The best way to travel is to travel slow. You get to truly explore a destination, get to know its people, culture, and history. You can find local haunts and can make real opinions about it. Slow travel is how you can travel, work, and still have more than enough time to explore. It’s great for the environment, it’s great for the economy, and it’s great for you. Slow travel encourages you to enjoy the journey, from start to finish, and can make any vacation a great one.
When slow-travel is combined with a long-term trip, however, you open yourself to change. You welcome your ideology, your perception of the world, and even your own personality to be challenged. Long-term travel can be mentally and physically exhausting, which is why it’s unlike any other vacation you’ve had before. Long-term travel is a feat, which is why you must prepare by:
GET IN SHAPE
Planning on trekking through the jungle in South America? Want to climb that mountain in Nepal or walk up those hundreds of steep steps to that temple in Thailand? Then a little pre-trip physical preparation will make your trip so much better. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to not get into shape before you start your long-term trip. While yes, it isn’t a prerequisite, you will be more active than you have been before. New experiences are mentally exhausting, and if your body can’t keep up, then you can find you crash very easily. While the nature of slow travel does allow you to take a day to yourself, you want to be fit and healthy enough to enjoy the trip for all that it is, rather than how exhausted you are.
Tip: 6 – 8 weeks before your trip, visit your local GP to get any vaccinations or health advice for the country or countries you are visiting.
BE CONFIDENT IN YOUR ABILITIES
Depending on the kind of trip you are going on, you might want to consider enrolling in a few survival classes. These courses can help you prepare to trek a mountain, can teach you how to camp, and so on. For more urban travel being able to communicate even rudimentarily can be a huge help.
BE CONFIDENT IN YOURSELF
It takes a huge amount of confidence to travel within your own country, much less a country where a foreign language is spoken. That is why one of the more underrated steps to preparing for a long-term trip is to become more confident in yourself. Start with facing your harshest critic, and find a solution to things you have long been insecure about. Acne scars can be faded with laser technology, for instance, or if you are insecure in the bedroom, you can visit www.penisenlargementreviews.org and find the best natural therapy option for you. Be happy in your own skin, and you can take on the world.
KNOWING WHAT TO PACK
Long-term travel is inherently different than any other trip you have been on, which is why it’s okay to buy items specifically for it. Thermal base layers, a strong backpack, and even a travel wardrobe of durable clothes are all excellent things to pack on a gap year. The specific items you should bring, of course, will vary depending on your destinations, which is why you should read up on what other travellers recommend and plan accordingly.
Long-term travel is the best way to see the world, because it is only by enjoying the journey that you can not only learn and experience a place, but can change for the better as a person.
