How to keep a sense of humor when traveling

Veröffentlicht:

Von:

If you keep your sense of humor, remain calm and respectful and contribute to your trip as amazing as you have hoped for

sometimes - not often, but sometimes - traveling in theory proves to be better than in practice.

This can be the case if you arrive in your cheap hostel room in Delhi and rotten shrimp in the shower, or if a random guy in Nairobi is uneasy to distract you so that his friend can climb into her pocket, or if the bus is to be picked up three hours late and leave it back on a Cambodian roadside alone.

In these dark moments it is easy to succumb to anger or frustration, but it is important to resist. If you keep your sense of humor, remain calm and respectful and contribute to your journey as astonishing as you hoped.

To help you, we asked Peter-our resident travel junkie-about his top tips how you can keep the humor on the go.

1. Expect that your plans will go wrong

There is a saying that even the atheist appreciates in me: "Plan men. God laughs." This applies more than ever on the street. Even military precision planning can be thwarted by an unexpected accident or an unexpected event.

Maybe Macchu Picchu will be closed during the 10 days you are in Peru, or maybe Christ will be covered with a scaffold. Sometimes it's just a law and you can't do anything about it. If you expect the unexpected, you will be less disappointed when it happens.

That does not mean that you should not plan or take precautionary measures at all-I would always advise you to take out health insurance, get vaccinations, pay attention to your water and keep online photo topics of all important documents-but simply be prepared for it.

2. Accept that locals will try to make money with you

On several occasions, I was extremely frustrated by the locals. I was treated like a pure dollar sign, especially in Marrakech and Delhi. People were constantly aggressive, roared constantly, constantly trying to sell something or to cupping something.

I found it deeply annoying, but when I take a step back, I realize that it is quite valuable to consider yourself a channel for cultural exchange. Most of the time you are just a tourist that roams through her country.

For them it could be a life -changing journey; For them it is only a normal working day. Accept that you try to make a living and that you are a lucrative source of income.

3. Easy the diet restrictions

My girlfriend and I were recently in the Norwegian wilderness in a small hut that was rented over Airbnb. Our amiable host had made the trouble to prepare us homemade Thai chicken curry to welcome us in her house.

The only problem? My girlfriend is a vegetarian. In three years I had never seen her meat or anything that had touched the meat, but on this occasion she took a few balls of curry (whereby she kilty the meat gone) and continued to eat what was on her plate.

I was super impressed that she had just sat down and ate so as not to insult the host. In Norway, maybe she got through the food, but in a tiny rural village in China? Maybe not.

If you adhere to a strict diet, you may have problems with certain parts of the world, so I would advise you to learn to loosen the rules.

4. Earrings and wet wipes

I always take your earplugs while my girlfriend doesn't travel without wet wipes. The first protects me from all possible situations in which I would normally go to the post. The latter is useful if we are without running water.

Find out what your must-have articles are and make sure that you are always well stocked.

5. Ask yourself if you would rather sit at a desk

Sometimes you are tired if you have no comfortable space to wait for a 6-hour stopover. You will be hungry, stink and be rotten and everything you want is a comfortable bed, running hot water and a decent TV.

In times like this, I wonder if I would rather sit at the desk. Would I prefer to wake up the next morning and the next but one and the next but one and squeeze on a train and sit at a desk for eight hours?

The answer is no, without exception, which blends in even in my most tense times.

6. Remember that it's just stuff

The only misfortune that I really was about was when my camera no longer worked on a remote island in the Maldives. The breathtaking landscape caused beautiful photos, but everything I had was a shitty camera handy.

It took a day of swoolen, but I got over it. You will lose things or break or steal things, so it is important to remember that it is just things. If you have your passport and most of the money, you can continue traveling, and that is much more important than things.

good luck!

Our new book Don’t Offer Papaya: 101 Tips for your first time Around the World is available as a paperback and on Kindle from $ 3.99.
.