Some Questions I Often Get Asked About Travelling

I’ve considered myself to be travelling since 2009 when I first left Winnipeg for London, England, and then went on to teach in Korea. And so, while travelling through Australia and talking about how long I’d been travelling, I’d often get asked similar questions. I’ve compiled some of those questions with my responses below.

Do you ever get lonely?

Yes. There are two times in particular that I get lonely. The first is after I’ve met some great people and they leave and I stay. What follows is a day or two of “getting off of the high” and getting used to being on my own again. As a traveller, you’re always meeting people and it really is one of the better things about travelling. But when they leave and you stay in the same place, there’s a day of loneliness that follows. The second is when I receive messages, be them emails or videos, from my nieces. I can’t help but miss them growing up.

Do you ever miss home?

Yes, especially my wonderful little nieces. If anything, travel has shown me just how important it is to do your best at maintaining good relations with people, settling arguments positively, and keeping in touch with your family wherever you are. I did go through a period in South Korea where I just wanted to go and not worry about keeping in touch. But now I do. My parents aren’t getting any younger and my nieces are growing up. Not only that, I’ve missed a few events (weddings, funerals, births, etc.) because I’ve been on the road. It’s difficult sometimes but I remind myself that I still have my own life to live.

Travelling is SOOOOO Glamorous!

In the words of the renowned travel writer, Paul Theroux, “travel is only glamourous in retrospect.” In between all these blog posts, pictures, Facebook updates, and emails home are low days chalk full of the anxiety of getting from one place to another, getting ripped off through bad money changers or having money go walking from your hotel room. Not only that, sometimes you meet some folks that just aren’t well adjusted. Finally, there are just bad days in general. Just because I travel doesn’t mean I don’t have any problems. Lots of folks like to think I don’t have any responsibilities, but I can’t help but see myself as being more responsible than ever before. Sure, I don’t have a wife, kids or a house, but I certainly don’t travel by myself all the time and it’s not like I don’t have those nagging “bills” to pay. I still pay rent and food costs, plus my internet and drinking water. Oh, and travel insurance and taxes. On top of that, I usually share a room with a bunch of boisterous party-harders (one of whom I used to be). Sure, some jobs offer food and accommodation, but not all. So, yes, travelling is glamourous, but only if you push yourself through all those bad days and anxiety-ridden moments of travel and persevere. If you don’t, you end up going home (like some folks I’ve met) and giving up the entire idea of working and travelling abroad.

What’s it like travelling for so long?

For me, I enjoy that honeymoon period of seeing new places and trying new things, meeting new people and, well, drinking. However, travelling all the time also puts me on constant guard against theft both in person and online. Moreover, you’re always settling in. Travelling is different for everybody, but I’ve noticed that when that urge to move strikes I gotta move or else I just get restless. There are times when I have to tell myself to stay settled for one reason or another simply because if you rush through things then you never really get to unscramble your brain. After travelling so long I’ve started travelling a lot slower. I prefer to stay in one place for a little longer than rush through a bunch of places.

Do you ever think of settling down?

Yes. I’ve even been compiling a list of places that I’d consider settling down (or at least basing myself in). Among them include Montreal or Winnipeg in Canada, Melbourne or Albany in Australia, or Warsaw in Poland. Not only that, I’d like to try my hand at living in a place like London or New York for a little while, though not for the rest of my life. For right now, I’ve found the most I can stay settled is three months and then the urge to move becomes almost impossible to ignore. That being the case, if you were to look at any number of factors, you would often question why I’d bother moving on when things could be very good wherever I am. Lastly, as I reach my 30s, thoughts of marriage and a house come and go but I realize what comes with those responsibilities. Plus, I’ve talked to a few folks about marriage and some of them have mentioned that it would’ve been nice to stay single just a little longer.

One last note

In North America, I’m not sure about the rest of the world, there’s a lot of talk about living your dream, yet I can’t help but notice how many books, movies, and songs there are about not living the dream. Part of my dream, simply, is to work and travel the world. When will it end? I don’t know. I hear lots of folk talk about how nice it would be to travel, yet they don’t have the gumption to get up and go. The hardest part, really, is to give yourself permission to go. It’s gotten to the point when I hear someone talk about how much they want to travel I oblige them the conversation but can’t do much more than that. All I can say is if you want to go, go.