Things I have learned from travelling (solo)

When I first started travelling I had no idea where it was going to take me. All I had was this great and overwhelming desire to move my feet and see the world, if I am honest I didn't really have a plan or do an incredible amount of research. The words of those around me back home were either tinged with negativity and doubt or overwhelming excitement and my own nervousness was clawing at the back of my mind but on the road, I have never felt more contented and happy than I have in the last several years of my life.

Travelling has a way of showing you what really matters in life and travelling solo teaches you lessons you would never have learnt if you hadn't had booked that ticket. It has changed me in this short period of time already and this is what is has taught me;

It is OK to be yourself. 

I'm not saying I was never myself back home but I always felt like a fragmented version of myself. There were very few people I felt I could be my true self around and I always had a guard up as, like some people will agree, I felt I had been hurt by those I considered close to me before. Travelling has made me be truer to myself and realise it's OK to not try to please everyone else at the sacrifice of my own happiness.

You cannot please everyone all the time.

I definitely try to please as many people as possible and this used often came with the reparation of my own time or at personal cost. For me it is in my nature to want to please everyone, but I have had to come to accept that you cannot please everybody 100% of the time, you can only do your best sometimes that won't be good enough for some people but so long as you know you tried you have nothing to be worried about. I now spend less time than I used to worrying about what people think of me and more time musing about where to go and what to do next.

You will make families wherever you are.

Travelling solo you are never really alone. You will meet people and make friends, some will be there for a few weeks and others for a few hours so there is never much opportunity to feel lonely. You develop families in every place you go. For me I have had my East Coast Family, Tour Family and Farm family so far and that's only after travelling for 6 months. These people do genuinely feel like a family away from home. You support each other through the good times and the bad, through the laughter and the tears. You will fight like siblings and then in the way that only siblings can be best friends again 10 minutes later.

Help comes from the most unexpected of places

It's a great idea to always keep hold of any contact you make, no matter where you meet them or how long for because help will always come from the place you least expect it. When I was searching for my regional work I set off a quick message on Facebook out of frustration and I had an inbox message back from someone I had onto spent 2 days with 2months before saying I could join her on a farm she was heading to. Travellers love to help other travellers and some have bigger hearts than others and will almost literally go out of their way for you. 

You are stronger than you realise, and you get over things quicker than you anticipate.

You never know quite how much you can take until you are on your own, on the opposite side of the world, with no one but yourself to rely on. Sometimes you come out laughing and sometimes you come out broken but what is amazing is how quickly you can recover after sitting yourself down and saying "pull yourself together". Travel will make you twice as resilient as you thought you could be. 

Laughter is essential

If you can't laugh about a situation what can you do? You will go through so many different experiences some good, some bad and some just weird but if you laugh it off, even if it takes you a day to do so, it will make the experience so much more enjoyable for yourself.

Things won't always go to plan but sometimes the bad things can be good.

While not everything will go to plan it doesn't mean that the bad things that happen to you along the way or that stop your plans from happening are always bad. I am a firm believer in everything happening for a reason and that if something isn't meant to be it won't but it may lead you to better things. Keep an open heart and don't plan on sticking to a regimented plan and just see where the world takes you. For better or worse it will be an amazing journey.