Woohoo! It’s officially been over 2 years of full-time travel… And right now, I feel like I’m only getting started…

Two years of travel surprisingly hasn’t seen many (if any) low moments… I’ve never had things stolen. I’ve never missed a flight. I’ve never had my bags lost by an airline. All the people I sit next to on the plane have been lovely. I haven’t contracted some deadly disease (well, that I know of).

They say you learn the best lessons once you’ve experienced the shit end of the stick. I haven’t had to see that end of the stick yet. Call me lucky!

So rather, these lessons learned are from everything I’ve observed during my travels, and from all the good things that have come into my life since then. So, here we go…

1. There’s no right way about it

One thing I noticed was that people assumed there was a ‘right’ way to travel. I started out thinking the same. People pride themselves on only traveling with a carry-on, or only visiting destinations where the tourist population is <17. Cool, that’s great. But if you don’t wanna travel like that, that doesn’t make you any less of a ‘traveler’. Our preferences in regard to travel definitely develop and change over time. There’s not cookie cutter way to go about it.

2. You have something to learn from everyone you meet

Sometimes its hard for me to open up and initiate conversation with strangers. But 90% of the time I learn something valuable from them. Whether it be something about a destination I want to go to, or something that relates to my work etc. There’s something to learn from everyone if you put yourself out there and make the effort to have these moments and engagements. Reading the Celestine Prophecy only confirmed this for me!

3. Planning can get in the way.

There’s a bit of a trade off with this. I started off traveling by being a serial planner. I liked to know what my months ahead were going to bring otherwise it would stress me out. Now… I’m the opposite. Like right on the other end of the spectrum kind of opposite. I can happily not have a clue where I might sleep that night or know where I’ll end up the next day. Having no plans gives me the ability to take up new opportunities that come my way. I don’t have to turn things down because I have other plans set in motion etc. When traveling, plans change all the time, unexpected things happen, the people you meet may influence what you decide to do next… Natural disasters might come and screw everything up haha. It’s all part of it!

4. But not planning can be expensive.

BUT in saying that… It can be a little more expensive just following your nose as you go along. Sometimes one way tickets are more expensive than returns. Booking last minute flights and hotels end up costing more than if you had grabbed that deal a couple months back. Finding a balance takes time, but when it comes to travel and having new experiences, there’s no regrets. Take it as it comes.