Most people assume that when you go travelling you are going to “find yourself” and sign yourself up to some silent retreat in the depths of Bali. Now if that's what you want to do then great and you go for it but actually, in reality, most travelling experiences aren't like “Eat Pray Love.” However, that doesn’t mean you don’t learn lots when you are travelling, it's just not always the lessons that you expect to learn. For me I went into travelling completely naively and left quickly after graduating to escape the looming questions from family members such as “what's next then?” or “what are you going to do with your degree now?” When I got back I was empowered, more confident and just had a smug feeling that I had left my home town, seen the world and met some incredible people. Along the way I wrote down general lessons and key feelings I wanted to remember forever and now i’m sharing them with you all! Think of this as a TruTravels version of Baz Lurhmans’ Sunscreen (which if you haven’t seen, I beg you to go to youtube and watch it immediately!) Some of the lessons are cheesy - get the sick buckets out - but some are just general tips and life lessons I wish I knew before.

 

 

Nobody thinks about you more than you think about you!

 

 

This may sound super depressing but actually I think it is one of the most liberating things you can ever learn. If you ever do something embarrassing, make a mistake or have beer fear, just know that actually everyone else is too busy thinking about their own mistakes and embarrassing moments that actually only you are worried about yours. Next time you are considering doing something, no matter how big or small - just do it! Yes there might be initial judgement from people but that will pass quicker than you can ever imagine. Like everything it is perhaps easier said than done but even if this train of thought inspires you to step out of your comfort zone and be a little more carefree then we will have succeeded!

 

Good food doesn’t have to be expensive food

 

 

For years the western word has taught me that the best foods in the world also were the most expensive. How wrong is that! The more I have travelled the more I have discovered that street food, local cuisines in Asia and family run restaurants are the best places to go to for fresh, quality and well priced food that always packs a punch! In Kampot, Cambodia I visited Spice Girl which was the most amazing local restaurant which served traditional food and I have never experienced food as flavourful as that. The owner, despite the language barrier, looked after me so well and was able to combine two dishes together because I couldn’t decide between the two. Whenever I go to a new country or location now I am always happily trusting of word of mouth for food recommendations, I also love to check out tiktok for recommendations too because you can often find unsung hero restaurants on there!

 

The Sun is deceiving - always wear sunscreen!

 

 

This is a big one! No matter what the clouds are doing each day make sure you are never without your sunscreen and sunglasses. The sun is the ultimate master of disguise and even on the cloudiest of days the UV rays will be there and they are still super powerful too. This is even more crucial to remember if you are going on anisland hopping adventure - those rays are strongggg when you are on water! Look after your skin now and your older self will thank you for it. It is one of the easiest things you can do now to look after yourself and reduce the wrinkles in the long term.

 

Some friends are temporary...

 

 

You’re probably thinking - wow that got deep quickly - but no it's not that deep at all. I learnt quickly that some friends do come with a short expiry date and sometimes that is for the best! Some friends I met along my travels were amazing for a week and then actually we naturally just drifted apart when our plans changed. I think often we put pressure on relationships to be everything or nothing but a few 50% friendships are actually quite beneficial sometimes! Think of it this way - sometimes on your travels your friendships will be there for a good time and not a long time…

 

 

So there you go a little round up of things I learnt when I was travelling to show you that travelling can bring you so much more than photos and souvenirs! You can thank me for this advice when you are lying down unapologetically in the sun after having an insanely tasty local meal, with friends, slathered in suncream.