Typical tourist destinations only scratch the surface of what you seek. You prepare for your travels by learning the language of your next destination, you eat at local restaurants and get around via the most common mode of transportation.
It’s a part of being adults. But some of them, simply don’t care to maintain a friendship with a person who is always on the go. I know this, because they went missing the day I left. I have to face this fact, and if you’re a long-term traveler reading this, so do you.
Do you really want to spend the rest of your short precious life doing morning commutes and paying bills for a house that you’re barely in because you’re too busy working to pay it off? The appeal and allure of consistency and “safety” are almost too good to resist. But don’t let fear of change or of the unknown paralyze you.
I’m not ready for that kind of routine. I’m not ready for mortgage payments or that huge loan. I’m not ready to sign my name on a birth certificate. I’m not ready to tame my wanderlust. No, I’m not ready. I’m not ready at all.
Social media matters less. Material goods matter less. You spend less time maintaining weak relationships and more time building new ones. In other words, you focus on who and what is important.
We want to seize the day in as many places as possible. We want to drink the sun and bask in the vastness of the world as it is, if only for a little while.
Myth: You have to stop working to travel. There are tons of ways to make money while on the road to prolong your time abroad.
Simple problems have simple solutions. You can work while you travel. It’s much easier than you think.
I know there are dangerous and desperate places and people in the world, but we shouldn’t let the actions of a few change our views of the many, especially with regards to travel.
There are truly no words to describe how incredible it is to be fully immersed in an entirely foreign culture. But home is where the heart is, and sooner or later, no matter how much fun and growth we experience, we begin to miss the place(s) we know best.