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19 Inspiring Travel Experience Stories About Life-Changing Trips

Love inspiring travel experience stories ?

Then you’re in the right place!

Grab a snack and your favorite beverage and get ready to settle in, as you’re about to read some truly inspiring travel stories about life-changing trips.

In this roundup, some of my favorite bloggers share their best travel stories.

You’ll hear about travelers embarking on sacred pilgrimages, growing after a first solo female travel trip, deeply connecting with locals on the road, and getting out of their comfort zones in ways that completely alter the course of their life.

And if you’re looking for a unique travel experience, you’ll likely find it in the short stories about travel below.

Table of Contents

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On that note, let’s dive into the inspiring travel stories .

1. Travel Experience Stories In South America

My travel story takes place in South America, back when I used to travel solo for months at a time.

I was in my mid-20s, and even though I’d backpacked Europe, Southeast Asia, and China and had studied abroad in Australia, the mix of intense excitement and nerves I had leading up to my South America backpacking trip was different.

And despite family and friends warning me that South America wasn’t a place for a solo female traveler , it ended up being my best trip ever.

There are so many interesting short travel stories and unforgettable travel experiences woven into this trip, like:

• Getting invited to have dinner with my Brazilian plane seatmate and her grandma
• Having a group of complete strangers on Couchsurfing take me out for dinner and dancing on my birthday in Mendoza
• Attending a small house party in Argentina and learning about the tradition of mate
• Getting stuck on a broken-down bus and having an impromptu language exchange with an elderly woman in Peru
• Having a love interest back home break up with me via text, and then experiencing the kindness of strangers as a woman in my hostel who I barely knew treated me to ice cream to cheer me up
• Having a romance with a hostel mate in Ecuador and then traveling through the country together
• Living in a giant treehouse with a group of strangers during a solo trip in Brazil and spending our days exploring hiking trails and swimming and our nights drinking and exchanging stories about traveling
• Taking a 4×4 from Chile to Bolivia across the Siloli Desert to see otherwordly sites like rainbow lagoons and train graveyards in the middle of nowhere
• Experiencing some of the world’s most incredible natural wonders, like Iguazu Falls, Torres del Paine, the Amazon River, Uyuni Salt Flats, and Perito Moreno Glacier

At times the trip was also challenging, from dealing with long bus rides and car sickness to flipping over my bicycle handlebars in Peru and getting my body (and ego) badly bruised.

But, I was okay.

In fact, I was more than okay, as the trip showed me how independent I could be and what I was truly capable of. It also showed me the beauty of immersing yourself in cultures different than your own and connecting with locals who want to share them with you.

Years later, when people ask what my best travel experience has been this is the trip that comes to mind.

-Jessie from Jessie on a Journey

2. Traveling With An Open Mind

Many people think of travel as an experience and rightly so. Sometimes, however, you cannot choose the places you travel to.

This happened to me in 2019.

My husband found himself posted in Brunei for work.

Three months pregnant meant that I had a choice:

Either stay with him in Brunei for three months before returning back to India or remain in India, alone.

I chose the former. Not because of my love for the country but because I wanted to be close to him.

Brunei had never held any appeal to me. Whatever research that I pulled off the Internet showed me nothing other than one beautiful mosque.

The flights in and out of the country were expensive so traveling frequently out was not an option either.

I was engulfed by a sense of being trapped in a remote place.

Needless to say, I reached Brunei in a pretty foul mood. I think one of the things that struck me the most even in the midst of that bad mood was the large swaths of greenery that surrounded us.

Mind you, we were not staying in the big city but as far away on the outskirts as you could imagine. I’m not a city girl by any stretch and the greenery eventually soothed my nerves.

It took a week, but I soon found myself interacting with people around me. Fellow expats and locals all went out of their way to make me feel comfortable.

The more comfortable I felt, the more we explored. We trekked (yes, while pregnant!), we joined the board game community, and we enjoyed the local cuisine.

Three months later when it was time to leave, I found myself reluctant to say goodbye to the warmth of the country I had called home for a short while.

I think that my time in Brunei taught me a valuable lesson:

Don’t judge a place by what others say or a lack of information.

Sure, you may not always like what you see, but there will always be something that you will like. You just need to look hard enough to find it!

-Penny from GlobeTrove

3. From Half-Day Hiker To Walking Holiday Enthusiast

I’ve always enjoyed walking but never in a million years did I imagine I’d end up walking over 200 kilometers (~124 miles) in 10 days, become a fan of walking holidays, and end up developing self-guided hiking routes in Portugal with a local tour operator as part of my business.

The shift from being someone who was content with an easy three-hour walk to an experienced multi-day hiker began with a brief taste of the Portuguese Camino de Santiago, an ancient pilgrim trail through Portugal to Santiago de Compostela Cathedral in Spain.

Back in 2013 I did a guided one-day hike along one of the most beautiful stretches of the Camino, north of Ponte de Lima. It’s also one of the most challenging sections so it was hard work, but the views from the top of Labruja Mountain made the climb worthwhile.

My guides were so enthusiastic about the thrill of arriving at Santiago de Compostela Cathedral after the challenges of day after day on the Camino that I began to think I might want to give it a go, despite not being religious.

Fast forward a few years and I set off from Barcelos with a friend of mine to follow the Portuguese Camino de Santiago.

Apart from suffering from chronic back pain, I thought I was quite fit but nothing had prepared me for how utterly exhausted I would feel at the end of each walking day.

This was truly a slow travel experience, as we were averaging about 20 kilometers (~12 miles) per day and by the time we reached our hotel, I would barely have enough energy to get cleaned up and find food before collapsing. I had envisioned plenty of sightseeing but that ended up being minimal.

Quickly, I realized the moral of this unique travel experience:

The Camino was all about making the most of the journey rather than the destination.

For me, that was quite a shift in thinking as I am usually all about getting to where I want to be as soon as possible so that I can start exploring. It was, perhaps, also my first step on the path towards mindfulness.

I will never forget the sense of achievement and progress at the end of each walking day, and the relief and pride I felt when we finally made it to Santiago de Compostela.

We met people who had walked the Camino several times and I can totally understand how it can become addictive. 

-Julie from Julie Dawn Fox in Portugal

4. A Story About Traveling & Its Ripple Effect

Tucked away in far eastern Indonesia is a tiny archipelago of islands called the Banda Islands.

Apart from world-class snorkeling and some crumbling colonial buildings, the Banda Islands are mostly forgotten and would be described as a backwater by all accounts.

However, the Banda Islands are possibly the main reason that I am who I am today. 

Well, the Bandas are the original Spice Islands.

Nutmeg used to grow on this tiny group of islands alone and nowhere else. The Dutch colonized Indonesia and promptly became the owners of islands where money grew on trees.

The only problem was that Indonesia was so far away that they needed a halfway stop to and from Indonesia.

That’s where my travel experience story comes in.

The same Dutch East India Company that traded in spice set up a halfway station at the foot of Table Mountain to break up their long journey. As a result, my Dutch ancestors arrived in the southernmost point in Africa , and generations later we are still there.

When I visited the Banda Islands, it dawned on me how something happening on the other side of the world can ripple out and affect people on the other side of the planet.

And I’m not the only one!

The spice trade was so important to the Dutch that they even traded a tiny island in the Banda archipelago for a much bigger island…Manhattan.

Yes. That Manhattan.

Before visiting the Banda Islands I never really knew about this part of my history.

Along with the spice that the ships carried back to Amsterdam, it also carried slaves. These slaves, more often than not, ended up in Cape Town.

Just like my European ancestors, they too became a part of Africa and added another shade to our beautiful Rainbow Nation.

It was in the Banda Islands that I realized how much of my culture, food, stories and even words in my mother tongue, Afrikaans, actually originated in Indonesia.

Because of these tiny islands, I am a true mix of Europe, Africa, and Asia. While I always thought I knew how all things in life are somehow connected, I didn’t really grasp it until my visit to Indonesia.

This could have been a resort travel experience story, as I went to Indonesia to swim and snorkel and relax on the world’s best beaches. And while I did get to do that, I also learned a lot about who I am as a person, my people, and my country…on another continent. 

My visit to the Bandas has sparked a fascination with Indonesia, which I have visited seven times since. I’m already planning another trip to this spectacular country!

-De Wet from Museum of Wander

5. Awakening My Spirit In A Costa Rican Cloud Forest

In February 2017, I was just coming out of a decade of mysterious chronic illness that had shrunk my world.

And one of the things that finally helped me to resurface during the previous year was an online Qi Gong course I stumbled upon: 

Flowing Zen .

To the casual observer, Qi Gong looks a lot like its better-known cousin, Tai Chi — the ancient art of moving meditation — but it’s actually energy medicine for healing.

In fact, it’s commonly used in Chinese hospitals.

My daily practice that year made such a difference for me that I dangled a reward for myself:

If I stuck with it all year, then I’d head to Sifu Anthony’s annual retreat in a cloud forest in Costa Rica the following February.

And I did! It was my first trip out of the country for more than a decade.

Just like that, I booked a solo trip — something I hadn’t done since I was an exchange student to Europe 30 years earlier — to San Jose where I met up with a dozen strangers and Sifu Anthony, our Qi Gong master.

We boarded a tiny bus and rode up, up, up around carsick-inducing curvy mountain roads into a magical cloud forest jungle where we finally arrived at The Blue Mountain (“La Montana Azul”) for a weeklong Qi Gong retreat. 

There were no Internet or distractions here — just delicious organic vegetarian meals made with love and shared with the community under a gorgeous open-air palapa.

There were also colorful tropical birds singing in the jungle, as well as the largest arachnid I’ve ever seen in my gorgeous (but also roofless) room for a little extra adventure.

I’d felt a little energy movement during my year of online practice, but during that week on The Blue Mountain, my body began to really buzz with Qi — life force energy — as I Lifted the Sky, stood in Wuji Stance, and practiced Shooting Arrows.

I felt electrified and joyful. 

And that was when everything changed for me.

At home, I had a successful career as a freelance writer, but I decided during my week in the cloud forest that I wanted more from life.

I wanted to explore the beauty, diversity, nature, and culture in every corner of the world.

And I wanted to share this intoxicating joyful feeling of life-giving freedom and adventure with anyone who wanted to come along for the ride.

Shortly after that, at age 53, I launched my travel blog.

Dreams really do come true. They are just waiting for you to claim them.

-Chris from Explore Now or Never

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6. From Rome With Love

This wasn’t the way I wanted to see Rome. 

Sure, I was happy to spend Christmas in Rome and stand in awe of the city’s many iconic attractions. But, life wasn’t meant to turn out like this.

I was supposed to go to Rome with my mom back in 2012; however, life had different plans, because a week before our trip, I got a double kidney infection. A condition that required a week of hospitalization.

Although I was annoyed I had missed my trip, it wasn’t the end of the world since I was fine and everything seemed okay…until my mom developed a cough.

A cough that later became a heartbreaking diagnosis of stage four ovarian cancer. 

My mom spent the final months of her life in chemo, desperately trying to fight a horrific disease so that she wouldn’t let her family down.

And she didn’t.

Instead, she showed us how to never give up on life, even if it was a losing battle. 

So, when she eventually passed away, I booked a trip to Rome. 

Sure, it wasn’t the trip I had hoped for. But, I knew that as her daughter, it was my job to live enough for the both of us. 

And that’s exactly what I did.

Was I an anxious, sad, angry mess of a person?

Absolutely. I was still getting used to a world that my mother wasn’t a part of. 

And honestly, you never get used to that world. You just deal with it because you don’t really have a choice.

But I also knew that I wanted my mom to live on through me and that I didn’t want to live a life where the haunting phrases “should of,” “could of,” and “would have” swirled through my head and ate away at my happiness.

So, I went. I packed a boatload of tissues, sobbed my heart out, and attended Christmas mass at the Vatican. 

I also threw a coin in the Trevi Fountain, walked through the Colosseum, chowed down on gelato, and spent two weeks doing all the things my mom and I had wanted to do. 

And that’s when it hit me. I had never gone to Rome alone because my mom had always been there with me. Maybe she wasn’t physically there, but I thought of her and felt her presence every minute of every day. 

Her presence also reminded me that life isn’t about the things we buy or the money that we have.

It’s about making memories with the people we love; people that never really leave us since they are constantly influencing our lives in countless ways.

And after my trip to Rome, I finally knew that my mom would always be there because she had forever changed my life in the best possible way. 

-Kelly from Girl with the Passport

7. Studying In Finland

One of my major life-turning points happened during my exchange studies in Finland.

Until then, I was studying at a university in Prague, had a part-time job at a renowned management-consulting firm, and thought I was on the right path in life.

At the University of Economics where I studied it was notoriously difficult to get on an Erasmus exchange trip abroad since the demand was huge. Everyone wanted to go!

Regardless, I decided to sign up early for my last semester, just to see what the process was like to be better prepared for applying again in a year.

I did make it through all the three rounds and surprisingly got a spot at a University in Turku, Finland! I was ecstatic. The success brought its own challenges, but once you set your eyes on the goal, nothing can stop you.

And I had the time of my life in Finland.

I met the most amazing people, traveled a ton, partied a lot, and bonded with friends from all over the world.

Given I was one of the few people there who really needed to pass all her courses and additionally write her thesis, I managed to run on an impossible sleep schedule of four hours per night. But I made it!

My studies in Finland opened up my horizons, too.

The summer after, I wrapped up my life in Prague and went on to study in Germany and China . The whole time I traveled as much as possible, often going on solo adventures. It was only a matter of time when I’d start my own travel blog.

My Finland adventure led me to a life of freedom made up of remote work, travel blogging , and plenty of traveling. I couldn’t have asked for a better outcome. And it gave me one of my favorite true adventure stories that I can now share with others.

-Veronika from Travel Geekery

8. How Cuba Changed My Life

One of my favorite inspiring stories about travel takes place in Cuba.

I visited Cuba in February 2013 and it changed my life — and I like to think it did so for the better.

Interestingly, I expected a completely different country and was compelled to write about it when I got back home.

But let me tell you more.

I read copious amounts of blogs and travel diaries to prepare myself for the trip to Cuba so I thought I’d go in with a fairly good idea of what to expect. Each and every post I read spoke of marvelous landscapes, pristine beaches, crumbling but charming cities, and welcoming locals.

All of it was true, in my experience — except for the locals.

I didn’t find them so welcoming. At least, not genuinely so. They only seemed to welcome me as far as they could get something in exchange: money, clothes, pens, soap, you name it. 

Each and every day in Cuba was a challenge to avoid the scams, to avoid being ripped off, to fight off each and every attempt of people trying to take advantage of me. I usually managed, but it was exhausting and it left a sour taste in my mouth.

Once I got back home I felt the urge to write about my experience — not for other sites or papers as I’d often do. This time I was afraid I’d be censored.

So I opened my own blog. With zero tech knowledge, zero understanding of online content creation and SEO, I started writing and telling people what they should really expect during a trip to Cuba.

I’d put up the occasional post, but continued with my usual job.

At the end of the year, my contract as a researcher in international human rights law at the local university ended, and I decided to stop pursuing that career for a while.

I packed my bags and left for a long-term trip to Central and South America . I started writing on the blog more consistently and learning, and eventually took my blog full-time , turning it into a career.

As of today, I have never looked back and have no regrets.

The one thing I’ll do, as soon as I can, is travel to Cuba to say thank you — because it changed my life in a way nothing else has ever done. 

-Claudia from Strictly Sardinia

9. A Short Travel Story About Finding Inner Peace In Patagonia

Life in London is hard.

Life in London as a gay single brown refugee is harder.

Juggling between work, my passion for traveling, and the prejudices that I dealt with on a daily basis eventually took their toll on me and I reached a breaking point.

The fact that I couldn’t return home to see my family and being away for them for almost nine years was enough to hammer in the final nail in the coffin.

I almost had a nervous breakdown and in that moment of desperation, which I knew would define the rest of my life, I took a month off and headed to Patagonia.

It was probably the best decision I’ve ever made in my life. The 36 hours it took me to get to El Chalten from London were tiring but Patagonia blew me away.

On my first day there I did a 28-kilometer (17-mile) hike which included a steep mountain climb. It was incredible how moving through the forest helped me clear my mind. And as I stood in front of Laguna de Los Tres, the rain and clouds gave way to sunshine and a rainbow.

I felt at peace.

The countless hikes, great food, and the warmth of locals in Chile and Argentina helped me get back in my skin and find the peace I was missing in my heart.

Nature is indeed the best medicine when it comes to stress relief and I won’t be coy about hugging trees to speed up the process (it did).

Patagonia was life-changing for me.

The beauty of nature struck me at each point and every time I thought it wasn’t possible to beat the view, the next one did just that.

I came back a changed, resilient, and most importantly, a happy person.

-Ucman from BrownBoyTravels

10. Looking Inwards & Making Connections With Strangers

It was decades before I traveled solo for the first time in my life.

This trip — a six-day escape to Colorado — was the first trip that was not for business or family reasons but just to travel and discover.

As I prepared for it, I had a strange feeling of excitement and nerves at the same time. I had all sorts of thoughts and doubts:

Would it be fun?

Would I be bored?

Would I stay in bed all day or would I bounce with excitement to do the next thing?

I wasn’t sure. Little did I know that it was going to be a memorable journey of self-discovery. 

As a good wife and mom, for me travel is always about the family; always thinking of who would enjoy what. It’s about family time and bonding. It’s about creating memories and travel stories together. It’s all so wonderful.

But on a solo trip who would I connect with? What would I say?

Well, I found that I got to do anything I wanted!

Usually when I travel with my family, if I feel like going on a drive that’s not on the itinerary or getting a snack no one else is interested in, we simply don’t do that.

So it was weird to just go do it. Really, that’s a thing?

As for making connections, it was so easy to meet locals while traveling and also to connect with other travelers. Honestly, I had conversations everywhere — on planes, while hiking, in restaurants, in the hotel lobby.

It was quite an eye-opening experience to meet a mom of 18 kids and hundreds of foster kids, a cookie baker, a professional photographer, a family of Fourteener hikers, and an internationally ranked marathon runner.

The inspiring stories I discovered were amazing and nothing like my wonderful safe life at home. 

In terms of travel safety , I got to go rock climbing, solo hiking, driving up a Fourteener, eating alone.

And it was all fine. Actually, it felt surprisingly normal.

It was was just me, my SUV, and my backpack for a week. Most of all, it was a breath of fresh air that I didn’t know existed. 

It’s wonderful to be back home and know that possibilities are endless and there is so much more out there to explore and be wowed by!

-Jyoti from Story At Every Corner

11. A Solo Hike To Find Connection

I have traveled solo many times, but I admit I was a bit uneasy booking my trip to Colombia . In part, due to the country’s dark past. But also because I desperately wanted to do the Cocora Valley hike, and if I’m honest, I was terrified.

This hike is located in the Coffee Triangle, an area recognized for its beauty as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It features both rainforest and a stunning green valley speckled with cartoonishly-tall wax palms rising 200 feet or more.

It’s incredibly beautiful.

It’s also a long hike and quite challenging — it generally takes between six and eight hours and there is a steep area with over 3,000 feet of elevation within a quarter of a mile.

I wasn’t in hiking shape, so I was a little concerned. But, worst of all for me were the seven dodgy-looking suspension bridges. 

I’m terrified of heights.

And, I’d be going alone.

I decided to go anyway and I met an incredible woman on the bus to Salento, the town near Cocora. She was also traveling solo and we agreed to hike together.

The town is a backpacker enclave and we met up with a small group of people all traveling solo. As the days passed, our group got larger and it was such a magical experience.

As much as I love city travel, this small town won my heart.

My new friend and I set off on the hike and met two other women who were nervous to do the hike. We all went together.

When we got to the first suspension bridge, I paused. I was embarrassed to admit my fear, but the bridge swayed widely and there was nowhere to hold onto.

When they realized how out of my comfort zone I was and how scared I felt, everything changed. Instead of me dealing with it alone, they were all there to encourage me.

One crossed the bridge to encourage me from the other side and they stayed off of it to limit the sway. Crazy enough, I not only crossed the seven suspension bridges, but I also crossed one an extra time when we went the wrong way on the trail.

I did it! 

I was prepared to be blown away by Cocora Valley’s beauty, but what I wasn’t expecting was what a life-changing travel experience my time there would be.

 -Sam from My Flying Leap

12. How A Pet Sitting Travel Experience Led To A Passionate Career

We wanted to go to the Caribbean but didn’t know much about the islands or how we were going to afford it.

By chance, a friend of ours in Australia mentioned “pet sitting” and that it is something you can do all over the world.

We quickly created an account on a pet sitting website and began searching for options. There were only a couple of sits available in that part of the world, but we tried our luck, sent a request, and to our surprise landed a three-month gig in a beautiful house in the US Virgin Islands — with an infinity pool overlooking the British Virgin Islands.

A month into our sit, we had explored the destination pretty well and so had a lot of time on our hands. We managed to secure another sit in Grenada, so our year was going to be taken up with Caribbean pet sits.

Inspired by a Canadian couple that had previously stayed at our Grenada housesit, we decided to start our own travel blog. We began by writing about The Virgin Islands, highlighting the beautiful beaches and funky bars.

But for every photo of a beautiful beach there were 10 photos of trash.     

It was hard to ignore the plastic pollution issue, especially on such pristine and remote beaches.  So, we began to share photos of the trash we saw and how much we could pick up on our daily dog walks.

The more we looked into plastic pollution, the more we realized the severity of the global plastic pandemic. From that point, we used our platform to create awareness and highlight ways to say no to plastic and travel plastic-free .

We changed our daily routines, our way of living, and even our diets to accommodate more organic foods and little to no plastic packaging.

It’s been over three years now and we continue to do what we can. This journey has led us to some amazing places, working with great conscious brands and even organizing a country-wide beach clean-up campaign in Grenada.

Our aim now is to keep on going.

We love connecting with like-minded people and love the shift over the last few years that brands have made towards creating more sustainable products and services.

It’s been an amazing few years that was sparked by a conversation about pet sitting. Who would have guessed?

-Aaron & Vivien from The Dharma Trails

13. Learning To Slow Down The Hard Way

On Christmas of 2017, I was born again.

We like to spend our Christmas holidays somewhere warm abroad, and that year we chose Uganda.

Nature, wildlife, and sunny days were a blessing when it was so cold and dark in Europe. Life was beautiful, and we had a rental car and a busy schedule ahead to explore the country.

This is where this short travel story turns into one of my more scary travel experiences :

At Murchinson Falls National Park, we had a car accident.

I lost control of the car, and it rolled over, destroying windows, chassis, and engine.

But we were alive! My right arm was severely injured, but we managed to walk to our lodge, not far inside the park.

In the lodge, I was happy to learn that there was a pretty decent American hospital in Masindi that was just a one-hour drive from the lodge. Moreover, one of the lodge’s guests was a nurse who cleaned the wound while we were waiting for the taxi from/to Masindi.

The hospital took care of us, and after a couple of injections and stitches, I was ready to head to our new hotel in Masindi; however, my wound required daily dressing and more injections, so we were asked to stay in town for a few days.   

Masindi is the kind of place where you may want to stop to buy some food or water, but that’s it.

The town’s highlights were the market and our daily visit to the hospital, so we ended up looking for the small things, chatting with the medical staff, the hotel staff, the people in the market, and learning more about their customs.

We learned to slow down the hard way.

When we were allowed to leave, we took a road trip south through the country to see something else. We did not care about our travel bucket list anymore — we were alive, and we wanted to enjoy Uganda’s unique nature and its people. 

In the end, our Uganda trip was not about the places that we saw, but the people that we met. It was travel for experience vs sightseeing.

I hope to revisit Uganda one day, with a stop at Masindi for some food, water, and maybe something else.

-Elisa from World in Paris

14. A Cycling Trip To Remember

During the summer of 2019, I cycled solo from London to Istanbul. This huge bicycle tour took me 89 days and through 11 countries.

As you might expect, it was a challenging yet incredible journey, which saw me pedal along some of Europe’s greatest rivers, pass through some of its best cities, and witness some of its most beautiful scenery.

It’s becoming more and more important for us to think about the impact that travel can have on our environment. This was the inspiration for my bicycle tour; I wanted to find more responsible ways to explore the world and avoid flights where possible.

I discovered that bicycle touring is one of the most eco-friendly ways to travel, as using nothing but a bicycle and your own pedal power you can carry everything you need while covering surprising distances each day.

The simplicity of life and the sheer amount of time I spent cycling alone gave me a lot of time to just think . This really helped me to come to terms with some personal problems rooted in my past and, as a result, I arrived solo in Istanbul with newly found confidence, independence, and liberation. 

Cycling across the entire European continent may seem like an impossibly daunting task, but I assure you, it will make you feel like a new person, just like it did for me.

-Lauren from The Planet Edit

15. How The Caribbean Shaped Me Into A Fully Sustainable Traveler

One of my first international trips as an adult was traveling around the Caribbean .

I checked into my hotel in Jamaica and asked for a recommendation for a local place to eat. The receptionist told me that under no circumstances should I should go into the town because it was really dangerous, but that — to my luck — the hotel’s restaurant offered wonderful Caribbean food.

I pondered my options:

Did I really want to spend all my time on the beach without getting to know a single local?

I was a very inexperienced traveler and very young, but there was only one answer to my question:

Absolutely not. I was not going to be visiting a new place and staying hostage in a hotel chain. So out I went.

The poverty hit me in the face. After only seeing fancy resorts, the reality was hard to swallow.

A few locals approached me and were super curious as to what I was doing there alone, since most tourists didn’t go there.

I told them I was interested in meeting them and experiencing their culture. And just like that, I was embraced.

We met more people, had some food, and then we danced the night away. They had so little, yet they wanted to share it with me. They wanted to make me feel welcome.

And they undeniably did.

The next morning all I could think about was how all the money most tourists spend goes to big corporations. The locals have to be thankful if they get a job that pays minimum wage, while foreign businesses earn millions.

I have always been environmentally conscious, but this trip made it clear that sustainability goes well beyond nature and wildlife.

It’s also about communities.

From then on I always look for locally owned accommodation, eateries, guides, and souvenirs.

Sustainability, with everything it entails, became a motto for me and changed the very essence of the way I travel.

-Coni from  Experiencing the Globe

16. Lessons From My Students In Peru

One of the most life-changing trips I’ve ever been on was a volunteering experience in the stunning city of Cuzco in Peru.

I spent a month there teaching English and Italian to a group of local adults. And even though my time there was short, the travel experience was so humbling that it changed my outlook on life.

My lessons took the form of active conversations, which essentially turned into a massive multilingual cultural exchange between me and my students. Hearing my students talk about their lives — and realizing just how different they were from mine — made me look at my own life with a fresh new perspective.

One person spoke about the three years he spent living in a jungle with his dad, where they fed off of animals they hunted in order to survive.

Another student told me about her ultimate dream of mastering English so that she could become a tour guide and have a more stable future.

For me, these stories were a reminder of just how small I am in this world and how much we can get consumed by the small bubbles we live in. 

Most of all, my students showed a passion and appreciation for life that I’d never witnessed before.

This is true for the locals I met in Cuzco in general. The quality of life in Cuzco is very modest; hot water is scarce and you learn to live with little.

But the locals there do way more than just that — they spontaneously parade the streets with trumpets and drums just because they’re feeling happy, and their energy for the simple things in life is incredibly contagious.

It was impossible to not feel inspired in Cuzco because my students always had the biggest smiles on their faces, and the locals showed me again and again that simply being alive is a blessing.

I went to Peru to teach, but ended up learning more from my students and the locals there than they did from me.

Ever since I got back from that trip, I made it a goal to slow down and not take the simple things in life for granted.

Every time I get upset about something, I think about the Peruvians in Cuzco parading their streets in song and pure joy, and I tell myself to stop complaining.

-Jiayi from  The Diary of a Nomad

17. Braving Travel With Chronic Pain

Santiago de Compostela is a beautiful city with a prominent cathedral positioned centrally within the city.

While the historical cathedral attracts numerous visitors, even more well-known is the route to Santiago de Compostela, Camino de Santiago –- the world-famous pilgrimage route that has a plethora of trailheads and ends in Santiago. 

Home to locals, students, English teachers, and those on a spiritual pilgrimage, personal conquest, or a great outdoor hiking excursion, Santiago is a magical city.

My introduction to Santiago de Compostela doesn’t begin on the pilgrimage route, yet ends with a spiritual awakening analogous with those other unique pilgrimage stories.

It was my first solo trip abroad teaching English in Spain, a country that’s always been on my travel bucket list. A small town outside of Santiago was selected as the school I’d be teaching at for the year.

Unknowingly, this teach abroad program chose the perfect city for me to live in. 

A year prior, I suffered a traumatic brain injury that left me unable to function normally and complete average tasks. Migraines, headaches, and dizziness became my body’s normal temperament, a hidden disability invisible to the naked eye. 

Braving travel with chronic pain was the first lesson I learned during the trip.

The vast green outdoors and fresh dew from the morning rain enlivened me daily and reminded me about the importance of slowing down so I could enjoy traveling with my hidden disability. 

I also learned to stop often for daily tea breaks and to embrace the long lunch hour,  siestas , with good food, company, and a nap to rest.

Meeting locals , indulging in local food, and learning Spanish allowed me to connect deeply with the beautiful culture of Santiago. After all, my dream was to travel to Spain, and I more than accomplished that dream.

Difficult or not, I learned to own my dream and I was more than surprised with the results.

Who knew that a year after my injury I’d be traveling the world with chronic pain, and for that, I’m eternally grateful.

-Ciara from Wellness Travel Diaries

18. A Blessing In Disguise

2020 has been a wild year for all of us and foreign students in China are no exception. As soon as the malevolent virus began to make its rounds in China, our university sent us home for “two weeks.”

However, within a short time, countries began to shut their borders and these “two weeks” turned into months, a full year even.

Crushed by the burden of online lectures and virtual labs, my boyfriend and I packed our bags and caught one of the first flights to his home country of Pakistan.

I had always been an over-ambitious traveler. I believed numbers were everything — the number of countries I visited, the number of hours I spent on a plane, the number of international trips I took in a year. These numbers were what defined me.

My feet were constantly itching and I never liked to spend more than a few days in a place before heading to the next country. Revisiting a place felt superfluous to me.

That’s why I was hoping to spend a month or two in Pakistan and then continue to check new countries off the list — after all, my online classes finally granted me the freedom to “work on my numbers.”

But as is usually the case in 2020, things turned out quite different from what I had expected. Borders remained closed and worldwide infections stayed rampant. At this point, I have already spent nearly half a year in Pakistan.

During this peculiar time, however, an amazing thing happened:

My mindset about travel started to change and I began to look at my long stay in Pakistan as perhaps my most valuable travel experience ever.

I may not have visited dozens of countries like in previous years but my experiences were deeper than ever before.

From trekking to one of the world’s tallest mountains to sharing tea with heavily armed officers at nearly 5,000 meters altitude to exploring hidden beaches in the most secluded regions to spontaneously being invited to village homes, my adventures in Pakistan couldn’t have been more incredible. They opened my eyes to the sheer diversity of many countries and completely transformed my idea about traveling. 

It took me nearly a full year of heavy restrictions on international travel and a few months in one of the world’s most fascinating countries to give up on my superficial ideals and become a more mature traveler.

This time will always have a special place in my heart.

-Arabela from The Spicy Travel Girl

19. What The River Taught Me

My travel story takes place in the summer of 2017 — the final summer before I graduated university — as it continues to play a significant role in the person I’ve become.

When I say that, people ask me if it was the portion of the summer I spent solo backpacking in Europe . And to their surprise, it wasn’t. It was actually the latter portion of the summer where I stayed closer to home.

For July and August I worked as a canoe guide leading whitewater canoe trips on remote rivers in Canada. It was here that I got to canoe the powerful and iconic Missinaibi River, a river that continues to influence me all these years later.

The Missinaibi River flows from the powerful Lake Superior to the even more powerful salty waters of James Bay. Here, I led a group of eight teenagers through dozens of whitewater rapids over 500 kilometers (~311 miles).

With no cell service for 25 days, we were forced to disconnect from anything other than the river.

During this trip I learned two important lessons:

First, I learned to be confident in my own abilities as a leader and problem solver.

There were a few rapids where my campers’ boats flipped and I had to rescue the campers and the canoes. One rescue saw two boats flip on a mile-long rapid. It took six hours to make it down the rapid, and during this time I managed stuck canoes and crying campers.

And while this was one of the most difficult rescues I’ve done, I was amazed at how calm I was throughout it. I gave clear directions, prioritized effectively, and kept my campers safe throughout the entire experience. Following the rescue, I had a newfound sense of confidence in my abilities.

The second lesson I learned on the Missinaibi was the power of disconnecting from society and connecting with the people around you.

A wild river commands all of your attention. Each day, you and your group must take down camp, load canoes, paddle up to eight hours while navigating both rapids and portages, get to a new campsite, set up camp, cook dinner, and go to bed.

And without the distraction of technology, your attention has nowhere else to be. You focus on the river and your teammates.

As someone who had wrestled with anxiety and depression prior to this summer, I felt at total ease on the trip. Now I seek societal disconnection and human connection as much as I can. 

Sometimes the most profound, life-altering trips are the least expected trips closer to home.

-Mikaela of  Voyageur Tripper

More Short Travel Experience Stories

25 Crazy Travel Stories You Need To Read To Believe

23 Inspiring Travel Stories Sharing The Kindness Of Strangers

17 True Short Adventure Travel Stories To Inspire Your Next Trip

38 Inspiring Travel Love Stories From The Road

16 Short Funny Travel Stories That Will Make You Laugh

20 Embarrassing Travel Stories That Will Make You Laugh & Blush

21 Travel Horror Stories About Scary Travel Experiences

Do you have any inspiring travel experience stories about life-changing trips to share?

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These stories are so much fun to read! Thanks so much for putting a post like this together. It’s great to be able to check out other people’s blogs and read about other people’s experiences!

Always great to read about travel experiences of others. Some great stories to read over coffee. I’ve Pinned your post for future reference and to share with others. Will check out each story author’s blog as well. Great Job! 🙂

Amazing story for new traveler like me thanks for your contribution

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7 Things To Say To Someone Who Just Arrived From Travel

• February 2, 2024

Last Updated on February 2, 2024 by Ketan

When family or close someone comes back home from travel.

Of course, you both are excited to discuss the whole trip experience. 

But other than talking about just the journey, there are some nice things to say to them. 

You better consider situations like their time of arrival, where you meet them (at home or the airport), and mostly their mood. 

And, this will help you to decide what to say and when. 

If you need some ideas here are some nice things to say to someone who comes back from a relaxing or long and exhausting trip.

What To Say To Someone Who Just Arrived From Travel?

Whether it’s a long-week vacation or a weekend trip, someone has a lot to discuss about this journey. 

But, right now, what’s more important is that your family or loved ones made it home safely after this trip.  

The whole trip and ride back home must be very exhaustive for them. 

So you don’t want to discuss their whole experience at the door. 

Make them feel welcome at home.  

There’s a time for discussing the journey when they feel refreshed later on. 

While as someone just arrived from travel, you can show your excitement and happiness to see them home. 

This way you show, you missed them and now are happy to see them after being away for a few days. 

1. “I can see that you look so refreshed after such a long travel.” 

This was a refreshment trip that someone went to. 

And, it was really very required for them. 

Seeing them after travel, tell them that they look refreshed. 

And, you see it as a successful trip. 

READ NEXT:  How To Answer To ‘Where Did You Go’?

2. “Good to see you back. I can’t wait to hear everything from this adventure.”

Someone from your family just arrived from travel and you welcome them back .

When you talk with them, mention that you’re pretty excited to hear how was their trip and what they do during this whole time. 

Show your genuine excitement about their travel experience. 

3. “Let me know when you’re available to share the whole travel story.”  

You don’t force them to talk about travel right away. 

But at times, when they feel comfortable. 

This one is a nice approach to show that you care for them. 

You might be excited to hear about their trip but also know they need some rest after a long journey. 

READ NEXT:  How To Reply To ‘Thanks For Caring’ Text?

4. “I’m so happy that you finally get the relaxation you were looking for.” 

Someone in your family needed this trip, as they have been working so hard and never took a break.

This trip was to give them relaxation and a break from routine life. 

Here you ask them how they feel now after coming from travel. 

5. “Look who’s here? I feel like I’m seeing you after months.” 

Share this with your close family member who just arrived from travel. 

This way to tell that you are happy to see them as well as you missed them so much. 

It might be a few days but it was hard for you to spend time at home without them.

6. “So, how was the flight? It seems you are later than planned.” 

They arrived home late than expected. 

Maybe the flight was delayed due to some reason. 

Tell them that you were so worried about them and their safety.  

So you ask what happened.

7. “Welcome back home. I’ve been waiting for you long.” 

When your family member just came home after a long trip, this is what you can say. 

It’s good to have someone who is there to wait for you home and welcome you back. 

Be the one to make them feel relaxed as they are home now. 

READ NEXT:  How To Reply To ‘Happy Journey’ Greeting?

When Someone Arrived From A Long Trip

Indeed, you are so excited to hear about their entire travel journey. 

But you also need to mind the situation and their condition before asking them to share it. 

Instead, for now, you can say something nice like how happy you are after seeing them back from travel. 

Also, you can express that you’ve been waiting for them and missed them a lot at home. 

Here shared examples are the best things to say to someone who just arrived from travel when you meet them for the first time. 

And, these are genuine ways to show your happiness and excitement to welcome them back.

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Specialized in marketing, with 'communication' as a favorite subject, Ketan P. is a head writer at 'Better Responses'. He loves to share his unique perspectives and ways to make everyday conversations a bit 'lively'.

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Best Short Travel Stories: 15+ Bloggers Share Their Favorite Travelling Story

Table of Contents:

Every tourist has at least a few interesting travel stories to share. The more you are exploring the world, the greater the chance that you have experienced something unique. We’ve asked our blogging friends to share their most memorable experiences. Check out these awesome short travel stories and get inspired!

Best Travel Stories Including Romance

Love at first lettuce.

by Juliette from Snorkels To Snow blog

4 years later the hunky builder became my husband.

Adventure With A Stranger In France

by Barbara from Jet Settera blog

After our short meeting, we kept on chatting for about a month on Facebook and then we decided to meet up in Florence in a hotel room and explore Tuscany together.

We agreed on the itinerary and he flew in from Vienna and I arrived from Milano. We rented a Fiat500 and we traveled all around Tuscany for a long weekend.

We visited some of the most romantic cities in Italy , such as Siena, Lucca, Pisa, and Cinque Terre. It was an amazing adventure together.

We had lots of fun on the trip and we went on more trips after that. The conclusion of the story was that sometimes it is good to come out of your comfort zone and take a chance on a stranger, maybe he will be an excellent travel partner.

Scary Travel Stories That Will Give You Chills!

Jumped by an adult puma in the bolivian jungle  .

by Aaron from The Dharma Trails blog

Cheap, Bolivian vodka . That’s what got me there. Isolated, deep in the Bolivian jungle, with an apex predator wrapped around my body (and hot breath on my face).  

Volunteering at a Bolivian animal sanctuary I saw all kinds of monkey bites and scratches. It was common for backpackers to show off their fresh wounds at the end of each day. But no one had a story like this…

The weekly volunteer party got out of hand (the night before). Those with the appropriate big-animal training didn’t wake up or sign in to the morning’s meeting. I was there. Hungover, but there.   So, I agreed to help out with the puma (even though it normally requires months of training and animal integration/familiarity).

After an hour of trekking through the jungle, one of the team members and I reached the puma’s enclosure. The huge cat growled at me with a distinct sense of dislike. But that didn’t stop us from continuing our task.   We entered the caged area, attached two ropes to the puma’s “collar” and begun to walk him through the jungle.   

The puma, completely unpleased with my intrusion, stepped forward hesitantly. After only a couple of minutes, he stopped, looked back at me, and growled directly into my eyes. I watched helplessly as the puma leaped 10ft into the air towards me. In a split-second, his powerful legs wrapped around my waist, arms wrapped around my throat and fangs pressed into my forehead.  

I heard my team member scream. But I couldn’t move. Completely still, I assumed the worst. Yet, somehow it felt completely natural. The circle of life. The scream faded as I began to lose consciousness. Then, all of a sudden, I was released.   The animal let me go and stepped backwards.  

After swearing profusely, my team member yelled “stick your palm out towards him”. For some reason, I did.   The huge cat stepped back towards me and licked it. And, that was it. He knew that I knew, who was king of the jungle. After that we were friends.  

Volunteering with animals is a great way to give back while you  eco travel . Just be sure to pick places with adequate training if you don’t want to have bad travel stories like mine!

Getting Arrested in Gansu, China

by Wendy from the Nomadic Vegan blog

My short story about my travel experience is from Asia. On our first trip to China , one of the destinations my husband and I were most looking forward to, was visiting the Labrang Monastery. Located in remote Gansu province in the west of China , Labrang is a holy site and a place of pilgrimage for Tibetan Buddhists. 

At that time, neither one of us spoke any Chinese, and we were finding it frustratingly difficult to get where we wanted to go. We didn’t understand why all the bus drivers were refusing to let us get on the buses heading towards the transport hub from where all onward transport to Labrang left.

When one of them finally did let us on, he then forced us to get out on the outskirts of town, well before we reached the bus station. Confused, and not knowing what else to do, we started walking in the direction we thought the station was in. We didn’t get far before two police cars skidded to a halt next to us, and we were suddenly surrounded by six cops wearing S.W.A.T. badges on their sleeves.

They brought us to the head of the prefecture, who luckily was a very friendly Tibetan man who spoke enough English to explain what was happening. Unbeknownst to us, the Chinese government had recently made that part of Gansu off-limits to foreign tourists in light of protests by ethnic Tibetans in the area.

After treating us to a tasty lunch of vegetarian Chinese food , the head of the prefecture drove us back across the prefecture border himself and made sure that we got on a bus back to where we had come from.

We never made it to the Labrang Monastery on that trip, but at that point, we were just happy not to be in a Chinese jail. As I write this, we are in Mongolia, planning to cross back into China in a couple of weeks. We have been told that Labrang has reopened for foreigners, so 10 years later we are going to give it another shot. Hopefully, we don’t get arrested this time and we will only have amazing travel stories to share!

Snake Attack In Vietnam

by Lina from Divergent Travelers blog

We were just about to take a final stretch of country road and head onto highway 1 for the next leg when we saw something in the road ahead of us.

It was up ahead of Jon and it was the kind of thing you couldn’t really tell what it was until you were right on top of it. In an instant, we saw Jon whip his legs up as a huge snake lunged at his leg when his scooter sailed next to it. I was mortified as I am very afraid of snakes. The last thing I wanted was to have this thing striking at me as we cruised by.

We pulled over, laughed, and discussed the size of it while noticing a local man running down the road with a long stick. He was hollering at us excitedly and pointing at the road. Apparently, snakes of that size are worth well over 1.2 million dong and the man was bursting with excitement about catching the venomous beast.

Asking where it went, he moved into the grass at the edge of the rice field in pursuit. The movement caused the snake to flee into the rice paddies and the local man immediately gave chase into what became a dance between him and the snake. Each challenged the other until the man lept to the opportunity and seized the snake by the head with his bare hands.

He smiled proudly as he came back to the road, showed off the snake then as swiftly as he appeared, left us standing there while he made his way down the road back to his house. Snake in hand. You don’t see that every day! It was definitely one of these fun travel stories that we will never forget.

Dangerous Night Trip In Peru

by Danielle from the Like Riding Bicycle blog

Not every travel story is fun. I have many scary travel stories to share, including the one from Peru. Many years ago, when I’d just started traveling , I took a bus going through parts of the Amazon… at night. Apparently, this wasn’t the best call. Around 3 am I was alarmed to wake up to the bus stopped, and a man in a black mask with a huge black gun pointed at us all. He yelled in Spanish and everyone’s hands went up into the air, so I flung mine up following suit. Before long the men were marched off the bus, leaving us women, hands still in the air, to wait for what would come next.

I had a moment in which I thought: “What are they about to do with the men? What are they about to do with the women? What are they about to do with me, the only foreigner on the bus?” I was far from rich, but they didn’t know that.

After some time another man came on the bus, this time with a small silver pistol which he pointed at each of us as he robbed us blind. No one was physically harmed, though I knew that people who weren’t as fortunate to be a Westerner like myself lost more than they could afford to replace, which was a hard thing to realize. I couldn’t help, only sit there with my arms in the air.

So go to Peru – it’s amazing! – just don’t take a night bus through the Amazon!

Mutant Bugs Attack

by Nathan from Foodie Flashpacker blog

Although at the time it happened I wouldn’t have called it my best travelling story, now, looking back on it, it’s one of the best/funniest stories of my nearly three years of traveling. This all took place during my visit to Fez , Morocco in 2016.

The time I survived a direct attack to the face by killer mutant bugs from outer space. And then visited a vagina doctor with the world’s oldest x-ray machine to put my face back together again.

Long story short- one day I woke up with a face full of bug bites. The concerned guest house owner sent me to a pharmacist who then sent me to a doctor.

More specifically, I later learned, was that I had been sent to a gynecologist. We established that some large insects had attacked my face and I was in need of multiple medications. And, for reasons still unknown to me, an x-ray. At least I think he x-rayed me.

Being A Suspect In The Disappearance Of Girl In France

By James from The Portugal blog

One of the funny adventure stories that I have is from the time I found a 5-month housesit in the middle of the French countryside. It sounded idyllic, and perfect for me and my girlfriend at the time who had just started out as digital nomads. 

In reality, it wasn’t quite as idyllic as advertised. The biggest issue was the lack of internet; something which was supposed to have been installed by the time we arrived. But, we made do. We bought French sim cards with 3 GB of internet each (the max we could get at the time) and vowed never to look at YouTube or anything that might use lots of data for the entire 5 months.

It was all going perfectly until one day there was a knock at the door and two local French policemen were standing there. They began asking us what we were doing on the property and where the owners were. In the best French, I could manage, I explained the concept of house-sitting but I could see it wasn’t going over. 

Then, they showed us a picture of a girl who was missing. We hadn’t seen her and, in fact, didn’t know anyone in the town. We apologized that we couldn’t be of more help, thinking that was that. 

It wasn’t. One of the policemen then pulled out a printout of a forum conversation between the missing girl and someone who they believed was her biological father. Then in the forum conversation, they showed me a mobile number: my French mobile number. 

I didn’t know how to explain it apart from to say that it must be a typo, but that wasn’t good enough. They asked to see my computer and began looking through the search history. Then, obviously not buying my house sitting story, they asked where the owners were again.  

Unsatisfied, they told me to come into the station that afternoon for more questioning at 2 pm. I didn’t know what to do. There wasn’t enough time to find a lawyer or even a translator as they would probably have had to come from the nearest city. I opened Google Translate and tried to come up with as many useful sentences as I could, but it was hard to concentrate. 

At 2 pm on the dot I walked through the doors of the police station and when the policeman saw my worried face he burst out laughing. “Lucky for you, she showed up,” he said. And that, amazingly, was the end of that. I’ve never heard any more about this again. 

Lifechanging Short Travel Stories

Stepping out of a comfort zone in dubai.

by Michaela from Awe Inclusive blog

In 2014, I was scrolling through a Facebook group when I spotted a post claiming $200 roundtrip tickets to Duba (btw if you want to save on your next trip, check out this trip com coupon ). As is routine in that group, I confirmed the deal, checked my calendar, and booked tickets – no asking friends, no waiting for job approvals, and no overthinking. It would be my first trip alone.

I met Jibri during the layover. She got my attention and started chatting about travel deals and groups. During our small talk, I considered putting my earphones back in or making up a reason to excuse myself. Instead, I decided to embrace a new person and see where it could lead.

Not only did we exchange contact information to meet-up in Dubai, but we joined other travel group members who rented out a yacht for an afternoon cruise along the Persian Gulf.

It was totally outside of my comfort zone and totally what my comfort zone needed – to be stretched out of shape! I met amazing people and forged exciting friendships.

Dubai was life-changing. I learned to trust my abilities and instincts even when I had to improvise. I learned that strangers are just friends who haven’t met you. Most importantly, I learned that my suitcase was much lighter when I didn’t fill it with fear.

This year, I took a solo trip to Thailand and it was the absolute best. More solo trips are in my future as I continue to challenge myself to get uncomfortable and do more than I thought I could.

See also: Best travel stories from Thailand .

Beautiful Travel Friendship

by Viki from Chronic Wanderlust blog

I’ve been in Playa del Carmen, Mexico for a few weeks now for my divemaster training. I spent every day in the water with customers and my instructor. I loved it! We shared the boat with another dive shop and I started to notice that they were also training a divemaster to be.

She seamed to be my age and so I started talking to her. Janice is from Canada and also madly in love with the ocean and all things diving. We started to hang out more and more and even became very good friends then.

She left Mexico a few days before I left, but we managed to stay in touch. For almost two years now we talk several times a week, she helped me through many things as a stupid breakup.

Last year I told her I was going back to Mexico for a few weeks and if she wanted to meet me there. She told me that she couldn’t manage with work. I had wanted to see her so badly! And I knew she wanted to be in sunny Mexico with me as well.

I remember the 30th of December when she told me that she had just bought the ticket and will be in Mexico the next day! I was beyond happy, I was going to see my best friend again. I was going to see her for the second time in my life and yet she knows more about me than any other person that I see more often.

I love how friendships can last over distance and time zones. Meeting Janice is definitely one of the best solo travel stories that I have.

Best Adventure Travel Stories

Hawaii adventure.

by Carole from Berkeley and Beyond blog

Even though I have many short stories about traveling the world, I want to share the one from Hawaii. I’ll never forget the time I landed on the remote Hawaiian island of Molokai and was told, “We have a wedding and two funerals on the island, and so we have run out of cars.” It was at about the same time as a popular movie with a similar title was out, so the statement had a humorous overtone.

However, since this was hang-loose Hawaii , I was assured by a mellow employee that all would work out and so there was really nothing I could do but relax into it. The car agency arranged for (and paid for) a cab to deliver us to our condo so we could check-in, and told us that the next morning someone would pick us up and deliver us to the mule ride.

Done, though we did almost miss our morning ride due to confusion regarding the meeting spot, but the point is we didn’t  miss it, and we were told by that driver that our car would be waiting in the parking lot for us after our ride.

And there it was! Pure Molokai magic.

Visiting A Real Quechua Village

by Gabor from Surfing the Planet blog

Although Machu Picchu is simply indescribable, it turned out that a totally improvised adventure left a much stronger mark on us. When we were staying at a Couchsurfer’s place in Cusco, we asked him whether it would be possible to visit a real Quechua village.

He said we could try, although we would have to find it out ourselves since these Quechua communities live quite far in the Andes and there’s no public transport to get there.

In the end, we got very lucky, since looking for transport in Ollantaytambo, we found out that the local doctor and other social workers were going to visit some of these tribes and they let us join them.

We were really happy because we had the chance to stay in a Quechua community, learn about their traditions, see the colorful clothes they wear every day and take part in their daily routine for some time. We often had to use hand gestures to communicate, since most of these people don’t speak Spanish, only Quechua. This is one of our most interesting travel stories and a real heart-warming experience that we will never forget.

Funny Short Travel Stories

Mistaking a brothel for a massage spa in china.

by Talek from Travels With Talek blog

Ah… cultural confusion.  One weekend I was in a part of Beijing I was not familiar with and decided to get a massage.  I remembered what appeared to be a massage spa nearby. The location didn’t look exactly like a typical spa, but I went in anyway.

The inside of the location had all the spa-like features which reassured me.  However, when the hostess approached me, she appeared apprehensive and asked me something in Chinese. I pantomimed a massage.  She disappeared into a dark room behind a beaded curtain. I could hear her and another woman speaking animatedly.

After some uncomfortable moments, the woman returned and lead me to a dimly lit, rectangular room with a massage table in the middle. I positioned myself as I normally would. A different woman came in and gave me a lackadaisical massage for about an hour. I paid and went back to my hotel.

The next day my colleagues and I discussed our weekend. I mentioned my massage at a location next to the Wanda department store. “Oh! That’s a high-end brothel” they said. They’re probably still laughing.

Crazy Travel Stories

Free helicopter ride.

by Kris From Nomad By Trade

My favorite travel story is from a business trip I took to a small town in Kentucky. One morning, my co-worker noticed that there was a helicopter parked out on the hotel’s lawn, which we thought was odd but pretty cool.

That week, we ended up befriending the helicopter’s pilot and his wife and talking to them at breakfast and the evening periods of light snacks.

He somehow offered to take us up for a free ride, so one morning before work, we each took a turn hopping in his helicopter and flying up and over town. He banked, dipped, and shot up to the sky like a rocket during our jaunt through the Kentucky skies.

I still find it funny that I wouldn’t get in a car with a stranger, but I had no qualms about hopping in a helicopter with one. I’ve been traveling on an almost weekly basis for work for six years and that’s still one of the coolest things that I’ve gotten to do on the road.

My Birthday In A Private Castle Near Prague

Crazy Flight With A Hyperactive Child

by Alexis from World Travel Adventurers blog

We’ve had our fair share of unforgettable and funny travel stories as parents traveling with a spirited 2-year-old and 4 years old, but this one still takes the cake. We think every parent who has ever flown with young children can relate.

We were on our way home from Salt Lake City to Baltimore, which is a 5-hour flight, so my husband had the brilliant (or so he thought) idea to sedate our energizer bunny son (whose nicknames include Taz, tornado, hurricane, wrecking ball, the destroyer) to make the long flight easier.

Having a wild toddler restricted to a seat for 5 hours is no fun for anyone, but a sleeping toddler sounded much more appealing.

We had given him Benadryl before when he was sick and it put him right to sleep like a charm, so we thought we were in the clear. It turns out, some kids have the opposite reaction to Benadryl and turn into hell on wheels.

Well, our son turned into that kid. I think everyone on the flight, especially the person sitting in front of him, wanted to kill him or at least put him in a straightjacket and a muzzle. The flight attendant, who used to be a nanny, could tell early on that something was up and had a hunch it was from Benadryl gone wrong.

In the midst of his craziness, I took him to the bathroom at the front of the plane to change his diaper. When we headed back to our seats, he took off running down the aisle full speed ahead. He was so fast and agile (being much smaller than me and able to maneuver through the narrow aisle like a star football player) that I couldn’t catch up to him until he had run the entire length of the plane.

My husband said he saw a flash go by his seat, and then saw me running after yelling my son’s name. He thought it was hilarious. I did not. We can both laugh about it today and will NEVER make that mistake again.

So to all my fellow parents of traveling youngsters, beware and never use Benadryl for a stress-free flight unless you’ve tested it a few times and are sure that your child will not turn into a Tasmanian devil. Unless you want to add something to your funny holiday stories collection, then go for it.

Meeting The President Of Ecuador

by Dane from Holiday From Where blog

My best travel story is from a time I was in a small city called Salinas on the south coast of Ecuador . I was just hanging with a local friend and surfing every day before I started to head north. I kept hearing about this wave that was really good and you couldn’t surf because you had to sneak through an air force base to get to.

One day my friend was telling me it was going to be really good, so, we decided to try and sneak in. In hindsight, it was really stupid. We were crawling on our hands and knees through some bushes on the bad side of a shooting range while they were actively shooting. We made it to the beach got changed and ran for the ocean.

We were in the water for all of 15 minutes when two large me with AK-47s appeared on the beach and started to yell and whistle. We got a few more waves and went in. The men were extremely un-impressed and very angry.

We knew we were doing the wrong thing but obviously played dumb. As we were about to get dragged off a man and his wife came over a small dune and just walked up to us. The man asked us how our day was and if we had a good surf we replied we did and he just smiled at us and walked off.

As he did my friend informed me that it was the President. Everything happened so fast and in no time we were in the back of a military vehicle being taken to a small building. I was out a short time later with a stern warning never to return. 

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Did you enjoy reading this post? Share your best travel story in the comments below!

72 Responses

Love it! Thanks for including our story. Traveling opens you up to so many incredible (sometimes hilarious) experiences so it’s great to hear about other memorable moments from fellow travel addicts!

It’s our pleasure, Alexis! Your story is great, thanks for sharing it :)

Pinoy TV is one of the few international channels that provide high-quality entertainment.

These stories are great. Thanks a lot for sharing.

Thanks for the inspiration Karolina! Traveling the world is something I’ve always wanted to do, but have found it hard to make the leap.

Hey Karolina,

Very inspiring travel stories! Makes me want to book a flight now and create an amazing travel story ever told! ;) There is nothing more gratifying than traveling, yes you spend but you learn more. Been to many places and every story is just different and amazing!

These stories are inspiring and it makes me want to travel more. Cheers!

Some amazing stories in there! It’s amazing what opportunities can present themselves when you are travelling abroad.

There’s some incredible stories in there. It’s amazing to see what opportunities can present themselves to you when you are travelling abroad. We’ve got a lot of great memories and stories from our time abroad, can’t wait to get even more!

Getting arrested in China must have been an exciting experience. Luckily, no jail. So happy end.

Thanks for the inspiration Karolina!……,! great story

Glad I enjoyed the post! Thanks for sharing this.

You’re welcome!

The only way to achieve happiness is to cherish what you have and forget what you don’t have

I really liked reading your post! Very high quality content and useful information. With such a valuable blog I believe you deserve to be ranking even higher in the search engines.

Thanks for your comment, Maria.

Wow, interesting crazy stories! good stuff!

Incredible stories. Frankly, I envy people who travel freely, I hope that I succeed.

Such a kind of knowledge give by this stories.

Much Appreciated! Get your travel and tourism guide of top tourist places, attractions about travelling and exploration of the world.

Hey really Incredible stories.Appreciated your blog.Such interesting travel story.The details are very informative.I also love to travel.This stories inspires me to travel to my dream place.Looking forward to see more from you.

Thanks for your comment!

I’ve got no idea what I’d do if a snake lunged at me while on a scooter! Hopefully, I’d have the commonsense to hit the accelerator and keep going. Even non-poisonous snakes can be dangerous. And I’m guessing that the snake ended up as someone’s dinner or that seems be have been implied :/.

I also love to travel the world. Your story inspires me a lot

Your travel stories are awesome. I love to travel to other countries and experience every culture.

Wow, interesting crazy stories! good .

thanks for sharing this info superb

Wow this is very interesting and amazing article for all travellers and I hope they will get lots of information from this article. It will also helpful for all beginners. Thanks for sharing this article to us..

Hey, it’s amazing way for our time . Thanks for sharing.

These short travel stories always teach me something new.

Its really amazing post for me. Thanks for sharing

Excellent post with rich knowledge for travelers. Thanks for sharing

Amazing stories! Thank you so much for sharing them. As a traveler it is exciting to hear new stories. It certainly makes you want to go out and travel again.

It was nice to be inspired by you, Karolina! Although I have always dreamed about traveling the world, I have struggled to make this step because it seems so risky.

Hey, I think it’s a great way to spend our time these days. That’s great that you shared that with us.

I love your all content keep share with us, keep shared with us.

thanks for sharing this info, superb article

I have been wondering where to travel across Europe. And getting exposed to this amazing stories has energised my travelling plans and the countries to visit. Thanks so much for sharing such a wonder and useful stories. Looking forward for more stories.

I am really happy with the quality and presentation of the article. Thanks a lot for keeping great stuff.

Travelling is one of the best way to create memorable stories.

What a great idea for a post and a wonderful collection of stories!

Thank you for this great sharing!

Thank god! The housesitter did not have to go to a Chinese prison. The whole incident was quite amusing.

Thanks for this site i like it.

Article was very lovely and all stories are great

All stories are lovely and amazing.

There is no better way to create memorable stories than by traveling.

Traveling is one of the ways to create and be a part of stories. The travel stories in the blog are all interesting. I have also read stories on how travelers are set up by placing drugs in their luggage at airports.

Yeah however I am not sure if it’s true.

Thanks! i loved this site thanks for recommending.

Excellent post with rich knowledge for travelers.

Unforgettable

Such a great post thanks for sharing this with us and keep posting these are soo amazing.

There is no better way to create memorable stories than by traveling. :)

thank you so much

Thank you. you have explained almost everything.

Great post.Thanks for sharing. You have explained almost everything.

all the stories shared are good and well explained.

Thanks for sharing this article it was quite insightful.

Thanks for sharing such information. I appreciate your hard work

Great post, Thanks for the information provided! Your post is so awesome. Keep it work and share your amazing post with us. Thanks again!

Thanks a lot for sharing this post. Your travel story is so amazing.

Glad you enjoyed it, thanks!

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We are Karolina, Patryk, and Mia, the lazy traveling family. After spending 5 years as digital nomads, and living in many countries in the world, we decided to make Poland our base.

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50 Travel Memory Prompts for Capturing Your Life Story

Everyone has travel memories; whether it’s the trip you took to your favorite vacation spot when you were 10 or the summer you spent studying abroad in college, there are moments from traveling that stick with us long after we’ve returned home. To help you capture these memories and details of your life, here are over 50 prompts to help you write your own travel memoir. You can use these prompts as inspiration to start writing your own travel memoir, or they can be helpful prompts if you’re looking to record specific details of past trips. Use them however best fits your situation!

Life Story Questions - Memory & Writing Prompts About Travel

• What was your first family vacation like? 
• Where did you go and what made it special? 
• What kinds of memories came out of that trip? 
• Write about a moment from your trip that especially stands out. 
• Tell us a funny story or one that makes you smile even now, 10 years later?
• What was your favorite trip as a child or teen? 
• What age were you when you went? 
• What did you do on that trip? 
• Where did you go? 
• Who did you go with? 
• How long were you gone for? 
• What are some things that stood out about that trip in your mind (funny stories, favorite memories, etc.)? 
• Why was it your favorite travel experience so far in life? 
• Who is one of your best friends, and how did you meet them? What’s something memorable that you’ve done together (trip, activity, etc.)? 
• How has that friendship changed over time (if at all)? 
• What’s one of your most romantic memories from a trip you took with someone special?
• Where were you when it happened? 
• What made that moment so special? 
• How did you react when traveling to another country and realizing how different things are there than where you grew up (i.e., food, language, customs, etc.)? 
• What was your biggest challenge in adjusting to that culture shock? 
• What’s one of your most memorable travel experiences ever? 
• Where were you going/coming from/going next, what was it like getting there or leaving, and what happened on that trip that made it so special for you? 
• What is your favorite part about traveling? 
• Which place have you traveled to that has been your favorite so far? 
• Why did you love it so much (was it a city, country, activity, etc.)? 
• What was one of your worst travel experiences ever? 
• What happened and how did you handle it (i.e., what went wrong, what could have gone better)? 
• Would you ever take a one-way ticket somewhere if given an opportunity? 
• If yes, where would you go and why? If no, why not?
• Do you have any bucket list trips you haven’t taken yet?
• Where would you go if you could go anywhere?
• Think back to a time when you traveled for work. How did that experience affect your life? 
• What was memorable? 
• How did you discover something new or exciting? 
• Where did you stay? 
• Who else was there with you? 
• What do you remember about your daily routine? 
• What is one thing about that trip that still sticks out in your mind today?
• Talk about your favorite honeymoon travels and what that meant for you and your significant other. 
• What was a favorite trip and why? 
• Did it change who you are today? How? 
• Did it create any challenges for your relationship with each other or anyone else who is important in your life today? 
• Do you prefer hotels over resorts, or vice versa? Why? 
• Do you consider yourself a vacation junkie or someone who doesn't really enjoy taking vacations very often? Tell us more about that. 
• Where is your favorite place to go on vacation? 
• Where have you been that you absolutely loved and would love to go back again someday? 
• Where did you go last year for vacation and why did you choose that destination? 
• What do you think makes a good vacation spot versus a bad one? 
• Why is it your favorite time of day for traveling?
• Why is it your favorite way of getting somewhere when traveling?

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2. Recorded answers are transcribed and can be shared with family

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Life-changing travel experience stories

There’s nothing like other travelers’ tales to get inspiration . When you are home longing to be on the road, or when you are on a journey wondering why you left the comfort of your house, submerge into these life-changing travel experience stories, beautiful tales of how a trip can alter the trajectory of your life .

I’m sure my regular readers are used to me talking about travel experiences . But for those who are discovering this little window to my soul called Experiencing the Globe , you can see that it all started with a bucket list of all the –surprise, surprise– travel experiences I want to have around the world.

The list is my goal in life, so I’m spending as much time as I can on the road. But when I’m home in between trips I seek inspiration in other travelers’ tales. I’ve read as many books about exciting journeys as I could put my hands on. And recently I got a hold of Lonely Planet’s Travel Goals: Inspiring Experiences to Transform Your Life .

It got me thinking of my own life-changing travel experiences . Like my transformation into a sustainable traveler after fully grasping what that meant for the planet and all the life in it. I have a trip to the Caribbean to thank for that. The first trip I took alone, when I was starting to test my boundaries, empowered me as a solo female traveler, and opened my eyes to a new world of possibilities! I’m so thankful I chose Italy , an amazing destination to explore on your own! I reaffirmed my faith in human kindness after spending a month in Iran , meeting the loveliest people I’ve ever encountered.  And the most literal life-changing travel experience, moving to Croatia after meeting the love of my life in this beautiful country that now I call home.

The book also encouraged me to ask other travelers if they had a story in their own travels that changed their lives in one way or another. I was overwhelmed with the beautiful tales… some of the best life-changing stories that’ll inspire you to travel!

Life-changing travel experience stories that’ll inspire you to travel

Collecting memories, not counting countries.

I want to start this series of tales with my own. As I told you, many aspects of my life have changed over the years due to a travel experience, but the one I want to elaborate on is the one that defined what my life would be. Traveling hasn’t changed me, it has made me. It’s who I am. Several trips to the south of Chile showed me where I was going. This is the story of how I became the person I am today:

My parents took me camping to the Chilean Lake District every summer while growing up. This was in the dark age, before the internet. Back then we had to rely on maps and guidebooks. So through the endless hours of our road trips, I kept myself entertained glancing at a map, reading about the small towns we passed, and convincing my folks to take a detour to visit some place that caught my attention.

During one trip I told them that I have decided I wanted to go everywhere in the world. After a few laughs, my dad told me about the Travelers’ Century Club (TCC), a group for people who have visited 100 or more of the world’s countries and territories. My eyes sparkled with the thought of being a member, and I made it my goal.

Obviously, I started asking to go to another country instead of the same National Park we always visited. They laughed again –conscious of the monster they have created– and offered a compromise: they’d take me to our neighbor Argentina, my first trip abroad, but I had to see more of my own country before I embarked on my adventure of visiting another hundred. I happily accepted.

See, what I immediately realized is that –as much as I wanted to be part of the TCC– the main reasons to travel should revolve around what I’ll get out of a trip –whether that’s meeting locals, tasting the typical cuisine, exploring nature, or adventuring into an activity– it shouldn’t be just to count countries . I know the “why you should travel” is super personal, but ticking countries off a list only because you put your feet there feels meaningless to me.

Why do people travel? Well, there are as many reasons as people traveling, but even if it is to get a tan while you’re permanently sipping from a cocktail, that trip will always be part of your story, so you should make the most of it.

After visiting every region in Chile, I started to go abroad. Nowadays, getting closer to 100 countries and territories of the TCC list properly visited, what I knew instinctively, transformed into lessons I learnt during my travels … What inspires me the most to hit the road is experiences, because they feed my adventurous soul –the TCC list (and my own bucket list) became the means to guide my journey, not an end themselves.

Spreading the word about the truth of traveling

Claudia’s life story is remarkably similar to my own. Being avid travelers changed the way we perceive a destination, and the story that should be told about it. We both left behind an academic career and repurposed our research abilities towards travel writing. Now we both blog from a distinct point of view. This is the story of how in a visit to Cuba she found her true calling:

“Cuba changed my life because it was nothing like I had expected it to be –quite the opposite, in fact. You see, being the avid traveler that I am, before my trip to Cuba I spent months reading just about anything I could put my hands on. If it talked about Cuba, I had to read it. Everything made it sound like traveling to Cuba would be easy, and locals would be generous and welcoming.

My time in Cuba was less than fabulous. Don’t get me wrong, it is a gorgeous country and now, a few years later, with much more traveling experience and understanding, I am ready to go again. But back then, it was awful. My 23 days there were a constant challenge to avoid scams –a challenge that a few times saw me succeed but that other times saw me fail miserably. It was frustrating. I felt I could not trust anybody. Where were the lovely Cubans everyone talked about in their blogs?

Cuba taught me that people lie, even (or especially) online. Because nobody really wants to say they have had a bad experience, and nobody is really interested in reading about others’ bad experiences –but is that really the case?

I decided there and then to be different. I decided that I had to warn others, tell them the truth, let them know what they should expect and what they should do to avoid scams. That’s why I opened my blog. It was just a pastime at the beginning.

Fast-forward 2 years and I realized that I did want to make an effort to make it work out. After all, what did I have to lose? My contract as a research fellow at the university had expired and I had no real prospect if not a series of menial short-term teaching jobs I was less than interested in. So, I gave blogging my heart and soul. And it worked. I’m a much happier person now. I love what I am doing. I wake up in the morning to face a long list of to-do things and I read it with a smile on my face, which is priceless.

Cuba changed my life. And despite all the frustration I felt back when I was there, it changed it for the best.”

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Encountering wildlife to find yourself

Camilla was looking for something, but she wasn’t sure what it was. Her heart lead her to India , and after that trip her life would never be the same. Animals can have different impacts in our life, but for this former vegan chef, one particular big cat meant more than anything. This is her story:

“January 2017. That’s the date I first arrived in India. By that time, I used to work as a freelance vegan chef in the hustling city of Paris. Having attended a 4-weeks course on yoga and Ayurveda, I had planned to spend the following month exploring this amazing country.

Little did I know that a special encounter would change my life forever.

Always an animal lover, over the years I had developed a passion for the most majestic of big cats: the tiger. The striped animal had somehow summoned me. To what reason and to convey what message I do not know, but to such a call one can hardly resist.

India is home to more than 60% of the world’s remaining wild tigers. The critically endangered species is highly protected, and the country has given to many of its national parks the status of Tiger Reserve.

It was time for me to see my first one in the wild.

With zero safari experience and many hours of research, I booked 4 drives in Ranthambhore, one of India’s most famous Tiger Reserves .

I will always remember the excitement before that first drive in the jungle, and I will never forget the distress of realizing that finding the elusive cat is no easy task. 

But all of a sudden, there it was. Glorious in its fierce black striped orange coat, a killer look and an attitude to die for. My first wild tiger.

That fleeting moment was enough to make me want more. Today, I have moved to Central India, prime tiger landscape of the world, and I have seen 103 different individuals. But every time I see those eyes, I feel the same excitement that I felt as a total beginner that day in Ranthambhore.”

Finding love in an unexpected place

Traveling is full of surprises. A spontaneous detour can change your life forever. Don’t I know it! A quick, unplanned stop in Split after exploring Dubrovnik ended up seeing me move continents for love. A simple recommendation of a town in The Philippines had the same in store for Alya. This is the tale of the trip that lead her to her husband:

“Meeting my future husband was definitely one of the most life-changing travel experiences I’ve ever had. We met 6 years ago in the Philippines. I was traveling alone around Southeast Asia for a couple of months. After completing my dive course in Gili Air Island in Indonesia and didn’t know where to go next. I was looking for a good place to learn to surf. My dive instructor told me about a small town on Luzon Island in the Philippines. It sounded like the perfect place for me. I bought a plane ticket immediately and two days later arrived in San Fernando.

The hostel I stayed at had a big dormitory with many beds. I met many travelers including Campbell. In fact, we had neighboring beds in the dormitory. He traveled alone as well and we liked each other, so we started going together to the beach, surfing and going out at night. By chance we had very similar travel plans and decided to continue our trip together.

We both like doing the same things, like surfing, diving and hiking. We left San Fernando and traveled around the Philippines together for 2 months. From there we went to Singapore. Unfortunately, I had to go back home, my 4-month holiday was over. We arranged to meet up again two months later in Nepal since we both had trekking to Everest Base Camp on our bucket list. So we did, it was our first multi-day trek together.

We met up a couple of times on the road again in different countries. After 6 months of on and off I decided to quit my job and join Campbell on his around the world adventure. Three years later we got married and decided to start a travel blog . In the last 6 years we’ve done hundreds of hikes, spent a year hitchhiking through Latin America, drove thousands of kilometers across Africa and walked seven Camino de Santiago routes.

Now I can’t imagine how my life would look like if I hadn’t gone to that place in the Philippines and had never met my husband.”

Giving is better than having

A trip to South East Asia gave Corritta’s life a whole new meaning. Possessions are overrated, true happiness comes from giving. She and her family left a comfortable life in the United States behind to fill their souls while making the world a better place. This is the tale of their journey:

“My life changing experience prompted me to sell our house, car and possessions to take off on a journey to see the world. That may seem a little extreme but let me explain. My first international trip was to Bangkok in 2018. I thought this trip would be a great way to get away from the stress in my life. It turned out to be a life altering experience that made me realize I was existing, not living. 

While in Bangkok we took a day trip to Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand and it changed my life. We learned how cruel animal tourism is and how we, as tourists, are unwitting accomplices. We support illegal pouching and animal cruelty by taking part in animal tourism. This includes taking pictures with large cats or monkeys and riding elephants. When we do these things, we are not only hurting the animals, we are ensuring things will never get better. I must admit I was never an animal lover but being up close and personal with elephants changed something within me. It made me want to give back.  

So, two years later, with my partner and our one-year old baby boy, decided to take off for a  family gap year .  We sold everything and left San Diego to live a life of service. We will use this time to give back to those less fortunate. 

When I left Thailand my definition of happiness changed. It was no longer associated with material possessions, but by the quality of life I wanted to live. I realized what truly matters is the love of your family. The Thai people with their families were happier than most Americans. So I decided to take back one of the most invaluable things in the world, time. Never forget, all the money in the world can’t buy you more time.” 

Small changes can make the world a better place

A trip to Australia developed plastic-issue awareness in Simona. Seeing how the tides brought tons of plastic to the shores made her change her approach to traveling. From carrying her own grocery bags and water bottle, little adjustments made her a much more responsible traveler. This is how her journey towards sustainability started:

“The first time ever I realized that plastic was a serious matter for our planet was during a road trip in Western Australia, almost 12 years ago.

We stopped at a supermarket along the Coral Bay coast to buy some groceries and the lady at the counter told us they didn’t sell any shopping bags to prevent plastic in the ocean and to help preserving the endangered turtles living in that area. After a first reaction of surprise, we gathered all our shopping in our arms and left, reflecting on what we had been told.

This was just one of the many experiences I’ve lived that made me more conscious about my impact and pushed me to adopt various habits to live and travel more sustainably. For example, after that trip, I am always carrying a cotton bag when I go shopping.

Our eco-honeymoon to Borneo was another life-changing experience that has strengthened my resolution to turn to a zero-waste lifestyle. I selected three ecotourism projects to visit. In Asia finding safe drinkable water is always a challenge, but we traveled with our water bottle, and we chose the right service providers engaged in sustainable travel so, with a little effort, we managed to avoid almost entirely the use of plastic during our trip.

However, we were seriously struck by our stay on Libaran Island, where a sustainable and turtle conservation project was launched 10 years ago. Despite the big efforts carried out by the project and the community in cleaning up the beaches and creatively re-use plastic, the shore is washed daily with tons of plastic coming from the tides. Walking on a carpet of plastic that almost prevented us from seeing the beach underneath was quite shocking.

Facing this global issue in person, raised in me a contrasting feeling of sadness and anger that soon turned into determination: to do as much as possible to reduce plastic in our life. Sometimes we may feel helpless in front of big problems, but we should be aware that small changes can actually make a difference!”

• The Ultimate Guide to Sustainable Travel
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Discovering happiness in simplicity

When her career and personal relations were failing, Soujanya decided to retreat to the mountains. The Himalayas were the perfect setting to get away from everything and regain perspective. In a small village she discovered that technology is overrated, and that what counts are real connections. This is how a trip to India changed her take on life:

“Back in mid-2019 I wasn’t in a good place in life. I was getting out of a serious relationship, I was burn out at my job, I had problems within my family, and the ever-increasing sense of loneliness had thrown me into a pit of depression. During that time, I turned to the only positive thing I had going on for myself, which was travel and blogging.

After some contemplation, I decided to quit my job to travel. I had saved up enough money that would last me 8-10 months so I didn’t give it much thought because I knew it was the only thing that would keep me from tipping over the edge.

The first thing I did after leaving my job was to head to the Himalayas in India. I spent a month in the Kinnaur and Spiti valleys in the state of Himachal Pradesh. The Kinnaur district was a breath of fresh air. The snow-clad mountain range in the distance, the lush green vegetation all around, the sparse population and the friendly people spoke to my soul.

There was one village called Chitkul , which lies on the Indo-Tibet border and has no cell connectivity, that helped heal me the most. A remote village with a population of less than a thousand people and only a handful of tourists, with nothing around it for many miles.

I spent my days sitting by the river, hiking to the nearby hills and walking through meadows. Just being there surrounded by the Himalayas, without any social media due to lack of connectivity, and making real connections with other travelers and the villagers had some sort of magical effect on me. Not only I have the best travel experience of my life, but the place also healed my mind. I came back happier than ever, with a renewed spirit, ready to enjoy everything that life had to offer.”

Uncovering a braver version of yourself

We all have that one thing we’d love to do but we’re too scared to try. A trip to Thailand taught Allison that life is what we made of it. Pushing her boundaries not only allowed her to have a ton of fun, but also gave her a new path, one in which she gets to do what she loves. This is her story, an encouragement for you to get out of you comfort zone too:

“Shortly after I graduated from college, I moved to a new state to start a full-time job. One day at work, I found myself wanting to go traveling. As I didn’t have any friends there, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to go on my first ever solo trip. So I quickly started doing research on where I’d like to go.

I had never traveled alone before, especially overseas, so I decided to sign up for a guided group that was going rock climbing in Thailand . This gave me a sense of security, being new to solo traveling. It felt like a great way to dip my toes into being alone and meeting strangers, but also doing something that sounded really fun and engaging for 2 weeks.

The entire Thailand trip forced me out of so many comfort zones that ended up being one of the big turning points of my life. The time I spent in Thailand navigating airports and taxis alone, meeting a group of complete strangers, and spending 2 weeks climbing with them in often remote parts of the country, ended up being one of the greatest experiences of my life. Up until this point I had always considered myself a ‘shy’ and ‘cautious’ kind of person, but this travel experience lit me up to become different. It showed me a brave, strong, and self-sufficient side of myself that went on to influence my life in dramatic ways when I returned home.

When I got back, I pretty much dedicated my life to spending as much time as possible outdoors whether that be climbing, hiking, or backpacking… essentially doing things that I once thought I wasn’t ‘capable of’ or was ‘too scared of’. Today, roughly 6 years later, I’m an outdoor empowerment coach and backpacking educator.

My trip to Thailand was the spark that I needed to make that change. It showed me what was possible. I don’t know if it was the people I met, the experiences I had, or the beauty of traveling in Thailand – likely a bit of all of it– but whatever it was, it changed the trajectory of my life, and I’ll forever hold Thailand (and all the people I met) in a special place in my heart.”

A leap of faith towards a new life

Getting to visit a new place after a business trip is nothing out of the ordinary. For most people. For Derek and Mike it was literally life-changing. After a quick trip to Copenhagen , they packed up and started a new chapter of their lives as expats in a different continent. This is the tale of their journey:

“In November 2016 we had a life-changing travel experience in Copenhagen, Denmark. My partner Mike was asked to make an unexpected business trip to the city to help with a project. His company had recently acquired another company in Denmark, and he was asked to help with the integration. He flew there from our hometown, Philadelphia, with only a few days’ notice, and on his first day in the office they asked if he would stay a few weeks longer. He agreed but asked for time off during the American Thanksgiving so that I could fly to Denmark and take advantage of the opportunity to enjoy a cheap trip to Europe with no-cost lodging and some meals expensed.

We loved getting to check out a city that we didn’t have on our travel bucket list before this opportunity came about. We did a few tours, visited the Christmas markets and dined out. At one restaurant we got to try the Christmas traditional Danish meal . I enjoyed Copenhagen for 5 days and Mike remained there for work until the end of November.

On his last night in Denmark, he had dinner at his boss’ home. They shared a meal with a lot of wine and then Mike called me when he got back to his hotel. I could hear the excitement in his voice. He asked if I liked Copenhagen, which seemed odd because he knew I enjoyed myself when I was there. Then he asked if I liked it enough to move there, because on that final night, his boss asked if we would take an expat assignment in Denmark.

We didn’t hesitate to accept and our life abroad began almost right away. That trip to Copenhagen was certainly life-changing!”

Learning to fully appreciate what’s in front you

No matter how much you have traveled, there are places that will bring up the best of you. No matter how much there is still to see, some places will take your breath away and will forever stay in your heart. A trip to Antarctica transformed Wendy into a student. She acquired as much information as she could to fully absorb the beauty that she was about to witness. And now she is longing to go back. This is her story:

“Before my cruise from Ushuaia to Antarctica , I was already quite well-traveled. I had visited about 75 countries and seen plenty of natural beauty before. But all of that paled in comparison to the White Continent. The Perito Moreno glacier in Argentina had mesmerized me just days earlier, but now I was seeing dozens, even hundreds, of sparkling white glaciers practically everywhere I looked. These landscapes were so different from anything I’d ever seen that it felt like I’d traveled to another planet.

On the times when the weather was bad, and on the long days of crossing the Drake Passage between Tierra del Fuego and Antarctica, I soaked up every bit of knowledge that I could about this snow-and-ice-covered land. Our ship, the MV Ushuaia, was manned by a full staff of scientists and lecturers who were experts in a number of relevant topics, from geology to ornithology. When we were out on the high seas with nothing to do, these experts held lectures on the flora, fauna, history and geology of Antarctica, and I attended every single one.

When we stopped at the British base at Port Lockroy on Goudier Island, I grilled the staff there with questions about how I too could go live and work on the island. And while that dream never materialized, my memories of Antarctica are still sharp in my mind 11 years later, and I still dream of returning one day.

Such an expensive voyage would normally be the trip of a lifetime, not a return destination. But if you’re willing to try your luck, sharply discounted last-minute deals can be found at the port in Ushuaia a day or two before departure. In recent years, these huge discounts have become few and far between, as most ships fill up months in advance. But still I’m thinking of a return trip to Antarctica for some more adventure!”

No matter where you go, every single place in the world has the potential to change your life! Tell me in the comments if you’ve had any life-changing travel experiences!

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16 thoughts on “Life-changing travel experience stories”

Wow this is really amazing,I pray that I will be opportuned to travel around the world one day

Sometimes we think it’s a far away dream because it’s dangerous, or expensive, or because we can’t take time from work. I’m aware that for some people it’s actually quite impossible due to their passport or the political situation in their country. For others, their responsibilities are far too great to leave behind. But for most of us, it’s just a matter of priorities. Don’t wait until you have all the money you think you need, or all the time you’d like to spend on the road. Just go! Even if it’s a weekend trip to your neighboring city, or to the countryside close to your place. You got to start somewhere, and every trip has the potential to be life-changing! Let me know how it goes! 🙂

I was looking for inspiration, and inspiration I found. I can’t travel at the moment, but I’m already thinking of how to be more sustainable on my next trip. Thank you all for sharing!

That’s amazing to hear, Dani! Welcome to the sustainable traveler’s team! 🌱

I googled inspiring travel stories to see if my day could be picked up, and I’m so glad this popped up! Lovely stories, super inspiring! I can’t wait for the pandemic to be over to create some travel stories of my own ❤️

Awww! I’m so happy to read your comment, Monty! Hopefully the pandemic will be under control soon and you’ll get to have some travel stories too. Make sure you tell me about them!

Beautiful tales! I can’t wait to start traveling again. Travel already has changed my life, but I’d be happy living through any of the wonderful experiences described here!

When you get to travel again, keep an open mind and an open heart… amazing experiences will happen! ❤️

Very inspiring stories! Thank you for sharing them!

It was a blast to write this, and collect other wonderful tales!

Love all these stories! Love how travel has shaped everyone!

In one way or another, every trip makes us a bit different. It was great to get these wonderful travelers to share their stories -now I’m sure it’s not only me who is deeply changed by travel!

These are all such inspiring stories! Really goes to show you how much travel can impact your life. Thanks for sharing!

It’s crazy how much travel can change us, and how much we can learn from it, no matter where we go!

I loved reading this! All of the stories are such an inspiration! I can’t wait to get back on the road 😍

In times of armchair travel, nothing like beautiful stories to keep the wanderlust up, right? ❤️

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11 People on Why It's Never Too Late to Start Traveling

By Mark Ellwood

The first time you travel abroad can be daunting, thrilling, overwhelming, and life-changing—no matter what age you are. We asked a few Americans to share stories of their first overseas trips, from a 20 year old venturing to Italy as a nanny to a 60-something fulfilling her lifelong dream of seeing the Himalayas. These are their stories.

At 24, Utah-born Lila Emmer was living and studying in New York when she saw a sign for Olympic Airways from the bus, and jumped off to book a trip to Greece. That was almost 50 years ago.

I was taking courses toward my BS at Columbia, and had veered into Greek mythology via a course in biblical history. I wanted to go to Greece but had already signed up for a professor’s summer class—when I told him, he said, ‘My dear, go to Greece!’ So I spent two and a half months in Mykonos . I had a sense of complete freedom. I could do as I wished, when I wished. There were about eight or ten of us [on the trip]: Australians, Brits, Greeks, Americans, South Africans. We lived separately but were together constantly: having breakfast at the harbor taverna , sunning and napping on the beach, and watching the fisherman come in from night-time fishing. Oh, and dancing all night until closing at the Three Muses. That first trip overseas was the beginning of my love of wandering with minimal plans. Since then I’ve been to Tuscany, New Zealand , and northern Vietnam. Next summer I’m returning to Iceland to ride the horses there again.

Miami-born Philtrina Farquharson, 23, took her first trip abroad a year ago, to Thailand.

I had never been out of the country, let alone out of the city of Miami —I’d never cared to because I was afraid of the unknown. But after I graduated from college in New York, I had a new perspective on life: I went in a timid, antisocial student and four years later, came out open-minded, outgoing, and full of knowledge. I’d heard that Thailand was incredibly cheap, and I’m in love with animals, so I researched their elephant sanctuary. When my sister and I visited, I got a chance to bathe and feed the elephants and go on a night safari, where you drive through animals’ natural habitats. They would walk [right] up to you. It changed my life. [Since that trip] I've been to Japan, Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama, and soon, I’m headed to Europe for two weeks.

"I felt like my heart was going to explode from the beauty and wonder of it," Janine Knighton says, of the seeing the Duomo in Florence for the first time.

Janine Knighton lives in Provo, Utah and runs the blog Putting a Pin In It . She was 20 when she spent several months abroad for the first time, working as a nanny in Florence, Italy in 2001.

[While studying Italian at college] I decided to put all my teenage babysitting skills to the test and get a job in Italy. I signed up with an au pair agency, and after a few false starts, was matched with a family that lived in Florence . I would work as their au pair for four months, taking care of their two-year-old daughter. Nothing prepared me for those first few weeks. I was lucky to be placed with a great family, but there’s no denying that being a nanny is hard. You are intimately connected with the family and yet, at the end, you are a paid worker. I had a hard time finding my place, and it took awhile to bond with my girl and create a solid relationship with the parents.

And yet, I was in Italy. I remember the first time we drove past the Duomo . It was at night, and the whole building was lit up. I felt like my heart was going to explode from the beauty and wonder of it. Unlike most first-time international travelers, who only have a few days or weeks to see the sites, I had the luxury of exploring the city in depth. I loved watching the street performers that would come out after the sun went down, or grabbing gelato and passing the siesta hour in the park, feeling like a “real” Italian.

On one of those afternoons, I opened my eyes and saw a young man standing cautiously above me. His name was Abderahim, but in Florence he went by Gino—he was from Morocco and had been living in Italy for a few years. [Our first date] was magical—two foreigners in a strange land finding a connection far from home. We stayed together for a whole year, and though the romance didn’t last, my love affair with Florence endured. I’ve been back several times to visit the family I nannied for. I even saw them last summer, when I was able to share the news that I was pregnant with my own child.

California-based Trang Pham-Nguyen first left the U.S. at 22, in the summer of 2012.

It was a hot and humid summer of 2011 when I met a Spaniard and two Brits studying abroad at my college in Virginia. Later, as I said goodbye to my new friends, I promised that one day I’d visit them—and I don't break promises. One year later, after working two retail/hospitality jobs at near minimum wage, I saved up for what I hoped would be enough money for a three-month trip around Europe. I flew into London because that was the cheapest flight I could find, and from there I took a mix of buses, trains, and planes, going as far west as Portugal and as far east as Bulgaria. In Spain I got extremely lost and wound up in a city that I wasn’t planning to be in, and a fellow passenger on the train, who spoke no English, helped me get a hotel for the night. It was a little moment that really showed me there are good people out there in the world. Now when I meet other first-time travelers on the road, I notice they have this little twinkle or spark in their eye. A certain type of energy. It’s kind of exciting to see how they see the same place you're in, but from a different point of view.

Sherry Smith grew up in the Midwest, but now lives in New York. Fourteen years ago, she took her first trip abroad, when she was 33.

Caitlin Morton

CNT Editors

Jessica Puckett

I grew up in the Midwest and my mother didn’t quite encourage my desire to spread my wings, so I didn’t make my way across the Atlantic until I was 33. I forgot to sign my passport, and the guy who checked it [in the airport] laughed when he opened it—it was so brand spankin’ new it made a creaking sound. It was a quick trip— Amsterdam , Brussels, and Paris —and it was in Paris that I became determined to figure out a way to move to Europe. Not necessarily forever (I had a rent stabilized apartment in New York that I didn’t want to lose) but way longer than a vacation, for sure. I applied to grad school, got accepted, and [one year after my first trip], moved into my apartment across the street from the Louvre .

Melissa Smuzynski's first trip abroad was to Zurich, Switzerland.

Melissa Smuzynski was 31 when she first left the country. She lives in Oklahoma City and now works as a full-time travel blogger with Parenthood and Passports .

In 2013, my husband and I had just gotten married and decided to take a trip to Europe. We both spent our 20s building our careers and working extremely hard, meaning we didn’t travel much. My husband had always wanted to visit Switzerland and I’d always dreamed of traveling to Italy , so that's where we went. Although we didn't know many people who traveled overseas, we set off with our backpacks and our curiosity. The sights, the sounds, and even the smells were captivating. We got lost repeatedly as we clumsily attempted to navigate the European rail system, and with every wrong turn and new train platform we fell more in love with travel. After we had our daughter, Avery, people said our traveling days were over. They weren't. In fact, we traveled to 13 countries in the first three years of our daughter's life (her first trip was to Costa Rica). Our goal is to visit all seven continents—yes, including Antarctica —as a family before she turns ten. We’ve already visited four.

At 51, Shelly King decided to leave the U.S. for the first time, flying from her home in Kansas City to Nepal with tour company AdventureWomen .

We moved a lot when I was a kid, but my parents weren’t travelers. Our vacations consisted mostly of hunting, camping, and fishing, and as a young adult I didn’t think that much about travel because my life was fairly adventuresome already—I spent a few months in Alaska when I was 18, and lived in Jackson, Wyoming for four years in my twenties, hiking, skiing, and rafting to keep myself busy. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve become much more interested in other cultures. When my 50th birthday came around, I decided it was time to do something big for myself. The mountains were my initial attraction to Nepal , and seeing them in real life was beyond description. We rose early each morning to get the best view of Annapurna, and I’ll never forget the misty fog rolling in and out of the valleys.

"In Madrid or Sevilla, you just need to find an outdoor café, get busy people-watching, and order a vino tinto or cerveza and a plate of tapas to start forgetting your problems," says Chicago-based attorney John Rauch.

Chicago-based attorney John Rauch took his first trip overseas at age 55, and has been back to Europe twice a year ever since.

The obstacle for me was my wife, Coleen, and our dogs. We had no good place to board them, and she had no real interest in traveling; later in life, she developed claustrophobia. But I really wanted to travel, especially to Europe, and my wife really loved to walk, so putting two and two together I came up with idea of hiking the Camino de Santiago in Spain. History and Europe for me, hiking and the outdoors for her. Her interest was sparked, and she was curious.

But then she died from breast cancer in December 2015. That was rough. A few months later, I saw Neil Young was going to headline a music festival in Madrid —it was like a voice from heaven. I had to go. Making my way on the Madrid Metro, all in Spanish, to get to my concert venue, was a big deal. I planned the route carefully, where to get on the train, where to get off; I asked for help at the customer service counter at the Sol station to confirm my plans; I double, triple and quadruple checked the signs and the map and the app on my phone… and on the train I realized that the stop to get out for the Neil Young concert was the one where all the other balding, pot-bellied old geezers in black concert t-shirts got out, too. It was just like going to a Cubs game in Chicago.

My wife was a huge Neil Young fan, too, so that trip was in large part a memorial to her and another friend, Brenda, who had also died. Before I went, I had photos of them both laminated and at the concert venue, I tied the photos to a structure where I was standing—part of a walkway through the crowd. Having them, or at least their photos, there with me made it feel like I was sharing the concert with them. I learned that traveling alone is nothing to be afraid of . My wife and I did pretty much everything together when she was alive, and I wasn’t sure how being alone for an extended time would be. I did get lonely a few times, but I learned that in Madrid or Sevilla, you just need to find an outdoor café, get busy people-watching, and order a vino tinto or cerveza and a plate of tapas to start forgetting your problems.

Myra Oldham is a retired English professor whose first overseas trip was to China at age 54 in 2002.

I had begun to travel around the U.S. several years prior, because my son was a pilot for a major airline and I got free travel—it was then that the “travel bug” bit me. Later, I heard an adoption agency owner from Lexington speak about an upcoming group trip to China to visit orphanages, and without hesitation, I signed up.

Things I wish I had known before that trip: wear compression socks/stockings (my legs were so swollen when I arrived in China and stayed that way for weeks); travel-sized peanut butter is a lifesaver, as are energy bars and other healthy, quick foods; pack light and pack quick-drying clothes; only take “tried-and-true” shoes to save your feet.

After that, I took a three-week Christian educational trip with a group to Mongolia , and during that time I signed a contract to return a few months later and teach English at a technological institute. So, at age 62, I packed up my home, gave away my dog, kissed my kids and grandkids goodbye and went to live in Mongolia—with total confidence that I could learn to function in a country where I didn’t know the language. I returned to the U.S. in 2009, but Mongolia was one of my life’s highlights . Many friendships have come as a result of my living there, and I love traveling to countries that have a culture entirely different from the U.S. It’s way more challenging and eye opening for me.

Ruth Griggs, who lives in Boise, Idaho, traveled with Road Scholar for her first trip to Europe when she was 50, along with her mom and her sister.

My mother is an avid traveler, and when I was about to turn 50, she said: “Every mother should get to introduce her daughter to Paris.” She raised me to have a great appreciation for art, and one of my so-called “bucket list” list items was to see the Louvre. The pure wonder of being there was unforgettable. Traveling abroad changes you forever—you never see the world quite the same ever again. After that Paris trip I knew I wanted to go everywhere and see everything I could. We’ve started a tradition of deciding on the flight home what our next trip would be—if I don’t have a trip in my future now, I’m not happy—and next up is a Road Scholar trip in October to Montreal and Quebec City. Strangely enough, I’ve never been to Canada, and I know about as much about Canadian history as most Americans, which is embarrassingly little. I think I should know more about our neighbor.

Elizabeth Ramm finally fulfilled a secret dream in her 60s: to see the Himalayas.

Retired Montessori teacher Elizabeth Ramm grew up in Bothell, Washington. She took her first trip overseas eight years ago, when she was 63.

My husband and I raised five children, which sort of took everything, and setting up travel had always seemed daunting. But then my husband and I decided to travel to Kathmandu, Nepal to visit one of our sons who was stationed there as an embassy guard with the Marine Corps. We had no idea how to organize getting to Nepal, so we turned to a local travel agent for help. It worked out perfectly.

We had to stop somewhere [en route] so we decided on Hong Kong , and I was in awe of the view of all the ships off the coast of Hong Kong as we got closer to land—I love to watch the maps on the seatback monitors and look out the window as we fly, even when it’s just ocean for hours. Once we were in Kathmandu, we took a local plane ride to see the Himalayas (a secret dream that I never expected to fulfill) and explored the countryside, too. Since that first adventure, we’ve worked with our travel agent to develop trips to Italy, Austria, Germany, South Africa, and Namibia . Our next trip begins in a week: We’ll be driving across the U.S. for seven weeks, checking out landscape, history, quirky places, and seeing friends and relatives.

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The most wonderful travel experiences are those that surpass your expectations in all of the best ways imagined and hoped. But even when you appreciate the life you love living in your everyday, the life you are returning to after your travels abroad, far, wide and near, settling back in well can be difficult which is why it is good to know it is a skill. And it is a skill that has taken some time for me to learn as well.

Whether we know it or not, our travels have expanded us, stretched us (whether the stretching was embraced or not), and we have grown. We have expand our perspective, broadened our mind, seen new and experienced different ways of going about life. All of this is to say that as much as we may want to settle back in to how it was, to do so would to be a disservice to the opportunity we were given.

The lengthiest amount of time I have traveled abroad was one month, but most often when I have the opportunity to travel back to Europe – my destinations have thus far been France and Great Britain – I am away for about a week or so. The time change certainly creates the need for us to be patient with ourselves, but whether your travels hopped over many time zones or none at all, the skill of settling back in is helpful to acquire.

Sometimes we have a choice as to when we can arrive at our destination as also when we arrive at home via the flights available. For myself, the return trip goes most smoothly when I leave Europe early in the morning and arrive on the west coast in the afternoon as I arrive tired and nearly ready for bed, but can do my best to stay up until at least an early bedtime. By doing this, already I have seen that my jetlag is subsiding far more quickly, and my body clock is adjusting more swiftly. However, it still does need time to adjust.

As I am currently in the process of settling back in from my recent week-long trip to France, I wanted to share with you ways that I have found from previous experiences as well as what as worked far better this go-round, to ease the adjustment period as well as adapt the life we love living to incorporate all that we had the opportunity to experience and wish to incorporate into our updated everyday way of living.

Before the Trip

1.Choose Arrival and Departure Times Thoughtfully

Depending upon when you are reserving your tickets by plane or train, you may have many or few choices. As well, depending upon where you are traveling, the options may be vast or narrow. But keeping in mind your sleep schedule, choose times of arrival at your destination and arrival upon returning home that will help you expedite the alleviation of the jetlag.

While there are many theories on combating jetlag, accepting that it will be something to acknowledge and having patience with it is half of what is needed to get past it in a manner that improves the overall travel experience. If you can, try to arrive as swiftly as possible at your destination (a direct flight), or break the travel up into longer stretches so that the adjustment is less abrupt. Again, knowing yourself is incredibly helpful to knowing what will work best.

2. Prep the Home for Your Return

In chapter nine of my first book which focuses on traveling the world, I share a detailed list on what to do to prepare your home for a welcomed return. Tending to this task that is often the last thing on our mind as we want to rush out the door to begin our holiday or vacation makes settling in much more enjoyable.

When I travel I usually have a house and dog sitter, and I feel very fortunate that they take wonderful care my boys (bien sûr! Trés important!) and leave my home clean and welcoming for my return.

3. Prep the Kitchen for the First Meal You Will Enjoy When You Return

Last year I wrote this post about the importance of planning the first meal you will want to indulge in when you return from your trip. As much as you may have loved the food you ate while traveling, there is something quite comforting about the first meal at home. Whether you plan to cook it or order in, have everything ready so that you won’t have to think too much, find extra cash or spend too much time. Your tired mind and famished appetite after a long day of travel will thank you.

Case in point, all I asked of my house-sitter, as I wanted her to enjoy my home and kitchen, was to leave me a few eggs and lemons, and the rest was stocked in my pantry ready to go when I returned (I love a good simple pasta dish).

Upon Returning Home

It may sound like the last thing you want to do, but while my mind is still fuzzy, and if it isn’t the middle of the night when I return, I appreciate returning everything to its permanent place in my bathroom, closet and office so that I can find it where I expect it to be as I go about my everyday routine.

4. Give yourself as much time to yourself as needed

Depending upon whether you live with others or not, I have gradually learned that I need to have time with myself before jumping on the phone with my family or grabbing a coffee with friend to talk about my trip. While I will text and let those close know I have arrived safely, it is only my intimate partner (should I have one in my life) and my dogs that I want to be around when I return. And even then, I just usually want to snuggle or relax. Gradually, the time to talk about the trip will unfold naturally in conversation, and that is a lovely way to relive the trip.

5. Slow doses of the media you were away from for so long

Everyone will define “slow doses” differently depending upon their job and responsibilities, but each time I travel abroad I rarely have watched or listened to the news, let alone any media as days have been filled with exploration, relaxing and the sounds of the places and people I have been surrounded by in my destination far from home.

Last year, about a week after my month-long travel to France, I wrote this post – Why Not . . . Let Your Brain Calm Down?  which was inspired by the reintegration to the media we previously were used to prior to our trip and how to adapt or change how we welcome media back into our lives. For me, since that trip, I have permanently changed how much media and what type of media I welcome into my everyday life. This is a lesson I am happy to have been taught and thankful to have been able to apply. However, I do enjoy certain programs, and so at the moment I am tickled to have returned home to as the Tour de France has just begun and Wimbledon is in full swing. Each morning, I will watch about 20-30 minutes of the most recent stage of the Tour, fast-forwarding through the commercials and viewing the French countryside in all of its splendor. In the evening I will watch a match on the grass of Wimbledon, and that is all I need to feel I am in touch with the world without completely reimmersing myself into it.

6. Dive head-first into your healthy eating routine

As much as I love French cuisine and did not shy away from a croissant whenever I had the chance or a few nibbles of fromage, getting back to my regular eating routine was something my body was craving. Having steel oats is not an option in France, so that alone was something I eagerly anticipated upon arriving back in Bend.

After one day of eating well (and exercising – see the next point), my body began to feel like itself again which meant my mind began to feel better and I began to feel better overall.

7. Exercise to help your mind transition

Often what is causing the acclimation to be most difficult is that our mind is trying to adjust to all that we have asked it to do ( which time zone do you want me to adapt to? It asks). And because our mind is already full of new experiences and trying to make sense of those as well, but at the same time our whole being is exhausted and fatigued, we don’t have the willpower to control our mind as we typical do when everything is running well after proper rest.

I have found that by jumping immediately back into my daily exercise routine – walking 2-4 miles each morning with my dogs, weekly yoga practice, meditation and strength – my mind focuses on that task, doesn’t wander too far away (which is good because I cannot control it as I normally would due to the immediate return from the trip), and it also aids with my sleep or nap later in the day.

So not only is getting back into our exercise routine helpful for our physical health, it is also extremely helpful for our mental health.

8. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate 

While I enjoyed my wine in France with nearly every lunch or dinner, I didn’t drink all that much as I was constantly trying to drink more water which for me is always more difficult when I travel. Hydration is the free medicine to strengthen our mind and body and that includes our skin and our appetite.

During this most recent trip, I carried with me in my tote (because I have a pocket for it!) a water bottle that I did my best to always have filled with water, and also did my best to drink regularly from. However, it is a routine that makes it easier to remember to drink the water we need, and when we travel, our routine is different (which is a very good thing, just not for drinking water :)).

Upon my return, I have been drinking water with every meal, guzzling it frequently to help my body out as it settles back in. Yes, that means I am running to the bathroom frequently, but as opposed to my travels when I wasn’t, my body is thanking me.

9. Slowly adjust your sleep times

Depending upon how much of a time difference you are adjusting to, be patient with yourself, but with each day, make a subtle adjustment. For example, I basically passed out at seven in the evening when I arrived home on Monday after being awake (I only caught an hour or two cat nap on the plane) about twenty-five or twenty-six hours. I did my best to make it until eight or nine, but my body couldn’t hold out any longer. The next night I made it until eight and each night I go to bed one hour later, I wake up a few hours later as well. Eventually, when you find the time schedule you want to be at, your body will know what you are asking of it, and the sleep routine will be able to set itself again.

10. Journal when you are ready

Some of us will journal prior to leaving our travel destination, some may write it all out on the flight or train ride home, but others, like myself, will need some time to process. However, don’t take too much time after your trip so that you forget all that you want to remember.

I have found that when I rush to make my lists and record my thoughts, I often have not processed it fully or understand completely what it was I experienced. Due to the exhaustion and fatigue my mind is overwhelmed with, the depth of understanding is limited and misinterpretations are still lingering. As my energy increases and as my routine takes shape in my everyday, I carve out an hour or so here and there and just write, savoring the trip yet again.

11. Incorporate the changes after understanding why and how to do so

Did you enjoy a particular way of going about life at the destination you visited and wish to incorporate it into your life at home? Making these discoveries is the awesome inspiration travel provides. And depending upon what you are adding or changing, use the time when you journal to make sense of why you wish to include it in your life as well as how it will work.

Understandably it will be easier for some of us than others depending upon who we live with and what the change is, but it is always possible if we ourselves understand the motivation to make the change.

For example, one immediate change I was able to make last year, as I live alone, was sleeping on linen sheets that I had found at brocantes in France . Having slept on many linen bed sheets during the month abroad last year, I knew I wanted to sleep on linen in Bend, and did so the second night I was home, never looking back. However, other changes have been gradual – letting go of a “perfectly” decorated home and falling in love with making my sanctuary one that works for me but maybe not a home decor photo shoot. Or shopping for seasonal food – this has been a wonderful change in my life and inspired TSLL’s Cooking Show , but I had to learn how to do it in the town that I live in, and that took time.

Every travel excursion upon which we embark will bring with it gems of ahas . The return and reintegration into our everyday life can sometimes feel shocking or akin to an ill-fitting shoe; however, often that is the lack of sleep playing a role, and with patience, time to reflect, and attention to what our body and mind need to function at their best, we can incorporate all that we have discovered to elevate the quality of our everyday lives even more than we ever could have imagined prior to our departure.

~SIMILAR POSTS YOU MIGHT ENJOY:

~ Doubt the Default — How My Trip to France Woke Me Up , episode #218

~ How to Cultivate Surroundings for Everyday Contentmen t, episode #219

~ International Travel Prep List, episode #183

Image: TSLL Instagram – Shakespeare & Co. mug – shop it here

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6 thoughts on “ 11 Tips for Settling Back in After Traveling to Beloved Destinations Around the World ”

Glad to see you’ve safely returned home, Shannon! Even though it’s a welcome adjustment to come home, our bodies and minds don’t always respond so quickly. Sensible advice here, especially the one to unpack. After my last few overseas trips, I’ve forced myself to unpack right away. The next day dawns a little easier when I realize that chore is behind me. Looking forward to hearing more about your trip!

You are right that it can be a daunting task, but I too so appreciate when the unpacking is done. No digging around for what you need to go about your regular routine. Thank you for stopping by and I too look forward to sharing all that I learned. 🙂

I totally agree with your list. Planning ahead and dealing with the transition is the best use of your time before what I refer to as the crash and burn! Most of my travel these days is in a large motor home. My second home on wheels. Coming home and unpacking is a daunting task for sure. I keep a second wardrobe there and wash, iron and return it with each trip. I learned this quickly because putting it off was just so frustrating. The interesting component of this is that sometimes for months at a time I am wearing the same clothes in all the photo’s! I think I need to work on a new capsule wardrobe plan. Glad you had such a nice vacation and returned home safely. I just finished watching your breakfast video, very nicely done and inspiring, you are very comfortable in front the camera!

Cheryll, thank you for sharing your experience and keeping a second wardrobe sounds like a great way to simplify preparation and returning hone. 🙂 As well, thank you for checking out the cooking show! Just beginning to record season two and looking forward to sharing more ideas for enjoying stepping into the kitchen. 🙂

I always pack a snack box for the flight with items I consider luxury treats… macarons, cheeses, and tea sandwiches… makes me look forward to the flight that much more! I always bring my own tea and infused honey sticks, makes me happy knowing I’m having a fantastic meal on flight.

Great idea KJ. And you’re right, that would be something to look forward to. 🙂 Thank you for sharing with us all.

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Should You Start Traveling Now or Later?

It will happen, whenever the time is right. That’s the key. When the time is right.

This traveling stuff is tricky. It messes with your head. You want to travel badly and every single day you dream of all the places you’ll visit when you do get started, but that’s the problem…you don’t know when is the ideal time to take the plunge and begin.

Should you start traveling now? After all, travel is the only thing you think about.

Or does it make more sense to wait and travel later? You could use some extra savings and perhaps you should also get some more work experience first.

(If you’re deciding whether or not to attend or finish university before you travel, here’s a post you might want to read, with plenty of useful comments too: “ Do You Need a University Degree to Travel Long-Term? “)

The point is…you want to make the right decision but it’s just not easy to figure out.

I know it’s difficult because I went through it myself and I also receive no shortage of emails from readers who are dealing with this very dilemma as well. We all go through it, everyone who wants to travel, especially those who want to travel long-term.

Back in 2000, after just ten days or so into my very first independent backpacking trip, I decided that I wanted to travel for as long as possible. However, I had very, very little money at the time, only enough to last a couple of months in Southeast Asia. As a result, I debated long and hard about what to do next. As far as I saw it, I had two options. I could return to the US, work for at least a year and save up as much money as I could before getting back out there on the road and attempting to achieve my goal. Or I could just continue my current trip and figure it all out as I went along.

In the end, I decided to not go home and to simply trust, as my guide, my increasing determination and excitement about the possibilities of travel, despite my rapidly dwindling funds. Turns out it worked.

But that’s just me.

I wouldn’t dare tell anyone else to just drop everything right this instant and pack your bag. There are too many unique aspects involved for each of us, which is why the debate of when to start our travels is one that we each need to have with ourselves. It’s the only way to reach the most suitable conclusion or to at least make some progress, or at the very least waste some time thinking about travel.

What I would dare tell you is that you should consider several specific factors that might help give you a better idea of your situation and ultimately, help you answer that question of when you should finally start your adventure.

• Confidence – Are you confident in your ability to make anything happen? Will you be able to do whatever it takes to find a way to earn money if you need to? Are you the kind of person that won’t let anything stand in the way of your goals?
• Ideal Savings – Would you be significantly more comfortable with the idea of travel if you had an extra $1000, $2000 or maybe $5000 in your bank account? What is your financial goal? Are you almost there? Is there a chance that you’ll always want more to the point where it stops you from ever leaving?
• Work Opportunities – What kind of work, if necessary, would you be interested in while traveling? Is that work easy to obtain based on your skills, background, connections, etc. or will it take significant effort and creativity to make it happen? Are there opportunities to earn money in the places you’ll be at about the time your money might start to run out?
• Travel Style – Do you plan to be a budget traveler? How much comfort will you want? What kind of travel style will suit you best and how much will it cost to maintain that style? Just because ultra-budget travel costs much less doesn’t mean that you’ll enjoy staying in the cheapest hostel dorm rooms, eating very simply and taking the least expensive modes of transportation everywhere. And it’s perfectly ok if that’s not for you. It’s not for everyone. Figure out what is for you and you’ll have a better understanding of how much money you’ll need to make it happen.
• Sociability – How social are you? Do you need more practice connecting with random people you come across? Or do you already have the ability to start yakking away to those you meet in cafes, in elevators, at the roulette table, on the bus? You don’t have to be a socialite but the more comfortable you are around new people, the easier it will be to interact with other travelers and locals that you encounter during your travels, to make new friends, to discover new opportunities.
• An Endless Wait – Maybe there will never be a perfect time to break away and start traveling. Will something always come up to keep you at home? What if you wait another 2 years and you end up even more entrenched in your current job and lifestyle that it will be almost impossible to leave, even if you have saved more money? Is that a possibility and if so, how do you feel about that?
• Torture – Can you wait 2 or 3 or 5 more years or are you so insanely ready to get out into the world that the thought of spending more time at home is starting to affect your life in a real negative way? If you can’t wait to leave, you need to figure things out more quickly before the frustration takes more of a toll. It just may be time to book a flight and jump into the unknown as soon as you can.

Again, it’s not easy. It’s downright hard to figure this out, I know. But you need to start somewhere because nobody else can tell you what to do. Whether you start traveling now, later or even never, it really is all up to you.

Just gather your thoughts, think about the above and make a plan, a plan that really feels good, or as good as possible, given your particular circumstances and goals. Then do everything in your power to stick to that plan no matter what.

I’ll be waiting to hear your story whenever the time is right. See you when you get here!

Have you faced this dilemma? How did you handle it? Are you still trying to figure out when to start traveling?

New blog posts, honest updates from my 21 years of constant travel, personal recommendations and the best of travel from around the world.

56 Comments

[…] person behind the famous travel blog, WanderingEarl.com, Earl himself said whether to travel now or later, depends on the person himself. There […]

Good post, Earl. Way to break it down in a simple, understandable format. Because quitting your job really is more simple than people think it is. We are all just scared of extreme change, when our society (USA) raises us to run the race in the same way.

I quit my job over 2 1/2 years ago & haven’t regretted it since! I look forward to meeting you in a cafe one day & exchanging stories.

Ford Quarterman

I’d say the earlier the better …. any number of things could end it all (or at least your mobility) tomorrow. Even something like money can be ameliorated via jobs in various destinations or via digital freelancing!

Someone once told me, “there’s never a perfect time for anything, so if you spend your entire life waiting, that’s all you’ll be doing is waiting, and you’ll die waiting.” Though it might be slightly morbid to some, I took it to heart for everything from getting married to having kids, and even travelling. It can be very cheap to travel if you research and do it right, and there is no time like the present. Can’t take your money with you when you’re gone, and spending it making memories is far better than filling a house with a bunch of “stuff” that won’t mean nearly as much in the long run.

It breaks my heart when I hear that elderly people always say their main regrets are not doing something for instance travel. I can’t comprehend the reasons people use to not do something, I’m a doer! Although the downside with that is I am impulsive too which doesn’t always turn out well!

For me, traveling is the best way to relax. No matter if it’s beach holiday or exhausting safari in Africa. Every journey is charming and you can experience unforgettable moments.

Now, now, NOW! Don’t wait around; travel now – because who knows what could happen tomorrow? You might get hit by a car, or your relationship could fall a part, or your life might just get more complicated in general. I guess what I’m trying to say is you don’t know for sure if there will ever be a better time to travel than right now.

My wife and I would love to lead a traveling lifestyle. We’re both in our 40s with no kids (except 2 beautiful pugs) and I’m a location-independent designer so there’s really nothing stopping us…except us. Uncertainty about the future is always worrisome for me so I’m putting away as much money as I can now before making that leap. Time is ticking though so I can see it happening in the next 2 years. I find people like you to be inspiring because this type of lifestyle really does require a great amount of courage. Thanks for posting this. 🙂

Btw, I’ve posted a couple of comments on your blog but they don’t appear for some reason. Not sure what I’m doing wrong…

I read this post a few weeks ago and made a comment, at the time figuring I was going to stick it through until early retirement. I have been trapped in the world of practicality (and in front of a computer) for 18 years. Life was good except for a daily drudgery of a very practical office job, well-treated, good people, nice benefits but also tedious and monotonous.

Recently I walked into a pole, my head hurting for days, but somehow stars started lining up. After never being able to see a way before (it probably wasn’t the right time), my path is now confidently clear. I am off to travel for a year starting this fall starting in Melbourne, then NZ, SE Asia, some CA ‘stans and European time with loved ones on the way back (the main plan is to keep things intuitive and loose)

Having no children to put through college after these 18 years of 8-5 work, that freshman year of “tuition” will be spent sending me around the world. I have given my employer ample notice (my boss is jealous) and will leave everything in a stable place. No friend or family member who I’ve told has questioned the decision. Everyone knows how passionate I am about travel and how this makes perfect sense for me.

It’s exciting to be on my way to being a “featherlight” backpacker in my early 40’s which seems like the perfect age, physically still young enough and mentally stable and much wiser than in youth when life was insecure and oriented around hedonism. I am going to fully appreciate every moment of this experience, having dreamed of it for so many years, not knowing if this dream could ever really come true. Nothing against a youthful gap year experience, but couldn’t think of better life timing.

Thanks for this website for all of the travel resources and information : )

Really enjoyed this post. As someone who has really got the travel bug, I’m toying with the same dilemma of whether to save a bit more and work for a while, or just bite the bullet and go! After all – I’m not getting any younger… 🙂 Thanks for your wise words.

All you need is some savings and a hunger to see the world. Being able to earn digitally is a plus, but anyone can get real world gigs in their destinations if they have the desire to do so as well…

I’ve always wanted to travel. Last year I finally got to, and spent an entire year in New Zealand. I had graduated high school over 4 years ago and didn’t have any post secondary education and had just been doing retail jobs since I graduated. It was tough after I got back to my normal life to not want to go travel whenever possible, and it still is honestly, but I’m starting to realize that having some sort of education and responsibility isn’t such a bad thing. I could travel as much as I could and live off money I make in short term jobs along the way, but I’m getting older and I don’t want to live off minimum wage jobs forever. I’m going to do a 2 year program at college, and then I’ll see where I go from there.

Hi K – I live in New Zealand, and have generally thought of it as an expensive place to tour. Can you tell me where you’re from, and how much you had to save to be able to travel throughout NZ for an entire year? Thanks! Kate

I really enjoyed reading this post! I began travelling in my early twenties, in 2002. I originally waited for friends to come with me, but things always came up or they didn’t have enough money etc. I decided to leave on my own, because I felt ready to tackle the world, and I’d saved enough money to do so. It was the best decision I ever made! I am still travelling the world, just made it to 100 countries last year, a number that I never thought imaginable. Such an travel addict! I love it!

My advice to everyone who is wondering when they should travel is to ‘go and travel when its the only thing that consumes your thoughts’.

Great post and thought-provoking as usual Earl. Well, as you said, it’s a difficult one. And sure, if you’re passionate about travel, you face this every single day. I think I’m one of the lucky ones, my mother was a globetrotter so it was already in my blood LOL! However, as a girl, it’s so much more difficult to decide on what to do and when.

I started my first bout after my A’Levels and before university. I also became a summer camp leader and then I did the real GAP year deal after university. And once I saw, my opportunity, I took it. I was given just 24 hours to say yes or no. I said yes, and what was supposed to be a 6 week project into Eastern Europe turned into 2 years. Yay! Quite frankly, I was able to go for it as I had no dependents, parents who supported me, and I was free and single, and completely able to mingle LOL!

I now live as an expat, I’m married to a very supportive German and we have an only child. No problem, we just took him with us. As a matter of fact, the younger children are, the easier it is. I also had my child in international school which helped too, as most kids were in and out as their parents were diplomats or in the financial world, so taking off to travel wasn’t an issue. It’s a little more difficult now as our child is at the age of teenage angst and major school assignments, so we get creative with the school hols and travel then.

Last year, with a full-time corporate job, a husband and a pre-teenage child, I was still able to travel to 10 countries. I’ve never looked back!

Love these kinds of posts you do! I very much agree on the Confidence and Sociability sections as they’re exactly the things I had to overcome to begin my traveling. I was engaged at a very young age and had plans to move to America and start up a new life. The marriage plans broke down after a few years and I was left with all this money that I worked hard to earn, for the initial move. I have always wanted to see the World since as early as I can remember but at this low point I had very shaky levels of confidence and sociability. I was determined though and set myself challenges to increase both characteristics to a level which could help me enjoy traveling solo. Took week long trips around Europe, found my comfort levels and tested whether I was ready, willing and able to pack up and go! And turns out I was. Now I’ve been to many places in the last few years and loving life! I’d like to thank you also, Earl, as this site was one of the factors that gave me motivation to get out there and travel. Seeing your life made me realise that it’s not just a dream to travel for as long as I wanted to. Keep up the great posts mate! O.J.

I love how you leave questions at the end of your posts; it feels like an essay assignment but one that I’m actually excited to write! Im still in the phase of trying to figure out how to start and how to make it sustainable. Let me tell you: half the battle is getting out of Canada. The taxes on flights are ridiculous, and because we’re so far from everything: the initial price itself is also high. If you happen to be solo and female, too, The next worry is about safety vs. budget, as safety might mean forgoing budget (because you’re solo and fees are usually higher). I’ve lived abroad before and loved it…and something in me feels like it’s time to get moving again. With this post you’ve given me a lot to think about and I’m hoping to make the plunge after I can test out a few sustainability methods to see if they work for me. Thanks again!

hi everyone, few years back, to be exact when I was 18, I decided to do one thing, start travelling. The only time is after my national service which I have to serve for two years. Many ppl say that but within few years they hv given up their dreams, not me. For 8 years, I told myself every night before I sleep. Now I am in thailand enjoying myself, very beautiful and kind people. In khon kaen now leaving for mae hong son, I dunno what to expect but I know surprises is awaiting me. Dont wait if you have the chance, it is jus not worth the time to wait when you can do it now. The only easy day was yesterday.

Earl, I love your blog posts! After reading your blogs you truly inspired me to give a shot at my own! thank you so much for being awesome!!!!

happy trails,

Seems like we are following you around Earl, but we just cant catch up with you. We are in Romania now and leaving for Istanbul in about a month. We are like you but we are in our 60’s and have been on the road since April of 1999. We know it is easy for a person in their 20s to say wow I want to travel and take off with a couple of grand in their pocket. For people our age making that decision is not as easy BUT, it can happen and it can be done. As your post said you just have to make that decision and get on the road if the road is where you really want to be.

Words of wisdom as always, Earl.

I came to this life from the opposite direction, with a poorly-considered jump into life in China (without really being culturally or financially prepared for the experience!) and from there a sort of natural progression towards long-term travel as a lifestyle. While it has worked out for me, I think potential new travelers would be well advised to ask themselves these questions before making the jump just to be sure they’re a bit more prepared!

Difficult question! As you said the timing is never perfect, but to say NOW to travel is not that easy. After my studies I tried to save some money to travel more, but as I have moved in my career, it is really difficult to leave everything behind. I really do love my job; I have 23 vacation days, and 15 public holidays, not bad! 🙂 In addition, after my travels I somehow feel that I am glad to be back home, refreshing memories, going through the photos, sharing my experience with others etc. It seems that NOW is not the right moment for me. My intuition says that I am doing the right thing, but who knows if I do not regret it later?!

Great post, Earl!

These are all things that I had to consider before I left to move to Peru. I had gotten to the point that if I didn’t move abroad soon, I was going to lose it. I set myself a deadline to leave and spent year obsessing over how to travel and saving money. I left January 2013 and haven’t looked back! It’s been amazing!

I think people really just need to be careful that they don’t put off traveling because of fear and uncertainty. Because they’ll end up waiting forever. I think that setting a reasonable deadline for when they will leave (and even buy the ticket early) will give them the motivation to make travel a reality, but still allows them time to prepare.

Keep up the good work! Casey

Yes, I have been faced with this dilemma. It was the fact that I wanted to save however started affecting my work performance and outside life because behind everything travel is what I wanted. Now I’ve left my job to start my world travels in June. Good post lots of things to think about before making the plunge.

This is a great blog! Thanks Earl.

I’m with the “don’t wait” crowd… but with a little different perspective. Even if you’re working full time, you can still use your vacation, use the Christmas holidays, or even weekends… to travel. Some of the best experiences I’ve had are short weekend trips.

One word – torture. We don’t want to wait a few years for our next trip. Even though we finished our year-long RTW awhile ago. We still make sure we prioritize to save up for a decent trip every year. Gives us something to look forward to too. 🙂

Hi Earl, This is such a useful and hopeful post! I really hope I bump into you one of these days and get to tell you my story. The good thing is that with all you awesome travel bloggers out there it’s becoming much easier to believe it can actually happen. It took me years between deciding I wanted to travel (on a short trip to Israel in 2010) to actually leaving (after finally finishing my PhD in 2013). It was excruciating and there wasn’t one day I didn’t think I’d made a mistake in waiting. But the most important thing is I left (with my boyfriend) and we are still travelling now and planning to move to thailand to figure out a way to join the digital nomad lifestyle. Thanks for sharing your stories and advice! It makes it so much easier to just go now!

This question is paramount to a successful adventure. There are many people who decide to leave now and the answer is not right for them, and many who decide to delay when a leap of faith is best. I face the consequences of wrong and right decisions in my work as a tour guide… There are those who do not save enough before their journey and are unable properly enjoy their adventures because they are counting pennies. There are those who never make it.

I have met people who do not follow cultural guidelines with tipping because they are unable to afford it. This action essentially deprives someone else of their livelihood… and so a vicious cycle begins. I have met travellers who dislike a country because it is more expensive than they had budgeted for… or more expensive than their neighbouring country.

Travel can be a lifestyle for some people that they do not enjoy, just like a desk job. The thought of returning home is less appealing than being on the road. Some people travel to find themselves – the irony is these discoveries are normally made when they take time to sit still. I often hear people compete over their travel, to feel superior to others they come across. The more I travel the more I learn to be humble. The biggest revelations often come from someone who has not had the opportunity to leave their backyard.

In my opinion, those who understand their motivation for travelling are best able to plan and follow through with a fulfilling journey. Investigate the motivations and purposes for travelling and you avoid going around the world like a dog chasing its tail. Dont be ashamed to seek the help of a local expert or to travel with a group. Trailblazers in the most remote corners of the world will always look to find an expert to secure their passage. Edmund Hillary had a sherpa.

Hi Earl, No, we’ve been travelling full time for 2 years now, this is my second RTW, the first, 15 years ago, was only 1 year. I just wanted to say that age doesn’t matter, it’s good, no, great, at any age. As a single, couple or family, it still works. I’m 48, my kids are 8 and 10, we’re having a ball. In Goa right now 🙂

After getting the thought in our head to do a RTW trip and realizing we didn’t have to be millionaires we jumped at doing it now. There’s no time like the present and we didn’t want to have any regrets for not doing it in case we couldn’t as we got older. I don’t regret taking a year off and sacrificing a mortgage, etc etc, but I think the situation is different for everyone.

For me- I waited.

I decided that I’m going to go on a RTW trip back at the end of 2013. I set a goal and started working like crazy to make it happy. I’ve just booked my flight for November the 23rd of this year. I waited for a couple of reasons- I’m still at uni which means I couldn’t work fulltime- at the moment I work 30 hours a week over 7 days which studying full time and I don’t think I could do much more.

I’m a budget traveller but I also wanted to have a nice amount of money saved before I headed off- especially because I’m estimating about 9 months in europe that isn’t cheap. I also know from my stubborn personality that waiting wasn’t going to be a problem- of course I wasn’t going to put it off together!

The second reason was far more practical. My university has a university just outside of Florence. It won’t put me back as much if I could study there for 2 months during my trip and it financially would be better because you get an outrageous amount of funding from the uni to go. I couldn’t fit it into my degree until semester 1 2016 so that is why I’m leaving in November!

I completely agree that it all depends on the individual person and their circumstances!

Hey Britt, Europe is probably not as expensive as you think. We are in our 60s and have a little Social Security income from the U.S. but we manage to live in nice apartments from one of the sources online. Eat in a lot of the time but we live on the road with money left over. In the states we would struggle to make ends meet. We just left the market in Bucharest buying food for two for a week for about $35 U.S.

Gut feel. I had growing wanderlust eating away at me, we didn’t have any big financial commitments, I had a few years of work experience and was getting a bit bored at work and my partner hated his job … it all started to come together.

There is no “later” only “now,” otherwise you wake up at 46 years of age like I am, and wished you had planned to do it sooner. I am taking a trip somewhere THIS YEAR! Probably Thailand or somewhere in Southeast Asia. Take my advice, don’t wait!

Hi Earl, Thanks for your terrific blog which has been an inspiration to us as well. We are an older couple (60’s) who have become nomadic these past years. Our tally of expenses in this last year of travel has been 1/2 of what we would usually spend living in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, from where we hail. We decided to join the world of nomads, slow traveling from country to country as long as our visas will permit us to stay. It was an easy decision for us to travel indefinitely as we are one mind. Experiencing what’s out there in the world was an alluring alternative to the house and property that owned us. When the front door fell off its hinges, we were ready to sell, give away everything and begin a life on the road. We’ve found endless ways of traveling inexpensively without ever limiting ourselves.

This post hit me hard. I just completed a 9-month road trip across North America. Ever since settling down a month ago, I’ve been beyond restless for the road again. I feel like you were speaking to me when you said that part about saving up for another year and then hitting the road again. I don’t know if I’ll actually do that, but the notion of saving up and/or being self-sufficient on the road is an appealing one. Regardless, I’m at least glad my 9-month journey happened. There’s just still so much out there…

BTW I found your blog via one of your readers while I was on the road in Pennsylvania. Big fan!

I actually faced a situation like this before in the past. I told myself that I wanted to drive across the US coast to coast as a gift to myself for graduating from college. I graduated but the trip never happened. I put it off for 5 years. In 2013 I saved money and told myself that its now or never to do this trip. I ended up quitting my dead end job that summer and set out for 2 weeks. Honestly, that trip was the best 2 weeks of my life. I learned so much about myself during that time. I haven’t been the same since. I’m in the process of paying off debt so that I can do a longer trip in Europe within a year or 2.

Thanks to you and a couple of other travel bloggers, I am a former Southern California cube dweller that has begun traveling. Once I realized I was serious about making it work out, It took about 6+ months of preparation. Applying for the right credit/debit cards, renewing my passport, getting my finances in order, saving money, selling my condo, car, and belongings, doing research, and then quitting my job. I’m also not young. I don’t consider myself old either but being 50 years old is a bit more unusual to do this I think (but I do look and act younger…so that helps!) I look forward to broadening my horizons and pushing myself outside of my comfort zone as a female solo traveler. I’ve started off in Costa Rica and plan to learn Spanish and slowly move around this little country for a bit before moving onto South America and Southeast Asia. One thing I know about myself, I’m not interested in staying in one place for a few days and then moving on as many travelers do. I prefer to stay in one spot and live like a local for a bit then move on to the next destination. I’m budget conscious but not too frugal. I have a certain amount of money to last me and when it’s all gone, I’ll be back in the states to work again…..unless I have something else to keep me going. I’m trying to tap into that creativity, so we’ll see what happens. But really, I owe my newfound confidence to you, because I’m not sure I would have been able to make this happen otherwise. So thank you Earl. xo

Great article, Earl!

This is THE question we have been debating for some time now. You can prepare and plan until you’re blue in the face but it comes down to whether or not you can stand another day, month, or year in your current position.

The time to travel is now! After all- you never know what tomorrow brings.

I stumbled onto your blog after returning from a short trip across the Atlantic. I always have my culture shock coming back to the US, reverse culture shock, but eventually it subsides. I am locked into a full-time situation and am likely going to stick it through till retirement as it’s not too far off. I have never lived abroad but have woven in as many trips as possible into the full-time work routine, fortunately more generous with leave than many US jobs.

I envy European and some UK Commonwealth travelers I’ve met who are “only” traveling for six months, who don’t have to worry about losing health benefits upon leaving a job, and who sometimes have more flexible job situations. Most Americans have little comprehension of how much more freedom others have, and how inexpensive travel can be (as it is expensive here if not camping or couchsurfing, and lacking in decent or even basic public transportation in many places).

That said, these fortunate travelers are a small sliver of the world’s population. Most people are not trotting around the world, and even if they could, the atmosphere couldn’t sustain all the air pollution (flying is high on the carbon footprint scale, however cool it is to fly Ryanair or Easyjet to a new city in Europe for less than the cost of dinner).

I have always fit travel into my more-constricted life because I don’t think this travel bubble is going to last forever. When I was a kid in the 70’s it was very expensive to fly to Europe and it’s getting that way again. Gone are the $300-500 tickets of a decade or so ago. Thank goodness I went then.

If you aren’t tied into a job and all of its “benefits”, I’d say save up money short-term and travel sooner rather than later. Go somewhere where you can budget travel and have the experience. You have plenty of time to get locked in, and once you are, you will be gray before you have the chance again (and may never have the chance).

Hi Earl, When my girlfriend who was younger than I died of breast cancer it was a wake up call that life isn’t fair, there are no guarantees and sometimes you just have to trust and jump. Jump we did. We are now 7 months in from selling everything, buying a boat and kissing our loved ones goodbye. I have to be honest it was tough to do. Was it the right decisions? Some days are shitty but hey such is life. The highs still out weigh all the crap-a-rolla! Not one day have I wished my old life back. Money is always an issue but the value of living is priceless. As an ordinary individual doing life like the rest of us, can I encourage any who may doubt “Jump Jump Jump”, life is too short not to travel, even if just a little to see whats on the other side. Cheers the Miss

The money issue is always a big one for me. I’m one of those “I never have enough money in the bank” and I always feel that if I save up just a little bit more money then I’ll feel comfortable making the leap. But then I get that money and I feel I need more.

I’m going on my second trip this summer and I can’t wait! I finished 1.5 years at college after doing an epic 5 month backpacking trip in 2013. To anybody who is in the young, mid or late twenties I would say this: go for it!!! Especially if you’re single with nothing holding you down, you have nothing to lose!

Also someone mentioned retirement, earl has stated in the past that he has always saved for retirement.

It doesn’t seem to matter at what age people are at they have similar concerns about whether they should travel now or later. Speaking from the perspective of someone older I say go now. Yes, you need to have a contingency plan for the future but somehow things seem to work out and I know too many people who decided to wait and never got the chance. It comes down to what your priorities are – travel or live comfortably. There is always a tradeoff and there is no right answer. We each must make our own decision as to what is right for us. My only suggestion is if this is a dream of yours – don’t let it fade and don’t let others determine what you should or shouldn’t do.

Good morning from Los Angeles. I have been filled with constant everyday anxiety about whether I should pack my bag and hit the road or get a job and go to school for a History degree. Even if I decided to Travel, I have a dilemma, zero money. I’m currently 27 years old and did my fair share of wandering The States from the ages of 17 to 23. I suppose I had more courage at that time to drop everything and go where my heart took me. Yet as time trailed on, responsibilities approached, though thoughts about Traveling remain. It’s truly difficult to keep a job due to wanting to escape so badly. I become depressed to the point that I quit and tell myself the nomad life is for me. My family, friends and girlfriend all seem to scratch their heads wondering what I’m doing with my Life. I ask myself the same question often. What do you suggest I do in my situation?

Great points and interesting to read of your forced decision whilst early on the road. To never look back 🙂

An endless wait is just what I was thinking before I came to your point in the article. People can always find reasons to put things off and then risk it being too late. If you almost can do it then you should do it. There may never be that “perfect” moment.

One more question I’d add to your list is “Retirement;” as in how do you plan to finance your lifestyle when you’re no longer willing or able to work?

It’s the one huge question that is entirely overlooked on many travel blogs that seem to focus almost exclusively on financing current expenses. Meanwhile, putting aside enough money to ever stop working is a huge undertaking. That’s made even harder if you interrupt your career trajectory to travel or spend a considerable amount of your prime saving years living hand-to-mouth while on the road.

A priority for us was to make sure we had our retirement savings well in hand before setting off to travel full-time. Until we did, we had to content ourselves with making whatever trips we could during our allotted vacation time.

Great article, but I agree with Brian and would also like some commentary on the retirement issue…

Hey Nello – Here’s a post I wrote that focuses on that topic: https://www.wanderingearl.com/do-long-term-travelers-prepare-for-retirement/

Perfect! Thanks so much 😀

Hey Brian – Here’s a post I wrote about that very topic: https://www.wanderingearl.com/do-long-term-travelers-prepare-for-retirement/

Hi earl, I can’t wait to tell you my story. Am heading off on my travels in July – my first time travelling alone… I hope to be able to tell you my scary and exciting story some day and that’s its outcome is positive by then 🙂

I love this! So true! Everyone always has so many excuses not to travel and I always tell them to just do it. Life is short. 🙂

Is the picture on top of the post from the city of Trogir in Croatia? Also, wonderful post!

Hey Rebecca – It’s actually from Dubrovnik.

Relevant post. Many are there who would like to travel, but are caught in different circumstances. In my case, I believe in traveling no matter what. But yes, the points that you have laid out are valid, too. One should figure out whether he/she would like to be a budget traveler or a luxurious traveler, is he/she willing to work while travel, etc.

Hi Earl, Back home after 3 months in Australia

best exciting trvael plans for me will be to Iran with an Australian group next October. Been a long time dream. And going to check out the upper floor of an A380.

Always love reading your site. After Iran, early next year- I’ll visit the rest of my so far unvisited SAmerican countries.

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The Guide to Pay Later Travel

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Pay later is becoming a popular travel tool. In 2019, $10 million was spent on travel-related " buy now, pay later ." However, by 2021, $800 million was spent on travel-related buy now, pay later.

With pay later becoming more widely available and used for travel expenses, we'll dive into what you need to know to see whether this financing option is a smart money move for you.

There are different types of pay later travel options

“Pay later” travel is a broad term, but it generally falls into one of two categories:

Buy now, pay later services where you pay for your travel in equal installments, sometimes with added interest. Examples include travel booked using Affirm and Uplift.

Travel that you book in advance but don’t pay for until later. An example is Hotels.com, which will sometimes let you reserve a room and pay for it at check-in.

Basically, as long as you’re not paying in full for the travel upfront, it qualifies as pay later travel.

Some travel companies offer pay later travel options directly

There are several ways to book pay later travel, including booking directly with certain airlines, hotels and other travel companies that offer pay later at checkout, including:

Alaska Airlines.

Southwest Airlines.

United Airlines.

» Learn more: The best travel credit cards right now

Some of these companies offer pay later travel through a partner, and others offer buy now, pay later travel directly.

For instance, Southwest offers buy now, pay later through Uplift, whereas Hilton allows you to book certain reservations by putting a credit card down and then paying in full when you check out.

» Learn more: Are buy now, pay later flights worth it?

There are companies that specialize in pay later that you can use for travel

If you want to use pay later travel for your trip and the airline, hotel or travel company doesn’t offer pay later travel directly, you may be able to pay for your travel later by using a company that specializes in that option — companies like Affirm , Zip , Uplift and Afterpay .

You may also be able to use your credit card for pay later travel. For instance, Chase has a service called My Chase Plan where you can split a purchase of $100 or more into equal monthly installments for a fixed monthly fee instead of credit card interest.

» Learn more: Buy now, pay later already comes standard on many credit cards

Pay later travel may cost you more

Using a pay later service may cost you more money overall, so be sure to read the fine print before opting for pay later travel.

Do the math to compare how much you’ll pay over time versus how much you’ll pay if you pay for the travel upfront.

For example, CheapOair — which offers buy now, pay later travel through Affirm — has a disclaimer:

"Rates from 10–36% APR. For example, a $800 purchase might cost $72.21/mo over 12 months at 15% APR. Payment options through Affirm are subject to an eligibility check and are provided by these lending partners: affirm.com/lenders. Options depend on your purchase amount, and a down payment may be required."

In CheapOair’s example, you would either:

Pay $800 by paying for your travel upfront.

Pay $866.52 by using pay later travel ($72.21 per month times 12 months).

Because paying later on travel can end up costing you more, unless you’re able to get pay later travel at a 0% interest rate, you should use it only occasionally and stick to paying upfront when you can.

» Learn more: How to make a flight payment plan with no credit check

Your credit may be affected by paying later

Deferring payments on travel may affect your credit score — another reason that this shouldn’t be your go-to option. Affirm, one of the major players in pay later travel, says this about whether using the company will affect your credit:

"Creating an Affirm account and seeing if you prequalify will not affect your credit score. If you decide to buy with Affirm, these things may affect your credit score: making a purchase with Affirm, your payment history with Affirm, how much credit you've used, and how long you’ve had credit."

When using pay later travel companies like Affirm, Zip and Uplift, you should consider it as a loan that can help and hurt your credit score, and it should not be taken out lightly.

» Learn more: Could a buy now, pay later loan affect my credit?

The bottom line

When it comes to travel expenses, these installment loan options generally fall into one of two categories: buy now, pay later services where you pay in equal partial payments (sometimes with an added fee or interest rate) and travel that you book and then pay in full later, like a hotel reservation that doesn’t require payment until checkout.

Although there are travel companies that offer pay later services directly, like Alaska Airlines, Hilton and Priceline, you can also turn to other companies — like Affirm and Uplift — to pay less upfront.

Before financing travel with a pay later service, note that it may cost you more money in the long run and also may affect your credit score, so be sure to do research and read the fine print.

How to maximize your rewards

You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are our picks for the best travel credit cards of 2024 , including those best for:

Flexibility, point transfers and a large bonus: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

No annual fee: Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card

Flat-rate travel rewards: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

Bonus travel rewards and high-end perks: Chase Sapphire Reserve®

Luxury perks: The Platinum Card® from American Express

Business travelers: Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

on Chase's website

1x-5x 5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases.

75,000 Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's over $900 when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.

1.5%-5% Enjoy 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel, 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants, including takeout and eligible delivery service, and unlimited 1.5% cash back on all other purchases.

Up to $300 Earn an additional 1.5% cash back on everything you buy (on up to $20,000 spent in the first year) - worth up to $300 cash back!

on Capital One's website

2x-5x Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day. Earn 5X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, where you'll get Capital One's best prices on thousands of trip options.

75,000 Enjoy a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel.

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7 Steps I Took to Afford Taking a Year Off to Travel the World

By Alexandra Brown

All products are independently selected by our editors. If you buy something, we may earn an affiliate commission.

“Wait for me.”

These three simple words set into motion a year-long international adventure I never expected—or even imagined—I would ever have. I was on my first date with my now-husband David, and halfway through dinner, he shared his plan to quit his job to travel . Without thinking, I blurted out “wait for me,” an exclamation that shocked us both. But as our intentions for one another became clearer over the next several weeks, so did our plans to travel together. We evolved David’s idea of a three-month motorcycle trip into an 11-and-a-half month round-the-world journey taking us east to west through 22 countries.

While it was easy to wrap our heads around the romance of travel, it was harder to determine how much we would spend. A lot of resources existed for how to backpack on $15 a day (or $30 a day for a couple) and how to happily vacation, but there was little to give us guidance on the in-between path we wanted to take. Being at a point in our lives where we had grown accustomed to a basic level of comfort, we decided to find an average and land on a decidedly middle ground budget of $37,000 for both me and David, all in, an average of roughly $96 per day (more or less depending on where in the world we were). To put in perspective, the average two-week European vacation for two people costs $6,200.

Once we settled on a number, we gave ourselves a rather aggressive four-month timeline to form a plan . David had already been saving for his motorcycle adventure, so I needed to catch up. I was lucky to not have the shadow of student loans looming over me, but I also didn’t want to frivolously burn through any savings I had spent a decade building. I needed to not only find and set aside my half of our overall budget—$18,500—but also make it stretch for nearly a year. Seven steps were instrumental in making this happen.

I had no idea when I bought my 2011 Honda Fit that it would become a wildly desirable car two years later. Within several hours of posting a Craigslist ad, I had more responses than I could handle and sold my car two days later for $12,000. I decided to cross the bridge of future car ownership when I got to it later.

I had been working in advertising for many years, and while I had heard whispers of freelance success from former colleagues who had taken the leap away from full time, I had always been too risk averse to try it myself. Yet once the decision to travel had been made, I decided there was no time like the present to take a leap. I was able to land a contract for the three months before we took off, so I quit my job, and during that time I earned nearly twice as much as I had been making full time (even after taxes).

I had been earning rewards points from my credit cards for years, but David and I decided to really take advantage of these programs during our travels. I signed up for a Chase Sapphire card when we first left, then David signed up for a Capital One Venture card three months later and I signed up for a Barclay Arrival card three months after that. Because most points programs are travel related, we were able to hit the bonuses much faster. The points we accrued throughout our trip ended up saving us nearly $5,000 on airline costs and $2,000 on other travel-related expenses. We closed all but one of these cards when we got home to avoid being hit with the annual fees, and our credit scores were not affected.

I had always been a serious price shopper when it came to airlines and rental car companies, but I went deep during our trip, tapping into lesser known fare comparison websites like Cleartrip, where you pay in rupees, and Europcar for regional car rentals. While I generally prefered to book airline tickets directly through the carrier’s site, there were moments when it saved big to go with a third party site, provided I didn’t need any flexibility. (Note: We opted not to do round-the-world tickets for more options and because there were no real cost savings.)

Throughout our trip, I wasn’t afraid to ask for help or bargain. We would share our story with each potential Airbnb host and graciously ask for discounts. Nine times out of 10 we were given one, especially if we promised to write a great review and clean the space ourselves.

Being in “vacation mode” is more expensive simply because the idea is to see, eat, and experience as much as possible in a compressed period of time. People often bop around a lot more on vacation too, which quickly adds up and is part of why vacations can be so pricey. While traveling long term, we lived like locals, cooking at home, slowing down our pace, and spending more time getting to know the vibe than seeing all the sights. We also found eating what’s native to the region is far less expensive than eating non-local cuisine.

When people ask me what was the most surprising thing about our trip, my answer is the unparalleled generosity of people. There is something magic about traveling, in that it opens people up to one another and cultivates a giving economy. While David and I were initially hesitant to reach out to people we hadn’t spoken to in years, we quickly learned that, more often than not, these folks are not only thrilled to hear from you but are also delighted to host. Friends of my parents in New Zealand who I hadn’t seen or spoken to in 23 years not only gave us their beach house for three nights but also loaned us their car and stocked the fridge with groceries. A friend of a friend in Paris offered us his apartment for a week. New friends we made during our travels in Thailand invited us to stay with them once we got to Europe. We were continuously humbled by how enthusiastic people were to host us, and this generosity saved us roughly $7,000 in housing costs.

We lived a surprisingly good life on our budget. We ate well, stayed in clean and comfortable places, experienced all different types of transportation, and enjoyed several bigger ticket adventures. We didn’t see or do nearly as much as we could have in many ways, but we went deep in the places we visited. While we had a handful of moments where we felt restricted by our budget, those were far and few between. We came to see our budget as an opportunity maker; it helped us be more intentional with our decisions, time, and money, and to deeply appreciate the wonderful experiences we were lucky enough to have.

Alexandra Brown is author of A Year Off: A Story About Traveling the World—and How to Make It Happen for You .

SELF does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Any information published on this website or by this brand is not intended as a substitute for medical advice, and you should not take any action before consulting with a healthcare professional.

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Detours with locals. Travel tips you can trust.

19 stories of strangers who found love while traveling

[ Our By The Way Concierge column answers your travel dilemmas. Submit your question here. ]

“An inner voice said, ‘Go to Seattle!’”

“You should move to Europe with me.”

[ The completely correct guide to traveling with a significant other ]

“Gay was absolutely not okay in my little corner of the world.”

[ 7 Valentine’s Day gift ideas for the travel lover in your life ]

“We ended up going out for coffee, one thing led to another, and I was flying to Beirut every other week.”

[ You asked: Can we go to Europe for our honeymoon this summer? ]

“Ed bought me another ticket just to stay for four more hours.”

“we made it back to the hostel at 4 a.m., and she had a 7 a.m. flight.”.

“We met with luggage in hand and couldn’t deny the sparks that were flying.”

“we eventually got around to the one question every backpacker in 'love’ hates to ask: how long are you here for”, “a flight attendant asked me to come up to first class and handed me an envelope.”.

“A life full of travel and adventure remains core to who we are.”

“cake catastrophe what we danced ’til almost 1 a.m.”.

“We stayed in touch; I nicknamed her Cowgirl and she called me Stranger.”

“Two years later, he came to D.C. with a box of love letters in tow.”

“Our first date was a hike to a glacier, and the rest was history.”

“I didn’t know anyone when I moved to Bangkok, so I used the Couchsurfing app to meet people.”

“I don’t know if it was love or the excitement of finding someone else who loved to see the world, but I have not had this sense of excitement since.”

“We met on a mega yacht in the middle of the ocean called ‘The World.’”

“For a while I was too shy to dance.”

“we exchanged numbers when we landed. a little over a year later, we got engaged in barbados.”, we noticed you’re blocking ads.

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3 Talking about Travel and Experiences

In this chapter, you will learn about:

• Wh and Yes/ No question formation
• Intonation in English
• Opening, closing and extending basic conversations

“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page”

– Saint Augustine

Discussion Questions

• Read the quotation above. What does it mean?
• Do you like to travel? Why or why not?

Chapter 3 Vocabulary

view (n./v.) produce (v.) develop (v.) remember(v.) decide (v.)

argue (v.) achieve (v.) challenge (n./v.) introduce (v.) ability (n.)

Use your dictionary to find the meaning for the vocabulary words in the box above. Then write the words from the box next to their definitions below.

An opinion or way of thinking about something:                             .

To get or reach something by working hard:                              .

To make someone or something known by name:                              .

The power or skill to do something:                              .

To cause something to grow or become bigger:                              .

To make a choice about something:                              .

To keep an idea or image in your mind:                              .

A difficult problem:                              .

To give reasons for or against something:                              .

To make or create something:                              .

Part 2: Syllables

Listen to the pronunciation of the vocabulary words. Write the number of syllables that you hear in each word. The first word has been done for you.

• introduce =
• challenge =

Activity 2 Part 1

Read the conversation and complete the missing words with the chapter 3 vocabulary words below. You will not use three of the words.

Sam : Hey Tina! I haven’t seen you all year! How was your trip to Brazil last year?

Tina : Hey Sam! I know! It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you. My trip was great. I had a few                             that were kind of difficult, but it was a good trip overall.

Sam : How did you                           to visit Brazil? Had you traveled there before?

Tina : No, I hadn’t, but my friend                        me to some Brazilian people and they were very nice, so I bought a ticket and went.

Sam : Cool! Do you                                 any interesting things that you did while you were there?

Tina : Well, my friend that I went with actually                             short travel films, so he made a movie about our trip. It shows all the places we went. I’ll give you the website, so you can watch it.

Sam : Wow! That sounds great! It’s not easy to travel with a friend. Did you                               or fight with each other?

Tina : No, not really. We got along great, and we had so much fun.

Sam : That’s great to hear. Would you return in the future?

Tina : Yes, definitely! If I have the                          , I will return in the future .

Sam : Cool. Well, it’s great to see you!

Tina : You too! See you around!

Sam : You too! Bye!

Activity 2 Part 2

Chapter 3 Activity 2

Grammar Point: Questions in English

There are two types of questions in English: Yes/ No questions and WH questions.

Yes/No questions

Begin with these verbs: Do/ Does — Is / Are

They are answered with a “Yes” or a “No”.

The be verb (is/are) is used to start questions when a noun or adjective follows the subject.

Question: Is Ms. Brown a teacher ? (noun)

Answer: Yes, she is.

Question: Are the students happy ? (adjective)

Answer: No, they aren’t.

The verbs ‘do’ or ‘does’ are used to start questions when a verb follows the subject.

Question: Does she work here? (verb)

Answer: No, she doesn’t.

Question: Do they speak English? (verb)

Answer: Yes, they do.

W H questions

Follow the same grammar rules, but they begin with the question words:

Who, What, When, Where, How, Why

WH questions have longer answers, not just “yes” or “no”

Where does she live?

She lives downtown.

When is your class?

I have class on Monday and Wednesday.

Look at the answers below. Write a question that matches the answer. Think carefully about the grammar in the answer.

Question =?

Answer: No, they are from Canada.

Answer: She works at a bank.

Answer: My birthday is June 22nd.

Answer: Yes, I’m a student here.

Discussion Activit y

You and your best friend are taking a vacation for spring break. You are deciding between two kinds of vacations. First, ask your partner the WH questions below, so you understand what kind of vacation they like.

• What kind of weather do you like?
• Do you want to exercise or relax on vacation?
• Do long flights annoy you?
• What is your budget (how much money can you spend)?
• How long do you want to go for?

Now, study the information below about the two vacations. Together, with your partner, choose one vacation. You must agree with your partner on the same vacation.

Which vacation will you choose? Why?

Vacation #1: Ski Vacation in Canada

• 2-hour flight from Portland
• Cold, snowy weather
• Hotel includes hot tub and swimming pool
• English language is spoken
• Breakfast and dinner included
• Opportunities to ski and snowboard
• $3,000.00 for 6 days

Vacation #2: Beach vacation in the Maldives

• 18-hour flight from Portland
• Hot, sunny weather
• Hotel is right on the beach
• Some English is spoken
• No meals included
• Opportunities to swim and dive
• $3,500.00 for 5 days

Speaking Tip: Intonation

In the English language, the sound of a person’s voice goes up or down when they say the last word of a question or sentence. This difference in sound is called “intonation”.

• WH questions =   falling intonation (voice goes down)
• Yes/No questions = rising intonation (up)
• Statements = falling intonation (down)
• Exclamations (excited speech!) = rising then falling intonation (up then down)

Practicing Intonation

Practice activity 1.

Directions: Listen to the questions and circle the type of intonation you hear.

Listening for Intonation

Practice Activity 2

Directions: Using the intonation examples on the previous page, decide if the questions and statements below have rising or falling intonation. Draw an up or down arrow next to each number. The first one has been done for you.

• I travel as often as I can.
• What is your favorite country?
• Are you from Japan?
• I love to travel!

Practice Activity 3

Directions: Ask your partner the questions below. Practice using correct intonation.

• Where are you from?
• When was your last vacation?
• Do you like to travel on trains?
• What is your name?
• Have you been to New York City?
• Where is your favorite place to travel in the world?

Speaking Tip: Conversation Continuers

These words are used to show interest or understanding in a conversation and to make conversations last longer. Study them and include them in your English conversation.

To show interest

• Tell me more.
• That’s interesting.

To show concern

• Oh, that’s too bad.
• I’m sorry to hear that.
• What happened?

To show excitement

• That’s great!

To follow up

• What about you?
• Tell me about you.
• Enough about me.
• Let’s talk about you.

Directions: Using the words and phrases from above, work with a partner to complete the conversation below. Then practice reading the conversation using correct intonation.

A: Hey! How are you?

B: I’m not that good.

A:                             ?

B: Well, I missed my flight. Now I have to pay extra to fly tomorrow.

A:                            

B: Yeah.                             ?

A: Well, I’m actually great! I feel so happy today!

B:                             ?

A: I just got married this weekend.

B:                             !

A: I know! I’m so happy. But, I’m also feeling worried because of my busy schedule.

B:                             .

A: I’m going on a vacation next week, but I have so much work to do before then.

A: Well, good luck with your flight tomorrow!

B: Thanks! It was nice to see you!

A: You too! See you later!

Speaking Fluency Practice

Ask the questions below to your classmates. Use the conversation phrases on the page before to keep the conversation going back and forth.

• Do you like to travel?
• What is your favorite place you have traveled to?
• Do you like to travel alone or with people?
• When was your last trip?
• Do you like to fly on airplanes?
• Is it expensive to travel around your country?
• Do you like to achieve something when you travel or just relax?
• How do you decide where to go when you travel? Do you plan in advance?
• What do you remember about your best travel experience?
• When will you go on your next trip?

Hiking, by Maxmann

Homework survey

Directions: Ask five Americans or good speakers of English about their travel experiences. Listen and write their answers below.

• Where is your favorite place to travel?
• How often do you travel?
• How many countries have you travelled to?
• Where should I travel in the U.S.?
• Where should I travel in the U.S.

Chapter 3 R eview

• In this chapter, you learned about:
• How to make WH and Yes/No questions in English
• How intonation sounds in questions and statements in English
• Useful phrases for continuing conversations

Extra Listening Practice

• Keren compares ways to travel, such as travelling alone or with a friend.
• Greg gives travel tips on how not to get lost in a new location.
• David talks about the many places he has visited around the world.

Communication Beginnings Copyright © 2018 by Della Jean Abrahams is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Did You Arrive Safe or Did You Arrive Safely: Which Is Correct?

By: Author Dr. Patrick Capriola

Posted on Published: September 19, 2022

When people we know travel, it’s not uncommon for us to reach out to see how their journey was and whether they arrived safely. We have many ways to ask this question, but which method is best?

Only “did you arrive safely?” is correct. “Did you arrive safe?” is incorrect grammar in all contexts. “Safely” describes the verb “arrive,” making it an adverb. On the other hand, the word “safe” is an adjective.

While “Did you arrive safe?” may be acceptable in casual conversation, it’s probably better to stick to “Did you arrive safely?” in more formal chats. To know more about this question (and potential synonyms), keep reading.

What Does “Did You Arrive Safely” Mean?

“Did you arrive safely?” is a polite question you ask someone after they have completed a journey. It’s a way to check in and see how the trip was and whether the person you’re speaking to has reached their destination.

This question consists of four words, and each word is essential to conveying the question.

The Verb “Did”

“Did” is an auxiliary verb and the past tense form of the verb “do” ( source ). We often use “did” and its negative form “didn’t” to ask questions. Questions that use any form of “do” are usually yes-no questions.

A yes-no question is a close-ended question with only two available answers: yes or no. Here are some examples of yes-no questions that use the word “did”:

• Did you have breakfast?
• Didn’t you enjoy the show?

However, not every question using “did” is a yes-no question. The questions below require longer or, at times, more diverse answers:

• Where did you two meet?
• Why didn’t you come over?

One thing you’ll notice, though, is no matter what sort of question “did” is in, “did” always refers back to an event in the past. This is because “did” is the past tense form of “do.” “Did you arrive safely?” is another example of a yes-no question. This is because you either arrived safely or you didn’t. Every answer will be affirmative or negative. However, some people might choose to elaborate further:

• Did you arrive safely?
• Basic answer: Yes.
• Complex answer: Yes, but they lost our bags at Heathrow.

The Pronoun “You”

The second word in the question is the noun “you.” In the question, “you” refers to the person (or group) the speaker is questioning. “You” can function as either a singular or a plural pronoun.

In questions, “you” always references who you’re speaking to ( source ). Mainly, it’s a singular person, such as in the examples below:

• Did you do your homework?
• Have you met Ted?

However, at certain times “you” can be plural:

• “Do you [all] understand?” the teacher questioned the class.
• Where are you going on vacation?

In the first example, we know “you” is plural because it’s followed by “all.” You’ll often find “you” is followed by another word when it’s plural, such as “guys” or “lot.” This makes it clear that you aren’t referring to a single person.

The second example is more complicated. Whether “you” is singular or plural depends on who you’re speaking to and is technically multi-use. For example, if you’re talking to a single person traveling alone, “you” would be singular.

However, if the person you’re speaking to is traveling with family or friends, “you” is plural.

In the question “Did you arrive safe?” “you” is likely singular. However, you can use it as a plural pronoun if you’re speaking to multiple people or a single person going on a vacation with others (such as family members or friends).

The Verb “Arrive”

“Arrive” is a verb. When you “arrive” somewhere, you have reached a specific location or idea. Like most verbs, “arrive” has multiple forms based on the tense of the sentence, such as arrived and arriving.

• The traffic on Main Street made me arrive ten minutes late. (literal location)
• Misunderstanding BODMAS rules, Li arrived at an incorrect answer. (abstract idea)

In “Did you arrive safely?” “Arrive” refers to a literal location where the person you’re speaking to has traveled. 

Adjectives and Adverbs

To understand the difference between “safely” and “safe,” we need to understand the difference between adverbs and adjectives. Adjectives modify nouns and pronouns, but adverbs modify verbs, other adverbs, and adjectives ( source ).

To know more about adverbs and adjectives, look over the article “ Doing Well or Doing Good: Can Both Be Correct ?” It looks at “good” and “well,” two other adverbs and adjectives that can often confuse writers.

The Adverb “Safely” vs. The Adjective “Safe”

The last word, “safe” or “safely,” is usually where all the confusion comes up. This is because these words aren’t the same. “Safe” (at least in this case) is an adjective that refers to the state of being unharmed. “Safely,” on the other hand, is an adverb that means to do something “in a safe way.”

When you use “safely,” it should generally have a verb to describe. However, adverbs also describe other parts of speech, such as other adverbs, adjectives, clauses, and at times, entire sentences.

• The ring was now tucked away safely under her bed.
• She fell safely onto the mattress with a light thud.

In “Did you arrive safely?” the adverb safely describes the verb “arrive.” As mentioned previously, “arrive” means you reached a specific location. So the speaker is asking if you’ve gotten to your destination unharmed.

“Safely” is the better form because it’s grammatically correct and makes sense whether you’re using it formally or informally.   “Safe,” on the other hand, has two forms: one as a noun and another as an adjective. However, only the adjectival form is relevant to this question. This is because the noun “safe” refers to a lockable container where people store their valuables.

• She locked her grandmother’s ring in the safe .
• The bank safe sat under heavy protection.

On the other hand, the adjective “safe”  describes a noun that is either unharmed or has no risk of being harmed. “Safe” can also mean guaranteed.

• I feel safe taking public transport in Tokyo.
• James found a safe place to relax.
• Man City was safe from relegation.

The issue with “did you arrive safe?” is that the adjective “safe” seems to modify the verb “arrive,” which isn’t grammatically possible or correct. 

Did You Get Home Safe or Safely?

It is normal for people to ask if you made it home safely after spending some time with you. However, the same grammar rules still apply. “Get” is a verb, like “arrived,” so you need the adverb “safely” to describe or modify it.

However, understand that these are still formal grammar rules. Informally, you can say, “Did you get home safe?” and everyone will understand. So using it won’t lead to any misunderstandings.

Is “Did You Arrive Safely” a Full Sentence?

“Did you arrive safely?” is a full sentence. In short, all a complete sentence needs is a subject, a predicate, and a complete idea. In this sentence, “You” is the subject, “arrive” is the predicate, and the complete idea is that you’re questioning how someone’s journey went.

However, just because it’s a complete sentence doesn’t mean you can’t add to it. For example, sometimes, you may want to clarify who “you” is and refer to them in your question.

• Alex , did you arrive safely?
• Did you arrive safely, Miss Jenn ?

Or, if someone was not traveling alone, you may wish to add to “you” so you can refer to all the travelers rather than just the one you’re speaking to.

• Did you and your family arrive safely?
• Did you guys arrive safely?

If you just want to keep it short, there’s nothing wrong with just saying:

How Do You Use “Did You Arrive Safely?”

You can use “Did you arrive safely?” to enquire after someone once they have left your presence to reach another destination. This common expression is a way to show affection and care for another human being.

However, it does not only apply to a situation where someone is leaving your presence. It can apply to any movement where you check in on the traveler to see that they have arrived at where they are going without any issues.

You can use this polite expression to obtain information about someone without requiring a lengthy response, as the context requires a simple yes-no answer.

When Can You Use “Did You Arrive Safely?” 

“Did you arrive safely?” is an interrogative sentence meant to obtain information about a person’s travels and arrival at a venue. It is a standalone question you can ask at any point in a conversation.

Typically, one would ask this question about the time when the traveler should reach their destination. For example, waiting an hour or so after the planned arrival is polite to give the traveler time to settle their bags.

In What Context Can You Use “Did You Arrive Safe?” 

Look at a familiar “Did you arrive safe?” This sentence isn’t grammatically correct, but it’s easy to understand within a casual conversation. Nothing is stopping you from using it informally.

You may have met some people who are sticklers for grammar rules. For example, they argue the semantics over whether to use “can” or “may” in a question. While this passion for correct grammar is admirable, it can be annoying.

English is a language that constantly adapts as people use it. As a result, many forms of “incorrect” colloquial English have become commonplace and are easy to understand.

So, don’t worry about being overly rigid in casual conversation. We should probably avoid sounding like Urban dictionary as it will likely confuse those we are talking to, but using a phrase like “Did you arrive safe?” is harmless in the bigger picture.

Using “Did You Arrive Safely” in a Full Sentence

“Did you arrive safely?” is a complete sentence, so the easiest way to use it is on its own. However, you can add more details if you want to make a more complex sentence, such as in the below examples:

• James, did you arrive safely?
• Did you arrive home safely?

When Not to Use “Did You Arrive Safely”

You can use “Did you arrive safely?” anytime you are inquiring about someone’s travel. However, you should not use it when the traveler has not yet reached their destination or when their plans to travel were dropped at the last second.

“Did you arrive safely?” is built to ask about a past arrival. Therefore, asking it while the traveler is in transit could be annoying or impatient.

If the traveler’s plans were interrupted or stopped entirely, asking, “Did you arrive safely?” could sound sarcastic, rude, or mocking. Therefore, allowing a few hours after someone’s planned arrival time is best to let the traveler settle.

If their plans were canceled or interrupted, you would likely hear about it before commenting.

What Can You Use Instead of “Did You Arrive Safely?”

“Did you arrive safely?” is a polite expression to convey affection and care for another person. A direct translation would be, “Did you reach your destination without harm?” However, the latter question is quite formal.

Here are some valuable substitutes:

• Did you reach (location) unharmed?
• Have you reached (place) alright?
• Did you have a safe journey?
• How was your trip?

While finding a direct translation of the phrase is difficult, you can use “ Please let me know when you make it home/to your destination ” or a more informal “ Did you make it to your destination in one piece? ”

Common synonyms for “arrive” are words like “get there,” “get here,” “get to,” or “reach.” Synonyms for “safely” include “securely,” “without risk,” “harmlessly,” and “without mishap.” 

Therefore, you can use them interchangeably in a sentence, but the effect may not be the same.

• Did you get there harmlessly?
• Did you reach home securely?
• Did you get to the destination without a mishap?

There are other reasons you may want to use a different sentence. For example, as mentioned, you use “Did you arrive safely?” after a journey to check in on the traveler. Because of that, it’s in the past tense. However, you may sometimes tell someone that you hope they had a safe journey without enquiring specifically. You do this by making a statement rather than asking a question:

• I hope you arrived safely.
• I hope you had a safe trip.

These statements invite open communication with the traveler but do not require details if the traveler does not wish to elaborate.

At times, you may want to change the tense. For example, you might message someone before or during their journey, in which case the past tense is irrelevant.

Present tense:

• I hope you have a safe trip.
• I hope you’ll arrive safely.

Future tense*:

This article was written for strategiesforparents.com .

“I hope you’ll arrive safely” is a subjunctive mood sentence. The present tense is the hope for a future result. The future result presently hoped for is a safe arrival.

Final Thoughts

It’s not uncommon to check in with traveling friends or family to find out if they reached their destination safely. “Did you arrive safely?” is the most compact and grammatically correct way to ask about a traveler’s arrival.

However, you can also use its informal counterpart, “Did you arrive safe?” as long as you’re in a casual conversation where grammatical correctness is not a priority.

‘Did you know a lot of flight attendants play a game?’: Flight attendant reveals why they say ‘See you later’ as you deplane

A flight attendant and TikTok user reveals that flight attendants play a “see you later” game with certain passengers as they deplane.

TikTok user Garret Clanton (@gowithgarret) posts about travel and lifestyle. In a recent video, he asks, “Did you know that a lot of flight attendants play a game called, ‘see you later?’” According to Clanton, the game is geared toward the people a flight attendant finds attractive and typically occurs when everyone deplanes and walks out.

Apparently, if a flight attendant says, “See you later,” to a passenger, it’s code for wanting to sleep with them. "So, next time you getting off the plane and if that flight attendant says, ‘see you later,’ I think twice on what that really means,” he concludes.

The video garnered more than 52,000 views within 24 hours. The information surprised both fellow passengers and flight attendants.

“I said, ‘see you later too,’ so many times lol I didn’t know,” one viewer wrote.

“Me, a flight attendant, having no idea this was a thing. Imma just keep saying HAGD & looking for a break in deplaning so I can get my bags down,” a second stated.

In addition, other passengers shared their stories of flight attendants flirting with them.

“Wait is this true? Bc a flight attendant said this to me and also told me how beautiful I am TWICE during the flight lol he was pretty cute too!!” one user shared.

“I’ve had a FA secretly leave a cookie on my tray table right before landing. She did a super fast assassins style drive by at my seat,” a second commented.

Furthermore, this isn’t the only game flight attendants play. “We have a little game called ‘find the Bob’ and basically Bob stands for best on board. So, you just find the best-looking person on the plane and you call them Bob the whole day,” an anonymous flight attendant told the Sun . "There's the cheerio game you can play when passengers disembark. When you're standing there going 'buh-bye, thank you, take care' etc when you see someone you fancy, you say 'cheerio.'"

The Daily Dot reached out to Clanton via Instagram DM and TikTok comment for more information.

Sign up to receive the Daily Dot’s Internet Insider newsletter for urgent news from the frontline of online.

The post ‘Did you know a lot of flight attendants play a game?’: Flight attendant reveals why they say ‘See you later’ as you deplane appeared first on The Daily Dot .

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"I Had 10 Minutes Until My Flight, Only To Discover..." 19 Unfortunate And Avoidable Travel Mishaps That Actually Happened To People

"It was one of the first purchases I made on Priceline back when you’d buy the airfare online, and they’d send paper tickets in the mail..."

BuzzFeed Staff

1. Travel is many things — eye-opening, magical, exhilarating, and, at times, stressful. For example, there's nothing quite like the anxiety-inducing feeling of racing through security just as your flight gate is about to close. Well, Redditor u/yankeevandal asked , "Everyone has a travel blunder; what's yours?" Here are the stories people shared.

2. "put my keys back through the airbnb letterbox, as requested. a few minutes later i realized i needed the keys to access the garage where my rental car was parked. it took an hour and a half for someone to come and let me in. i got to the airport just in time to see my plane take off.".

— u/RedundantSwine

3. "My dad once made reservations for a very nice hotel in Spain in a central location. He couldn't believe how cheap the rooms were and what a good deal it was. He and my mother went to check in, and the hotel said they didn't have any record of the booking. My dad pulled up the confirmation email to show them and realized he had somehow booked a hotel with the exact same name...but in Chile."

— u/gentlybeepingheart

4. "When I was in my early 20s, I went to a nightclub in Istanbul with my girlfriend. Throughout the night, I stupidly ordered several of these half-bottles of champagne that were on the menu with no price listed. Of course, when the bill came, it turned out they had brought me the most expensive bottles, and I could not afford to pay for them. After a long standoff, the club eventually believed I couldn't afford my tab or just gave up and settled the bill for some reasonable amount that I had on me. Obviously, they were trying to take advantage of me, but it was also very stupid that I didn't ask for the price upfront."

— u/Orange_Kid

5. "The plane I was on hit turbulence, and I dislocated both hip replacements. I had to lay in the center aisle for 45 minutes while passing out in pain until we could make an emergency landing."

— u/JonnyP3283

6. "I needed to take a train to the airport in Rome to catch my flight home. So I got on the track where the train to Roma Fiumicino was announced. The train was fast, but it took way longer than I thought it should, and I started to worry a bit about being late for my flight. Then we arrived at the next train station....which was Florence! Somehow I had taken the wrong train (for which I did not have a ticket), and I also missed my flight. I explained the situation to the conductor, who kindly let me stay on until the next stop, Milan, without paying for a new ticket. By the time we reached Milan I had already booked a hotel room and a new flight home the next day. I had never been to Milan, and I had a good time there, so in the end, it worked out."

— u/sumpuran

7. "I made hotel reservations for the wrong weekend. I had to find a new hotel 30 minutes away. The original reservation was for a hotel where I could walk out of my room and directly onto the beach."

— u/mook1178

8. "Booked a train ticket from Rome to Venice and drank way too much the night before. I rolled into the train station with about 10 minutes to spare — only to find out that it was daylight savings time, and I was actually 50 minutes late."

— u/Snazzypants11

9. "I missed my flight home from Ghana to California on a layover in Rome. I told everyone I fell asleep and missed the flight, but in reality, I was sitting at the wrong gate reading a book and didn’t hear my name being called (apparently, the airline was calling my name forever and then left me behind). In my defense, it was a really good book, and I was exhausted from a long travel day."

— u/zeebette

10. "I booked a holiday to Ibiza from the UK while out at a rave. The next day, I discovered that instead of flying from Southampton to Ibiza, I was actually flying Southampton to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Madrid, and Madrid to Ibiza. What should have been a two-hour flight took most of the day. Whoops."

— u/Ok-Topic-6971

11. "I once read the flight arrival time as the departure time. My girlfriend had to be home for a class by the next morning, so the only option was to make the six-hour drive. She wasn’t stoked with me."

— u/twankyfive

12. "I booked a flight to Manchester, NH, when I was supposed to go to Manchester, UK. I was proud of myself at first for finding a great deal. In my defense, this was years ago, in the early days of the internet. It was one of the first purchases I made on Priceline when you’d buy the airfare online, and they’d send paper tickets in the mail."

— u/HeatherAnne1975

13. "In Portuguese, gasolina means gas, and gasoleo means diesel. Despite the confusingly similar names, these two things are still not interchangeable. I learned this the hard way."

— u/c322617

14. "I missed a flight because I was eating a Big Mac. And my buddy just got on the plane without me."

— u/Gigahurt77

15. "I mixed up AM and PM for my flight time and showed up at the airport 12 hours late. Had to book a new one."

— u/dude341387

16. "I booked a flight to Santiago, Spain. Months later, when checking into my flight, I realized I had booked for Santiago, Chile. I repacked my bag and went to Chile six hours later with zero itinerary or reservations. I ended up in Patagonia and had an awesome trip."

— u/AccidentalTourista

17. "My husband passed a kidney stone on the first night of our honeymoon."

— u/TinyBunny88

18. "Turns out SJC is NOT the airport code for San Jose, Costa Rica. Rather, it's San Jose, California. I figured this one out too late."

— u/Frodosear

19. "A hotel I was staying at gave me the key to someone else's room. When I opened the door, there was some random guy lying on the bed without a shirt on. We both sort of jumped. I slammed the door shut and walked away. I got a free (and vacant) room after that incident."

— u/DJAlaskaAndrew

20. "I traveled for over ten hours for a sold-out festival in Vegas. All major hotels were sold out because of it, and I realized I booked the hotel for 2024 instead of 2023."

— u/smolperson

So, what's a travel mishap you'll never forget and never live down? Tell us your story in the comments or drop it into the Google form.

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Biden-Harris Administration Announces Final Rule Requiring Automatic Refunds of Airline Tickets and Ancillary Service Fees

Rule makes it easy to get money back for cancelled or significantly changed flights, significantly delayed checked bags, and additional services not provided  

WASHINGTON – The Biden-Harris Administration today announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has issued a final rule that requires airlines to promptly provide passengers with automatic cash refunds when owed. The new rule makes it easy for passengers to obtain refunds when airlines cancel or significantly change their flights, significantly delay their checked bags, or fail to provide the extra services they purchased.

“Passengers deserve to get their money back when an airline owes them - without headaches or haggling,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg . “Our new rule sets a new standard to require airlines to promptly provide cash refunds to their passengers.”  

The final rule creates certainty for consumers by defining the specific circumstances in which airlines must provide refunds. Prior to this rule, airlines were permitted to set their own standards for what kind of flight changes warranted a refund. As a result, refund policies differed from airline to airline, which made it difficult for passengers to know or assert their refund rights. DOT also received complaints of some airlines revising and applying less consumer-friendly refund policies during spikes in flight cancellations and changes. 

Under the rule, passengers are entitled to a refund for:

• Canceled or significantly changed flights: Passengers will be entitled to a refund if their flight is canceled or significantly changed, and they do not accept alternative transportation or travel credits offered. For the first time, the rule defines “significant change.” Significant changes to a flight include departure or arrival times that are more than 3 hours domestically and 6 hours internationally; departures or arrivals from a different airport; increases in the number of connections; instances where passengers are downgraded to a lower class of service; or connections at different airports or flights on different planes that are less accessible or accommodating to a person with a disability.  
• Significantly delayed baggage return: Passengers who file a mishandled baggage report will be entitled to a refund of their checked bag fee if it is not delivered within 12 hours of their domestic flight arriving at the gate, or 15-30 hours of their international flight arriving at the gate, depending on the length of the flight.  
• Extra services not provided: Passengers will be entitled to a refund for the fee they paid for an extra service — such as Wi-Fi, seat selection, or inflight entertainment — if an airline fails to provide this service.

DOT’s final rule also makes it simple and straightforward for passengers to receive the money they are owed. Without this rule, consumers have to navigate a patchwork of cumbersome processes to request and receive a refund — searching through airline websites to figure out how make the request, filling out extra “digital paperwork,” or at times waiting for hours on the phone. In addition, passengers would receive a travel credit or voucher by default from some airlines instead of getting their money back, so they could not use their refund to rebook on another airline when their flight was changed or cancelled without navigating a cumbersome request process.  

The final rule improves the passenger experience by requiring refunds to be:

• Automatic: Airlines must automatically issue refunds without passengers having to explicitly request them or jump through hoops.   
• Prompt: Airlines and ticket agents must issue refunds within seven business days of refunds becoming due for credit card purchases and 20 calendar days for other payment methods.  
• Cash or original form of payment: Airlines and ticket agents must provide refunds in cash or whatever original payment method the individual used to make the purchase, such as credit card or airline miles. Airlines may not substitute vouchers, travel credits, or other forms of compensation unless the passenger affirmatively chooses to accept alternative compensation.    
• Full amount: Airlines and ticket agents must provide full refunds of the ticket purchase price, minus the value of any portion of transportation already used. The refunds must include all government-imposed taxes and fees and airline-imposed fees, regardless of whether the taxes or fees are refundable to airlines.

The final rule also requires airlines to provide prompt notifications to consumers affected by a cancelled or significantly changed flight of their right to a refund of the ticket and extra service fees, as well as any related policies.

In addition, in instances where consumers are restricted by a government or advised by a medical professional not to travel to, from, or within the United States due to a serious communicable disease, the final rule requires that airlines must provide travel credits or vouchers. Consumers may be required to provide documentary evidence to support their request. Travel vouchers or credits provided by airlines must be transferrable and valid for at least five years from the date of issuance.

The Department received a significant number of complaints against airlines and ticket agents for refusing to provide a refund or for delaying processing of refunds during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. At the height of the pandemic in 2020, refund complaints peaked at 87 percent of all air travel service complaints received by DOT. Refund problems continue to make up a substantial share of the complaints that DOT receives.

DOT’s Historic Record of Consumer Protection Under the Biden-Harris Administration

Under the Biden-Harris Administration and Secretary Buttigieg, DOT has advanced the largest expansion of airline passenger rights, issued the biggest fines against airlines for failing consumers, and returned more money to passengers in refunds and reimbursements than ever before in the Department’s history.

• Thanks to pressure from Secretary Buttigieg and DOT’s flightrights.gov dashboard, all 10 major U.S. airlines guarantee free rebooking and meals, and nine guarantee hotel accommodations when an airline issue causes a significant delay or cancellation. These are new commitments the airlines added to their customer service plans that DOT can legally ensure they adhere to and are displayed on flightrights.gov .  
• Since President Biden took office, DOT has helped return more than $3 billion in refunds and reimbursements owed to airline passengers – including over $600 million to passengers affected by the Southwest Airlines holiday meltdown in 2022.   
• Under Secretary Buttigieg, DOT has issued over $164 million in penalties against airlines for consumer protection violations. Between 1996 and 2020, DOT collectively issued less than $71 million in penalties against airlines for consumer protection violations.  
• DOT recently launched a new partnership with a bipartisan group of state attorneys general to fast-track the review of consumer complaints, hold airlines accountable, and protect the rights of the traveling public.  
• In 2023, the flight cancellation rate in the U.S. was a record low at under 1.2% — the lowest rate of flight cancellations in over 10 years despite a record amount of air travel.  
• DOT is undertaking its first ever industry-wide review of airline privacy practices and its first review of airline loyalty programs.

In addition to finalizing the rules to require automatic refunds and protect against surprise fees, DOT is also pursuing rulemakings that would:

• Propose to ban family seating junk fees and guarantee that parents can sit with their children for no extra charge when they fly. Before President Biden and Secretary Buttigieg pressed airlines last year, no airline committed to guaranteeing fee-free family seating. Now, four airlines guarantee fee-free family seating, and the Department is working on its family seating junk fee ban proposal.  
• Propose to make passenger compensation and amenities mandatory so that travelers are taken care of when airlines cause flight delays or cancellations.   
• Expand the rights for passengers who use wheelchairs and ensure that they can travel safely and with dignity . The comment period on this proposed rule closes on May 13, 2024.

The final rule on refunds can be found at https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/latest-news and at regulations.gov , docket number DOT-OST-2022-0089. There are different implementation periods in this final rule ranging from six months for airlines to provide automatic refunds when owed to 12 months for airlines to provide transferable travel vouchers or credits when consumers are unable to travel for reasons related to a serious communicable disease. 

Information about airline passenger rights, as well as DOT’s rules, guidance and orders, can be found at   https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer .

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When does old age begin? Science says later than you might think

Today's 60 year olds don't feel as old as a generation ago. New data suggests old age is more of a social construct than an objective biological reality.

Trying to stay forever young? It’s a popular goal: The anti-aging market, valued at $40 billion, is estimated to hit $60 billion by 2032 . To stave off old age, people slather on wrinkle cream, pop supplements, and lift weights, among other interventions.

Though aging is often portrayed as a problem to fix, it’s more modifiable than you might think. According to the latest science , there’s no clear biological tipping point marking the transition from midlife to late life, says Eric Verdin , president and CEO of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in California.

“There's an incredible amount of variability between different people,” says Verdin, who favors using someone’s biological age—which is how old your cells and tissues are—rather than their chronological age, which is the number of years you've been alive. (Read how inflammation impacts aging.)

That belief has started to upend the status quo: A recent study published in the journal Psychology and Aging shows that the age at which someone is considered old is shifting up.

Middle-aged and older adults nowadays feel younger than similar aged people did 10 to 20 years ago, according to the study led by Markus Wettstein , a researcher at Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany.

People are living longer , which partially explains this trend. But the findings may also reflect bleak views toward aging, particularly in the Western Hemisphere.

For Hungry Minds

“People postpone old age as they do not want to enter this rather undesirable life phase,” Wettstein and his colleagues said in an email to National Geographic.

The history of old age

For much of human history, a person’s ability to complete tasks or contribute to their family and community shaped the perception of old age.

Throughout the Western Hemisphere in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, retirement marked when the focus shifted to an individual's chronological age, not their abilities.

The average American retires at 62, which is around the time most officials and governments consider a person old. The range of 60 to 65 has remained relatively consistent over time , even as lifespans extended and humans experienced major social and economic changes.

Across the board, aging is the strongest risk factor for most non-communicable diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s. Most people will spend a significant fraction of their lives affected by conditions like these. By some estimates, nearly 95 percent of U.S. adults over 60 have at least one chronic condition, while nearly 80 percent have two or more. (Read how to take care of your brain as you age.)

Yet chronological age may not be a good indicator for defining old age, the new study says. Rather, individuals might enter old age at different times, according to their own perceptions.

And it’s true that no one wants to be old, especially as aging stereotypes have become more negative over the last 200 years—fueling what some call a worldwide crisis of ageism . Ageism, which can be as subtle as hiring a more youthful candidate or as blatant as disrespect, leads to social isolation, poor health, and even earlier death, according to the World Health Organization.

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Becca Levy , a professor of epidemiology and psychology at Yale who was not involved in the new study, has spent much of her career untangling the downstream effects of age beliefs, which she detailed in her book,   Breaking the Age Code .

“More negative age beliefs can lead to worse physical, mental, and cognitive health,” Levy says, whereas positive ones precipitate better health. One of Levy’s analyses estimates that a one-year cost of ageism in the United States totals $63 billion.

“Aging is colored by culture,” Verdin says. “In the Western world, youth is valued, but in Eastern cultures such as China and Korea, aging is associated with wisdom and is considered a virtue.”

When does old age begin?

Over the last century, scientific interest in aging has surged. Investors and government funders have poured billions into longevity research, leading to new insights into the aging process.  

Cells can now be reprogrammed to restore youthful function. New drugs can eliminate senescent cells that drive inflammation. Dietary interventions such as intermittent fasting and caloric restriction have shown potential to extend life.

Despite this progress, scientists still quibble over what aging is and when it starts.

For one, there’s not a definitive way to measure it. Our bodies may age faster or slower depending on what has happened during our lives. Some major events, such as stressors or chronic illnesses, can make us age “faster,” thereby accelerating our biological age.

While certain physiological phenomena, like puberty and menopause, mark milestones along life’s path, old age isn’t defined by universal markers. Aging is a multifactorial process characterized by the accumulation of damage and degeneration across physiological pathways. This cascading deterioration eventually disrupts normal cell and tissue function.

In the last 30 years, scientists have searched for distinct metrics that accurately represent a person’s biological age. Certain factors like physical capability, lipid profiles, and DNA damage have been flagged as potential biomarkers. But currently, there is still no gold standard tool to assess healthy aging. (Learn how one pregnancy can add to a person's biological age.)

“Aging is not something that happens abruptly,” Verdin says. “It's a continuum, which makes it difficult to define.”

Investigating superagers

Still, everyone ages differently, and some live long and thrive. These so-called “ superagers ,” who remain relatively youthful and healthy long after age 70, have fascinated scientists.

By studying them, Verdin and other aging researchers hope to increase non-superagers’ healthspan, or the amount of time they live without chronic disease.

By 2050, 1 in 3 people in the world will be 60 years or older , a demographic shift that makes this research more pressing than ever.

“I hope our work will allow us to give people extra years of healthy life,” Verdin says, “and therefore change public perceptions and make people feel less negative about their own aging."

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Suzanne Morphew, mother who went missing on bike ride, died by homicide: Autopsy

Husband Barry Morphew was charged in her death, but those were later dropped.

Suzanne Morphew, the Colorado mom who went missing on a bike ride in May 2020, died by homicide, according to an autopsy released Monday, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation said in a statement.

Her death was determined to have been caused by "Homicide by undetermined means in the setting of butorphanol, azaperone, and medetomidine intoxication," according to the autopsy.

"These drugs are marketed as a compounded injectable chemical immobilizer for wildlife," according to the autopsy from the El Paso County coroner.

MORE: Remains of Suzanne Morphew found 3 years after her disappearance

There was no indication of trauma to her body at the time of her death, according to the report.

Barry Morphew, Suzanne's husband, was charged with her murder in 2021, but those charged were dropped in April 2022 just before a trial was supposed to begin. No one has been arrested in the case since.

"The Colorado Bureau of Investigation and our law enforcement partners understand and appreciate the public interest surrounding this case," CBI Director Chris Schaefer said in a statement Monday. "The investigative team assembled to work this case continues to follow the evidence and only the evidence as we seek justice for Suzanne's death."

Her body was found in September 2023 while investigators were searching in an unrelated case. Her remains were found in Moffat, Colorado, in Saguache County, about 90 minutes south of where she lived in Chaffee County.

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"For the past four years the Morphews have agonized over Suzanne’s disappearance," the Morphew family said in a statement from their lawyer. "This included not only the pain of the loss of their wife and mother but also the false accusations and prosecution of Barry Morphew. The Morphews have prayed the authorities would remove their blinders and not only find Suzanne, but find the suspect responsible for her disappearance and murder. However, the Morphews are left with more questions than answers and a lack of justice for Suzanne, the family and the community."

In addition to her clothes, the autopsy notes a "weathered bullet" was found with her remains.

MORE: Suzanne Morphew's husband and daughters speak out for 1st time since filing lawsuit

Barry, and the couple's adult daughters Macy and Mallory, also accused investigators of not telling them whether they tested the bullet or the clothing for any DNA evidence.

Barry and his daughters spoke to ABC News in May 2023 after they filed a lawsuit against prosecutors saying he was wrongfully charged.

"They've got tunnel vision and they looked at one person and they've got too much pride to say they're wrong and look somewhere else," Morphew said at the time. "I don't have anything to worry about. I've done nothing wrong."

ABC News' Jenn Leong, Jenna Harrison, Meredith Deliso, Morgan Winsor and Erielle Reshef contributed to this report.

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Five tips and tools to improve your 2024 minnesota fishing opener.

Everyone has fishing tips. The source and timing can add to their currency. Here are a few to consider a week out from another Minnesota outdoors holiday — the fishing opener May 11.

Lean on the wisdom of a Hall of Famer

Ray Gildow, a longtime professional guide in the Nisswa Guides League and member of the Minnesota Fishing Hall of Fame, is monitoring water temperatures. His observation is that they are unusually low given the weeks of mild weather, but he expects them to climb leading up May 11. "Spawning will be done for the opener," he added.

Here are Gildow's three tips for the opener:

1. Avoid water where there are zebra mussel infestations (check Minnesota's list at bit.ly/MNinfested ). Anglers will spook fish in clear water. Better, he said, to find where the fish are and back away. Then, whether using jigs and minnows or artificial bait, cast away from the boat.

2. Don't be afraid to go shallow for the first two or three weeks. Gildow recalled a recent season on Cut Foot Sioux Lake, connected to Lake Winnibigoshish. He and a lot of other anglers with the same idea were casting into 2 to 3 feet of water and hitting walleyes.

3. Start with live bait if possible. Still, Gildow is keen on artificials. "Plastics are becoming very important," he said, adding that they become more lifelike every year in look and water patterns.

Fish without a license in state parks

Minnesotans can fish from shore or a boat without a state license in state parks. (State recreation areas, however, don't qualify.) The exception is if the waters require a trout stamp, in which case a license is required regardless of what's targeted by hook and line. Easy to overlook: Parks require the purchase of an annual or daily permit to enter. Accomplish that at the entrance or better yet, do it ahead of time. You'll need a Yodel account to snag a $7 daily permit. For $35 annual permits, visit the state parks reservation platform. Get started on either at bit.ly/MNpermits.

Talk record whoppers on the water

This might come in handy: did you know Minnesota lacks certified records for several species, including bluegill, northern pike and walleye? Before 1980, there weren't certified weight rules for submissions, so the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the record-keepers, are looking to update several species. The noncertified records for the fish species above:

• Bluegill: 2 pounds, 13 ounces; length/girth unknown; Alice Lake, Hubbard County; 1948

• Northern pike: 45 pounds, 12 ounces; length/girth unknown; Basswood Lake, Lake County; 1929

• Walleye: 17 pounds, 8 ounces; 35¾ inches, 21¼ inches; Seagull River at Saganaga Lake, Cook County; 1979. (Make sure to read columnist Dennis Anderson's anniversary column on LeRoy Chiovitte's record walleye at bit.ly/chiovitte.)

Additionally, interest in catch-and-release prompted the state to add 18 species for eligibility this year. The DNR also hopes to draw more attention to native rough fish. Blue sucker, bigmouth buffalo, channel catfish and freshwater drum are among the additions.

Find a lake and its details on mobile

There is a lot of tech gadgetry out there, and the DNR's LakeFinder app is worth a bookmark. (It's not in an app store.) Lakes are searchable by name, map and the user's location. While some data might be dated, learn a lake's species, size and depth, and water access directions. Additionally, the DNR just updated its regional fishing outlooks online. See them at bit.ly/24regions .

See your fish story on StarTribune.com

Contribute to the Star Tribune's fishing opener coverage. Here is how, from May 11 and through the weekend:

Social media: Post what you are observing or catching with #stribfishing on X (formerly Twitter) or Instagram.

Email: Send a fish photo and brief tale (angler's name and city, where and how the fish was caught) to [email protected] .

Online gallery and submission form: Submit your trophy shots and stories (and see past trophies) at bit.ly/stribfish24 . We update Trophy Tales, a gallery of anglers' photos and stories, weekly through the summer on StarTribune.com/outdoors .

Bob Timmons covers news across Minnesota's outdoors, from natural resources to recreation to wildlife.

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Spot stripes? What we know about WA’s missing zebra

“Z” the zebra is still zooming through the wild, and a zillion zealous searches have returned zilch.

The fourth zebra remains on the loose after escaping a trailer Sunday on Interstate 90, when her owner stopped on the side of the road to secure the trailer in North Bend. The three other zebras were returned to their trailer. Owner Kristine Keltgen recently bought the zebras and was transporting them from Lewis County to Montana, where she runs a 7-acre petting zoo.

The elusive zebra has spurred a small manhunt (or rather, zebrahunt), a Disney-style narrative among North Bend residents and even the creation of his own song. Here’s what we know about Z, the missing zebra that’s taken Western Washington by storm.

How did a zebra go missing?

The zebra escaped her trailer with three of her kin — two mares (adult females) and a filly (a young female) — when Keltgen, who had been on the road for about two hours, noticed one of the trailer’s floor mats flapping and dragging as she drove east on I-90. She pulled over near Exit 32, but when she opened the door to adjust the mat the four zebras ran out.

“The first thing I thought was, ‘Keep them away from the interstate,’” Keltgen said. “Then my next thought was, ‘I need help.’”

Several people stopped to corral the animals, including a rodeo bullfighter and horse trainer couple. The owner later managed to get ahold of two mares and the filly and take them to Montana.

The third mare, Z, was seen by a nearby couple in North Bend when she leapt over a fence and ran into the woods on Sunday. The owner originally reported Z was a stallion, but later photographs confirmed she is a female, the Regional Animal Services of King County said Thursday.

Where is the zebra?

There have been several confirmed and unconfirmed sightings of the zebra, according to officials. Z is believed to still be in the same general area of King County where she escaped Sunday.

The last confirmed sighting was early Wednesday along the Snoqualmie Valley Trail, RASKC spokesperson Cameron Satterfield said Wednesday.

How do you search for a zebra?

Animal control officers are patrolling the area where the zebra was spotted, but they’re relying on residents to let them know if they spot her, Satterfield said.

“It’s not really feasible for us to park somebody out there for hours and hours on end,” Satterfield said. “We’re taking those reports and doing regular patrols through the area … We’re relying on the public’s eyes and ears out there because they can be in more places than we are at once.”

At this time, RASKC doesn’t plan to organize a large, formal search for the zebra. The area is too large and some of the terrain in the foothills of the Cascades poses a danger to humans on foot, according to RASKC. And because mild temperatures are expected in the next few days, the agency isn’t concerned about extreme temperatures affecting the zebra’s health.

In Maryland in 2021 , two escaped zebras avoided capture for nearly four months.

Can I get a pet zebra?

The rules aren’t black and white. But technically, yes!

Washington state does not regulate zebra ownership, said Becky Elder, a spokesperson for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. The animal is not listed under the deleterious exotic wildlife law or wild animal law , which prohibit private ownership of some animals like deer, bobcats or wild goats.

“It’s similar to domesticated horses and donkeys,” Elder said. “Nothing would restrict a person from owning them, per [state law].”

However, there are federal laws and regulations concerning transporting exotic animals into the country and ensuring they are vaccinated, Elder said.

State law does say that escaped wildlife is considered a public nuisance , and the owner could be responsible for costs incurred by the state in recovering the animal or addressing any damage to other wildlife or habitat.

Satterfield said the owner hasn’t been cited at this point, and the agency’s “biggest concern right now” is finding Z and getting her to Montana.

What should someone do if they spot the zebra?

If you see the zebra, call 911 immediately. Do not try to approach the zebra or capture it on your own.

Anyone with photos or video clips of the zebra is asked to send them to [email protected] to inform animal control officers about where the zebra may be.

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The opinions expressed in reader comments are those of the author only and do not reflect the opinions of The Seattle Times.