Less is more: changing my travel style
So, two things happened in my life last year. Firstly, I started saving a decent amount of money at my first job and secondly, I gained the courage to travel alone. I was so eager to see the world - I was desperate to be in this place.. and that place too! I was that person asking for advice on jam packed itineraries on reddit lol. My urge to see everything led me on whirlwind trips to 18 countries throughout the year - my dream, right?
But I felt so guilty for not enjoying it to the fullest. Sure, I saw so much and I am extremely grateful for my experiences and they have changed me, but I also spent lots of time stressed / tired / recovering from culture shock. For example, I had my first experience in Egypt then flew to Rio a week later and I had a really hard time adjusting (I know many people won't think these countries invoke culture shock but I was not a very experienced traveller). It wasn't until I actually sat down for 2 weeks in one place that I realised that I was having more intimate, memorable, captivating experiences by just staying enough time in one place. I actually experienced a culture, I had deep and heartfelt conversations with new friends, I learnt the basics of the language: the kind of experiences most people travel for.. the kind of stuff that I wasn't ever going to get out of a whirlwind trip. I started to realise that fast travel and counting countries looked good on my passport but it wasn't the type of travel that allowed me to grow, nor the kind of travel that was bringing me into the present moment or substantially altering my view of the world.
By the end of the year, I was honestly pretty burnt out and ready for a new style of travel. Therefore, I ended up deciding on a 5 month hiatus from everything travel and man I am stoked to get back out there... except this time I only plan to visit one country for 2 months! We'll see where the year takes me but I'm excited to take things slowly and be able to experience the most in one place. I am lucky to be so privileged so I hope you guys do not see this post as ungrateful, but rather a realisation of how I can get more out of my adventures. Also I realise this kind of travel is not practical for everybody, but I have a lot of holidays as I work in education.
TLDR: went on some whirlwind trips and realised that slow travel offers me much more!
Submitted April 09, 2019 at 07:49PM by ImpressiveLibrary0 http://bit.ly/2uVhsvp
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