It was in early May of 2013, as I walked around the crowded Pub Street in Siem Reap, Cambodia, bewildered by the light and sound of the backpacking world that was unknown to me at that time.
It was the first time I had ever traveled abroad alone, and it was that moment of leap that introduced me to the travel world, put me on a path that got me out of the rat race, and took me to over 60 countries in the past 7 years.
Now, as I sit here in Bangkok 7 years later, reminiscing about all the incredible times I had with the people I met while traveling around the world, I realize how much I have changed since the first time I set foot into the backpacking world.
As I was looking through some of the old photos from 2013, I cringed every time I saw myself change in front of my eyes. There is something a little disturbing about seeing oneself change through time that I can't quite put my finger on.
Maybe it is the fact that the phrase "people don't change", which we religiously believed throughout our lives, is not actually true. Here, I am almost a totally different person from 7 years ago, no longer recognizing myself in my own photos.
Dear lord! On the left was me in 2013 in India and on the right was me in 2017 in Kyrgyzstan, only 4 years apart.
What change? Well, from appearances, it was pretty obvious that I got a lot skinnier, a little rougher around the edges, and grew a bit of a beard. From the inside, on the other hand, it is a little harder to quantify. But I do know that I have learned a lot about the world from both good and bad experiences (getting my bag stolen in Germany for one). And since I am approaching my eighth year of traveling the world solo, I have decided to put these life lessons into writing. Here are 7 life lessons I learned from 7 years of traveling around the world.
- 1. No Plan Is The Best Plan
- 2. There are Rooms for Both Improvisation and Routine
- 3. It Is Ok to Take It Slow
- 4. Find A Home Base
- 5. Long Term Traveling is a Lonely Lifestyle
- 6. Happiness Is Only Real When Shared
- 7. People Are Unique In Their Own Ways
- Extra. All You Have To Do is Show Up
- Further Reading for Inspiration
1. No Plan Is The Best Plan
One of the most profound life lessons I have learned so far is the fact that having no plan is actually the best plan. I used to be fanatic about planning my journey down to the tee, and every time things went astray (which happens a lot when traveling), I would become so annoyed at both myself and the outcome that it sometimes ruined my entire trip.
The more I traveled, the more I realized that there is no way to experience traveling. I travel because I want to experience the world as it is, not as how I imagined it would be. Traveling requires us to be open-minded, and if we come into a country with preconceptions and expectations, we are just setting ourselves up for disappointments.
That said, in reality, most people, including myself, are stuck with a certain timeframe based either on our vacation days or as long as our passports allow. Having no plan at all might not be feasible for most of us.
The key here is to come up with a rough plan that will give you the flexibility to experience the randomness of traveling while being able to stick to your timeframe. I called this the "Skeleton Plan", a rough plan stripped down to its bare bones, allowing us to stick to a timeframe while having room to improvise when the situation calls for it.
For example, when I was planning to visit Pakistan, I set myself a rough plan to fly into Lahore and simply traverse north along the Karakoram Highway, and I gave myself 3 weeks to do it. I did not know how long I would be in Lahore or how I would be traveling the Karakoram Highway. I just showed up and improvised as I went.
My Pakistani friends (Sara and Zara on the right) who took care of me throughout the long 33 hours road trip from Skardu to Islamabad, Pakistan.
The journey led me to some of the most memorable experiences I have ever had in my life, and none of it was part of my plan. I slept in a cabin in front of Nanga Parbat, the 8th highest mountain in the world. I stumbled upon a herd of wild Himalayan blue sheep off the road towards Khunjerab Pass. I also traveled for 33 hours in a car with 2 lovely Pakistanis on the bumpiest road in the world from Skardu to Islamabad while pretending to be a Pakistani to bypass several police checkpoints. Apparently, with sunglasses on, I can pass as a Pakistani from the Himalayas 😅.
We had to sleep outside that night as the police didn't allow us (me) to pass through Chilas until sunrise. This was us warming ourselves in the early morning in Gilgit Baltistan, Pakistan.
As you can see, once I let my expectations go, my mind was free to interact and engage with the world around me in the way it is supposed to be, with nothing but sheer curiosity.
Time and again, having no plan has proven to be the best plan as I allow the world to take me on a ride through life, instead of forcing it to go my way. If you find traveling stressful sometimes, try not to focus on making the "perfect plan" and instead give yourself room to improvise and see where the world takes you. You might be surprised at where you end up at the end of your trip, as I have been countless times.
2. There are Rooms for Both Improvisation and Routine
As I have been traveling while working remotely for the past 7 years, I have learned a thing or two about being productive while on the road. While having no plan is great for traveling, it is a different story when it comes to being productive.
I found that while traveling unlocks the full potential of my creativity, having a routine I can stick to is what makes me productive. Most of the creative ideas I had came from long bus rides I took while I was traveling. There is something about being in a new environment and having a lot of downtime that makes my creativity run wild.
That said, I can't sit and fully engage with my work while I am on the road, as my mind is often occupied with other more immediate tasks, such as familiarizing myself with a new place or being sociable with the people I meet.
That time when I had to work in a 2000 years old Armenian Church, where we crashed that night after hitchhiking all day from Nagorno Karabakh, a country that doesn't exist. Not ideal but it sure made for a great story to tell.
What I found works best for me is to draw a clear line between work and travel. I often go traveling for a maximum of 3 months, and during that time, I would only make rough notes of things I encounter and ideas I come up with on my phone. I will spend the next 3 months back home and be fully engaged in my work until it is done, and the cycle continues.
This way, I can keep my creative juices flowing without sacrificing my productivity. If you are one of the few lucky people who can work anywhere in the world and find yourself exhausted from work and travel, try to balance it out by drawing a clear line between them.
Keep in mind that the 3-month work/travel routine might not work for you, as people have different preferences. So, it is important that you experiment with the balance to find what works best for you. For me, 3 months is the longest I could go without feeling burned out from traveling or working. Hence, why I came up with the 3-month work and travel routine.
3. It Is Ok to Take It Slow
Have you ever felt guilty about wasting your days doing nothing while you are traveling? I cannot say how many times I have had this feeling of guilt that comes from me being a lazy bum while I am traveling.
I remember spending an entire week in Buenos Aires, doing absolutely nothing but sleeping and staying in my hotel room. During that time, I was so filled with guilt that it made me wonder why and where this feeling was coming from.
From my observation, it seems that this feeling of guilt stems from FOMO or the fear of missing out, which is your mind believing that everyone else out there is doing something more interesting and meaningful than you, while you wasted your life in bed all day. FOMO is also accelerated by the use of social media, and I found that the more I go through my News Feed during this downtime, the more I feel like wet garbage.
Me saying goodbye to Fitzroy mountain peak before leaving El Chalten, Argentina after spending 2 weeks in Patagonia.
In retrospect, no one really cared that I spent an entire week doing nothing in Buenos Aires. Heck, I don't even think my friends knew where I was back then, and this feeling of guilt is just our lizard brain doing its thing.
After 7 years of traveling, I have come to enjoy these downtimes instead of feeling guilty about them. Taking it slow and spending a few days as you would at home is a godsend for long-time travelers and nomads like myself.
I have also come to realize that more often than not, these downtimes were actually called for. Before I ended up in Buenos Aires, I was spending 2 weeks hiking in Patagonia, and it was the last 2 weeks of my 6-month trip in South America, which was more than enough of a reason to take a break and do nothing for a week.
At the end of the day, you want to take a break for a reason, and the feeling of guilt is nothing but your brain tricking you into shaming yourself. Do not fall for it the next time, and do whatever makes you happy! Oh, and stay away from social media!
4. Find A Home Base
As I mentioned in the second point, it is important to draw a line between work and travel in order to sustain the long-term travel lifestyle we all aspire to have. But how do you do that when you are currently in the middle of a long trip, say a 6-month trip in Central Asia? I have found that the best way to travel long-term is to find a base while you are exploring a region and make that place your home.
Back in 2016, I was having a hard time finding where I belonged as I had been going on several 3-month-long trips every year for the past 4 years, being home for less than a month at a time. I often found myself so exhausted from these trips that sometimes I had to force myself to go out and explore.
This is an example of a lovely little community of cheap vodka enthusiasts we formed in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan 😆.
Fast forward to 2017, I decided to experiment with the concept of a home base and made Bishkek, the capital city of Kyrgyzstan, my home for the next 6 months as I explored Central Asia at a more manageable pace. As it turned out, this made all the difference for my trip to Central Asia.
Sophia and Uliana probably made some dirty jokes, as you can see from my reaction 😅, before we said goodbye to each other on a Ferris wheel in Bishkek as I was bound for Moscow, Russia the next day.
As I made Bishkek my home, I was able to quickly make friends with the locals, as well as the expat community there, and create a little community of my own that I could always go back to.
Me and my friends wearing the traditional Afghanistan attire at an Afghan Market in the middle of nowhere in the Wakhan Valley along the border between Tajikistan and Afghanistan.
As a result, I was able to participate and be more engaged in the local community than I would ever have been able to do before. I found myself enjoying my Central Asia trip even more as I could experience Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan at my own pace without having to rush through them.
Me and my friends at a pre-party in Bogota, another home base I made for myself in Colombia. I came back at 6 AM the next morning 😅. They really do know how to party in Bogota!
After years of wandering around, I have finally found the answer to the question "Where is Home?". Home is not one specific place; it is a feeling you have, and it is where you make it to be. If this travel life is exhausting you out, try finding a home base, find your community, and travel the region. Who knows, maybe this home base will be your home forever.
5. Long Term Traveling is a Lonely Lifestyle
There is no denying it, long-term traveling is a lonely lifestyle. When you started traveling, it might not have felt that way as you were experiencing new things with new people all the time, but the more you travel, the more you realize how brief those encounters were and how far you have drifted away from the people at home.
You see, long-term travelers like us are living in this peculiar plane of existence where our lifestyle isolates us from the people at home. While we travelers can connect with each other, we are often connected only briefly before everyone goes their own separate ways.
In the end, we are left with the travel friends with whom we connected deeply but will never see again, and the friends at home who can no longer relate to the lifestyle you lead. Trust me, nothing feels worse than being surrounded by people and yet feeling like you are alone.
Don't get me wrong, I love my lifestyle. Being able to make money doing what I love is one of the best things one can do in life, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. But even if I am fine on my own, sometimes I wish I could share these incredible experiences with someone I know.
My friend Nina showing me around her beautiful home country of Switzerland. We met many years back in Wai-O-Tapu in New Zealand and we still keep contact to this day.
Finding a home base, as mentioned previously, does help quite a bit as you can establish your own little network and community and make wherever you are feel like home. Also, with the growing number of remote work communities as well as the well-established expat communities in capital cities around the world, there is still hope for us long-term travelers to find that deep connection with people that we seek.
6. Happiness Is Only Real When Shared
This passage was made popular by a book, Into the Wild, written by Jon Krakauer. The book is about a guy called Chris McCandless, who believed in living off the land. As he burned all the cash in his wallet, he went into the Alaska wilderness with his rifle, a few winter gear, and a bag full of rice to escape from the meaningless dullness of human eloquence and took refuge in nature.
Four months later, his decomposing body was found in an abandoned bus along the Stampede Trail in Alaska. At the end of Chris's inspiring yet lonely life, one of his last statements to the world was: "Happiness is only real when shared."
Even though he went to the extreme to find out that happiness is only meaningful when it is shared with someone, I did not have to go that far to realize the truth in his words.
Throughout my journey, I have had the opportunity to see some of the most beautiful places in the world, but these places are nothing compared to the people I shared these experiences with. The truth is, a place can only be as unique as the last one you visited, but it is the people you share that moment with who make all the difference.
A blurry but really fun night of beers and card games with friends during downtime in Mindo, Ecuador.
Back in 2016, a trip to hike around the cloud forest of Mindo in Ecuador would have been a regular nature trip for me if I were doing it alone. However, with the people I shared that experience with – all the beers we drank together, all the jokes we made, and all the games we played during our downtimes – recalling such memories doesn't just bring back good times, but also the joy and happiness that we shared among each other.
Our rag-tag group of travel friends on our way to go tubing in Mindo, Ecuador after a night of heavy drinking. Not the best idea 😆!
So, if you want to create a long-lasting memory of your travel, be sure to find great people to share the experiences with, and I can assure you that you will remember that memory more than you remember reading this article.
7. People Are Unique In Their Own Ways
I have met a lot of people from all walks of life throughout my journey. Some people may meet a lot of people and instantly forget about them, but personally, I feel like everyone whom I crossed paths with often leaves a bit of a mark on me.
For some reason, I can always find uniqueness in the people I have befriended on my journey, and it is these endearing quirks and features that always remind me of my time with them.
It is hard not to remember these lovely people I became fast friends with, in Bogota, Colombia.
Maybe it is because I met these people while traveling, which, in a way, helped associate my memory of that person with a place. But this way, it makes me appreciate people in a way that I would never have been able to do if I did not start traveling.
Before this, I would often discard people whose lives do not align with mine, but after 7 years on the road, I have a newfound appreciation and respect for those who are confidently leading their lives in their own unique ways. Heck, I can even admit that this uniqueness, which doesn't conform to any tradition, can be quite charming in a person.
Being a long-term traveler requires us to be open-minded, not just to the different cultures and norms of a place, but also to the people and their differences. To tell you the truth, this is what the world needs right now.
Extra. All You Have To Do is Show Up
Here is a little extra life lesson for you. For all the things you wish to do, all the challenges you want to tackle, but have yet to do so, all you have to do is just show up.
Want to travel solo somewhere? Just book a flight to a neighboring country and show up at the airport. Want to create video content? Just grab your phone, show up at interesting events, and start filming. Want to exercise a bit more? Just show up at the gym every day and start exercising.
Taking that first baby step is all it takes for you to be closer to your dreams. However, frankly, most people often fail at this stage. And sometimes, all you need is a little reminder that all you have to do is simply show up, and you will be on your way to the dream life you seek.
Further Reading for Inspiration
Looking for more articles to help inspire you to travel more? Here is a collection of articles you might like:
- Hiking to the Everest Base Camp is one of the most memorable epic moments of my life. Here's a long-read piece about my experiences hiking to the Everest Base Camp: On My Way To Everest Base Camp.
- Ever wondered what it is like to travel the world on a third-world passport? Check out: Traveling The World On A Third World Passport.
- Here's why I always celebrate turning a year older with a hike: Climbing Kilimanjaro On My 33rd Birthday.
- Are you currently planning a trip around the world and looking for cheap countries to visit? Here are the 13 Cheapest Countries To Visit in the World.
- Traveling in Europe can be cheap, really cheap. These are the 12 Cheap European Countries to Visit.
- Looking for the most beautiful travel blogs to follow? Here are the 24 Most Beautiful Travel Blogs to Follow.
- For adventurers and backpackers out there, here are the 10 Best Adventure and Backpacking Blogs You Should Follow.
- I truly believe we need more Asian representatives in the English-speaking travel blogging industry, especially for blogs about Asia. Here are the Top 10 Kick-Ass Asian Travel Bloggers To Follow.
- Did you know that you can travel without leaving your couch? Here are the 8 Great Travel Books You Should Read.
- For the best travel videos to inspire you to travel even further, here are the 20 Most Creative Travel Videos of All Time.
- If you are looking for travel vloggers to follow on YouTube that aren't cringeworthy, check out: 10 Best Travel Vloggers to Follow on YouTube.
- The best way to improve your photography skills is to learn from the best. Here are the 10 Best Photography YouTube Channels to Follow.
- A photo is worth a thousand words. Here are the 25 Most Beautiful Travel Photos I Ever Took From Around The World.
- Ever wondered what it is like to be a travel blogger during COVID-19? Check out: Being A Travel Blogger During COVID-19 - What Is It Like?
- Looking for off-the-beaten-path destinations to visit this year? Check out: 8 Best Off-The-Beaten-Path Destination to Visit.
- Can't travel internationally for the time being? How about traveling in your own country? Here are the 7 Reasons Why You Should Travel in Your Own Country.
- To find the most inspirational travel quotes and captions to go with your photos on Instagram, check out 34 Short and Unique Traveller Quotes for Instagram.
- We often hear bad stories about locals from travelers, but what about the other way around? Here are some of the Notorious Stories Of Terrible Backpackers.
- If you lost your bag while you were traveling, here is how to deal with the situation: My Bag Was Stolen In Germany.
- Have you ever felt that you do not belong in a place you were born in? Read this: Where Is Home? - My Quest In Search Of Where I Belong.
- People often preach about how important it is to live in the moment, but sometimes, that may not be such a good idea. Here is The Problem With Living In The Moment.
- Want to embark on your first solo trip but not sure where to go? As a long-time solo traveler, here are my favorite places based on real experiences: 10 Incredible Travel Destinations for Solo Travelers.
- Solo traveling is not for everyone, and even though I love it to death, it is not always flowers and sunshine for solo travelers. Here are the 10 Things I Hate Most When Traveling Solo.
- Travel friends come and go, but that may not be such a bad thing. Here is why you should embrace your travel friends: A Life Of Brief Encounters.
- Hiking is life. Here's why: One Year Of Incredible Discomfort - 10 Things I've Learned From Climbing Mountains.
- Here's why having no plan is the best plan: Magical Things Happen When You Have Nothing To Do - The Art Of Doing Nothing.
- Is life getting you down? Here's why you can't always blame life for everything: Life Doesn't Suck. We Are Just Suck At Living It.
- Want to know why I chose to travel alone? Read this: We Travel Alone, NOT To Be Alone.
- For a meaningful solo trip, you need to share it with someone. Here is why Happiness Is Only Real When Shared.
- Traveling is no longer for the rich. Here is why: "People Think I'm Rich".
- The Himalayan Mountain is one hell of a teacher. Here are the 7 Life Lessons The Himalayas Taught Me.
- Want to travel alone but scared that you might get bored out of your mind? Here is How To Enjoy Yourself And Have Fun While Traveling Alone.
- Want to start traveling solo as well? Here is What It's Like to Travel Alone.
- Here is a simple story on how I started traveling: F*ck It, I'll Do This Alone.
- For more inspiring articles like this, visit my Inspiration page.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links.
6 Comments
I've been reading your blog for years. I've always found you so inspiring. The work you put out in your videos, your blog and photography are exceptional. The design of your blog is amazing, the content is great and honest. Keep up your amazing work, I hope you get more recognition to be honest
Good article! Those two initial photos really make an impact! It reminded me of the video "The longest way" from 2008, where Christoph Rehage walks across China and makes a timelapse of how his appearance changes during the journey.
We are all irreversibly changed by traveling, but I find it comforting to remember that we also change the world by visiting remote places and talking to strangers. Even a small change can have a beautiful outcome.
Thank you for the comments and the kind words James and thank you for following the journey! It's been a debbie downer lately with what's happening in the world right now but your comment means a lot! I'll continue to work on the blog to make it even better in the mean time and I'll be reworking on some of my old content and so be sure to stick around! :)
Thanks again! :)
Hey Reine,
Thank you for the comments! Yes, I know that video! Love watching it! Very inspiring and the changes one goes through in accomplishing such a feat is just mesmerizing to watch. My transformation might now be as dramatic but still, I cringe every time I look at my old photos haha.
I wholeheartedly agree with you. Traveling is a 2-way street isn't it? You are an observer as well as a preacher of your own culture to the world. Sometimes, when people travel, all they do is take and take, and forget to give back. What they do not know is that sometimes, when you give back, you may gain more from the experience than you could have imagined and that's what I love about traveling. It emphasizes human connection which is not easy to come by in this modern life we lead.
I'm sure traveling still have plenty more in store to teach me about life and I can't wait to experience it even more for the next years to come... maybe not in 2020 but 2021 and onward! ;)
Thanks again for reading and commenting!
I really enjoy reading your articles. They are very relatable and authentic. Keep up the good work!
Thank you! :)