Over the past 5 years I have travelled A LOT! I spent 2 years travelling through Asia and Australia and now I travel somewhere new at least once a month. I’m incredibly lucky and I love the travel lifestyle/career that I’ve chosen but I have a travel secret to share with you: I’m terrible at travelling.
Yes, even after years of travelling, I’m still not very good at it. I enjoy every minute of travelling and I love writing about my travels and sharing my travel photos but I’m pretty useless at the actual travel part.
Here are a few examples.
I always blow my budget
Most of the time I don’t actually have a budget in mind but when I do, I always end up blowing it too quickly. My designated travel money seems to disappear from my pockets before I’m even half way through my holiday. I try to cut back on expenses, alcohol and expensive trips but there is always a little voice in the back of my head that says, ‘You only live once and you may never come back here ever again! Go on girl, have fun!’ And before I know it, I’ve not got a penny to my name.
I always get lost
It’s a running joke between my family and friends about how I was born without a sense of direction. They say it as though a ‘sense of direction’ is an organ or some kind of internal compass that ensures you always know which way to go and, unfortunately, it’s something I don’t have. To put it into perspective, I can walk into a shop on the high street and when I walk back out I forget which direction I’m meant to be walking in. If I can get lost on a long, straight high street, imagine what I’m like in a new city!
I always over-pack
Every time I go away I promise myself that this time I will pack light. This time I will have a backpack that I can lift over my head. This time I won’t lug around 15 outfits that I will never wear. OK, maybe next time…
I always take too many clothes, accessories and toiletries ‘just-in-case’ because you really don’t know who you’re going to meet when you travel!
I always wing-it
I really admire the kind of travellers who buy a guidebook months before they visit a new destination. They thoroughly research all the things there are to do, the amazing places to stay, the local delicacies they should try and the best places to get stunning photography. Despite my best intentions, I never quite get round to doing all this research and usually arrive in a destination knowing very little about it.
So there you have it, I’m a terrible traveller but somehow, all these faults usually lead to me having an amazing trip. Yes, I spend too much money but I spend it on unforgettable experiences. I might get lost but I usually end up finding something amazing in an unexpected place. I do overpack but I’ve always got a spare pair of shoes/jeans/earrings/gloves for anyone that forgets! And maybe I don’t plan but it means I end up chatting to the locals to find out the best things to do and I usually end up avoiding the tourist traps that guidebooks recommend.
Now it’s your turn, what are your travel confessions?
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