My husband and I had been married just a short time before buying a plane ticket to Europe. Here are some things I wish we would have known before getting on the airplane.
1. Pack less than you think you need
My husband Jacob and I spent weeks agonizing over what to pack for a six-month trip that would take us through the heart of a European winter. How do you fit six months of supplies into two suitcases and two backpacks? We tried to pack light, but regardless of our good intentions, extra things kept slipping in. I imagined myself gleefully running forest trails in Sweden, so my running shoes were packed. Never mind that I despise running. In Sweden, I would become a runner.
In our first four months of travel we left a breadcrumb trail of discarded items behind us. My running shoes were donated to Bosnian berry-pickers in Sweden. My Italian leather boots (sob) were given to a Czech Art student we stayed with in Prague. And the list goes on.
Obviously there are exceptions contingent on where you are travelling, but in Europe at the least, the Boy Scout motto of “Be Prepared” can lead to carrying around a lot of dead weight.
2. Expect to overpay for your first meal in a new country
Travel days are hard. Even if your flight/train/boat ride is short, you will still spend your entire day queuing, being herded like cows, deciphering maps, and being disoriented in general. This, in our experience, typically left us tired, cranky, and utterly starving. We pushed on, intent on reaching our destination, until I became what Jacob describes as “hangry” (hungry + angry), and we are forced to stop and eat before I start gnawing on my suitcase.
Even if we miraculously avoid our “travel day cycle” as described above, we have always overpaid for our first meal in a new country. Upon arriving in Turkey we stopped at a restaurant for kebabs, only to discover that had we walked another 200 yards, we would have found a row of kebab stands all at half the price.
Chalk it up to experience and learning a new place. It doesn’t hurt so much if you are expecting to overpay for a sandwich.
3. Don’t be stingy (but figure out what you want to spend your money on)
The knee jerk reaction when you are travelling on a budget is to be miserly about everything. Walk everywhere. Only do the free activities. Eat only the cheapest foods. These strategies can be valuable in turns, but a sure-fire way to ruin your travel experience is to spend your entire time worrying about money. This was a difficult lesson for me. Travelling for six months without any income meant we were slowly watching our bank account dwindle. Our solution was to figure out what was important to us, and then consciously invest in that. For some, “what’s important” may be collecting souvenirs in every country. For others it may be splurging on an amazing meal. For us, it was experiences. Entrance into ancient Ephesus in Turkey may have cost $30 each, but it was worth every cheap meal we ate.
4. Break out of your comfort zone
My favourite comfort zone is the one where I’m in control. I get to decide where I go, what I eat, who I speak to. Me-land. It’s also really boring.
Without fail our favourite travel experiences were direct results of abdicating our little control-freak thrones and letting someone else take charge. Going on a “Beaver Safari” in Sweden. Visiting an amusement park located in an ancient underground salt mine in Romania. Watching dog-sled races across a frozen lake in Switzerland. Amazing things can happen when you proactively ditch your comfort zone and open yourself up to new experiences and people.
5. Plan on getting lost
Jacob is a meticulous planner. Before arriving in a new destination he would research our transportation options, write down directions in a notebook, then walk the route on Google Earth. We would still get lost every time.
The truth is that no amount of planning will guarantee everything goes perfectly. That doesn’t have to be a bad thing. (Though admittedly, getting lost is a lot more pleasant when you are not dragging your life in two suitcases behind you.) Getting lost helps to lead you off the well-beaten path of tourism, and shows you a side of a place that many travellers never see. Sometimes that is when the best discoveries are made. Other times, it just makes for a great story.
6. Jet lagged first impressions are rarely good
Jet lag does more than make you tired; it messes with your body and mind. Your energy levels will be sapped. You’ll have trouble sleeping, be hungry at all the wrong times, and be unable to adjust to significant temperature changes. This is hardly the time to be forming favourable first impressions of your destination.
My first night in Sweden I cried myself to sleep, overwhelmed at the thought of spending a month in a beautiful house in the countryside. How will I survive?! Obviously my judgment was clouded, something I realized the next morning after a good night’s sleep and a cup of coffee.
I’ve found that most destinations look unattractive to travel-bleary eyes. Go easy on yourself and remember that your first impression of a new place is most likely wrong.
7. Don’t underestimate the value of good luggage
Luggage prices range from moderate to appalling. I never understood why suitcases sold for hundreds of dollars until using one every day for six months. Three months in, our I-can’t-believe-they-fell-for-it wedding gift of a suitcase was holding up like a champ, while our moderately expensive knock-off suitcase was being held together with duct tape.
Enough said.
8. Nine out of 10 times your budget carrier flights will be late
We have never been on a budget flight that showed up on time. Flying from Prague to Paris, the entire Easy Jet passenger manifest waited in front of a blinking GATE PENDING sign for two hours. An hour after our plane was scheduled to depart, a scratchy voice came over the intercom, announcing that our plane was delayed. No kidding.
Even if your plane does arrive on time, other things you consider a given may be deemed as “amenities” on that flight. Ryan Air famously once tried selling “standing room only” tickets on their planes.
Give yourself ample time to catch transfers or connections, and know that getting there may be more of an adventure than the destination itself.
9. Force yourself to live in the moment
When travelling for an extended period of time, traveller’s fatigue will start to set in. All the cities will look the same; every ancient ruin will be yet another pile of old rocks. It’s impossible to be a tourist 100 per cent of the time, and there is nothing wrong with spending a day napping and eating even if you are in the south of France (guilty).
At some point however, you may need to force yourself to live in the moment and appreciate your surroundings. It doesn’t matter that this is your umpteenth gothic cathedral; you will kick yourself if you waste your time being cranky. Every time my eyes would start to glaze over I would remind myself that one day I would be back home, fondly remembering this moment as the one of the “good old days.”
10. Expect God to do amazing things
Our six months of travel were marked with a theme of unexpected blessing. Time after time we were surprised by how God worked and orchestrated details in a manner that was better than we could have planned or imagined. Expect God to do amazing things, and look for glimpses of Him in everything. You will be astounded at how He shows up and blows you away with His love.
Flickr photo (cc) by srv007
