(Some) Lessons learned traveling and stories along the way

This is a completely random list of thoughts I’ve had during my months of travels around the world in no particular order.

• Learn — from others, reddit and blogs… the more you read, the better your trip can be!
• Book — ahead of time, multiple times events / dinners / hostels / etc became booked up days and sometimes hours before I arrived. At least give a look in advance for availability
• Pack — less, wash more. You will probably wanna buy things and will continue to run out of space in your bag. There are plenty of opportunities to wash your clothes!
• Backpack — don’t use a suitcase… the more you travel, the worse a suitcase becomes. Definitely get one with good compartments that suit your needs and adjust it to fit you best — read the reviews!
• Timezones — just be aware and don’t miss meetings and events because you or your phone weren’t kept up to date!
• SIM Card — IF it is SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper and you will be in a country for a while AND YOU KNOW the service provider is good, then you can CONSIDER buying a sim-card… otherwise, use Airalo e-sim, here is my referral code: Tyler3693
• Cards / Passports: TAKE PHOTOS! You can “hide” them for security in your photos album, but it’s super common to lose them so having a photo is great backup
• Card backups— just like photos, also good to have backup cards for credit and debit. Mine got taken at a restaurant and it was a mess getting it back.
• Card expiry — make sure your cards / licenses aren’t set to expire before you think you’ll return!
• Check schedules ahead of time… buses and trains aren’t always perfectly aligned and sometimes you’ll be running depending on the country. For example, Switzerland, ALWAYS on time, whereas Greece was NEVER on time.
• Look both ways when crossing the street depending what country you are in this could be extra important… Not every country drives the same directions or has the same traffic laws!
• Finish work ahead of time and go with a clear conscious — this is true of every trip you take ever! Leave work at home if you can, but also remember that some areas have really bad wifi, so you may just be out of luck.
• Read and write! When else will you? You have plenty of downtime
• Good walking shoes — this is obvious especially if you are packing lightly, I got allbirds and loved them! They didn’t survive the hikes but for everything else highly recommended. I have been wearing “Vessi’s” which offer a waterproof version and they have been great!
• Talk to your host for Airbnb — they might give you great advice and maybe even party with you!
• Wear sunscreen — self-explanatory, get the face cream from CeraVe!
• Find balance — between taking the lead so you can set the pace and following to relax and enjoy the moment, it’s okay if you and your travel buddies aren’t always in lockstep
• Be okay with change — I found a way to get tickets to Tomorrowland in Belgium when I was in the South of Italy and completely changed the next 2 months of my itinerary in order to go
• Take calculated risks: I was previously afraid of heights, but far less after my travels. I started with small cliff jumps into the ocean, increasing the height each time until I reached 14 meters! Even better — I ended the adrenaline rushes with bungee jump, a long time fear, which ended up being one of the coolest things i’ve ever done in my life.
• Spend money — it’s super easy to say, but if you saved up to travel, make the most of it
• Plan a healthy amount, figure out what books up, but stay flexible. Super rigid schedules often cause more stress, figure out what works for you. Multiple times I have met people who had a plan when I did not, and I just went along with them. In fact I signed up to travel with 2 guys I met indefinitely because we all wanted to do the same trek in the south of Patagonia.
• Do research — from many sources, often the best ones is from the people you meet who just did what you are thinking about!
• Take a deep breathe — Know things don’t always work exactly as expected — you’ll miss some trains, waste some time, look at big picture, don’t let small inconveniences ruin your trip!
• You don’t have time for everything — not everything goes as planned and sometimes you overbook, stay positive and save it for a future trip rather than regret what you didn’t get to, there’s always tomorrow and now an excuse to return!
• Take time to yourself — when you travel with others its super easy to forgot the importance of some time to yourself. One day I went on a long hike, caught up with some friends on the phone along the way, ended up at a spa overlooking the mountain and spent hours there!
• Don’t check the boxes — if you travel just for this, then you won’t be able to enjoy your travels, especially when resources are limited. Prioritize where you think you will have the most enjoyment.
• Look for hidden gems — through conversations and deep nested blogs, my friend discovered a very discrete mountain hike called Saxer Lucke in Switzerland, which ended up being one of the most beautiful landscapes i’ve ever seen in my life.
• Take notes! People love to share and the more you give the more you get in return allowing you to have more informed travels in the future, that’s why I blog and save everything in notes and google maps! Pay it forward, there is no greater feelign then being able to share or even exchange in the future with people you meet.
• Ask for recs — what better recommendation could you get then from someone who just came from the place or activity you’re going to. In hostels, you’re lucky to meet these type of people so don’t be shy — this is how we found numerous activities to do!
• Emergency electrolytes — random, but a good thing to have packed!
• Figure out what you wanna get out of the trip: I wanted to conquer my fear of heights and adrenaline activities and did flying activities, canyon swinging and bungee jumping. I also wanted to learn more about my travel style, learn how to work remote, learn how to travel and train (fitness), and so much more!
• Take time to reflect: on the previous point, decide if you’re getting out of your trip what you want and if not make some adjustments, why wait to the end when it’s too late?
• Use tile / AirTag / tracking device — putting these in backpacks / on wallets / passports can save you lots of trouble!
• Get a colored backpack or luggage cover: stands out way more and helpful if your luggage is lost, easier to find; some backpacker bags have them built in. Also helps you differeniate which is good because backpackers sometimes take the wrong one!
• Physically collect memories — find something you like to collect — its part of memory making — for me it was was patches I plan to sew on a bag!
• Have backup snacks: find some that don’t go bad and don’t melt like granola and keep for real emergencies — also good to have protein bars in case you’re on hikes between meals
• Be okay with not doing everything: there’s only so much time, energy, money, etc. and you can’t do everything — sometimes you just gotta say no and if it’s really important try to do it next time. In fact if you try to do too much you might not enjoy things as much and you gotta see if it’s worth it
• Blog and take notes — everyone will ask about your trip and it’s nice to easily have those memories saved somewhere. Here we are now!
• Ask for advice from fellow travelers and locals — some of our best experiences were spur of the moment and ideas we received from others
• Join the culture — so many times I have had better experiences when I was able to communicate or was knowledgeable about a country or its culture. It means the world to locals and only requires a little bit of effort. When I was in Brazil I sought to learn Portuguese, which allowed me to have a more native experience.

This is but a small list of the memories and notes I took along the way from the lessons i’ve learned. I plan to keep working on these on the future, as every trip offers unique opportunities to learn and grow as a person and as a traveler.

As always, thinks for reading and stay tuned for the next journey!