019.

My husband found himself posted in Brunei for work.

Three months pregnant meant that I had a choice:

Either stay with him in Brunei for three months before returning back to India or remain in India, alone.

I chose the former. Not because of my love for the country but because I wanted to be close to him.

Brunei had never held any appeal to me. Whatever research that I pulled off the Internet showed me nothing other than one beautiful mosque.

The flights in and out of the country were expensive so traveling frequently out was not an option either.

I was engulfed by a sense of being trapped in a remote place.

Needless to say, I reached Brunei in a pretty foul mood. I think one of the things that struck me the most even in the midst of that bad mood was the large swaths of greenery that surrounded us.

Mind you, we were not staying in the big city but as far away on the outskirts as you could imagine. I’m not a city girl by any stretch and the greenery eventually soothed my nerves.

It took a week, but I soon found myself interacting with people around me. Fellow expats and locals all went out of their way to make me feel comfortable.

The more comfortable I felt, the more we explored. We trekked (yes, while pregnant!), we joined the board game community, and we enjoyed the local cuisine.

Three months later when it was time to leave, I found myself reluctant to say goodbye to the warmth of the country I had called home for a short while.

I think that my time in Brunei taught me a valuable lesson:

Don’t judge a place by what others say or a lack of information.

Sure, you may not always like what you see, but there will always be something that you will like. You just need to look hard enough to find it!

-Penny from GlobeTrove

3. From Half-Day Hiker To Walking Holiday Enthusiast

I’ve always enjoyed walking but never in a million years did I imagine I’d end up walking over 200 kilometers (~124 miles) in 10 days, become a fan of walking holidays, and end up developing self-guided hiking routes in Portugal with a local tour operator as part of my business.

The shift from being someone who was content with an easy three-hour walk to an experienced multi-day hiker began with a brief taste of the Portuguese Camino de Santiago, an ancient pilgrim trail through Portugal to Santiago de Compostela Cathedral in Spain.

Back in 2013 I did a guided one-day hike along one of the most beautiful stretches of the Camino, north of Ponte de Lima. It’s also one of the most challenging sections so it was hard work, but the views from the top of Labruja Mountain made the climb worthwhile.

My guides were so enthusiastic about the thrill of arriving at Santiago de Compostela Cathedral after the challenges of day after day on the Camino that I began to think I might want to give it a go, despite not being religious.

Fast forward a few years and I set off from Barcelos with a friend of mine to follow the Portuguese Camino de Santiago.

Apart from suffering from chronic back pain, I thought I was quite fit but nothing had prepared me for how utterly exhausted I would feel at the end of each walking day.

This was truly a slow travel experience, as we were averaging about 20 kilometers (~12 miles) per day and by the time we reached our hotel, I would barely have enough energy to get cleaned up and find food before collapsing. I had envisioned plenty of sightseeing but that ended up being minimal.

Quickly, I realized the moral of this unique travel experience:

The Camino was all about making the most of the journey rather than the destination.

For me, that was quite a shift in thinking as I am usually all about getting to where I want to be as soon as possible so that I can start exploring. It was, perhaps, also my first step on the path towards mindfulness.

I will never forget the sense of achievement and progress at the end of each walking day, and the relief and pride I felt when we finally made it to Santiago de Compostela.

We met people who had walked the Camino several times and I can totally understand how it can become addictive. 

-Julie from Julie Dawn Fox in Portugal

4. A Story About Traveling & Its Ripple Effect

Tucked away in far eastern Indonesia is a tiny archipelago of islands called the Banda Islands.

Apart from world-class snorkeling and some crumbling colonial buildings, the Banda Islands are mostly forgotten and would be described as a backwater by all accounts.

However, the Banda Islands are possibly the main reason that I am who I am today. 

Well, the Bandas are the original Spice Islands.

Nutmeg used to grow on this tiny group of islands alone and nowhere else. The Dutch colonized Indonesia and promptly became the owners of islands where money grew on trees.

The only problem was that Indonesia was so far away that they needed a halfway stop to and from Indonesia.

That’s where my travel experience story comes in.

The same Dutch East India Company that traded in spice set up a halfway station at the foot of Table Mountain to break up their long journey. As a result, my Dutch ancestors arrived in the southernmost point in Africa , and generations later we are still there.

When I visited the Banda Islands, it dawned on me how something happening on the other side of the world can ripple out and affect people on the other side of the planet.

And I’m not the only one!

The spice trade was so important to the Dutch that they even traded a tiny island in the Banda archipelago for a much bigger island…Manhattan.

Yes. That Manhattan.

Before visiting the Banda Islands I never really knew about this part of my history.

Along with the spice that the ships carried back to Amsterdam, it also carried slaves. These slaves, more often than not, ended up in Cape Town.

Just like my European ancestors, they too became a part of Africa and added another shade to our beautiful Rainbow Nation.

It was in the Banda Islands that I realized how much of my culture, food, stories and even words in my mother tongue, Afrikaans, actually originated in Indonesia.

Because of these tiny islands, I am a true mix of Europe, Africa, and Asia. While I always thought I knew how all things in life are somehow connected, I didn’t really grasp it until my visit to Indonesia.

This could have been a resort travel experience story, as I went to Indonesia to swim and snorkel and relax on the world’s best beaches. And while I did get to do that, I also learned a lot about who I am as a person, my people, and my country…on another continent. 

My visit to the Bandas has sparked a fascination with Indonesia, which I have visited seven times since. I’m already planning another trip to this spectacular country!

-De Wet from Museum of Wander

5. Awakening My Spirit In A Costa Rican Cloud Forest

In February 2017, I was just coming out of a decade of mysterious chronic illness that had shrunk my world.

And one of the things that finally helped me to resurface during the previous year was an online Qi Gong course I stumbled upon: 

Flowing Zen .

To the casual observer, Qi Gong looks a lot like its better-known cousin, Tai Chi — the ancient art of moving meditation — but it’s actually energy medicine for healing.

In fact, it’s commonly used in Chinese hospitals.

My daily practice that year made such a difference for me that I dangled a reward for myself:

If I stuck with it all year, then I’d head to Sifu Anthony’s annual retreat in a cloud forest in Costa Rica the following February.

And I did! It was my first trip out of the country for more than a decade.

Just like that, I booked a solo trip — something I hadn’t done since I was an exchange student to Europe 30 years earlier — to San Jose where I met up with a dozen strangers and Sifu Anthony, our Qi Gong master.

We boarded a tiny bus and rode up, up, up around carsick-inducing curvy mountain roads into a magical cloud forest jungle where we finally arrived at The Blue Mountain (“La Montana Azul”) for a weeklong Qi Gong retreat. 

There were no Internet or distractions here — just delicious organic vegetarian meals made with love and shared with the community under a gorgeous open-air palapa.

There were also colorful tropical birds singing in the jungle, as well as the largest arachnid I’ve ever seen in my gorgeous (but also roofless) room for a little extra adventure.

I’d felt a little energy movement during my year of online practice, but during that week on The Blue Mountain, my body began to really buzz with Qi — life force energy — as I Lifted the Sky, stood in Wuji Stance, and practiced Shooting Arrows.

I felt electrified and joyful. 

And that was when everything changed for me.

At home, I had a successful career as a freelance writer, but I decided during my week in the cloud forest that I wanted more from life.

I wanted to explore the beauty, diversity, nature, and culture in every corner of the world.

And I wanted to share this intoxicating joyful feeling of life-giving freedom and adventure with anyone who wanted to come along for the ride.

Shortly after that, at age 53, I launched my travel blog.

Dreams really do come true. They are just waiting for you to claim them.

-Chris from Explore Now or Never

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6. From Rome With Love

This wasn’t the way I wanted to see Rome. 

Sure, I was happy to spend Christmas in Rome and stand in awe of the city’s many iconic attractions. But, life wasn’t meant to turn out like this.

I was supposed to go to Rome with my mom back in 2012; however, life had different plans, because a week before our trip, I got a double kidney infection. A condition that required a week of hospitalization.

Although I was annoyed I had missed my trip, it wasn’t the end of the world since I was fine and everything seemed okay…until my mom developed a cough.

A cough that later became a heartbreaking diagnosis of stage four ovarian cancer. 

My mom spent the final months of her life in chemo, desperately trying to fight a horrific disease so that she wouldn’t let her family down.

And she didn’t.

Instead, she showed us how to never give up on life, even if it was a losing battle. 

So, when she eventually passed away, I booked a trip to Rome. 

Sure, it wasn’t the trip I had hoped for. But, I knew that as her daughter, it was my job to live enough for the both of us. 

And that’s exactly what I did.

Was I an anxious, sad, angry mess of a person?

Absolutely. I was still getting used to a world that my mother wasn’t a part of. 

And honestly, you never get used to that world. You just deal with it because you don’t really have a choice.

But I also knew that I wanted my mom to live on through me and that I didn’t want to live a life where the haunting phrases “should of,” “could of,” and “would have” swirled through my head and ate away at my happiness.

So, I went. I packed a boatload of tissues, sobbed my heart out, and attended Christmas mass at the Vatican. 

I also threw a coin in the Trevi Fountain, walked through the Colosseum, chowed down on gelato, and spent two weeks doing all the things my mom and I had wanted to do. 

And that’s when it hit me. I had never gone to Rome alone because my mom had always been there with me. Maybe she wasn’t physically there, but I thought of her and felt her presence every minute of every day. 

Her presence also reminded me that life isn’t about the things we buy or the money that we have.

It’s about making memories with the people we love; people that never really leave us since they are constantly influencing our lives in countless ways.

And after my trip to Rome, I finally knew that my mom would always be there because she had forever changed my life in the best possible way. 

-Kelly from Girl with the Passport

7. Studying In Finland

One of my major life-turning points happened during my exchange studies in Finland.

Until then, I was studying at a university in Prague, had a part-time job at a renowned management-consulting firm, and thought I was on the right path in life.

At the University of Economics where I studied it was notoriously difficult to get on an Erasmus exchange trip abroad since the demand was huge. Everyone wanted to go!

Regardless, I decided to sign up early for my last semester, just to see what the process was like to be better prepared for applying again in a year.

I did make it through all the three rounds and surprisingly got a spot at a University in Turku, Finland! I was ecstatic. The success brought its own challenges, but once you set your eyes on the goal, nothing can stop you.

And I had the time of my life in Finland.

I met the most amazing people, traveled a ton, partied a lot, and bonded with friends from all over the world.

Given I was one of the few people there who really needed to pass all her courses and additionally write her thesis, I managed to run on an impossible sleep schedule of four hours per night. But I made it!

My studies in Finland opened up my horizons, too.

The summer after, I wrapped up my life in Prague and went on to study in Germany and China . The whole time I traveled as much as possible, often going on solo adventures. It was only a matter of time when I’d start my own travel blog.

My Finland adventure led me to a life of freedom made up of remote work, travel blogging , and plenty of traveling. I couldn’t have asked for a better outcome. And it gave me one of my favorite true adventure stories that I can now share with others.

-Veronika from Travel Geekery

8. How Cuba Changed My Life

One of my favorite inspiring stories about travel takes place in Cuba.

I visited Cuba in February 2013 and it changed my life — and I like to think it did so for the better.

Interestingly, I expected a completely different country and was compelled to write about it when I got back home.

But let me tell you more.

I read copious amounts of blogs and travel diaries to prepare myself for the trip to Cuba so I thought I’d go in with a fairly good idea of what to expect. Each and every post I read spoke of marvelous landscapes, pristine beaches, crumbling but charming cities, and welcoming locals.

All of it was true, in my experience — except for the locals.

I didn’t find them so welcoming. At least, not genuinely so. They only seemed to welcome me as far as they could get something in exchange: money, clothes, pens, soap, you name it. 

Each and every day in Cuba was a challenge to avoid the scams, to avoid being ripped off, to fight off each and every attempt of people trying to take advantage of me. I usually managed, but it was exhausting and it left a sour taste in my mouth.

Once I got back home I felt the urge to write about my experience — not for other sites or papers as I’d often do. This time I was afraid I’d be censored.

So I opened my own blog. With zero tech knowledge, zero understanding of online content creation and SEO, I started writing and telling people what they should really expect during a trip to Cuba.

I’d put up the occasional post, but continued with my usual job.

At the end of the year, my contract as a researcher in international human rights law at the local university ended, and I decided to stop pursuing that career for a while.

I packed my bags and left for a long-term trip to Central and South America . I started writing on the blog more consistently and learning, and eventually took my blog full-time , turning it into a career.

As of today, I have never looked back and have no regrets.

The one thing I’ll do, as soon as I can, is travel to Cuba to say thank you — because it changed my life in a way nothing else has ever done. 

-Claudia from Strictly Sardinia

9. A Short Travel Story About Finding Inner Peace In Patagonia

Life in London is hard.

Life in London as a gay single brown refugee is harder.

Juggling between work, my passion for traveling, and the prejudices that I dealt with on a daily basis eventually took their toll on me and I reached a breaking point.

The fact that I couldn’t return home to see my family and being away for them for almost nine years was enough to hammer in the final nail in the coffin.

I almost had a nervous breakdown and in that moment of desperation, which I knew would define the rest of my life, I took a month off and headed to Patagonia.

It was probably the best decision I’ve ever made in my life. The 36 hours it took me to get to El Chalten from London were tiring but Patagonia blew me away.

On my first day there I did a 28-kilometer (17-mile) hike which included a steep mountain climb. It was incredible how moving through the forest helped me clear my mind. And as I stood in front of Laguna de Los Tres, the rain and clouds gave way to sunshine and a rainbow.

I felt at peace.

The countless hikes, great food, and the warmth of locals in Chile and Argentina helped me get back in my skin and find the peace I was missing in my heart.

Nature is indeed the best medicine when it comes to stress relief and I won’t be coy about hugging trees to speed up the process (it did).

Patagonia was life-changing for me.

The beauty of nature struck me at each point and every time I thought it wasn’t possible to beat the view, the next one did just that.

I came back a changed, resilient, and most importantly, a happy person.

-Ucman from BrownBoyTravels

10. Looking Inwards & Making Connections With Strangers

It was decades before I traveled solo for the first time in my life.

This trip — a six-day escape to Colorado — was the first trip that was not for business or family reasons but just to travel and discover.

As I prepared for it, I had a strange feeling of excitement and nerves at the same time. I had all sorts of thoughts and doubts:

Would it be fun?

Would I be bored?

Would I stay in bed all day or would I bounce with excitement to do the next thing?

I wasn’t sure. Little did I know that it was going to be a memorable journey of self-discovery. 

As a good wife and mom, for me travel is always about the family; always thinking of who would enjoy what. It’s about family time and bonding. It’s about creating memories and travel stories together. It’s all so wonderful.

But on a solo trip who would I connect with? What would I say?

Well, I found that I got to do anything I wanted!

Usually when I travel with my family, if I feel like going on a drive that’s not on the itinerary or getting a snack no one else is interested in, we simply don’t do that.

So it was weird to just go do it. Really, that’s a thing?

As for making connections, it was so easy to meet locals while traveling and also to connect with other travelers. Honestly, I had conversations everywhere — on planes, while hiking, in restaurants, in the hotel lobby.

It was quite an eye-opening experience to meet a mom of 18 kids and hundreds of foster kids, a cookie baker, a professional photographer, a family of Fourteener hikers, and an internationally ranked marathon runner.

The inspiring stories I discovered were amazing and nothing like my wonderful safe life at home. 

In terms of travel safety , I got to go rock climbing, solo hiking, driving up a Fourteener, eating alone.

And it was all fine. Actually, it felt surprisingly normal.

It was was just me, my SUV, and my backpack for a week. Most of all, it was a breath of fresh air that I didn’t know existed. 

It’s wonderful to be back home and know that possibilities are endless and there is so much more out there to explore and be wowed by!

-Jyoti from Story At Every Corner

11. A Solo Hike To Find Connection

I have traveled solo many times, but I admit I was a bit uneasy booking my trip to Colombia . In part, due to the country’s dark past. But also because I desperately wanted to do the Cocora Valley hike, and if I’m honest, I was terrified.

This hike is located in the Coffee Triangle, an area recognized for its beauty as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It features both rainforest and a stunning green valley speckled with cartoonishly-tall wax palms rising 200 feet or more.

It’s incredibly beautiful.

It’s also a long hike and quite challenging — it generally takes between six and eight hours and there is a steep area with over 3,000 feet of elevation within a quarter of a mile.

I wasn’t in hiking shape, so I was a little concerned. But, worst of all for me were the seven dodgy-looking suspension bridges. 

I’m terrified of heights.

And, I’d be going alone.

I decided to go anyway and I met an incredible woman on the bus to Salento, the town near Cocora. She was also traveling solo and we agreed to hike together.

The town is a backpacker enclave and we met up with a small group of people all traveling solo. As the days passed, our group got larger and it was such a magical experience.

As much as I love city travel, this small town won my heart.

My new friend and I set off on the hike and met two other women who were nervous to do the hike. We all went together.

When we got to the first suspension bridge, I paused. I was embarrassed to admit my fear, but the bridge swayed widely and there was nowhere to hold onto.

When they realized how out of my comfort zone I was and how scared I felt, everything changed. Instead of me dealing with it alone, they were all there to encourage me.

One crossed the bridge to encourage me from the other side and they stayed off of it to limit the sway. Crazy enough, I not only crossed the seven suspension bridges, but I also crossed one an extra time when we went the wrong way on the trail.

I did it! 

I was prepared to be blown away by Cocora Valley’s beauty, but what I wasn’t expecting was what a life-changing travel experience my time there would be.

 -Sam from My Flying Leap

12. How A Pet Sitting Travel Experience Led To A Passionate Career

We wanted to go to the Caribbean but didn’t know much about the islands or how we were going to afford it.

By chance, a friend of ours in Australia mentioned “pet sitting” and that it is something you can do all over the world.

We quickly created an account on a pet sitting website and began searching for options. There were only a couple of sits available in that part of the world, but we tried our luck, sent a request, and to our surprise landed a three-month gig in a beautiful house in the US Virgin Islands — with an infinity pool overlooking the British Virgin Islands.

A month into our sit, we had explored the destination pretty well and so had a lot of time on our hands. We managed to secure another sit in Grenada, so our year was going to be taken up with Caribbean pet sits.

Inspired by a Canadian couple that had previously stayed at our Grenada housesit, we decided to start our own travel blog. We began by writing about The Virgin Islands, highlighting the beautiful beaches and funky bars.

But for every photo of a beautiful beach there were 10 photos of trash.     

It was hard to ignore the plastic pollution issue, especially on such pristine and remote beaches.  So, we began to share photos of the trash we saw and how much we could pick up on our daily dog walks.

The more we looked into plastic pollution, the more we realized the severity of the global plastic pandemic. From that point, we used our platform to create awareness and highlight ways to say no to plastic and travel plastic-free .

We changed our daily routines, our way of living, and even our diets to accommodate more organic foods and little to no plastic packaging.

It’s been over three years now and we continue to do what we can. This journey has led us to some amazing places, working with great conscious brands and even organizing a country-wide beach clean-up campaign in Grenada.

Our aim now is to keep on going.

We love connecting with like-minded people and love the shift over the last few years that brands have made towards creating more sustainable products and services.

It’s been an amazing few years that was sparked by a conversation about pet sitting. Who would have guessed?

-Aaron & Vivien from The Dharma Trails

13. Learning To Slow Down The Hard Way

On Christmas of 2017, I was born again.

We like to spend our Christmas holidays somewhere warm abroad, and that year we chose Uganda.

Nature, wildlife, and sunny days were a blessing when it was so cold and dark in Europe. Life was beautiful, and we had a rental car and a busy schedule ahead to explore the country.

This is where this short travel story turns into one of my more scary travel experiences :

At Murchinson Falls National Park, we had a car accident.

I lost control of the car, and it rolled over, destroying windows, chassis, and engine.

But we were alive! My right arm was severely injured, but we managed to walk to our lodge, not far inside the park.

In the lodge, I was happy to learn that there was a pretty decent American hospital in Masindi that was just a one-hour drive from the lodge. Moreover, one of the lodge’s guests was a nurse who cleaned the wound while we were waiting for the taxi from/to Masindi.

The hospital took care of us, and after a couple of injections and stitches, I was ready to head to our new hotel in Masindi; however, my wound required daily dressing and more injections, so we were asked to stay in town for a few days.   

Masindi is the kind of place where you may want to stop to buy some food or water, but that’s it.

The town’s highlights were the market and our daily visit to the hospital, so we ended up looking for the small things, chatting with the medical staff, the hotel staff, the people in the market, and learning more about their customs.

We learned to slow down the hard way.

When we were allowed to leave, we took a road trip south through the country to see something else. We did not care about our travel bucket list anymore — we were alive, and we wanted to enjoy Uganda’s unique nature and its people. 

In the end, our Uganda trip was not about the places that we saw, but the people that we met. It was travel for experience vs sightseeing.

I hope to revisit Uganda one day, with a stop at Masindi for some food, water, and maybe something else.

-Elisa from World in Paris

14. A Cycling Trip To Remember

During the summer of 2019, I cycled solo from London to Istanbul. This huge bicycle tour took me 89 days and through 11 countries.

As you might expect, it was a challenging yet incredible journey, which saw me pedal along some of Europe’s greatest rivers, pass through some of its best cities, and witness some of its most beautiful scenery.

It’s becoming more and more important for us to think about the impact that travel can have on our environment. This was the inspiration for my bicycle tour; I wanted to find more responsible ways to explore the world and avoid flights where possible.

I discovered that bicycle touring is one of the most eco-friendly ways to travel, as using nothing but a bicycle and your own pedal power you can carry everything you need while covering surprising distances each day.

The simplicity of life and the sheer amount of time I spent cycling alone gave me a lot of time to just think . This really helped me to come to terms with some personal problems rooted in my past and, as a result, I arrived solo in Istanbul with newly found confidence, independence, and liberation. 

Cycling across the entire European continent may seem like an impossibly daunting task, but I assure you, it will make you feel like a new person, just like it did for me.

-Lauren from The Planet Edit

15. How The Caribbean Shaped Me Into A Fully Sustainable Traveler

One of my first international trips as an adult was traveling around the Caribbean .

I checked into my hotel in Jamaica and asked for a recommendation for a local place to eat. The receptionist told me that under no circumstances should I should go into the town because it was really dangerous, but that — to my luck — the hotel’s restaurant offered wonderful Caribbean food.

I pondered my options:

Did I really want to spend all my time on the beach without getting to know a single local?

I was a very inexperienced traveler and very young, but there was only one answer to my question:

Absolutely not. I was not going to be visiting a new place and staying hostage in a hotel chain. So out I went.

The poverty hit me in the face. After only seeing fancy resorts, the reality was hard to swallow.

A few locals approached me and were super curious as to what I was doing there alone, since most tourists didn’t go there.

I told them I was interested in meeting them and experiencing their culture. And just like that, I was embraced.

We met more people, had some food, and then we danced the night away. They had so little, yet they wanted to share it with me. They wanted to make me feel welcome.

And they undeniably did.

The next morning all I could think about was how all the money most tourists spend goes to big corporations. The locals have to be thankful if they get a job that pays minimum wage, while foreign businesses earn millions.

I have always been environmentally conscious, but this trip made it clear that sustainability goes well beyond nature and wildlife.

It’s also about communities.

From then on I always look for locally owned accommodation, eateries, guides, and souvenirs.

Sustainability, with everything it entails, became a motto for me and changed the very essence of the way I travel.

-Coni from  Experiencing the Globe

16. Lessons From My Students In Peru

One of the most life-changing trips I’ve ever been on was a volunteering experience in the stunning city of Cuzco in Peru.

I spent a month there teaching English and Italian to a group of local adults. And even though my time there was short, the travel experience was so humbling that it changed my outlook on life.

My lessons took the form of active conversations, which essentially turned into a massive multilingual cultural exchange between me and my students. Hearing my students talk about their lives — and realizing just how different they were from mine — made me look at my own life with a fresh new perspective.

One person spoke about the three years he spent living in a jungle with his dad, where they fed off of animals they hunted in order to survive.

Another student told me about her ultimate dream of mastering English so that she could become a tour guide and have a more stable future.

For me, these stories were a reminder of just how small I am in this world and how much we can get consumed by the small bubbles we live in. 

Most of all, my students showed a passion and appreciation for life that I’d never witnessed before.

This is true for the locals I met in Cuzco in general. The quality of life in Cuzco is very modest; hot water is scarce and you learn to live with little.

But the locals there do way more than just that — they spontaneously parade the streets with trumpets and drums just because they’re feeling happy, and their energy for the simple things in life is incredibly contagious.

It was impossible to not feel inspired in Cuzco because my students always had the biggest smiles on their faces, and the locals showed me again and again that simply being alive is a blessing.

I went to Peru to teach, but ended up learning more from my students and the locals there than they did from me.

Ever since I got back from that trip, I made it a goal to slow down and not take the simple things in life for granted.

Every time I get upset about something, I think about the Peruvians in Cuzco parading their streets in song and pure joy, and I tell myself to stop complaining.

-Jiayi from  The Diary of a Nomad

17. Braving Travel With Chronic Pain

Santiago de Compostela is a beautiful city with a prominent cathedral positioned centrally within the city.

While the historical cathedral attracts numerous visitors, even more well-known is the route to Santiago de Compostela, Camino de Santiago –- the world-famous pilgrimage route that has a plethora of trailheads and ends in Santiago. 

Home to locals, students, English teachers, and those on a spiritual pilgrimage, personal conquest, or a great outdoor hiking excursion, Santiago is a magical city.

My introduction to Santiago de Compostela doesn’t begin on the pilgrimage route, yet ends with a spiritual awakening analogous with those other unique pilgrimage stories.

It was my first solo trip abroad teaching English in Spain, a country that’s always been on my travel bucket list. A small town outside of Santiago was selected as the school I’d be teaching at for the year.

Unknowingly, this teach abroad program chose the perfect city for me to live in. 

A year prior, I suffered a traumatic brain injury that left me unable to function normally and complete average tasks. Migraines, headaches, and dizziness became my body’s normal temperament, a hidden disability invisible to the naked eye. 

Braving travel with chronic pain was the first lesson I learned during the trip.

The vast green outdoors and fresh dew from the morning rain enlivened me daily and reminded me about the importance of slowing down so I could enjoy traveling with my hidden disability. 

I also learned to stop often for daily tea breaks and to embrace the long lunch hour,  siestas , with good food, company, and a nap to rest.

Meeting locals , indulging in local food, and learning Spanish allowed me to connect deeply with the beautiful culture of Santiago. After all, my dream was to travel to Spain, and I more than accomplished that dream.

Difficult or not, I learned to own my dream and I was more than surprised with the results.

Who knew that a year after my injury I’d be traveling the world with chronic pain, and for that, I’m eternally grateful.

-Ciara from Wellness Travel Diaries

18. A Blessing In Disguise

2020 has been a wild year for all of us and foreign students in China are no exception. As soon as the malevolent virus began to make its rounds in China, our university sent us home for “two weeks.”

However, within a short time, countries began to shut their borders and these “two weeks” turned into months, a full year even.

Crushed by the burden of online lectures and virtual labs, my boyfriend and I packed our bags and caught one of the first flights to his home country of Pakistan.

I had always been an over-ambitious traveler. I believed numbers were everything — the number of countries I visited, the number of hours I spent on a plane, the number of international trips I took in a year. These numbers were what defined me.

My feet were constantly itching and I never liked to spend more than a few days in a place before heading to the next country. Revisiting a place felt superfluous to me.

That’s why I was hoping to spend a month or two in Pakistan and then continue to check new countries off the list — after all, my online classes finally granted me the freedom to “work on my numbers.”

But as is usually the case in 2020, things turned out quite different from what I had expected. Borders remained closed and worldwide infections stayed rampant. At this point, I have already spent nearly half a year in Pakistan.

During this peculiar time, however, an amazing thing happened:

My mindset about travel started to change and I began to look at my long stay in Pakistan as perhaps my most valuable travel experience ever.

I may not have visited dozens of countries like in previous years but my experiences were deeper than ever before.

From trekking to one of the world’s tallest mountains to sharing tea with heavily armed officers at nearly 5,000 meters altitude to exploring hidden beaches in the most secluded regions to spontaneously being invited to village homes, my adventures in Pakistan couldn’t have been more incredible. They opened my eyes to the sheer diversity of many countries and completely transformed my idea about traveling. 

It took me nearly a full year of heavy restrictions on international travel and a few months in one of the world’s most fascinating countries to give up on my superficial ideals and become a more mature traveler.

This time will always have a special place in my heart.

-Arabela from The Spicy Travel Girl

19. What The River Taught Me

My travel story takes place in the summer of 2017 — the final summer before I graduated university — as it continues to play a significant role in the person I’ve become.

When I say that, people ask me if it was the portion of the summer I spent solo backpacking in Europe . And to their surprise, it wasn’t. It was actually the latter portion of the summer where I stayed closer to home.

For July and August I worked as a canoe guide leading whitewater canoe trips on remote rivers in Canada. It was here that I got to canoe the powerful and iconic Missinaibi River, a river that continues to influence me all these years later.

The Missinaibi River flows from the powerful Lake Superior to the even more powerful salty waters of James Bay. Here, I led a group of eight teenagers through dozens of whitewater rapids over 500 kilometers (~311 miles).

With no cell service for 25 days, we were forced to disconnect from anything other than the river.

During this trip I learned two important lessons:

First, I learned to be confident in my own abilities as a leader and problem solver.

There were a few rapids where my campers’ boats flipped and I had to rescue the campers and the canoes. One rescue saw two boats flip on a mile-long rapid. It took six hours to make it down the rapid, and during this time I managed stuck canoes and crying campers.

And while this was one of the most difficult rescues I’ve done, I was amazed at how calm I was throughout it. I gave clear directions, prioritized effectively, and kept my campers safe throughout the entire experience. Following the rescue, I had a newfound sense of confidence in my abilities.

The second lesson I learned on the Missinaibi was the power of disconnecting from society and connecting with the people around you.

A wild river commands all of your attention. Each day, you and your group must take down camp, load canoes, paddle up to eight hours while navigating both rapids and portages, get to a new campsite, set up camp, cook dinner, and go to bed.

And without the distraction of technology, your attention has nowhere else to be. You focus on the river and your teammates.

As someone who had wrestled with anxiety and depression prior to this summer, I felt at total ease on the trip. Now I seek societal disconnection and human connection as much as I can. 

Sometimes the most profound, life-altering trips are the least expected trips closer to home.

-Mikaela of  Voyageur Tripper

More Short Travel Experience Stories

25 Crazy Travel Stories You Need To Read To Believe

23 Inspiring Travel Stories Sharing The Kindness Of Strangers

17 True Short Adventure Travel Stories To Inspire Your Next Trip

38 Inspiring Travel Love Stories From The Road

16 Short Funny Travel Stories That Will Make You Laugh

20 Embarrassing Travel Stories That Will Make You Laugh & Blush

21 Travel Horror Stories About Scary Travel Experiences

Do you have any inspiring travel experience stories about life-changing trips to share?

Enjoyed these inspiring stories about travel? Pin them for later!

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These stories are so much fun to read! Thanks so much for putting a post like this together. It’s great to be able to check out other people’s blogs and read about other people’s experiences!

Always great to read about travel experiences of others. Some great stories to read over coffee. I’ve Pinned your post for future reference and to share with others. Will check out each story author’s blog as well. Great Job! 🙂

Amazing story for new traveler like me thanks for your contribution

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Why travel could change you forever

Sep 6, 2019 • 5 min read

Holidaying is very different to ‘travelling’. The aim of a holiday is probably to reconnect with friends and loved ones, have some fun and return home fully refreshed and ready to face the daily grind again. Holidays might place in villas and resorts, and we often return to our favourite holiday destinations time and again. We all need a holiday sometimes!

Travel on the other hand, is about taking yourself away from what you know and the spaces you feel safe in, and throwing yourself, sometimes gently, into a whole new place. Travelling isn’t necessarily where you go, it’s more about how you go, and the experiences you gain along the way. Find out why travel could change you, and how to make the most of your experiences.

What is a 'traveller'?

The idea of a 'traveller' is no longer confined to stereotypes of young hippies with flowing hair, or middle-aged single men with backpacks and hiking boots. To travel today, you don’t need to embark on an overland journey across half the world, as Lonely Planet’s founders once admirably did. You don’t even need to leave your own country to discover how much there is to gain from travel.

In a recent survey of over 7500 Lonely Planet fans, 92% said that they see travel as an opportunity for positive change. Whether that’s change within yourself, or change you can help influence, there’s no denying that travel and the experiences it delivers can change you forever. 

You might also like this:   How travel helps me cope with grief

Why should we travel?

In a world that sometimes feels divided and divisive, travel can remind us that we’re all living on the same planet, albeit in many different ways. In the words of our readers, 'Travelling is an opportunity to shift your perspectives and learn from other cultures.' It 'connects us with different cultures and exposes us to international concerns and issues', and it allows us 'to let go of generalisations and stereotypes put forth by media and experience first-hand a new culture and experience'.

60% of the survey participants across all age groups said they view travel as an opportunity for personal growth more than they used to – which suggests people nowadays care more than they used to about self-improvement through travel. One of the main ways our readers saw self-improvement from their travel experiences was in their confidence. Every time you push yourself outside of your comfort zone, even just a little, you’re increasing your self-reliance. As one reader said, 'I have grown as a person simply by learning to deal with uncomfortable situations.' Being lost in Peru  and your only bank card having been sucked into the ATM seems horrendous at the time, but how you fix the situation and the confidence you gain from this will last you a lifetime.

How to make the most of your travels

Whatever your budget, destination or aspiration, there are hundreds of ways to have a transformative experience while travelling.

1. Travel in your own country

66% of the Lonely Planet fans we surveyed feel that the experience is more important than the destination. You don’t need to travel far to expand your horizons, and as 68% of respondents said they care more about sustainable travel than they used to, taking fewer flights is important where possible. Domestic travel means viewing where you live with fresh eyes, and realising that, even in your own country, people often live differently to you. Are you a city dweller? Get yourself to the countryside for some fresh air and peace. Do you tend to shy away from urban spaces? Throw yourself into the culture and noise of a city.

2. Learn about the darker side of history

Often, there is a more sinister past associated with the places we visit, and while travelling is also about moments of joy, visiting sites that have witnessed atrocities shouldn’t be avoided. As one reader said, 'Seeing the concentration camps in Poland and Germany gave me a better understanding of anti-Semitism.' It is a strange kind of ‘tourism’, but when done with respect (no Chernobyl selfies please) it forces us to face up to facts – lest we forget. Ensure you visit sites that are there to educate and memorialise, and where victims of the incidents will benefit from your visit, rather than sites of voyeurism. Some important sites include Choeung Ek Killing Field , outside of Phnom Penh in Cambodia, the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, USA, and the Ninth Fort near Kaunas, Lithuania.

You might also like this:   How to travel with friends – without falling out

3. Meet new people

Whether you’re travelling solo, as a couple, or in a group, you’re bound to meet people on the road. Getting to know new people, whether locals or other travellers, is one of the best ways to remember we’re all in this together, and keeping in touch with them once you’re home means you have a connection to that place forever (not to mention another source of photos). For anyone with an ounce of shyness or social anxiety, talking to new people sounds pretty terrifying, let alone joining them on the next leg of their trip. Luckily, there’s plenty of non-awkward ways to meet people on the road , and you’ll soon realise that whether you meet in a bar after a few too many beers, or at the free library in your hostel, connecting with people about the experiences you’ve had is the best way to commemorate them.

4. Experience culture shock

Get properly lost in the heat, scents and noise of Marrakesh’s souqs . Barter in sign language on the dusty streets of Madagascar’s capital Antanarivo . Stay in a Gur Buudal (homestay) with a local Mongolian family in Khövsgöl Nuur National Park . Experience the otherworldliness of real culture shock. Perhaps you’ll learn that 'we have far more in common with each other than things that divide us'. Perhaps you’ll decide how lucky you are, and gain appreciation of the things you have back home. Maybe, you’ll simply wonder at this amazing planet we live on, and take this feeling of awe with you into the rest of your life.

Published alongside the survey findings in this article is a new title called Travel Goals , which is packed full of ideas to inspire responsible, healthy, transformative travel experiences. From sleeping under the stars and witnessing natural phenomena to more ambitious challenges, such as helping communities and safeguarding the environment, Travel Goals is the essential companion to a life well-travelled and well-lived.

Make the most of your travel with  sightseeing tours and activities  from our trusted partners.

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How to Keep Travel in Your Life (When You Can’t Actually Travel)

Jessica Spiegel

August 3, 2023

Everyone has a time when they can't travel, whether it's due to finances, family commitments, or any one of the many responsibilities of daily life.

To that end, we’ve put together this list of 23 ways to incorporate travel into your life even when you have to stay put.

1. Read Adventure Stories 

Pick up a book that’ll transport you elsewhere and engage in some good old-fashioned armchair travel. Travel memoirs are great candidates, of course, but don’t overlook the fiction sections. From historical fiction set in far-off places (think Irving Stone’s “The Agony and the Ecstasy” or Arthur Golden’s “Memoirs of a Geisha”) to fantasies set in other worlds (“The Lord of the Rings” and “The Once and Future King” are classics for good reason), there are adventures aplenty to keep any bookworm happy. And don’t forget, you can access your library through audiobook/ebook apps, making it even easier to indulge in a good book.

2. Watch an International Film

One of the easiest ways to add a little travel spice to your life is to watch a movie from another country. You’ve got lots of options to tap into without leaving your house. Browse the listings on Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime to find your next adventure flick.

>> Check out our list of the best travel movies ever made.

3. subscribe to a snacks of the world box.

If you love trying new foods when you travel, get tasty treats from around the world delivered to your door. Companies like SnackCrate , Universal Yums , and MunchPak curate boxes of snacks from a different country every month. You’ll learn a little bit about what other cultures like in their snack foods, from salty to sweet to umami, plus you’ll get information packets about the country and its cuisine.

4. Learn a New Language

You may be stuck at home, but if you’ve already got your next destination in mind, why not learn the language to keep you busy? Language apps and websites abound, both free and paid, so you can pick the one that suits your learning style best. And if you’re looking for ways to keep your language skills fresh in between trips, find an online group (such as international friends you already know or a group you join on social media) where you can practice through video chats.

>> Get tips on traveling to a place where you aren't fluent

5. check out worldwide webcams.

Sometimes it’s nice to just watch the world go by, even if you can’t be out there right now. Luckily, we live in the age of the webcam. EarthCam has links to webcams in major cities all over the world as well as a camera trained on Niagara Falls . The Skyline Webcams have views overlooking Europe’s main squares, Explore’s webcams include options in African wildlife parks, and there are virtual tours in some of the United States’ National Parks , like Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, Bryce Canyon, Carlsbad Caverns, and the famous Katmai Bear Cams .

6. Cook a Favorite Foreign Dish 

New flavors are such an important part of travel for many, so bring the world into your kitchen. Pick a favorite meal you’ve enjoyed on your travels to see if you can make it at home, or get really adventurous by trying out a brand-new recipe you’ve never tasted before. Try David Lebovitz’s “My Paris Kitchen,” Katie Parla’s “Tasting Rome,” Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi’s “Jerusalem: A Cookbook,” or Maori Murota’s “Tokyo Cult Recipes” for country-specific dishes. More general international cookbooks include “Near and Far” by Heidi Swanson and Samin Nosrat’s “Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat” (an excellent companion to the Netflix miniseries of the same name). Online cooking inspiration and lessons abound, too, like the international flavors of Green Kitchen Stories , What Katie Ate , Foodie Quine , and Lavender and Lovage .

>> For a limited time while we’re all staying close to home, The Milk Street Kitchen’s online cooking classes (lots of great, general cooking tips and recipes) are all free of charge.

7. Shop in an International Market 

Another way to incorporate foreign flavors into your everyday life at home is to shop at an international market near you. Look for Asian or Mexican grocery stores, for instance, and you’ll find shelves stocked with both the staples you might need to prepare Asian or Mexican dishes and fun snacks and treats you’ve never had before.

8. Go on a New-to-You Hike or Walk

Weather permitting, find a hike near you that you’ve never done before and hit the trail. Even a long walk through a part of town you don’t know well can add an element of adventure to your day (just keep those recommended distances between other people in mind).

9. Go on VR Tours of Museums and Famous Attractions 

Lots of major museums and attractions around the globe have virtual reality tours these days, and there’s no better time to check them out than when you’re not able to travel. Travel + Leisure has a list of some museum heavyweights , including London’s British Museum, Florence’s Uffizi, and New York’s Guggenheim. There are also HD images of masterpieces that offer far better views of the art than you could ever have even if you were standing right in front of them. HaltaDefenizione is an Italian project (the name means “high definition”) whose library includes Botticelli’s “Primavera,” Caravaggio’s “The Calling of Saint Matthew,” and even Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.”

10. Watch Travel TV Shows 

Do some research for future travel by watching travel shows. Look for titles by everyone’s favorite travel nerd, Rick Steves, as well as Rudy Maxa, Globe Trekker, and Anthony Bourdain. Hit pause regularly so you can take notes on anything you might want to replicate someday.

>> Check out our 50 favorite travel tv shows

11. challenge friends to a virtual travel trivia game .

Organize some of your travel-loving friends for a video chat with a pub quiz element. Maybe you or one of your friends already has Trivial Pursuit’s Travel Edition (or can find it for sale online), in which case you’ve got a ready source of hundreds of questions. Otherwise, the internet is full of travel quizzes to keep you entertained and (who knows?) educated. Condé Nast Traveller’s “Ultimate Travel Quiz” has 100 questions,  Lonely Planet has its own travel quiz , GeoGuessr offers daily travel game challenges, and quiz site Sporcle has a variety of travel- and destination-related quizzes to choose from.

12. Ask Older Family Members About Their Travel Memories

If your parents, grandparents, or any other family members love travel as much as you do, call them up and ask about their favorite travel memories. Whether you’re sharing experiences of seeing the same place in different eras or hearing about trips they went on to places you’ve never been, you’re sure to learn something new about the world and your family.

13. Join (or Start) a Virtual Club with Fellow Travel Enthusiasts 

Another way to share travel adventures with others without leaving home is to swap stories. Think of it like a book club, only for travel. Check out our very own Travel Community to talk travel with members around the world, or set up a weekly video chat with a group of friends, taking turns to share photos and stories from previous trips.

14. Do a Puzzle of a Travel Photo

Get yourself a puzzle or two depicting beautiful locations around the world and you’ll always have something on hand to keep yourself occupied for a few days. Or you can take puzzles into another dimension with a 3D puzzle of, say, the Eiffel Tower to get a whole new perspective on famous monuments.

15. Get Crafty 

That between-trips time might just be the excuse you need to finally put together a photo album or scrapbook from your last trip, whether it’s a book you create online with digital photos or an old-school scrapbook full of ticket stubs and other memorabilia. If photo albums aren’t your cup of tea, you could turn some of your travel photos into greeting cards to send to your friends and family. Or, perhaps you’d like to learn another culture’s arts and crafts traditions? Try your hand at origami, for instance—all you need is paper.

16. Stream International Radio Stations

Tuning into radio stations broadcasting all over the world is both easy and fun, especially if you’re working on learning the language. If you already use TuneIn Radio, browse their “World” section to find radio stations both located in other countries and those playing world music. Or simply spin the globe on Radio Garden to tune into frequencies in just about every country, save your favorites, and you’ve got a ready supply of international music and entertainment.

17. Zoom in on Your Favorite Places 

Google’s Street View allows you to walk around almost anywhere on earth these days. Revisit the streets of your youth (Does your high school still look the same? Is your childhood home the same color?), places you’ve loved on your travels (Remember that cafe you went to every day when you were in Paris last year?), or go exploring to discover something new in a city you haven’t been to (yet).

18. Create a Travel Playlist

Music can be soothing and inspiring, and it can also remind us of trips we’ve taken. Look up the songs that were radio hits when you studied abroad in college and put them into a Spotify playlist. Create “top 10” lists by country, depending on what’s on the charts in each. (Sure, you may find that many countries have American or British bands on their lists, but you’re also likely to find local artists you’ve never heard of.) Find all the songs you can with cities or countries in the names, or all the songs that are about road trips or train rides. Do some crowd-sourcing of song ideas for added variety.

>> Check out our ultimate travel playlist of 100 songs . 

19. take an online class .

Learning something new is always a good idea, and when it’s a topic that either hearkens back to a trip you once took or helps prepare you for the next one, that’s even better. Check out Khan Academy (completely free!) or The Great Courses to learn about art, architecture, or world history, for example—or even something like photography fundamentals to take better pictures on your next trip.

20. Do a Fun Research Project

Did you know that cats speak different languages, too? We might call a cat’s cry a “meow,” but in Indonesia it’s “ meong ,” and in Turkey it’s “ miyav .” Words meant to mimic the sounds they describe (such as “meow”) are known as onomatopoeias, and they can vary dramatically depending on the language. Research your favorite onomatopoeias in different languages around the world—or whatever topic interests you. 

21. Put Together a Travel-Themed Picnic

Just because you can’t hop on a plane doesn’t mean you can’t explore. Once you’ve whipped up a fun foreign treat or two, pack a picnic basket and find a scenic spot in which to eat it. Note: If you’re feeling especially isolated, make arrangements with friends to meet them for a joint picnic at the park—just be sure you’re maintaining the recommended space between people and not sharing picnic blankets, food, or utensils.

22. Travel Cosplay

Sometimes a little levity goes a long way. Perhaps you’ve seen the images of people who don’t want to give up the routine of a subway commute even though they can’t leave home right now ? Well, maybe it’s time for you to get creative with some travel-related dress-up, too. Put on a bathrobe, pour a glass of bubbly, and chill out in beach chairs…that you’ve set up on your porch or balcony or back yard. Bonus points if you do so while listening to an ocean soundtrack or watching old episodes of “The Love Boat.”

23. Live the Hotel or Spa Life at Home 

Pretend you’re enjoying the hotel life for a day by treating yourself to breakfast in bed or getting every meal delivered like it’s room service. Or, pamper yourself with an in-home spa day. 

Join Going and get cheap flights and travel tips delivered right to your inbox.

Freelance Writer

Published August 3, 2023

Last updated December 19, 2023

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6 fabulous hotels to visit in April

Stay at a zoo in Sydney, or meet vortex hunters in Sedona

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This April, escape from the ordinary. Now is the time to go big and try something new on your vacation. That could mean spending the night at a zoo, booking a suite at a resort where you can swim straight to your room or staying at a hotel with a pet psychic on stand by. Here are six options that promise a fresh way to hotel.

Wildlife Retreat at Taronga in Sydney, Australia

You never know who might be outside your window at the Wildlife Retreat at Taronga

When you look out your window at the Wildlife Retreat at Taronga , expect to see a koala gazing back. This boutique hotel is at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, and gives guests who book Animal View Rooms an incredible, immersive wildlife experience. Those who want to be at the zoo but prefer some distance from the animals can stay in rooms with bushland or Sydney Harbor views. Rates include two-day access to Taronga Zoo, a special guided tour of the wildlife sanctuary, sustainable amenities and daily breakfast. 

Romeo Napoli in Naples, Italy

Rooms at Romeo Napoli have views of Naples, the Gulf of Naples and Mount Vesuvius

April is a great time to visit Italy. You can enjoy the sights before the large crowds and sweltering temperatures arrive in the summer. For a taste of contemporary luxury, book Romeo Napoli . The hotel's 79 rooms and suites feature warm tones and original photography and have fantastic views of the city of Naples, Gulf of Naples and Mount Vesuvius. Wellness is a focus, with some rooms including infrared saunas, sensorial showers and private Zen gardens. Keep the pampering going downstairs at La Spa by Sisley Paris, where guests can relax in the Finnish sauna, frigidarium with snowfall, steam bath and cold immersion bath.

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Sky Rock Sedona in Sedona, Arizona

Rooms at Sky Rock Sedona look out at the city's gorgeous red rocks

Sky Rock Sedona makes a stunning first impression. Walking into the lobby, guests are greeted by a sparkling amethyst-encrusted wall, and the titillations only increase from there. The rooms feel like sanctuaries, with cozy neutral tones and leather accents, and some have fireplaces perfect for cooler nights. Up on the rooftop, there are fire pits and couches so guests can take in the 360-degree views of Sedona's red rocks, including the iconic Snoopy Rock, Coffee Pot Rock and Thunder Mountain. Sedona pulls in many New Age seekers, and Sky Rock guests can take advantage of offerings like on-call pet psychics and vortex hunters.

Generations Riviera Maya on Riviera Maya, Mexico

Riviera Maya is on Mexico's Caribbean coast

As long as you pack a bathing suit, you will do just fine at Generations Riviera Maya . This family-friendly resort on Mexico's Caribbean coast is known for its massive pool with a swim-up bar. All of the suites have ocean views, and several have direct access to the pool from their private balconies, making it easy to go swimming whenever you please. Rates are all-inclusive and cover meals, butler service and access to a private beach.

Akara Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand

Akara Hotel is about one mile away from Bangkok's Victory Monument

The Akara Hotel is in the middle of everything in Bangkok's Ratchathewi district. Museums, shops, night markets and restaurants are all a short walk away — for those willing to leave the hotel, that is. Akara offers a lot of amenities, from a rooftop swimming pool to a culinary school and library, and some guests might want to stay put and take good advantage. The sizable rooms feature wood and marble decor, separate living and work areas and mini-bars with local delicacies. For even more space, book the large Akara Suite, which comes with a rain shower, jacuzzi tub and television in the bathroom.

Legado Mitico in Buenos Aires, Argentina

A Pedro Subercaseaux painting depicting José de San Martín at the Battle of Chacabuco in 1817

Learn all about Argentine history and culture without having to leave your hotel. At the elegant Legado Mitico in Buenos Aires, the 11 rooms are themed, honoring the people, arts and sports that shaped Argentina. The Liberator, for example, recognizes José de San Martín, a general who fought for independence and earned the nickname the Father of the Country. Paintings of the national hero hang on the walls, and books are stacked on a desk for guests wanting to read more about him. Legado Mitico is in the Palermo Viejo neighborhood, close to restaurants, bars and shops.

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Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com . Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com , The New York Times , The Book of Jezebel , and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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Here's How the Cast of Scoop Compares to Their Real-Life Counterparts

The new Netflix film recreates Prince Andrew's infamous BBC interview in 2019—and the casting is spot-on.

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"I want to put the audience inside the breathtaking sequence of events that led to the interview with Prince Andrew—to tell a story about a search for answers, in a world of speculation and varying recollections," director Philip Martin told Netflix . "It’s a film about power, privilege, and differing perspectives and how—whether in glittering palaces or high-tech newsrooms—we judge what's true."

To tell that "breathtaking sequence of events" which led to jaw-dropping interview, Martin assembled a starry cast—including Gillian Anderson, Keeley Hawes, Billie Piper, and Rufus Sewell. They all play real people, so here's how the cast of Scoop compares to their real-life counterparts:

Rufus Sewell as Prince Andrew

Sewell, who recently starred in The Diplomat , takes on the role of Prince Andrew. "I loved people objecting to my casting. That just really made me glow," Sewell tells T&C . "The one thing that gave me solace was people saying that I was badly suited for the role. I thought, well, I can't disappoint now. Just freedom."

Billie Piper as Sam McAlister

Piper, who has starred in Secret Diary of a Call Girl , Doctor Who , and I Hate Suzie , takes on the role of Sam McAlister, the Newsnight producer who secures the Prince Andrew interview. The film is based on her book Scoops: Behind the Scenes of the BBC’s Most Shocking Interviews . (Read an excerpt from Scoops here.) "She's a real force of nature, she's formidable and high energy, and I wanted to take a lot of that into my performance," Piper says of McAlister. "She is so persistent, but there is something gracious and warm and curious, and kind of child-like about her and her love of what she does."

Gillian Anderson as Emily Maitlis

Anderson, perhaps best known for her role in The X-Files , plays interviewer Emily Maitlis. "It was the first time that I’ve played a real-life character who is still alive, and I have to say, it’s more daunting playing an Emily Maitlis than a Margaret Thatcher even," Anderson said.

Keeley Hawes as Amanda Thirsk

Hawes takes on the complicated role of Amanda Thirsk, Prince Andrew's private secretary. The actress had less to go off of for her portrayal of Amanda than her costars, as Amanda is a very private person. "On the one hand that was a bit frustrating but, on the other it gave me a freer rein to conjure something, and that’s what I did. I worked with the team, hair and makeup, and our wonderful costume designer, and Philip, and just put something together," Hawes said.

Charity Wakefield as Princess Beatrice

Though Princess Beatrice doesn't play a large orle in Scoop , she does appear in one critical scene: when the Newsnight team convinces Prince Andrew to do the interview . She's played by Charity Wakefield, whom you may recognize from The Great .

Romola Garai as Esme Wren

Garai plays Newnsight editor Esme Wren. Director Philip Martin says of her performance, "She brought a gravitas to it — you know that she needs this interview really badly, you know that it’ll turn things around for Newsnight , but she’s able to bring that all off amazingly."

Emily Burack (she/her) is the Senior News Editor for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, culture, the royals, and a range of other subjects. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma , a Jewish culture site. Follow her @emburack on Twitter and Instagram .

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2024 total eclipse will allow Asheville, WNC, to 'travel to another world,' professor says

As the April 8 eclipse approaches, Western North Carolina's scientists, researchers and educators are gearing up to study the effect of this celestial phenomenon.

While those in the area might not be able to experience the extreme day-to-night change from the eclipse, opportunities to gather scientific data will be plenty, as clouds, animals and insects, among other things, will be studied by WNC researchers during the total solar eclipse.

On April 8 in Asheville, the eclipse will begin at 1:51 p.m.,  according to NASA . Maximum coverage from the eclipse will take place at 3:09 p.m., when the moon will cover most of the sun's disk in the Asheville-area. The eclipse ends at 4:24 p.m.

The region is not in the path of totality, as it was in 2017, said Enrique Gomez, associate professor of physics and astronomy at Western Carolina University. However, those in WNC will still have most of the experience.

In Asheville, residents should expect around 85% of the sun to be eclipsed by the moon, according to Gomez.

While the 85% coverage may not entirely block out the sun, Gomez said those in the Asheville area might feel as though they had travelled "to another world," as the light-level during the eclipse will be similar to that of a planet much further from the sun than Earth.

"It's just going to feel weird," Gomez said.

There won't be another total solar eclipse in North America until 2044, when Montana, North Dakota and Canada will be in the path of totality.

Other eclipse effects include pinhole projections that are created through the gaps between leaves on trees, Gomez said. The pinholes created by the gaps should show the eclipse, he said.

Clouds change, animals may act differently during eclipse

For those attending the eclipse at the North Carolina Arboretum, a free event from 1-4 on April 8, the 434-acre public garden is collaborating with the NASA-funded Eclipse Soundscapes and GLOBE Observer, which will allow attendees to collect scientific data related to the eclipse. Regular parking fees apply during the eclipse.

Theresa Schwerin, Vice President of Education for the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, said the two events offer the opportunity for anyone affected by the eclipse to participate in a "continent-sized project."

Changes in clouds should be noticeable, Schwerin said, where she recalled her recent experience with the October annular eclipse.

"On October 14, when I was looking at an eclipse from my backyard, I was just amazed at how it went from overcast to big cumulus clouds to completely clear," Schwerin said.

At the N.C. Arboretum, attendees will have an opportunity to obtain free NASA eclipse glasses and learn more about the data gathering process, Schwerin said.

Through the GLOBE Observer app, interested participants can collect scientific data, such as air temperature. Once submitted on the app, the data is added to citizen science databases used by scientists to study the eclipse, Schwerin said.

The Arboretum and Schwerin are also partnering with North Carolina State University to help support Eclipse Soundscapes, a NASA-funded program that's capturing how animal and insect activity changes during the eclipse.

Safety, safety, safety

Before the 2017 eclipse, Gomez was doing presentations on the subject when he met a man who suffered severe damage from forcing himself to stare into an eclipse in the 70s.

While the man was not blinded, he did burn his retina.

"It's possible to get permanent eye damage," Gomez said.

If you plan on looking at the eclipse, you  should use solar eclipse glasses ISO rated 12,312 .

Also, options like exposed photographic film or smoke glasses, where individuals might take a lighter to blacken a pair of glasses, are very unsafe to use, Gomez said.

Where to watch the eclipse? Here are a few options:

The  North Carolina Arboretum will hold an event from 1-4 p.m.  April 8 with education sessions and special events. Attendees will have the opportunity to collect scientific data for the NASA funded program Eclipse Soundscapes and receive NASA eclipse glasses to safely view the astronomical event. Regular parking fees apply.

Sylva's Southwestern Community College  will collaborate with Jackson County Early College to view the eclipse alongside food trucks from 2-4 p.m. as the area will see 87% eclipse coverage. Eclipse viewing glasses will be available.

View the  April 8 eclipse at the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute , or PARI, in Transylvania County, to learn more about eclipse research, astronomical artifacts and more during PARI's all day event. The ticket price is $40 for children 12 and under and $80 for adults.

The University of North Carolina Asheville Society of Physics Students  is holding an "Extravagant Eclipse Viewing Day." The event is free, and attendees of all ages are welcome to learn about the physics, astronomy and mathematics behind the eclipse and other astronomical events.

More: View 2024's solar eclipse in Asheville-area dark sky certified park; one of the only in NC

More: What time is 2024 solar eclipse? Best place to see eclipse in WNC? Search your ZIP code

Will Hofmann is the Growth and Development Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Got a tip? Email him at [email protected].   Please help support this type of journalism with a  subscription  to the Citizen Times .

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: NC 2024 solar eclipse researchers to track changes in animals, insects

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Storm Kathleen: Scotland hit by high winds, heavy rain and travel disruption

Flood and wind warnings remain in place, with Sepa warning of ‘real danger to life’ on coastal roads and paths

High winds and heavy rain from Storm Kathleen persisted through Sunday, battering parts of Scotland and Ireland and disrupting travel.

The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) had 18 regional flood alerts and 37 flood warnings in place in Scotland. They have been in force since Saturday.

The Met Office has also issued a yellow wind warning from 9am on Sunday covering parts of the west and northern Highlands, the Isle of Skye and the Hebrides. It will remain in force until 11:59pm.

Winds as high as 73mph were recorded in Drumalbin, South Lanarkshire.

A previous warning stretched from the Scottish Borders to just south of Stirling. It spanned the west coast, throughout much of central Scotland, and ended just short of the east coast.

Janine Hensman, Sepa’s flood duty manager, said: “Across Sunday, we’ll continue to see high tides, storm surges and large waves across coastal areas. This combination is particularly dangerous – especially around high tides. There is real danger to life from wave overtopping, particularly around causeways, coastal roads and paths.

“While the risk is greatest around high tide times, our message is clear: Take extra care if you are near the coast at any point and stay well clear of waves and water. Be careful when travelling around exposed coastal areas and don’t walk or drive through flood water, as there may be hidden hazards.”

She added: “Whilst Storm Kathleen will ease on Sunday evening, another weather system is on the way. Significant flooding from rivers and surface water is possible in southern, central and north-eastern areas on Tuesday, with coastal flooding continuing due to high spring tides.

“Flood alerts and warnings are in place, so stay up to date though our website. We will continue to work with the Met Office to monitor the situation 24/7 and review regional flood alerts and local flood warnings as required.”

The Met Office has warned of potential power cuts, damage to buildings, poor mobile phone coverage and danger to life because of large waves and debris from beaches being thrown on to seafronts. About 34,000 people were left without electricity on Saturday, with a few thousand customers remaining without power overnight, but by Sunday afternoon almost all had had their supply restored.

CalMac, Scotland’s largest ferry operator, cancelled a number of its services and many other ferries were operating on reduced timetables, while others faced potential disruption.

ScotRail also faced a number of disruptions throughout the day, including to its Helensburgh Central and Dumbarton Central services.

However, the services, according to ScotRail, were “starting to return to normal”.

On Saturday, more than 140 flights throughout the UK were cancelled as a result of the storm.

In Ireland, a girl was swept out to sea from the east pier of Dún Laoghaire harbour in County Dublin on Saturday evening. Rescuers were able to pull her out of the water within eight and a half minutes, with a lifeboat volunteer revealing that pockets of air trapped under her coat helped keep her afloat before the rescue.

Andrew Sykes, a volunteer helm with the RNLI, told PA Media that the stormy conditions made the rescue operation difficult.

“With the high winds and storm we were experiencing, with large waves and surge coming off the pier, to get alongside her was extremely difficult,” he said. “She would be pushed one way and we would be pushed another,”

The girl was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Titanic Belfast was forced to close after strong winds damaged part of its roof on Saturday. However, the yellow wind warning covering Donegal, Mayo and west Galway was lifted at 4pm on Sunday.

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