The Big Trip of 2013 (lessons learned - part 3)
WHEW! You made it to the third, and final part, of this blog series! Part 1 outlines what led to this adventure, and Part 2 outlined all the details of where I went on my 5 month solo adventure. Part 3 is all about what I learned along the way as I was planning the trip + traveling ‘with’ myself for 5 months.
The vast majority of my trip was in Europe, but I had to carefully plan the trip to respect stay-limitations that come with countries who are within the Schengen Zone. This is a big topic among long-term travelers, and you can face steep fines if you ignore these rules, so if you have questions drop a note to our Travel Designers for advice.
Traveling months on end is a huge privilege, an opportunity to make friends around the globe, to learn so so much, and a ton of fun! But this kind of travel isn’t the same as spending a week or two on vacation; you have to adjust your expectations, pace and style of travel to make long-term travel sustainable.
I found it helpful to have a focus for each part of the trip (i.e. focusing a specific style of art, foods in a new city, understanding a country’s religious history, etc.) rather than trying to see/do/learn/experience everything I’d want to if I was just there for a two-week vacation and then returned home. At least for me, my capacity to digest the information, navigate all the bookings and transfers, stay safe and alert, keep track of my spending, and trying to stay in touch with friends and family back home was just too much to do all at once. So I needed to slow down, find a focus or two, and carve out time for rest and downtime.
I’m naturally an introvert, but know that I periodically need to plug in to a community for connection. So for me it was important to find small routines (i.e. going to the same bakery every day and seeing familiar faces) joining a group (i.e. a day-tour or meet-up) and scheduling time to connect with friends and family back home were all important.
I also found it helpful to keep the following thoughts and mantras top of mind:
I was traveling “with myself” vs. “by myself”
What does this challenge have to teach me?
Will my future grandkids think I’m really cool when they hear about this?
If I really love this country/city, I’ll just come back. I don’t need to do everything on this one trip.
Just being here, and the work leading up to leaving the comforts of my life in the US, is a huge stretch of my comfort zone. So now it’s time to honor the work done to date, and continue to stretch that comfort zone.
Traveling in this fashion is such a privilege, and a gift to yourself, and the version of yourself that presents itself to friends, family, partners, employers, etc. when you return! If our team of Travel Designers can help you bring a similar trip to life, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Cheers to ‘living big!’
Mary + the Living Big Travel team