You are about to chase the world, chase adventure, and chase pain. You might come back, you might not. You will explore ancient temples and run around with gelato in one hand and an Italian lover in the other (hopefully)! You will learn to believe that luke-warm is no good, and that culture and street food and local people are the essence of experience. You will laugh like hell, and cry even harder. You will get homesick, carsick, bus sick, and lovesick. But, most of all – you will live passionately, taking one step at a time into the beautiful unknown.
You will realize it’s not all going to be like the postcards, that people might disappoint you, places may steal your heart, people may steal your camera, and you will come to learn the fact that nothing will ever compare to the deep fulfillment of traveling to foreign lands.
And, for the inevitable times of trouble, tuck these suggestions deep into your badass, backpacking soul:
Don’t be afraid to let your guard down for the right humans
Travel is all about letting people in. Shutting people out might keep you safe and unbroken, but what good is unbroken and unlived. The best moments of your journey won’t be the brightest, they won’t come as expected – but will instead arrive at 3 am with a bottle (or five) of red wine and strangers who barely speak a word of English. They will sneak up on you as the sun is setting on a day filled with motor biking and being immersed in a culture that scares you. These are the moments you will learn to live for without even knowing it.
Embrace your beautiful mess
‘Be lived-in’ on the road. Traveling messy means living unexpectedly, it means spur of the moment decisions, and the ability to change the itinerary you showed up with. It means last minute flights and trips with people and places that will unexpectedly take your breath away. This is the experience of a lifetime, being engulfed by the beautiful mess of the world and everyone in it.
Stay wild in your own way
You must learn to love yourself and take care of yourself at the end of the day. You will learn to trust yourself, because there is no other option – no plan B or C or D unless you create it. You will obsess over all the places and faces you leave your heart in, but don’t ever forget the one staring back at you in the mirror, she’s priority number one.
Realize rejection is part of the plan
Rejection means you’re reaching higher, stretching your soul past its limits. It means maybe the reason you didn’t get that visa to India, or land a job in your dream country is because you were meant to be somewhere else – to touch other places with your bare toes. Whatever pushes you away is really pushing you towards something more suited for you. Rejection will reiterate your passion, it’s a second chance at where you really should be.
Know it’s all going to be incredible
No, not all the time. Traveling highlights the human condition: it is filled with highs, times filled with so much joy it spills out of your eyeballs, and lows – days that will exhaust you, and drag you down. You must take the time to breathe, realize that tomorrow will be brighter, and if its not – you must know you have the ability to move wherever you want, and that is the most incredible part.
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