Traveling abroad allows you to explore your independence. Don’t have concrete plans? Hope on the train and get off wherever your heart desires. Take photos of everything, ask the locals questions, grab lunch at a place where you don’t recognize all the foods. Experiencing life outside of your comfort zone somewhere allows you learn more about yourself than you can imagine.
Don’t be afraid to try new things, that’s the best part of traveling somewhere new. Check out Pinterest boards dedicated to the destination you’re traveling to, scope travel guides for things to do and see, ask airport customer service or hotel concierge about local things to do (where tourists may not be drawn to) and submerge yourself in the everyday life of the people.
Forget an umbrella and get caught in a storm? Lose your map and have no idea where to go? Take a deep breath and relax, just enjoy the atmosphere of somewhere new. All the things that could go wrong may have gone wrong but some of the greatest memories can came from unexpected moments.
Being alone and abroad is an experience you can’t explain until you’ve lived it. It’s all about tapping into a part of yourself that you may not have known existed. You feel stronger as if you can take on anything in the world. You feel more resilient as if nothing can stop you. You feel more beautiful, more confident, more inspired, more self-assured and it’s wonderful.
Sorry! You may have visited the one place your heart always desired but believe you will have fallen in love with at least 3 other cities or countries you will want to explore too. It’s one of the best parts of traveling. You find yourself getting lost down a rabbit hole of new exploration and self-discovery (it may sound scary but it is absolutely worthwhile.)
Before your travels you probably received a lot of warning about where not to go and what not to do. But you’ll learn the more places you visit, the more people you interact with, the more you experience new cultural practices that people are still kind, patient and understanding. When you approach them with an open mind, they will do the same.