There are certain things about travel that make you do it, the things you know you’re going to like: escaping work, waking up in new surroundings, adventure, seeing things you’ve never seen before, tasting things you’ve never tasted before.
But then there are other things you don’t expect to happen, and when you think about those things happening in your regular life, they’re not exactly things you’d seek out: getting lost, feeling out of place, public transportation.
That’s the beauty of travel though. It’s new and exciting and unexpected and necessary; it throws us off. And for true travel lovers, when we find our footing again, we realize how beautiful it is to taste the unfamiliar.
Here are seven surprising things about travel I never thought I’d like but I do.
1. Planning the trip
Planning has to be among the most hated aspects of travel for most people. So much so that there are entire people and companies dedicated to helping you avoid having to do anything that walks, talks or smells like planning. But this is one aspect of travel I actually like. I like those first sparks of excitement that fly when an idea for a trip starts turning into a reality. I like reading about the place and discovering new things that have me even more eager to go. I like picking hotels I can’t wait to sleep in and sizing up restaurants I can’t wait to salivate in. There’s not a lot you can plan in life and expect it to come out exactly as intended—travel included—but there’s fun to be had in shaping a trip that’s going to shape a part of your life, a part of your story.
2. Feeling out of place
At home, feeling out of place is uncool. It’s like you don’t belong. Or you were the last one standing when people were picking teams for dodgeball. No one likes that feeling. But when we travel, regardless of how much we try to blend in and how much we refuse to wear fanny packs while holding foldout maps on street corners, we are still outsiders. We are what’s foreign, not the place. If you embrace it, though, it’s a beautiful reminder that your world isn’t the only one to live in. That you’re a small part of a greater whole and that no matter how significant or dramatic you think your situation may be, life is going on without you all over the world. It’s a humbling feeling that I think would keep more people grounded if they’d allow themselves to see it.
3. Tasting food I’m unsure of
No matter how good it smells or how hungry I happen to be walking the streets of New York City, I’m probably going to skip the Halal carts because I have now lived and learned and grown much wiser than the unsuspecting tourist or newbie city dweller. When you travel, however, you don’t carry these past experiences or fears, which could be bad if you don’t do your research and eat at wildly unsanitary places, or good if that fear might keep you from trying something new and delicious. Within reason, if something comes recommended by someone who appears at least relatively trustworthy and it isn’t made with things I know don’t sit well with me, when I’m traveling, I try it. I’ve eaten termites in Belize, grilled rabbit in El Salvador and durian dim sum in Queens (which, if you know anything about me and my limited range of boroughs, definitely counts as traveling). Some of it I liked, some of it I didn’t. But it was all part of the story.
4. Public transportation
I’m pretty sure no one wakes up and says: “I can’t wait to ride the train today,” but when you’re traveling, the monotony of public transportation can turn into a bit of a rush. It’s a feeling of freedom and independence, in a way. A feeling that says, I got this (even if you don’t). When I took the train in Paris, after making the expected series of mistakes, I felt like I could do anything, go anywhere, figure out everything. When I took the train in Hong Kong, I felt like New York seriously has a thing or three to learn about cleanliness, but I got all over that city like a pro and it gave me a much better sense of where things are and a much greater confidence in traveling solo there.
5. Getting (a little) lost
Getting lost is pretty standard practice for travel. It will happen. More than once. Sometimes it will be a fun little adventure and sometimes it will make you want to kick yourself (or the person you’re blaming for getting you lost). And while getting lost at home can be an utterly amped up ordeal, getting a little lost on your travels might find you at a tiny hole in the wall tapas restaurant you wouldn’t have found or bars with friendly tenders who will tell you how to get where you’re going plus a couple cool places to scope out en route.
6. Problem solving on the spot
Problem solving probably isn’t the first thing you sign up for when thinking about a vacation from work (8-10 hours of problem solving a day), commuting (constant acts of problem solving as you try to figure out how best to get yourself away from too-close-for-comfort armpits) and home (steady problem solving about what to make for dinner or what to watch on Netflix when you only have 57 minutes to spare). But problem solving on a trip can give you the same kind of high that getting yourself out of those timed Escape Rooms can. You’re using your skills to navigate a situation you’re not familiar with in a place you may be even less familiar with. If you get it right, you’re going to like the way you feel. I guarantee it.
7. Life threatening adventures
Now, let me be clear and say that my life threatening adventures aren’t as life threatening as others’—I’m not skydiving, white water rafting, bungee jumping or running with any bulls. But when you’re a little bit of a wimp cautiously wise individual, even zip lining counts as a life threatening adventure. Especially when it’s happening over a Belizean jungle and one wrong move or malfunction would spell a pretty ugly demise. When I travel, I feel freer in all senses of the word. I’m far more likely to say yes to something than I would be at home, and I’m far more likely to try something that scares me. It’s part of being open to a place and what it offers, and being open to your true self and what that offers. Travel has a way of giving you that child-like sense of wonder we should really be trying to live by every day.