I’ve almost reached my travelling one month anniversary. And it’s now, that the realisation has set in that I am not on a holiday. Some may scoff at that statement and I’ll admit, at first it very much felt like a holiday. However, I’ve made the profound discovery that travelling is very different to being on holidays.

At this point all of the true backpackers are hitting their foreheads in frustration because ‘dah, of course!’ Sorry to be so late to the party, but I don’t think I quite understood the concept of travelling when I first signed up for my seven months. Look, I wasn’t completely oblivious, but there are definitely some things that I have learnt about travel and probably still more to come.

So here it is; what you can expect when travelling long term and how it differs to a holiday:

• Mind set: First of all when travelling you have to be very aware that you’re in it for the long hall. Your mind set is different. You think ahead and scrutinise each decision you make. Everything has to be weighed up… Do I really need to do that or eat that? You don’t do souvenirs because that would be ridiculous. All of a sudden you’re a weather expert and you know how to best manage your time.
• Washing: its one of the many unglamourous things about travelling. Sometimes you’ll be in a foreign country with many wonderful places explore, and you will have to do your washing. You just will. That or stink.
• Tours and attractions: My philosophy is to chose one or two main attractions that are specific to a place. If you try to go to every museum you’ll be broke and brain dead. Also remember that just being in a place with a different culture is an experience unto itself. I like to take the time to observe the locals at a coffee shop. Never underestimate the joys of people watching.
• Money: Rather than just unleashing and getting swipe happy on the old credit card, you’ll find that you need to have a daily budget, and loosely stick to it. You need to consider what you really want to spend money on and sometimes find the ‘local’ way of doing things rather than just taking the convenient guided tour option. Free walking tours and cheap eats will be your friend. Breakfast out is a luxury you can’t afford and suddenly you’ve become a regular at the bakery. But there will be times that you need to splash out for that special meal and other times when your wondering why you’re spending that much money on a glorified chocolate cake. In the end you’d be wishing that Europe would adopt the mantra the best things in life are free, but in actual fact, they generally are.
• Health: There comes a time when you have to buy a bag of carrots. Yes there are so many new and delicious treats to be enjoyed. But between your German sausage and Italian pizza it’s a good idea to munch on a carrot. Some exercise wouldn’t do any harm either. My motto has become ‘always take the stairs’. You do get plenty of walking in and you definitely rack up the steps, but it doesn’t hurt to take the stairs especially when you’ve got your 15kg pack 😉
• Resourseful: You know that if there is a free toilet, you use it. If there are free postcards you take them. Sometimes you even raid the free food cupboard at your hostel kitchen. If you’re lucky you might be rewarded with an almost full bag of muesli. If you took that said muesli no judgement here (my breakfast for the next week). Use what you’ve got and make do.

Happy travelling!