After so long living out of a backpack, I thought it was about time I evaluate how life has changed since I left. I started out on this journey in September 2017 with a vague goal to travel until I didn’t want to anymore.

1. How I Collect Things

When you are on the move so often with all your possessions, how you value things changes drastically. I used to think nothing of getting some new clothes or a new decoration for my apartment. Now I can only look longingly at the local decor stores and clothes shopping is and ordeal. If I buy clothes I have to love them and be willing to wear them continuously until they fall apart. When I used to buy new clothes fairly often, I now shop sporadically and only after something wears out and room opens up in my bag.

I also value memories and experiences over possessions. I can look in a store and think “this couch could pay for a trip to Europe” and “that makeup costs more than a hotel in Bali!” I’ve found that I’m spending significantly less on random expenses than before. If I don’t have a permanent address to send my Amazon Prime purchases to, its easy to spend less on impulse buys.

2. My Passion For Photography

Before I left to travel photography was a new passion for me. In preparation for traveling more consistently I had taken a travel photography course and I knew that seeing a photographing new places was a driving force to go. But little did I know how much photography would come to mean to me. One of my favorite things is to document a new place with my camera. To explore and look for the most photogenic views. I will even admit that sometimes the only thing that gets me out after a long day is the thought of getting my unique shot of someplace new.

3. How I View The World

I’ll admit as a kid who grew up in the USA that how I view the world before I left was somewhat unrealistic. Places that I viewed as dangerous were no more so than places that I had driven past dozens of times. Before Central Europe and SouthEast Asia sounded to frightening to visit alone. But traveling through these places as a solo female traveler was never as dangerous as I had thought.

It hasn’t been perfect, but its been so much better than I had imagined.

4. Transportation

Before I left I drove my car every day. I’d drive to the park to walk the dog, drive to work, and drive to the grocery store. Almost every thing I did entailed my car and public transportation was not something that even registered on my radar. Now, after 18 months of travel on four continents it is a rarity that I can’t get somewhere without using local transportation or walking.

My first three months I spent in Europe with a 90-day rail pass which I used well over 100 times. In South America I used Uber, buses, and flights to get all over Peru and Chile. SouthEast Asia was more buses, bike taxis, flights and boats. Now that I’ve been back through Europe multiple times I’ve used buses all over Central Europe, flights to hop around the Mediterranean, and trains when I can get them. Not having to worry about driving means more time to admire the journey!

5. How I Spend My Time

When I left my 40-hour work week behind, its seemed like I had too much time and not enough to do. I had spent the work week getting things done and spent the weekend just preparing to do it all over again. Leaving the workplace behind made me feel like I had all the time in the world. But once I started traveling, there were always so many things to see and do. I often travel to a new place with a vague idea of what I want to see and tailor my time to fit in all of the locations in within my stay. I also make sure to take a day off once a week to just relax. No worrying about getting to a new photography spot or exploring the local attractions, just a day off.

I feel that I’m no longer marking time and instead living the best of every day. This is part of why I love travel, and why I would love to continue on my journey for quiet some time.

+1. Procrastination

I’ll admit that I’m still a pretty horrible procrastinator. I’ll put off buying my travel insurance until the day I leave or forget to load my sim card until my phone tells me its out of data. If something is daunting I’ll often push it off until it needs to be done. One thing that I have noticed is that there are fewer things that I procrastinate on. Travel planning is something I enjoy, so even though its time consuming I’m glad to research new places, jump between travel apps to find the best place to stay. I may have fewer things for me to procrastinate, but that doesn’t stop me!

+2. I’m Still An Introvert

Travel isn’t some magic pill that you take that can fix everything. It didn’t suddenly make me boisterous and outgoing. But learning to put myself out there part of the growth that has come to me over this journey. I’ve had to learn to get out and interact with strangers, often finding free walking tours or paid tours to interact with locals in the know and fellow travelers. It has been tough at times to go out and explore and I still appreciate a quiet day in on the regular, but I’ve gotten better at going out and learning all about the places I go to.

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