Travel Fever

How do you feel when you travel? In my case, it really depends on the destination, people around and just the overall circumstances. But I have to say that most of the time, there is something all my travels have in common.

Preparations

There is this phase before every single trip when most of the people are freaking out. They become super nervous and kinda ruin this nice „looking forward“ time by making it stressful. Well, that’s not my case.

I am usually planning my trip a little more ahead. How long ahead? That depends on the kind of the trip. If it is a program (WaT, Erasmus, Exchange) I have to start planning it out even more than half year before I actually leave. If it is a roadtrip, few weeks or a month should be enough. This gives me a lot of time to put everything in line and get ready for the trip. Buying tickets ahead saves you money, making plans for the destinations and googling things and places you want to see makes you even more excited. Booking some housing, making budgets, searching for more information, it all helps and starting with all this sooner saves you from the nerve wracking situations.

The only part that can stress me out a little is packing. But even that is not as bad. Because after all, if you forget something,y can always buy it in your final destination. You will always have bigger regrets about stuff you packed and didn’t need than stuff you forgot. Unless it’s something you were supposed to bring for someone or something essential like documents or a camera.

Goodbyes

I am one of the people who don’t really feel like they are leaving until they are actually on the plane, or even in the final destination. The day before my departure for a year in America, I went out with my schoolmate and talk to her like nothing exciting is going on. On the evenings before leaving for my 3months stays I went climbing. My departure day usually feels like any other day, eventhough I have to say that I came into this state over time. My first few travels put a little pressure on me. Pressure that was gradating as the big day was getting closer. But it wasn’t anything crazy. Since it never really felt like I’m leaving, or like I’m gonna be gone for long, there never were any hard goodbyes.

I am usually pretty chill on my departure day. It’s more about me telling my mom and my sister that I am gonna be back soon and that everything is gonna be ok then about stressing out.

On the plane

There is just one moment I really like while on board and it is probably the main reason why I like to fly. Actually, there is two – taking off and landing. I love the feeling of being pushed deeper into the seat and resisting the gravitation for once. The pressure in my head that usually makes people sick gives me adrenalin. I love looking out of the little window watching all the buildings changing in size. It always makes me think about how tiny part of the world we really are.

Besides that, there is nothing much going on once you are boarded. To me it’s usually just a lot of listening to music, turning around, finding some comfortable position, sore limbs and many, many, failed attempts to fall asleep. Sometimes I talk to people sitting next to me or watch a movie or read a book. But it’s more of a chill time than anything else.

Hello there

Once you get out of the airport the first thing that hits you is the warmth and humid (unless you’re traveling to some cold destination). It always slaps me in the face, because it’s usually really freezing on the plane as well as at the airport.

Saying your hellos is one of the most exciting things about travelling. It’s one of the reasons why I travel. Because I want to experience something new. See new places, meet new people, try new food. Just get out of the daily routine and really be out there.

Overall feeling

Sometimes, even I don’t know why do I go on all those trips. Am I looking for something I haven’t found yet? Is it because I am bored? Because I really want to see that place? Or experience that culture? Is it just an escape from my everyday life? Are there just better opportunities? There are hundreds of those questions and the answer to all of them is simply “I DON’T KNOW”. It can be all of it or none of it, it can be a combination of many or just a few. I just don’t know. But the one thing I know for sure is that if I wouldn’t want to go, I would just not go. I would not spend hours planning it out and I wouldn’t invest any money in it. I know that going abroad is gonna bring me some new experiences and if they are good, it will make me happy, if they are bad, I will learn from them. Either way it will help me to move forward. It will allow me to take a rest from my everyday problems. I will be coming back knowing what I didn’t know and having some great new stories to tell.