Last updated on November 29, 2010 by Shannon
I’ll tell you right up front my point here, if you haven’t already extrapolated an inkling of a notion from the title. For those with yearnings to hit the road who also recite a litany of reasons they can’t do so: Figure out the solution, it exists.
When I tell people that I travel the world full time, I often hear in response: “Wow, I wish I could too.” And of course I tell them they can. I mention that traveling is cheaper than most people assume. I wax poetic about how it shifts your perspective, opens your mind to new cultures an languages. It changes you from having a single story of the world to a host of unique moments and memories to inform you for the rest of your life.
The benefits of travel are there for all to see.
Why You Think You Can’t Travel the World
But there’s always a retort quick to slip from the lips of the person I’m chatting with. If it’s not money problems, it’s health. Age. Kids. Something.
Isn’t that life though?
For the record, I faced obstacles in my quest to travel. But I purposely choose which seemingly insurmountable hurdles would offer a worthwhile payoff for all that it would take me to over come them.
And that payoff isn’t travel for all people. For some though, travel really is the Holy Grail. In that case, it’s worth really assessing what’s holding you back from realizing your dream.
Are you afraid of something? Maybe it’s time to assess the reality of that fear.
What Initially Held Me Back From Traveling the World
I had my very first (and only) panic attack the day I was meant to board my first flight that would start my year of round the world travel. It was scary to leave behind friends and family. But I got on that flight and faced down other fears and challenges along the way.
I’ve traveled as a solo female for more than 15 years, and while it had challenges, I was safer than most imagine during these wanderings. The danger map of the world is different than most assume.
I’ve been sick, harrowingly sick with illnesses directly related to my decision to travel. But once I survived, it didn’t deter me from setting out again.
I was in deep debt when I left to travel. But it was cheaper to live on the road and use geoarbitrage to get out of debt and then save money than it was to stay stateside.
And sure, solo travel was lonely at times and exhausting. But there was also a comfort in the years of solitude that helped me learn who I was and who I wanted to become.
Two circumstances I face though are a bit different than some travelers: I’m a vegetarian and hypoglycemic. The vegetarianism is really not a huge issue per se, though it’s one of the first questions people ask me—I get a “Really?! Aren’t you hungry all the time?”
Sometimes I’ve been profoundly hungry when I was ill prepared and skewers of meat were all I could find on offer. But there was often fruit, rice, or something else nearby to tide me over until I could get the lay of the land.
My hypoglycemia has been a little more difficult to manage while traveling. Having hypoglycemia means I have lower than normal blood sugar levels. My blood sugar levels yo-yo a lot.
It has worsened in the past years, and the effects of having hypoglycemia means I have to ensure I eat very, very regularly. But that mealtimes are difficult to keep consistent on the road.
I was once left an emotional wreck at a food court in Thailand because I passed my “healthy” hunger point—I was teary, moderately incoherent, and minutes from passing out because the woman kept handing me pork and rice when all I wanted was a bowl of plain white rice.
How to Overcome the Many Reasons You “Can’t” Travel the World
As you can see, there were a great many “obstacles” I personally faced that could have seemed insurmountable. And yet each one either resolved itself once I researched the siutation more—that’s the case for my safety concerns—or I have adopted personal travel habits that work for my unique situation
My travel style is slow travel, which helps me avoid 20 hour foodless bus rides. And I stay flexible when traveling overland so that I could, for example, leave Bosnia early after a week of its meat-tastic foodie culture.
To be fair, some people face way harder obstacles preventing them from traveling the world. But some face easier obstacles, too.
The difference between people who have realized their dream to travel the world and those who have not come down to priorities. For most reading this, Westerners living in a country rich with opportunity, there are ways to overcome your travel obstacles.
For me, I travel because I couldn’t imagine living without it. I love what travel brings to my life. That guiding personal mission helped me slowly get out of debt, it helped me navigate the visa process to move to Spain when I couldn’t imagine moving back to the U.S. after 10 years of world travel. It’s informed so much of my travel life.
It’s easy to erect obstacles in front of any goal as a way of covering up the fear under it all.
“I can’t travel because I have student loans.”
“I can’t travel because my parent’s won’t allow it.”
“I can’t travel because of my dog/cat/kids.”
I call bull on all of that. There’s a travel quote I love that says, “All you need to know is that it’s possible.”
What if I told you that I had divine knowledge that there was absolutely a way to overcome the obstacle keeping you from traveling, but you just hadn’t found it yet.
If you believed me, all of a sudden you’d start seeing avenues that you hadn’t yet explored. Ways to save money, or gain independence from your parents, or rearrange your obligations.
You’d find the path to travel that was right for your life. It won’t look like my path, but it’s there nonetheless.
Most obstacles are solvable when you want to find the solution. Nobody’s travel style is more “right” than another, so the real opportunity is to find whatever works for you to realize your dream.
First time here… I’ve really enjoyed your blog.
I’m a vegetarian at home, but while traveling I allow myself the “ignorance is bliss” excuse. In SE Asia fish sauce and fish paste are so ubiquitous such that innocent looking things like stir fried veggies might not be 100% vegetarian.
I think the biggest obstacle to travel that people have is that they simply do not want it bad enough. Because if you do, you’ll make it happen.
Like you, I *totally* do the ignorance is bliss in Asia, and I daresay that
if you have truly backpacked Asia as a veggie then you have too…it’s just
way to prevalent in the food to ever truly eliminate it! :)
Very true on your last point, if you truly want something you’ll find the
way to make it happen, for some it’s a moderate goal, and not a passion –
that’s when it’s tough to overcome the obstacles, when you’re a tiny bit
wishy-washy about it all! :)
An obstacle I am currently facing in preparation for my first big trip to Asia: I hate planning! also.. I have bad orienteering skills. Oh well.. I’ll learn
Hmm, that’s a tough one on the planning…but don’t despair, if you have a
good deal of time for your trip then just leave the planning until you get
there! It can be scary to do that the first time on a big trip, but it’s
really liberating to just book your first week in a new place and then
decide your route as you go, be-friending and following the advice of others
along the way – I know that not everyone is okay with that open of a travel
plan, but if you hate planning (I do too) then just book your transport from
the airport and your first week’s stay! :)
Thanks for being so honest – we all have our obstacles, and it’s great that there’s a community of travelers that can relate and offer tips for support to keep us connected with our dreams.
Whatever it is you care about in life, there’s always something that you could let keep you from it. It’s a matter of setting goals, sticking to them and not letting life’s challenges keep you from your goals.
So agreed Bessie, I know that I often look to others in the community for
their advice and experiences just for the heartening feeling that there are
others who have gone before and succeeded :)
I’ve been very fortunate as I don’t think I really have any challenges. However, food-wise I’m always amazed by people with gluten allergies. Also in Quito Ecuador I met two deaf guys from the States who were also traveling through South America and was so impressed. Although they cannot read lips in Spanish they are proficient in Spanish and carry a pen and paper, they told me it was much easier than anyone would imagine and that people were very helpful.
Oh I have to agree – gluten-free on the road is a tough one…same with the
vegans! Also really inspiring to hear that both of the deaf men decided to
set off and travel together, truly a testament to embracing the love of
travel no matter what :)
I too fall into the catagory of hypoglycemic vegetarian and I’ve never really had a problem while traveling. Although a big part of that is down to that fac that, for years now, I’ve been in the habit of always having food about me just in case. My boyfriend is also excellent. He can see when I’m getting to that breaking point and will instantly force me to stop and eat. I nearly fell apart in a food court in singapore when I got too hungry and just couldn’t drum up the brain power required to get myself some food. So I empathise entirely, but also agree that we can all overcome hurdles to achieve our dreams if we want them enough.
Thanks for stopping in and sharing your experiences Sarah, I never realized
there were so many of us out there on the road! :) It’s great that you
have your boyfriend to help take over when you reach that point, when I am
traveling with a new person for a couple of weeks I always make sure to tell
them so that they don’t just think I’m crazy when my mood swings, and they
have always been really helpful locating some fruit in an emergency!
There will always be reasons why people can’t travel. Many are very valid, but often if you look hard enough you can come up with a solution to manage.
When Dan and I first traveled together long term after we got married, all the fights came from me breaking down from not eating regularly and falling into a zombie mode of indecision and snappiness. It was not fun. Fortunately, my case is on the border and is manageable. Your advice about traveling with granola bars, nuts and other snacks should be required reading for everyone.
Although I often prefer vegetables to meat, it certainly helps my food options that I can eat meat. I often feel bad for the offerings vegetarians have to put up with in many parts of the world. You’ve got a great attitude about it and have managed well so far – that’s an inspiration for others.
That’s a pretty accurate description for it – zombie mode. When I get like
that I get “stuck” in this glitch and have a hard time snapping out of it
without getting all emotional. I found that I am normally the one splitting
my granola bar with others who didn’t plan ahead but are reaching that
point….I always feel like the mom of the group when I am travel with other
backpackers and I’m like “hey guys, don’t you think you should pick up some
snacks too?!” Thanks for the support and words of advice here Audrey;
looking forward to maybe hunting down some veggie street eats in Thailand
with you guys :)
I didn’t have that much to overcome. Since I’m European, it was a lot easier for me to find an “excuse” for travel – we encourage the gap year. It wasn’t until I found *how* cheap it can be that I actually hit the road – working as a waitress and giving private English lessons for three months bought be a 5 month trip in North America. I wouldn’t say my 9$ a day budget is for everyone, though – but so what if you have to save a little longer? My mom gave me very valuable advice when I was young: Money, Houses, Things, even People can go away. But nobody can take your memories from you. :)
So very true – the European out-look on travel is a whole lot different,
much more encouraged. Agreed about travel being a whole lot more affordable
that it seems – I go budget but how did you manage $9 a day in the US?!
Camping? My mentor gave me very similar advice about money and things: You
can’t take it with you when you die….we strive to accumulate so much in
the name of having stuff, but it’s the experiences and enjoyment that you
remember at the end :) Thank you for popping in and commenting Ivy!
So very true – the European out-look on travel is a whole lot different,
much more encouraged. Agreed about travel being a whole lot more affordable
that it seems – I go budget but how did you manage $9 a day in the US?!
Camping? My mentor gave me very similar advice about money and things: You
can’t take it with you when you die….we strive to accumulate so much in
the name of having stuff, but it’s the experiences and enjoyment that you
remember at the end :) Thank you for popping in and commenting Ivy!
I’m a veggie too! Proudly been one for over a decade now. I’ve actually had no problem with traveling and the few times I *might* have had a problem, like you said, I always had some sort of food on me. Awesome post!!!
I had no idea that you were a veggie too – I love that there’s an army of us
travel veggies out there :) Thanks Andi!
Well said! It is remarkably easy to take any obstacle that we face and use that as an excuse that stops us from taking bold steps in life. Your example is a great, real-life situation that you’ve overcome and figured out how to integrate into your traveling lifestyle. Most people know that they can overcome such obstacles but they need examples such as yours to gain that extra confidence, making this a super-useful post.
And you have motivated me to go purchase some food before I leave for my 18 hour bus/foot/taxi/bus journey that begins tonight!
Hope that your bus ride has gone well and was snack-tastic :) Thanks for
weighing in Earl, it truly is just needed a concrete example with solution
to overcome some fears and obstacles!
Oh man. I completely understand. I, too, am hypoglycemic which makes for interesting experiences while traveling for sure. On our last road trip, my friend could not understand why I was so confused, unhappy, and felt deathly ill. A cookie quickly snapped me out of it, but I always feel like a burden.
We were just discussing the other day how I’m going to have to keep granola bars and snacks in my backpack while going through South America… because we will encounter epic-ly long bus rides. I’m so glad I’m not alone in this.
Though I’m sorry to hear you’re hypo too, it’s nice to know that there’s
another one out there :) Yeah, the problem with Central American buses for
me was that some of the “food stops” were for fried chicken! Granolas bars
are a must though, and good that you have a traveling friend to help too!