HeatherSome lessons travel teaches us are true life lessons like how to treat people, and what to expect of strangers. Other lessons are more travel specific. This post shares 35 lessons we learned while travelling for a year. We hope you can learn from us so you don’t find yourself without toilet paper after a spicy meal in a dorm. Enjoy.
- 50 shades of grey does not go well with dorms and travellers diarrhea
- Just because I wouldn’t do it at home doesn’t mean I shouldn’t (like riding a motorcycle)
- Age is just a number..I can be immature no matter how old I am (the day after just seems to be getting harder and harder)
- Always count the number of underwear you send for laundry and how many you get back…it sucks when they don’t equal
- Never, ever p
ass up a good shower (one with pressure and hot water) - I can pee anywhere at anytime
- Always have an emergency stash of toilet paper (see point 6 above)
- White men have a lot of body hair. Red body hair is even more intriguing in places like Africa and SE Asia
- Take the time to actually care about the answer to the question “How are you?”
- Too much Yalla Yalla or Pollie Pollie is not a good thing…but not enough of either can be a bad thing too (Yalla Yalla is Arabic for hurry, hurry; Pollie, Pollie is Swahili for slowly slowly)
- Thank you goes a long way…whatever language you say it in
- A pork knuckle is not actually a knuckle…we still don’t know what it is…but it is definitely NOT a knuckle.
- A relationship is made stronger when you do things together
- It’s ok to do different things than your travelling partner wants to do
- The pyramids were built by volunteers not slaves; and other myths.
- I like tourist traps…and that is OK
- Nothing is ever how you see it in the movies
- I can sit for 18 hours on an uncomfortable cramped chicken bus. I won’t like it, but I can do it.
- Yup…really spicy food doesn’t agree with me! (See point #1)
- War is dumb when it happens..and even more stupid when it is still killing people 40 years after it’s over.
- I don’t need that much stuff..except more pairs of underwear (see point #4)
- I can still dream about what I want to be when I grow up. On this trip I have been a countess, a lion tamer, a dancer, a superhero, and the “WOman” no one really reads those hotel check in books do they?
- Hello is the same in any language…especially when it starts with a smile
- Reading airplane magazines is expensive…and I am not talking about the sky mall ones
- Small children are cute..except when they have a harmonica on a 2 day train trip
- Natural gas is too dangerous to bury pipelines under ground. Natural gas is too dangerous to build pipelines above ground….hmmm?
- Never ever pass up an English movie in a theatre…this can get expensive in places like Australia
- Don’t ride Splash mountain with a full bladder, because it really hurts on the final plunge (fortunately a wise 14 year old shared this with us so we didn’t have to experience it ourselves)
- A fox 40 whistle sounds a lot like a baby caribou…and this is enticing to a full grown male Grizzly Bear
- The world is not a dangerous place, and most people you meet actually want to help you not hurt you.
- Brushing your teeth with tap water is a luxury and shouldn’t be taken for granted
- On a plane ALWAYS accept the water that is offered to you-this is especially true for long distance jet lag inducing flights
- When they say: “take some sea sickness medication before you get on the boat” they probably mean it!
- We are very lucky to have wonderful people in our lives.
- Adventure is anywhere you look for it and doesn’t stop when the plane touches down at home
