Going travelling is a wonderful experience; it can show you a variety of cultures, teach you about yourself and also give you some memories (and stories) to last a lifetime.
But despite this, some of us need to look at ways that we can be more in the moment during our travels.
To help you to understand how you can make those changes, I have put together the best ways to be more in the moment whilst travelling!
Never compare
If you are someone who regularly travels, then you might find yourself comparing your adventures with others that you have had. This can be a dangerous game to play. Rather than thinking how the beaches in Australia cannot compare or how much fun you had in Las Vegas, think about how wonderful a time you are having right there and then!
Stay away from the gadgets
When you are away from home, there is a chance that you will want to keep in touch with family and check how everyone is. Whilst this is great, it should never get in the way of experiencing the world around you. Rather than scrolling through Facebook during dinner, why not look around you and take everything in? You can learn all about the gossip from home on your return, but you might not ever get the chance to see the culture of the country you are visiting. The same can be said for cameras; it is great to take lots of pictures to keep as memories, but you should try to see as much as you can through your own eyes!
Be brave and jump in
One of the most important things that you can do when you are travelling is to let yourself go a little. Whilst at home you may feel a little uptight, make sure that this doesn’t come with you when you are travelling.
Asked to do something a little out of your comfort zone? Say yes! You never know what you might end up doing! I did this on my backpacking trip after University, I’ll only admit this once, but I used to be afraid of heights so decided to conquer it by doing a tandem skydive over the Fox Glacier in Franz Josef (NZ). This was possibly one of the scariest things I’ve had to endure and I followed it up within days by jumping NZ’s highest bungee jump (Nevis at 132m) and a canyon swing in Queenstown. Sometimes you just have to live by Nike’s 1980’s “Just Do It” campaign.
Throw away that to-do list and be spontaneous
You may think it is better to be organised and know exactly what you want to do when you are travelling, this could mean that you miss out on more off the cuff activities. So whilst you can have some ideas of things that you would like to do whilst you are there, make sure that this doesn’t rule your travels.
If someone asks you to do something, then why not say yes? Taking a step away from the path that you had set out for yourself can help you to discover a whole new world as well as a whole new you too! You will see during the course of my blog, I am one for planning my days out and have a list of things to see, places to eat but it can all go out the window with a suggestion from a stranger to try something they’ve discovered. It works both ways too – entice them to try something from your list.
These are just some ideas of how you can make sure that you are present in each and every moment of your travelling experience. Make sure that you soak up every minute of the trip as you never know if you will get a chance to do it again!
