I don’t know about you, but I’m always learning (and I pray I never stop). And in my opinion, there is nothing you can’t learn something from, especially traveling. While I’m the furthest thing from an expert (trust me), I’ve learned a lot from traveling – arguably some of my biggest life lessons.
I think it’s important to learn from other people. Maybe I’ll look back in twenty years at the youthful messages I’m sharing or maybe I’ll look back with thankfulness that I learned these lessons early. Either way, I can’t keep what I’ve been learning all to myself.
So, here are all my thoughts through my 21 years of adventure (so far) all wrapped up.
1. Overprepare for things, then sit back and go with the flow.
2. You’ll always adapt.
3. You don’t, won’t, and can’t know everything, learn to be okay with it and embrace it.
4. Nothing ever goes as planned, learn this and learn it well.
5. Sometimes, being alone is better than being around bad company. Learn how to be your own best friend, but don’t isolate yourself.
6. Don’t be afraid to ask, people are more willing than you think.
7. It’s your life, so take control of it, you’re only going to get out what you put in. So take risks, do the hard things, don’t be afraid to try new things.
8. Generosity drives happiness and a grateful heart is the key to a full heart.
9. You can’t control everything, so focus on what you can and go from there.
10. Getting up early often beats staying up late when it comes to traveling.
11. Everyone’s journey in life looks a little different so try not to compare yours to someone else’s. And more importantly, learn to appreciate what your journey looks like.
12. There is no such thing as being too kind. Hold the door, say thank you, offer your seat, play ball with the kids. Everyone can afford to offer some kindness and everyone at some point needs it in return.
13. And with that, small gestures make big impacts, don’t disqualify a small act because you don’t see its impact.
14. Just because it’s different than you planned, doesn’t mean its a bad thing. Some of my favorite moments were the ones that happened on accident.
15. The small moments almost always end up being the highlights.
16. You choose what you see, so choose the important things. Sometimes, that means seeing the beauty in things. Sometimes, it means choosing to see the brokenness and pain in a situation. But don’t ever choose not to see the important things.
17. Traveling is ALWAYS worth the money, even if it doesn’t always seem like it.
18. Family comes in all forms.
19. Prioritize those personal conversations with people you meet and be genuinely interested.
20. Smile and smile often, they are universal and more importantly, they are contagious. I’d rather be the one passing off a smile, than the one passing off a frown.
21. Never afraid to be wrong.
22. People only know what you let them see, so be open.
23. Sometimes it’s worth spending a bit more (like for a clean bed) and sometimes it’s worth just being more generous (like people you haggle on the street over $.50 with).
24. Always leave on a good note: hotels, homes, people. Always leave something better than when you got there.
25. Your experiences are often dictated by your attitude, “life is only 10% of what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.”
26. Don’t sweat the small stuff, rarely does it really matter as much as you think.
27. You can’t do it all, so pick something and commit to it.
28. Places away from home will start to feel like home and home will never feel the same.
29. When you rush, you miss things. Slow down a little.
30. The food is always worth it.
Like I said, I’m no expert. And who knows, maybe there won’t end up being life lessons. All I know for sure is I won’t stop learning, these are just a few lessons I’ve learned along the way.
I’m curious, what are life lessons you learned traveling?
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