One Year of Travel - What have I learnt?

One year ago today I left the UK with two bags and a one-way plane ticket to Bangkok. Travel was my main goal. I wanted to see and experience as much as possible. I quit my job, my apartment in Manchester, my car insurance, my phone bill, everything I had worked for and lusted after for three years was put on hold. Wanderlust had well and truly taken over. Mentally I had prepared myself for being away from home for at least one year. Now that year has been and gone (and it's flown by very quickly too) what have a learned from it all?

Nothing turns out how you expect it

Oh life! You are full of surprises. As much as I try to visit new places with an open mind, I can't help but have a picture built up in my head of how I think it will be. Some things have been more amazing than I could have ever imagined. Some things have been more difficult. It's all a part of the experience.

I didn't expect to be blown away, time and time again, by how beautiful and amazing and breathtaking nature is all over the world. I didn't expect to be so confident riding a motorbike. I didn't expect settling down in Australia to be so difficult, because it's a Westernised country. I didn't expect to be returning to Asia so soon to go and teach English. I didn't expect the Great Barrier Reef to be as bleached as it is :(. I didn't expect that I'd find so much comfort and peace in meditation as I'm such a loud person that's always on the go. Everything is a lesson, a huge learning curve that shapes who you are, what you want, what you don't want.

Learn to look after yourself 

When I left the UK, some people said to me "Enjoy your holiday!" Obviously I didn't correct them because I didn't want to sound like an arsehole and also because I'm sure that they had the best intentions, but I can say it safely in the space of my own blog. I'm not going on holiday! I'm going travelling. I'm going to be living out of a backpack, budgeting constantly, sharing beds and dorm rooms and communal kitchens and bathrooms and goodness knows what else and for how long. It's a lifestyle, and it can get really tiring. Which is why it's okay to give yourself a break sometimes. This might mean just getting a private room for a night or two and relishing in your own space, being able to watch a movie without everyone else commenting on it, or reading a book without having another conversation going on in the background, or having a meal that isn't cheap street food or beans on toast. Get your nails done, get a massage, go have a spa day, whatever relaxes you or chills you out or makes you feel more human - go and do THAT. Don't feel guilty about splashing out every once in a while or recharge your batteries. You need it. You deserve it. 

Stay in your own lane

You meet a lot of amazing people travelling. You also meet a couple of idiots who love to try and "one-up" other travellers, you'll know the sort, their experience was always more interesting, more unique, less touristy, the parties so much wilder, etc. As a new traveller, sometimes this makes you compare your own experiences and think, well maybe I should do this or that. Well, if you want to, great, do it, if you don't, don't. Always do what you want to do, don't feel pushed or shamed into changing your experience. Everybody's is different and that's what makes it so interesting and fun to meet new people and hear their different stories. The beauty of travel is that you can make it fun and amazing and challenging for you, this is your gift to yourself, so remember that and just do you. 

Enjoy it!

This sounds obvious. However, when you are away long-term you can get caught up in the stress of organisation, or the pressure of saving and budgeting. I had to remind myself a few times that I'm only here once and to stop stressing and just relax and enjoy myself.

The tough times will pass

Being away long-term also means that there can be some challenges that you will have to face that you won't necessarily enjoy. For example, the inevitability of homesickness. Since I've been away, I've only been really homesick twice. Once was when I was ill in Cambodia with a parasite infection and all I wanted was my own bed and some familiar surroundings. The second time was at my lowest point in Australia and nothing seemed to be working out. Both of these times the homesickness faded away as the situation changed. It's inevitable that you will get annoyed or tired or homesick or angry at some point when you are away for a long time, but this changes. Home will still be there when you get back, the situation won't stay bad forever, etc. I've learned to take a deep breath and enjoy the ride.

Travelling is the most freeing feeling I have ever experienced. 

From expectations, from routine, from the limitations I had set myself. You make all of the decisions, where you go, what you do that day, when you want to settle down, when you want to move on. Nothing feels like living more than backpacking the world with all of your life crammed into an 80 litre bag. Even with all the difficulties and annoyances and challenges that can get you down sometimes, I can look back on it all and honestly say that I wouldn't change a thing. At the end of the day nothing is holding you back, you have no ties to any place and you can change your life in a heartbeat.