New Year Resolutions For All Travellers
2017 will be a brand new year for new adventures. Some of you may already have prepared for your student exchange and have concrete plans for your travels, while some of you may still have no idea where your travels will take you this year. No matter what, here are 5 new years travel resolutions you should stick to!
1. Be in the moment.
We millennials cannot help but want to share online about what we are eating, where we are, and what we are doing. Sometimes, we would spend a lot of time trying to get that perfect Instagram shot so that we can brag to our friends about it. Granted, I am guilty of this, as of every other millennial, but sometimes we just gotta ditch the phone.
Sure, sharing our memories on Instagram and Facebook can be fun. However, we sometimes get so caught up with our online persona that we forgot to live in the moment. How often do we just stop and admire our surroundings? It is only when we separate our real life from our online persona that we can truly have a present experience.
So yes, let’s all aim to experience fun and exciting things without sharing it on social media immediately.
2. Remember that you are the foreigner.
Not everybody is going to speak your language. Moreover, the different cultures and ways of doing things may be eye-opening.
Instead of complaining and risk offending the locals, we should all try to embrace the differences. Make an effort and take Serbian language lessons with Ling App. Never insist on your own ideologies on others! After all, the main aim of traveling is to experience a different culture!
3. Remember those back at home.
Spending almost half a year away from home during your student exchange is a pretty long time. Sure, you’re probably having fun in a foreign land, but never forget your friends and family back home! An occasional text or Skype to find out how they are doing would definitely mean the world to them. Here is a weblink you can follow to get in touch with storage and moving services.
Bring a few items or photos that would remind you of your favourite people back at home! It’ll cheer you up when homesickness kicks in.
4. Have your own authentic experience. Do not compare!
With social media these days, friends and seniors would definitely bombard your social media newsfeed with their travel adventures.
Many of these hipster-ish and picturesque photos only show the most photogenic parts of someone’s trip. What all these beautiful imagery don’t show are the not-so-glamourous side of travel – the logistics one has to settle, the stolen wallet, the miscommunications that one has to face. Travel isn’t perfect. In fact, it is the imperfections that make the best experiences. REMEMBER, do not chase someone else’s experience just because you saw it on social media, have your own authentic experience!
5. Don’t always have a plan.
Sometimes, the best experiences are the ones that unfold randomly. Traveling without a plan gives you the freedom to change and pivot to a different itinerary whenever something better comes along. So just go with the flow, rent a car for the weekend or hop onto the next train! Any mishaps you meet along the way are merely part and parcel of the journey.
They call it wanderlust for a reason. Wander, get lost, immerse yourself, experience your own exchange adventure!
