What I’ve Learned from Traveling Full Time

Exactly one year ago, I found myself seriously facing the decision to either follow my newly-found passion for traveling, or pay rent. I couldn’t do both, because I literally only had enough money for one or the other. Since it had taken me twenty seven years to even discover this passion, and a full year after that to convince myself I could travel longer than two weeks, I ended up saying f**k it, and opting for Asia over my studio apartment in West Hollywood.

It was more than just my sudden wanderlust that fueled the decision though. At twenty eight years old, I found that I wasn’t nearly as fulfilled with life as I thought I would have been back in college. I didn’t have that token perfect relationship, and I was FAR from having a ring on my finger or dare I say, a child. I still felt like a child myself, and I knew part of that was because I never got the opportunity to travel when I was younger.

I always kind of just expected that all of our lives would fall into the same routine pattern, so when mine didn’t, I started to wonder what on Earth I was supposed to do next. It made me feel like I had failed for some reason, and that feeling made me unhappy.

All I could really think of that I knew would make me happy, was to go out in the World and figure out what did. It wasn’t exactly considered “normal” for someone “my age” to just drop everything and go travel, but spoiler alert, one month turned into one year, and now I’m sitting on a white pebble beach in front of the crystal clear Adriatic Sea in Croatia, with a random cat laying behind me getting ready to tell you exactly what happened…

Cue the “Gap Year”. Well, in my case, and “Adult Gap Year”

What is a gap year? If you aren’t familiar with the term, it’s probably because the gap year doesn’t exist in the U.S. Actually, it only exists in Australia and a few places in Europe, but something like it is encouraged in many other countries as well.

A gap year is when students take the year off in between high school and college to travel on their own or with friends. It’s not to party or go crazy, like most of us do the second we leave home and get to college; it’s to find themselves, learn responsibility, and discover how many possibilities are in this world.

I definitely did not get that when I was younger, as I’m sure many of you didn’t as well. I didn’t even get to travel on vacation with my family because we were poor, but even so, it’s not like I was encouraged to do so in school.

So, feeling like I needed to really experience more of this world and in my life, I put my things in storage, made a plan, and left.

Yes, it was Terrifying to take the Leap

As I mentioned, I had to put all of my stuff in storage, something I’ve never done since I’ve had my own apartment since I was seventeen. That being said, I was also technically “homeless” for the first time ever, which of course was beyond terrifying at first. I also had to find a place to park my car, and ask friends to baby sit my extreme #attatchmentissues dog. I worried beyond belief that when I left I’d lose everything, that my friends would forget me, and that somehow, I’d miss something in LA.

But a month passed and I hadn’t had enough. I still had money left from what I had saved for months, and was making a steady income from online freelance work and being a digital nomad. When the second month came near and I had to make the decision again, I opted for a month in India over paying for rent and a deposit on a place in back home in LA. Since I was “in the area”, I figured why not make it Sri Lanka and the Maldives too? Both of which I did on an extreme budget.

I Opened Up to Opportunities, and they Came

I’ve always been what I like to call an “outgoing introvert”. I like to be around friends, but I also like to be alone, and get things done on my own, and was always convinced I didn’t need anyone else to help me.

Well, when you travel alone for so long, you start to open up to the thought of meeting people and letting them help you. The second I changed my mindset, was when I met someone who actually ended up traveling with me to four countries. (Yes it was a steamy foreign love affair, but I’ll get to that another time).

Aside from that little foreign fling, I also opened up to the opportunity of meeting locals in almost every country I traveled in. I wanted to learn as much as possible from their perspective, and from that I learned more than I’ve ever learned in school about people, cultures, religion, politics, history, and the world in general.

I Got Used to a Minimalist Lifestyle

Throughout my entire adult gap year, I traveled with a carry-on sized bag, and a tote bag. I never once got anything out of my storage unit (not that I’d have anywhere to put it), and would only shop once a month when I would switch out my wardrobe. The clothes I had been previously wearing all get donated to a local in whatever country I finally decide to go shopping in.

I learned how to make outfits look different with accessories, and that I really don’t need more than four pairs of shoes. I also learned that I only need about five pieces of makeup, and ever since I limited myself to that amount, I’ve been told I even look younger! I also got used to, and am very good at buying groceries at local markets; even if I have to take a few extra seconds to convert the price or translate what something is.

This type of lifestyle also made me extremely healthy, and I can tell a clear difference than from when I wasn’t traveling full time. I never get sick when I travel because I make sure to eat right (the only times I’ve been sick in the past year were during two trips back to the U.S.), and I’m more in shape because I choose to walk everywhere…even if that’s mostly to save money…

But Maintained my Adult Comfort

I won’t lie, there’s a 0% chance that I would sleep in a shared dorm in a hostel, or couch surf. I’m a grown ass woman who makes a good income on her own, so you better believe I’m going to travel with certain standards.

To be fair…I will book a private room in a hostel, and sleep on a couch if it’s a friend…and I really do love camping, so I’m not entirely snobbish when it comes to where I stay. But most of the time I do a really good job at finding last minute deals online for decent and even really nice hotels…even if some times they’re all sold out and I have to opt for a scary place.

I’ll also treat myself to a nice lunch or dinner now and then. I don’t think I should have to miss out on the luxuries of nice dining just because I don’t have anyone to take me out! I’m actually super proud of how confident I’ve gotten with eating out alone…”Just one?” “You’re damn right just one!” Although it’s hard to really stay alone once people realize you are…if you know what I mean.

I Was Never Afraid to say No

Part of me being comfortable as an adult is knowing exactly when I do and don’t want to do something. Not going to lie again, I am all partied out from my younger years, and the last thing I ever want to do is go out to a nightclub, especially when I’m traveling, so I always just say no to that one. Part of actually maintaining your energy and saneness while traveling full time is making sure you balance rest, work, and travel, and to try to make your life as normal as possible while on the road.

I’ve also learned to easily say no to peddlers, promoters, all-to-charming men, etc., which has really helped in my normal life, especially with decisions I want to say yes to, but I know I really should say no to…that mostly applies to men, business, and dessert.

I Learned How to Adapt to Any Surrounding

One thing I can distinctly notice after traveling full time for a year, is that no one can ever guess where I’m from. That’s because when I travel, I immediately adapt to the culture, customs, and local life, mostly because it just makes everything easier. As I said, it’s important to try to make your life as “normal” as possible when you know it’s not normal at all.

Before I took my adult gap year, I worried non-stop about what it was going to be like in another country, and so far away from home. Now I show up and assume chameleon mode, which also makes things a lot more interesting.

I Checked off a Bucketlist I Never Knew I Had

The bucket list I do have basically just includes “travel the world” and “get to Antarctica”. But during my adult gap year I found myself constantly thinking, “I’ve always wanted to do that”, then doing it, and then adding it to my bucketlist just so I could check it off.

Aside from traveling to almost 40 countries in a year, which I was NOT expecting to do at all (remember, I was only supposed to be gone one month), I had a lot of other firsts as well. Most of them were things I thought were too late to do since I was already almost thirty and an adult, but low and behold, I did them anyway, and couldn’t be more satisfied.

I got scuba certified and dove in five different countries including Egypt, the Maldives, Indonesia, French Polynesia, and the Bahamas. I learned to drive on the opposite side of the road in New Zealand, and live out of a camper van. I learned “hello, how are you, please, and thank you” in about ten different languages. I bungee jumped, and also cliff jumped…way too many times to count. I climbed to the top of a tree in the Amazon rainforest, after swimming in the Amazon river with pink dolphins. I swam with Manta Rays in the wild in Indonesia, and also hung my feet over a volcanic crater lake. I chased so many damn waterfalls that people are starting to ask me when I’m going to make a coffee table book with all of the photos.

I completed my list of visiting all 7 World Wonders, a huge achievement for me; and perfected the art of getting a photo in front of each one with absolutely no people in them. I became inspired, encouraged, and ambitious to see more, do more, and be more, not just for me, but for the people I was showing my new lifestyle to.

I Now Have a Solid List of Big Goals

After accidentally traveling full time for a year, mostly solo (AKA an adult gap year) and achieving as much as I did, my list of life goals has not gotten shorter. It has basically grown from being the size of a lizard to the size of a dinosaur, with the aggressive behavior to match.

I will not be ending my adult gap year, and I will not be immediately returning to LA to get another apartment. I’m going to keep traveling, because the most important thing that I’ve discovered, is that this is what I feel like I was meant to be doing in life, so I’m just going to go ahead and do it.

I want to encourage people to travel and learn about other cultures through my posts and group trips. I want to implement a “normal” gap year program into high schools in the U.S. I want to create products that help, and publish books that inspire. I still want to go to Antarctica, but I assume I’ll do that this year…so I’ll go out on a limb and say I also want to go to the Moon.

Most importantly I want to feel free and happy and like I can do anything that I want to if I put my mind to it. Thanks to this adult gap year, I truly feel like I have that now. I may have risked a lot; a home, a relationship, friends, family, MY DOG, but through the clarity I’ve found, I know that there’s time for that, and everything will happen when it’s supposed to.

OH and if you’re here because you want me to tell you how you can become a travel blogger, I’ll tell you right now that’s the wrong way to go into it! It has to be something you’re passionate enough to figure out about on your own! But…the About section of my website is a really good start… 😉

…Written on my laptop on a secluded local beach in Rijeka, Croatia, where the water is crystal clear, and there’s smooth white pebbles instead of sand. I’m sitting on a bright blue and white Indonesian-print blanket that I bought on the beach in Barcelona a few weeks ago, and contemplating if the icy Adriatic sea water is better or worse than walking up to the public toilets. The highlight of my day aside from finding this beach is the stray cat that chose me to come lay behind since I’m making the only shade on the beach by sitting up typing this. There’s a couple of locals here, both young and older, all starring blissfully out at the shimmering water and enjoying their day off (today is a holiday which celebrates their freedom from Communism). It’s 1:30pm and the only place I need to be is wherever I want to be. That’s how it feels to be happy and free.