Ten years ago in the summer of 2011, I set out on my first international solo trip. I was young, naive, and unprepared. It sounds cliche but this trip ended up changing my life. This article outlines my journey over the past decade. I’ll talk about my past trips, how travel has changed, and how I have changed during that time. I’ll also share some travel tips that I’ve picked up over the past ten years of travel.
Ten Years of Travel: My First Trip
Just like every other kid, I grew up fantasizing about leaving my hometown and traveling the world. When I was 18 years old, I decided to set out on my own and travel to Europe.
I chose Europe as my first travel destination mostly because it seemed like an easy place to get around. This was important to me because I was inexperienced in travel at the time. I had never been outside of the country without my parents before. Before this trip, I had never left North America. I didn’t want to go somewhere too exotic.
In Europe, I knew I could easily travel everywhere on the continent by train, bus, and ferry. The transportation infrastructure is fantastic. I also knew the language barrier wouldn’t be much of an issue either because English is widely spoken. There were also plenty of countries I wanted to visit and historic sites to see. For an American kid from a mid-sized city, Europe seemed exotic enough.
In the spring of 2011, I bought a round trip ticket to London and a 3 month unlimited Eurail pass. My dad bought me my travel backpack as a birthday present. I still use the same bag to this day.
I spent the next few months researching and planning my route around the continent, gathering gear, and packing my bag. A big world map hung on my wall in my room. I used my map to help me plan my stops. I also had the Eurail timetable. Every couple of days, my trip became more complex as I discovered a new destination I wanted to visit.
I wanted to experience as much as I could in the time that I had with the money I had. I needed to get home in time to start college in the fall. My budget was also limited. I had about $5000 to work with.
One of the biggest challenges I faced while planning my trip was telling my family that I was going to go traveling. I was nervous about their reaction. I worried that they would try to talk me out of it or try to fearmonger. Luckily, this didn’t happen.
Dad understood my desire to see the world. Mom worried about my safety but accepted my decision. Grandpa and Grandma understood but were a bit unsure about my decision to travel. They wondered why I would want to go all the way to Europe when I could just travel in the U.S. instead. They also thought it was odd that I was traveling alone. After some explaining, they came around.
When my departure day arrived, my dad dropped me off at the airport, shook my hand, and wished me luck. He was a major influence in my decision to travel in the first place. He traveled extensively and lived abroad during the 60s-80s and inspired me with his travel stories while I was growing up.
During the next 3 months, I made a lap around Europe. I traveled through 20 countries through every region of the continent. After starting in London, I crossed the channel then headed north through Western Europe and into Scandinavia. From Stockholm, I turned south through Central and Eastern Europe. I traveled as far east as Istanbul then turned west and crossed Southern Europe through Greece, Italy, and Spain. From there, I headed north back to London to catch my return flight. It was a fast-paced trip.
My First Day of Travel
I’ll never forget the first day of my first trip. It was a disaster. After arriving at Heathrow airport, I waited for my backpack to arrive at the baggage claim. It never came. Air Canada lost my bag with all of my travel gear that I had so carefully chosen and packed.
I went to the luggage counter to ask about my bag. A careless attendant handed me a lost luggage claim form. I filed it out and proceeded through immigration and customs. A customs agent stopped me to ask why I didn’t have any luggage after arriving on an international flight. After explaining that the airline lost it, he waved me through.
After passing through immigration, I took the train from the airport into central London to look for my hostel. I did have my cash and cards so I wasn’t completely out of luck.
Before I left home, I had written down the address and directions to the hostel. My directions weren’t good enough. All I knew is that it was located on Borough High Street. I asked around and walked up and down the street for well over an hour before I was able to find the place.
On the first night of my trip, I stayed in my first hostel. I felt a bit nervous about sleeping in a dorm with a bunch of strangers but the experience was pretty uneventful.
After checking in, I took a nap. In the evening, I went out and bought a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a soggy sandwich from a shop around the corner. Afterward, I returned to the hostel and went to bed.
During the next couple of days, I did some sightseeing in London. Two days later, the airline found my bag. A driver dropped it off at the hostel. This was a relief.
I decided to get out of London. I wasn’t really having a good time there so I figured I might as well move on to my next destination, Amsterdam.
The Rest of the Trip
The first two weeks of my trip were pretty rough. My backpack was lost for the first 3 days. I had to make probably a dozen calls to the airline before they found it and delivered it. My bus from London to Brussels almost left without me. I had trouble making friends at the first few hostels I stayed at. I felt awkward and nervous and didn’t know how to talk to the other backpackers.
Finding hostels when arriving in a new city was also a challenge. I kept getting lost. In those days, I didn’t have a smartphone or GPS to help me find my way. All I had was my handwritten directions that I copied off of Hostelworld.
When I arrived in Amsterdam, I didn’t have a hostel booked. This was a mistake. Every hostel I found while walking around was full. I ended up spending an eventful night on the street wandering around. I learned to never arrive in a popular tourist destination without a booking.
There was a steep learning curve. Needless to say, it was pretty exhausting. I was not having a good time for the first two weeks. I began doubting myself. Did I bite off more than I could chew? Was I capable of taking the trip I planned? My decision to go traveling was starting to feel like a mistake. I remember sitting on a park bench in Stockholm thinking to myself that this trip might not be fun but it will be a great memory looking back after it’s over.
I pushed through and things slowly started to get better around the third week of the trip. In Stockholm, I had no trouble finding my hostel. This was a win. I also met a great group of fellow travelers, who I ended up spending almost a week with.
This marked the turning point of the trip. I had overcome the learning curve. From there on out, it was smooth sailing, for the most part. On a few occasions, I partied a bit too hard. I drank too much absinthe in Progue. There were some lonely times as well. Particularly during long train journies. I spent almost 24 hours on a train from Bucharest to Istanbul. On a couple of occasions, my debit card didn’t work. These all turned out to be minor setbacks.
During my trip, I rode countless trains through the beautiful European countryside. I wandered around world-class cities such as Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, London, Berlin, and Istanbul. Everything felt fresh and different from back home. I visited historic sites that I had read about in school. I enjoyed phenomenal cuisine from all over the continent.
Over the course of the trip, I stayed in around 25 hostels and made friends with backpackers from around the world. I ended up growing to enjoy the dorm experience. Hostels exposed me to backpacker culture.
I found that backpackers were free, adventurous, and confident people. I wanted a lifestyle like them. They seemed to have it all figured out. I also met people who were much more well-traveled than me. I was envious. This just made me want to travel more.
At 18, I was the youngest traveler most of the time. I would guess that the average age of travelers I met in Europe was 23-26. Before my trip, I knew that I would be the youngest. This made me feel a bit nervous. Age was never an issue. I traveled and became friends with people over a decade older than me. Age doesn’t matter in travel.
In a hostel in Rome, I met a Canadian traveler who was studying for his TEFL certification. He explained what it was and told me about his plans to teach English in Asia after finishing the course.
This conversation planted a seed in my mind. I could work and live abroad too. At this point in time, I had never heard the term digital nomad before. The idea of starting a travel blog hadn’t even passed my mind.
Returning Home and My Next Trips
When I set out, I thought this would be a once-in-a-lifetime trip. My plan was to return home, go to college, then start a career. I still wasn’t 100% sure about what I wanted to do with my life. I planned to study accounting in college.
After returning home, I did start college. The problem was that I had grown addicted to travel. All I could think about was my next trip. I wanted to go to Asia. During my first two years of college, I planned and fantasized about hitting the road again. I was obsessed. I was also broke.
By 2013, I had saved up enough money to hit the road again. My initial plan was to travel through India and Southeast Asia for 3 months over summer break. I ended up taking a semester off school and traveling around the world for 6 months.
I started the trip with a free stopover in Iceland. There, I celebrated my 20th birthday at the Blue Lagoon. From there, I continued on to Finland and took a Ferry to Russia for a visa-free stopover in St. Petersburg.
Next, I traveled through the Baltic states. From Latvia, I caught a flight to India with a stopover in Dubai. After traveling around India, I continued on to Southeast Asia. From there, I flew to Australia then made a quick stopover in Beijing on my way home.
During this trip, I experienced travel in the developing world. While traveling in India, I felt culture shock for the first time. The crowds, heat, and filth overwhelmed me. The place is intense. For the first couple of weeks, I found travel a bit of a challenge. It felt like everyone was trying to scam me.
After a couple of weeks, I settled in and grew to enjoy the experience. I met loads of friendly locals, and enjoyed incredible Indian cuisine. The train journeys, in particular, were unforgettable. India is one of the only countries that I’ve visited that I can’t wait to return to.
In Southeast Asia, I experienced more backpacker culture, sampled exotic foods, explored the region. I partied on the beaches of Thailand, explored the Angkor Wat temple complex in Cambodia, and went Tubing in Vang Vieng, Laos. I stayed in cheap guesthouses and met loads of interesting travelers from around the world. During that trip, I even made some long-term friends who I still keep in contact with. It was a blast.
What surprised me the most was how touristy the region is. Southeast Asia has a well-defined tourist trail that is difficult to get away from at times. There are even bus lines that cater specifically to backpackers. These buses transport tourists between destinations across the region. Most backpackers visit the same towns, eat at the same restaurants, and stay at the same hostels. This disappointed me a bit. I hoped for more of an adventure.
In Vietnam, I bought a motorcycle for $150 and rode it across most of the country. This exposed me to a different type of travel, Overlanding. This gave me the opportunity to escape the tourist trail for a bit. During my ride, I explored some small villages, enjoyed authentic local food, and relaxed on deserted beaches. This was a highlight of my travels.
My trip to Asia was expensive and fast-paced. By the time I finally returned home, I was flat broke and exhausted. I returned to school and worked a series of odd jobs to save up some cash for my next trip.
During this time, I became disenchanted with the college experience. The school was so overpopulated that I was struggling to get the classes I needed. My professors were hit and miss. Many of my classes felt pointless. I was doing a lot of busy work that was unrelated to what I was studying. Prices were high as well. I certainly wasn’t getting my money’s worth. I felt like college was basically a racket.
The following year, in 2014, I quit school. I sold my car and decided to use the money to travel to South America. Before I left, I managed to line up a job. I only had a 2 months to travel before I started work. I booked a last-minute budget flight to Cartagena, Colombia and set off without any plans.
For the next couple of months, I backpacked through Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. I relaxed on Caribbean beaches, hiked to Macchu Picchu, explored the Amazon jungle, practiced my Spanish, and experienced Latin American culture. The trip was short and relaxing. I spent a lot of time wandering around, talking to people, and taking in the sites. South America is one of the most naturally beautiful continents.
