travelling

I guess many things come to mind when you hear the question “what is the hardest thing about travelling?”.  Maybe your first thought is that there’s nothing hard about it.  I guess from a very superficial point of view there is nothing hard about it, and that could be applied to lots of aspects of life.  However, on a deeper level there are a few things that some people really struggle with.

In this blog I want to focus on just one of those things as I believe everyone who has travelled will have experienced it, and everyone who will go travelling will definitely experience it.

So, what is the hardest thing about travelling?

Firstly, I want to make a quick mention on friendships gained during your travels.  A lot of the time, the friendships  you form with the people you meet when travelling are very different to the friendships formed with the people you meet at home.  It’s actually really interesting.  It’s as if there are no barriers.  You seem to connect straight away!

For example when I was travelling through Chile I had met this amazing person named Rodrigo.  After speaking with him for only 1-hour we were about to part ways and he told me that I should stay with him in his apartment in Santiago (the capital of Chile).  I was completely flabbergasted.  After knowing this person for only 1-hour he had invited me to go stay with him in his home.

One-week later and I was welcomed with a bed in his apartment, food in the fridge and a cold beer.  I stayed with Rodrigo for 10 days.  And it was amazing.

This small example happened to me a lot.

What’s so hard about it?

Saying goodbye.

Like Rodrigo and like everyone else I have met on my trips, there always comes a time when you have to part ways and say goodbye.  And for me, this is the hardest thing about travelling.

You honestly realise just how many amazing people there are in this world, and if you’re anything like me, you probably want to bask in their presence as much as you can.

I guess though, throughout the amount of times I’ve had to say goodbye to someone on my trip, it has NEVER gotten any easier.  It’s one of the only things in life that you can’t practice for and it’s one of those things that won’t get any better with the more times you do it.  If anything it becomes harder and harder…

How to make it easier?

As I said, I have come to realise that with each goodbye it does become a little harder to do, however my solace that I found in that is; that with every hello and every greeting of a new person, it becomes much easier.

Make sure you really cherish the moments with anyone new you meet.  You never know what could eventuate from it.  And yes, the goodbye will be hard, but just keep in mind that world is a MASSIVE place and finding someone new and incredible to spend time with won’t be hard to do again.  Use the prospect of meeting someone new to help you overcome the feeling of emptiness after you say goodbye to someone you cherished.

And remember – you never know where you’re going to meet that new and amazing person.  It may even be a big group of them, 4600m high on a mountain!

If you’re like me and have developed another problem known as the ‘travel bug’, check out this blog here which I’ve written about it.  Let me know if you can relate!

Happy friendships!