As my Asian trip is about to end, I have got a lot of thoughts about my life and traveling. When people are asking me how many countries I have visited and I’m answering 27, there are so shocked. They are amazed and start asking millions of questions and saying to me: You are living dream life. But the question is appearing: if everything has its costs, what are the costs of this dream life? So, today I will talk about pluses and minuses of moving around and not staying at one place.
To understand me correctly, just take into consideration that I’m not staying at one place. For me 4 months in Korea was like 5 years, just because I really got used to be all around the Globe;) So before talking about bad things, here you are, pluses:
You are developing yourself
- The more you are travelling, the more you are learning. Different cultures, traditions, ways of life. You are observing good and bad sides of every country and then can make your own conclusions. You are talking with people of various profession, social class and characters. You are becoming tolerant: you are not judging, you are just accepting.You are getting this practical knowledge, which one you will not be able to get anywhere. You are out of your comfort zone and here, as everybody is constantly repeating, the miracles are happening. I have noticed on my own example: like one my friend told me “when i first met you, i was thinking that you are 17-18, but when you opened your mouth and started talking I would give you something close to 30 🙂
You are getting a lot of friends
- It’s obvious, right?:) If you are, for sure, not sociopath, you would get a loooot of acquaintances and that means a lot of connections. In every country you will have somebody to ask for the help. Or at least, friend of friend that also can help you:) I can give you example with me coming to Malta: I haven’t known anybody there! But my best friend from Turkey has a friend who has a friend that was studying there:) Long connection, right:)? But it worked! I met this girl and she was extremely helpful and we got a good time!:)
You are becoming more spontaneous and easy-going
- As you are already out of your comfort zone, you are ready to go to the adventure right now! you don’t need to prepare a lot: backpack with toothbrush and you are ready to rock! You are living every day of your life, you are not grey routine mass. Moreover, you started believing in miracles: when you don’t know what can happen today, you are ready for anything to happen, so you are all the time in positive mood:)Â
You are happier
- As i told, you are meeting a lot of people and that’s why you can understand that your problems are not really problems. Can’t find some healthy food in the store? Some people are starving and don’t have anything to eat. Your laptop is shitty and makes you crazy?Some people even have never their own. You are finding happiness in the small things: like ice cream, sunny weather, smile of random person, somebody has hold the door for you and etc. You are becoming this sun that is helping everybody around to believe in good
You are adapting really fast
- For me to feel myself at home is really easy. When you are changing locations all the time, home for sure is the place where you are having some “your stuff”, your memories: a key chain that your bestfriend brought to you, some pictures, your water bottle and etc. You can survive everywhere: you have travelled by so many buses, planes, trains, that you don’t even remember. Nothing is scaring you!
You are becoming decider
- You know that it’s for you to decide: you are the one that should solve your problems. So you are not panicking if some shit has happened. You have a motto: “what happened has already happened. So what i can do with it?” Nothing can take the ground from your feet: you are becoming stronger and stronger with every day!:)
There are more and more pluses, but probably you are already too excited to start this life:) But remember there is a price that you need to pay:
There is no stability
- You don’t know what to be tomorrow, you don’t know what to expect even in couple of hours. Yes, you are enjoying it, but you really want to stop worrying. You are all the time under stress. You came for one adventure and know that you will be here, for example, for 2 weeks, and then what? You should be all the time in search: where to go, how, where to live, where to find funding and etc. It’s difficult to relax: you are doing it for a couple of hours, but then morning is coming and you know that you need to decide. You are the one to decide and sometimes you want somebody do it for you.
You are alone
- Forget about love: you have chosen lonely path. Long distance relationship works only for really really small amount of people. So, when you are falling in love with somebody, you know your time limits. You are trying to enjoy every day and don’t have in your mind this stupid thought: ” i’m leaving in 2 days”. You have broken heart often. Of course, you can close yourself and try not to fall in love, but it’s going in contrast with your attitude to live one day at a time, so you are making these mistakes all the time and hurt yourself.Â
All your close people are at the distance
- Skype, Whatsapp, Facebook and all other means of communication are part of you now. Your friends are all around the world and you can’t gather them all in one place: even if you are visiting one person, you will miss another one. Your heart is torn among a lot of people and it hurts all the time: some of your best friend you are not seeing for years.Â
Goodbyes
- It’s connected with two previous minuses. You should be ready to say goodbye all the time. You should be able to leave places without regrets, friends and lovers. You know that you are going for the next adventure, but it’s painful. You know that you will meet new people, but you don’t wanna leave these ones. I’m all the time trying not to cry and stay strong, but it’s impossible. When you are adapting too fast, you are attaching to people also really fast. They are becoming part of you and then you are taking this part of your heart and leaving somewhere with a hope that you will see each other one day.
It’s not for everybody to have a life of nomad. You are getting a lot, but you are sacrificing a lot. You are having a lot of happiness, but the pain is balancing it at the same time. Think wisely, think twice, are you ready?