When you think of travel, you probably think of having the time of your life in some new adventure, right? While travel can lead to fantastic experiences, I’m here to talk about what people don’t talk about – when travel gets hard.
Planning can be stressful.
There’s so much to know and learn about a place. It can get stressful. I’m trying to plan my trip to Thailand right now, and there are just so many resources to sift through that it’s hard to figure out what I want to do. Not to mention, spending the kind of money that you spend while traveling can be stressful too. If you’re traveling in a group or even with just one other person, it can be stressful trying to make everyone happy too.
Sometimes it might not live up to your expectations.
Going along with trip planning, you probably want your travel experience to be a great one. You probably have high expectations for it, but having these high expectations can be stressful. Things happen, and nothing ever goes 100% the way you’ve planned. In going someplace new, you’ll never really know what to think of the place until you’re physically there yourself.
You might get lonely.
Especially with solo travel, it can be very easy to get a little down and feeling lonely. I remember spending about three full days in Bilbao, Spain and starting to feel a little bored, sad and lonely during part of my trip. This is a completely natural feeling.
But in the end, it’s all okay because you’ll always learn something.
While you might not want to feel some of these things, they’re bound to happen sometimes while traveling. Keep an open mind and accept them, and everything will be ok. No matter what happens while traveling, you’ll always learn from the experience and grow as a person.
Keep an open mind, try not to let obstacles upset you too much, and you will have a great experience.
To really make the most of the experience and to enjoy your travels even more, you need to keep an open mind. Don’t get too connected with your plans. Go with the flow, enjoy the moment, and you’ll have a great time.
Have you ever experienced some hard times while traveling? How did you get through them? Please share in the comments below.
Definite obstacle story: I hardly ever get sick. Last year, when I visited Washington DC, of COURSE I came down with my worst cold/flu in recent memory. I was so bummed! When I travel I try to cram every hour of the day full with something amazing. Taking a day off to pound meds, sleep and get over the *worst* of my cold was crucial, even though I missed out on some sights. It was so hard, but I was able to enjoy the second half of the trip more than if I had tried to push through.