1. You Won’t Miss Your Family
One of my biggest concerns before leaving little old Ireland was what I would be missing. We left in November when Christmas fever was well upon us. I thought about the memories my family would be making without me, the 5th birthday of my goddaughter I would be absent for, and the first birthday I would be celebrating away from home. My worrying was a waste of time. With social media it’s so easy to stay in touch with friends and family. I’ve had plenty of Christmases and birthdays in Ireland and I will have a lot more, and honestly my goddaughter loves me more than ever since I returned – bonus!
2. Travel Envy Doesn’t Go Away
We all know that sudden pang of jealousy you get when
mindlessly scrolling through Instagram on a dull Monday morning, only to be hit
with a picture of your friends on a camel in some desert along with the
standard, #TravelLife #Culture #SeeTheWorld. Well I can tell you
that “Ugh, what am I doing with my life? I need to travel more!” feeling
certainly doesn’t go away, even when you’re actually doing it. Ridiculous, I
know.
3. You’ll Be Grand
Lots of people thought I was crazy when I decided to move
back in with my parents, sell my car and quit the job I was lucky to land just
out of college. Even now, when I’m back in the Emerald Isle, looking for work, stuck in my
parent's house without a car to escape, claiming Jobseekers Benefit
while simultaneously stressing about the debt I’m up to my eyeballs in – I wouldn’t
change a thing.
4. You Will Need Double the Funds
I did a bit of research and calculated what I thought I
would need to finance this adventure of mine. Then, to be safe, I secured a bit extra. I mean, this is a once in a life time opportunity and I want to do
it right. Maybe that was the wrong mentality to acquire, because about
half way through I had to do the embarrassing call home for a loan. YOLO.
5. Layers Are Everything
As someone who over packs for a week to Spain, all I can
tell you when packing for a trip that covers multiple climates; is layer. Start
with all the basics, focus on neutrals and be realistic. I didn’t bring a
hairdryer or straighter and never regretted it.
I forced myself to only pack one pair of heels that I rarely wore, although I
was glad I had them when in places like Vegas, and I brought one ‘going
out’ dress that I NEVER wore.
6. Mooch, Mooch and Mooch Some More
Some of the best memories we had were when we stayed with
friends or family. Tap into every single contact you have around the world and utilize
the free accommodation. I was apprehensive about asking a friend of a friend of
my Dad if my boyfriend and I could stay with them in South Africa for a week, and it
turned out to be the absolute highlight of our trip. I found everyone we
stayed with (and there were a lot) to be so welcoming and they always went
above and beyond to show us a good time.
7. It’s Okay to Not Do Everything
There was plenty of times when I would beat myself up about
not doing enough or not seeing as much as possible. I was completely guilt
ridden when I wasted an entire day in New York by being hungover in a
post-Paddy’s Day coma. Or that time I lost my first three days in Tokyo because
Delhi Belly is no joke. But it’s important to remember that lazy days are fine. It’s impossible to be in full-time tourist mode every day of the week, and
that’s okay.
8. Don’t Book All of Your Accommodation Ahead of Time
Everyone does this differently, but before we left I made
sure we had the majority of our accommodation booked. The reason being I’m not comfortable with the idea of landing
in a new place and not knowing where you’re going to stay, and that hasn’t
really changed. However, looking back we should have only booked to stay for a
couple of nights and taken it from there. That way, you have the flexibility to move around if you learn of another great place you want to visit. My experience is while flights
fluctuate in price, accommodation usually stays the same, so it won’t affect
your budget when paying last minute.
9. Get Organised
One thing I did get right was I got very organised before we
left and it really helped to lessen the likelihood of issues down the road. I
had a folder that stored copies of every flight, hotel and visa we paid for, as
well as details of our insurance policies. Said papers were also scanned and stored in Dropbox along with copies of our passports, driving licences and vaccination
logbooks. I also took it a step further and organised the folder by the order
in which we would need them. Believe me, at the beginning of the trip when it
seemed I had amassed a small forests worth of documentation, it came in handy.
10. It Will Be the Best Thing You Have Ever Done
This seems pretty self explanatory, but just in case nobody
told you – it’s worth it!
Megan x
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