Travelling is a challenge in itself, there’s no denying that. However, people who go abroad tend to fall into one of two categories: tourists and travellers.
Tourists are the kind of people who don’t stray off the track. They follow the rules (usually as set out by their tour guide), stay in hotels, and tend to wear socks with sandals. Ugh. Travellers, on the other hand, are the kind of people who push the boundaries and crave adventure. They sleep anywhere – at anytime – and wear the same t-shirt and jeans for days and don’t notice – or care.
Tourists look for perfection in a destination, but only if it’s within a 10km radius of their luxury hotel. Travellers search for the flaws in a city because they understand that this is usually where the real beauty of a place resides.
Tourists stick to what’s safe. Travellers search for what’s outside the box.
Getting outside your comfort zone and really travelling is one of the greatest experiences a human can have. There’s so many ways you can invite a little adventure into your travels; shake things up, walk the path least ventured. Here are 10 examples of how you can get outside your comfort zone when overseas, and go from tourist to traveller in a heartbeat.
1. Befriend a Stranger
See that backpacker sitting across from you at the metro station, holding a map at awkward angels and looking equally puzzled over the subway system? Go and say hello; they could be your new best friend.
2. Eat a Local Delicacy
Fact: If a piece of calamari and a mushroom got together and had a baby, then coated it in creamy butter, garlic and parsley, it would taste like escargot.
True story.
Now, see for yourself.
3. Experience a Cultural Festival
Celebrate Chinese New Year in Beijing. Throw brightly coloured powder at strangers at the Holi Festival in India. Samba in the streets for Carnival in Rio. Run with the bulls in Pamplona. Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) in Mexico. La Tomatina. Oktoberfest.
Take your pick.
4. Learn the Language
The simplest of words – such as ‘hello’, ‘goodbye’, ‘please’, and ‘thank you’ – spoken in a foreign language, can make a world of difference to your experience. Make the effort to get to know the local vernacular and show some respect for the people and culture to which you are a guest of.
Besides, everything sounds better in French, oui?
5. Get Lost
Put down that damn map, turn off Google, and just roam until your legs feel like they’re going to fall off. Get wonderfully, delightfully, beautifully lost – then find your way back. Simple.
6. Sleep Around
Oi, get your mind out of the gutter! I’m talking about different types of accommodation. Say goodbye to over-priced hotels – nothing is more confronting [and entertaining] than sleeping in a hostel dorm room with 13 strangers.
If you’ve already done the hostel living thing, try camping under the stars in a commune, bunking down in a caravan, or even shacking up in a hammock on a beach somewhere. Mix it up.
7. Channel Your Inner Daredevil
Scuba diving. Bungee jumping. Paragliding. Rock climbing. Jet skiing. Quad biking.
Get that adrenaline pumping and try something a little wild that’s guaranteed to both put the colour in your cheeks and steal your breath away.
8. Take the Road Less Travelled
Don’t be deterred by long, overnight train rides or several connecting flights. If you want to go and see something, just do it.
Be prepared to make the journey, no matter how long it will take you; it is always worth it, and tends to make the stories you will tell all the more interesting.
9. Volunteer
Spend some time with those less fortunate than you to open your eyes up to the realities of the world we live in.
Give. Listen. Help. Reach out. Connect. Make a difference.
Compassion speaks a universal language. Go and learn it.
10. Spend Time Alone
Of all the most scary, confronting, daunting, out-of-your-comfort zone experiences in the world, this is the biggie. Spending time alone, away from your support system, away from what you know – this will truly show you what you’re made of. You will learn, grow and change as a result of it, and you’ll be damn glad that you did.
Don’t be afraid: you’re much better company than you realise.
Get out there. Don’t let being alone stop you from doing anything you want: that attitude is for tourists, not travellers.
Featured image by Lori.
