Travel, explore, repeat.
I powered up the slope with determination and pumping adrenaline, I reached the summit, thinking that once I was there and could see the mountain recede underneath me I would feel a sense of achievement and awe, instead I was met with the unexpected realization of how small and alone I was, standing on the stop of an snowy mountain watching the mist role around the gullies beneath me, no one in the world knew where I was or what I was doing, that was one of the most exhilarating and terrifying moments of my life”
Anyone who’s travelled knows its one of the most enriching experiences of life, full of new cultures, people, food, landscapes and climates. But you would also know its not always what you expect, social media fill ours minds with glorified photo shopped images of exotic people and places but sometimes when you step of the plane and into the unknown the world can be a damn scary place.
When we start to plan a trip a lot of questions come up:
- Where should I go?
- Who should I go with?
- Should I travel alone, with a partner or with friends?
- How much money will I need?
- Should I plan the trip out from start to finish or wing it as I go?
Monday's getting real session will be on all things travel, from smart tips like how to budget, stay safe and avoid tourist scams, to holiday romance etiquette, partying over seas and avoiding dodgy situations/people and how to nicely tell a creep to leave you the heck alone.
Everyone has their own travel experiences and can have something to share, from horror stories to the best days of our lives we want to know! Maybe you’re planning a trip right now? Are on an adventure that isn’t going exactly to plan, or are suffering from a bout of post travel blues come join us for some chats and story telling times at the getting real session next week.
JOIN US - 8PM AEST MONDAY 10th MARCH
Hi all,
My name is Hayden and I'm new to this so forgive me if I have clicked the wrong reply button 
I am a university student and am actually on study abroad right now, and agree with Rosie. I'm in Copenhagen in my 9th month here and have absolutely fallen in love with culture and people. It is simply amazing to go outside your comfort zone. It is terrifying, but moreso than terrifying, it is so worth it.
I am actually going to Austria and Germany on a ski trip in 2 days (weeeeee!). I think what inspires some people like me to travel is that they feel they don't fit in somewhere. I felt so alienated from Australian culture and making friends was hard, but keeping them near impossible. A word of advice that everyone fits in somewhere, they just need to find that place. And if you are scared, it's okay, because we are all a little scared, some of us are just better at hiding it! 😉
Hi gang! I'm so excited about this topic, traveling is just my favourite thing to do.
@Scyther - that is actually one of the best reasons for travel I've ever heard. You are dead on - the world is BIG and if you explore enough of it, you'll find a place that feels like it was made for you 🙂 Also, I'm really jealous of your skiing adventure. I want this aussie summer to end already!
Sounds like we have travelled the whole world between us!
What's your best travel story? It might be hilarious, a horror story, a series of unfortunate events… do share!
@SJG Yeah NZ was fantastic actually. Queenstown, Wellington and Christchurch were my favourite places. The Remarkables (mountains) in Queenstown are beautiful, and there are the most beautiful botanic gardens in Christchurch - so many daffodils (they are my favourite flowers so I loved it!)
What's your best travel story? It might be hilarious, a horror story, a series of unfortunate events… do share!
In New Zealand we nearly got stuck at Milford Sound (a little place near a lake that has like no accomodation and no shops, they just do boat tours there) because of the snow. We had to leave our hire car there and get a bus back to town because we had no snow chains for the wheels. Then we had to hire another car, to drive back to the original hire car place (2 hours away) to get another hire car for the rest of the week. Such a drama! Good story though, lol 🙂
What's your best travel story? It might be hilarious, a horror story, a series of unfortunate events… do share!
Flying down to Sydney this one time - a couple pushed in front of me in the queue, had a kid kick my seat during the flight, got lost inner city and was sort of horrified by how large the trains are there o_O
@SJG wrote:
Sounds like we have travelled the whole world between us!
What's your best travel story? It might be hilarious, a horror story, a series of unfortunate events… do share!
One of my favourite travel moments (in retrospect) was Christmas 2011, when I was in Florence. I'd been travelling alone for about six weeks and wasn't paying any attention to the date, because I didn't have any reason to care, and Christmas came around before I realised. Everything in Florence closed down for five days, and I was staying in a dodgy little hostel where I didn't see a single other person the whole time I was there (seriously - they left keys out for me and a week later I left them under the doormat. It was weird). Anyway, it got to the day before Boxing day and everything in the city closed down and I had no food. I wandered the streets in the snow looking for sustenance, and finally found a little old Italian man selling roasted chestnuts wrapped in newspaper. He didn't speak any English and for the next five days I kept returning to his street corner and lived off roasted chestnuts. On Christmas Day I skyped my mum and cried about how I was freezing cold and starving in a foreign country. Next time I'll just pay attention to what the date is and stock up on food before cities shut down...
Oh no @gail that sounds super depressing 😞 I hope you like chestnuts!
One of my favourite stories is when a friend of mine and i had a yelling match in the ampitheatre of Pompeii over a stupid audio tour thingy, 5 minutes later we were eating nuttella on some ruins and laughing about it. Travelling with friends is amazing fun but can also start some cat fights!
Also on the trip i just got home from, i was hiking in the mountians in Norway and i decided that i was in an extra special adventurous mood so i left the track (sillyyyy) 2 hours later i was freaazing cold and lost in the mist, i slid down about 3 frozen creeks and nearly broke my back, freaked out lots and lots, but eventually found the track again and realised it was one of the greatest days of my life!!! And i had climed to 3 mountain tops along the way with the most amazing veiws i'd ever seen
@SJG wrote:
Also on the trip i just got home from, i was hiking in the mountians in Norway and i decided that i was in an extra special adventurous mood so i left the track (sillyyyy) 2 hours later i was freaazing cold and lost in the mist, i slid down about 3 frozen creeks and nearly broke my back, freaked out lots and lots, but eventually found the track again and realised it was one of the greatest days of my life!!! And i had climed to 3 mountain tops along the way with the most amazing veiws i'd ever seen
Haha I did essentially the same thing in Austria a couple of years ago while I was staying with family friends just next to the Swiss Alps and was spending a day adventuring on my own, trying to find a bus stop. "I don't need to follow the path, I totally know where I'm going"... Three hours later a friendly woodchopper gave me a lift home 🙂
Some good stories there guys!
So, lots of young people rate travel highly in terms of enjoyment and worth - why do you think this is? What do you value about travel?
So, lots of young people rate travel highly in terms of enjoyment and worth - why do you think this is? What do you value about travel?
I think that it's because there's so many options for young people to travel like volunteering overseas, cruises and Contiki tours. There's also the #yolo mentality and you might as well live life at large and experience as much as you possibly can! With travel, although I haven't travelled very far just yet, I value the new experiences - like trying new foods, meeting new people, seeing the sights and then there's also culture shock too; acknowledging the familiarity and the differences between what you know and what you've never seen.
@Myvo I agree on the new experiences - for me, seeing/learning/doing new things is just so exciting and I love that travelling facilitates that happening so much. I think having those new experiences allows me to grow as a person and become more aware of the world I live in, which I think is really important.
So, lots of young people rate travel highly in terms of enjoyment and worth - why do you think this is? What do you value about travel?
I think that young people enjoy travel because they want to be more independent and are most open to meeting new people and having new experiences at this age. I like discovering new things and spending time with family most about travel. And I like that I it gets me out of my comfort zone - I find that sometimes it really helps with bringing down my anxiety levels.
@delicatedreamer Adventure is out there! I find it interesting how you say that travel brings down your anxiety levels - in what way? With travel, I'm all nervous and excited 
I agree @Myvo sometimes it gets me super on edge!! But i know what you mean @delicatedreamer i think the distance from everything going on back at home can sometimes be a great thing for anxiety.
As for things i have to change; i am gluten and dairy intolerent (glutard) and finding food can sometimes be a challange! So i have to sometimes eat really stange food that i probably never would at home, but its all a good experience.. sometimes only afterwoulds though
@Myvo wrote:
@delicatedreamer Adventure is out there! I find it interesting how you say that travel brings down your anxiety levels - in what way? With travel, I'm all nervous and excited
I know it sounds weird - it does really stress me out beforehand (and when I'm doing it sometimes) but I find that I relax into it over time and will be more relaxed going out of my comfort zone, and then feel more relaxed when I get home because I know that nothing bad happened to me when I did all of those really scary things on holidays - if that makes sense? For example, when I was in Sydney I walked to bills restaurant from our hotel and had breakfast by myself because I really wanted to go there, even though my family didn't come with me and that made me really anxious. I think stuff like that really helps me expand my 'circles of safety' (places that I feel safe and not anxious - these get very small when I have a lot of anxiety trouble). I hope that makes sense and didn't go too off-topic.
@delicatedreamer wrote:
@Myvo wrote:
@delicatedreamer Adventure is out there! I find it interesting how you say that travel brings down your anxiety levels - in what way? With travel, I'm all nervous and excited
I know it sounds weird - it does really stress me out beforehand (and when I'm doing it sometimes) but I find that I relax into it over time and will be more relaxed going out of my comfort zone, and then feel more relaxed when I get home because I know that nothing bad happened to me when I did all of those really scary things on holidays - if that makes sense? For example, when I was in Sydney I walked to bills restaurant from our hotel and had breakfast by myself because I really wanted to go there, even though my family didn't come with me and that made me really anxious. I think stuff like that really helps me expand my 'circles of safety' (places that I feel safe and not anxious - these get very small when I have a lot of anxiety trouble). I hope that makes sense and didn't go too off-topic.
That definitely makes sense. Moving outside our comfort zones or 'circles of safety' is a great way to expand them! The more we push the boundaries, the more things begin to start to feel okay, and our worlds get a little bigger each time 🙂
Changing expectations is just one challenge of travelling. What are some things that you think might get in the way of travelling?
Anxiety gets in the way majorly for me. It gets better once I've started (see previous post), but it makes it hard for me to start at all. I like to feel safe, and have safe places and routines, but travel is largely about spontaneity (so a lack of routine), and new places! Other things that might get in the way of travel are people's financial situations, not having someone to go with, not having a car (if you're in Aus and want to drive around), having things at home that you have to be looked after or paid for while you are away (like pets or a house)... Not sure what else.
@delicatedreamer Thats really great that you are willing to push yourself, i have had similar experiences, even if you feel anxious while you are doing something, the sense of acheivment afterwoulds and knowing that you can do it makes it all worth it
There's definitely a heap of things that can get in the way of travelling, you guys have done a really good job of identifying some of these! But it's not necessarily all bad news... Do you think it is possible to overcome these things? What might help a young person to overcome these things and go through with travelling?
Do you think it is possible to overcome these things? What might help a young person to overcome these things and go through with travelling?
Things that would help me are planning beforehand, having someone to travel with (I hate being alone in an unfamilliar city), booking accomodation beforehand, getting all of the relevant immunisations... Other things that would help would be saving money for the trip, organising someone to look after pets or call in on your house, making sure you have somewhere safe to store all of your important valuables (like money, passport, phone), making sure your phone will work overseas/ that you have a way to contact people, being aware of who can help you if you have troubles or get ill while overseas...
Sorry I disappeared for a bit there guys - laptop died so I had to try to revive it 😞
Do you think it is possible to overcome these things? What might help a young person to overcome these things and go through with travelling?
It's important to read up on where you're travelling to. I find that you can find useful information on Smart Traveller, Lonely Planet forums and guides as well as word-of-mouth from people who frequently travel or even famlily and friends. I think that travelling with a friend or in a group could also ease your mind so that you know that if things don't go to plan, then you've got some buddies to figure it out with you.
