I travelled to 17 cities in 2 months — this is what I learnt
Before we get started, here are the places I travelled to, and instead of ranking them (which is next to impossible, given how different and amazing they all are), I’ll tell you what I loved most about each place (FYI, I travelled to some places by myself, some with my friends, and some with my mum).
- UK (London, Cardiff) — the liveliness of the inner city
- Germany (Berlin, Munich, Konstanz) — the culture and history
- Netherlands (Amsterdam) — biking everywhere and, of course, the coffeeshops
- Belgium (Brussels) — nothing, I just went there for Tomorrowland and left
- Spain (Madrid, Barcelona) — the food
- France (Paris, Nice) — the style, fashion and shopping
- Greece (Athens, Naxos) — the locals and their cordiality
- Switzerland (Zurich, Güttingen) — the natural beauty
- United States (Los Angeles, San Francisco) — the food, but here I’m talking about fast food chains, diners and well-known spots (almost the opposite of Spain)
I then finished my trip in Canada, where I’m on exchange in Toronto, until the end of the year — but I’ve travelled to Montreal, Vancouver, Alberta/Banff, and am travelling to New York, Boston and Orlando later in the year — this brings the total count to 24 cities for the year, apart from my hometown in Melbourne. This eye-opening journey taught me so much about myself and what the world has to offer, and I hope for those reading, that this might inch you closer to making the most of your next travelling adventure, too.
Everyone is different — be careful when accepting ‘blanket’ pieces of travel advice from others
Before I went travelling, I received so many pieces of advice from family, friends and colleagues. Amongst them were
- Stay in hostels — you’ll meet great people and it’s perfect for travelling alone, because you can tour cities with them
- Take every opportunity you can (eg. concerts, festivals, activities) — you’ll never get the chance to do them again
- You have to do X when you go to[this city] — it’s the best!
Whilst these all seem like pretty logical and common pieces of advice, one of my biggest tips is that you should be careful when listening to any ‘blanket’ rule given by someone else, especially if they don’t know you that well. For instance, while I have friends who loved their hostel experience and would probably do it again, there are some scenarios in which I would prefer a hotel — there were times where I would get back to my hostel very late into the night (morning!), and in spite of being tired out of my mind, I still had to be very cautious not to wake up my roommates (I also just need my personal space, especially when I’m trying to relax at the end of the day). And with festivals, I know of friends who simply have not enjoyed some of the bigger festivals in Europe, even though most would recommend that you take the opportunity to go to these events in a heartbeat.
So, while it’s helpful to speak to people who have travelled before (especially to the same places as you), keep in mind that your personal travel preferences might not align with others, especially those who don’t know you that well, such as randoms on the internet. And remember, one of the great joys (or even objectives) of travelling is that you learn more about yourself and what you like doing — so even if you find yourself constantly regretting not making the right choice during your travels, keep in mind that you can’t possibly have a perfect trip. Focus on making the most of your situation, and stop trying to compare your vacation to others — that’s not the point.
Travelling alone isn’t just about meeting new people
‘Travel alone’. It’s probably one of the most common pieces of advice you’ll hear when doing a massive trip far away from home. And while it’s not necessarily a bad piece of advice, I think it’s important to break down why it’s important to be able to travel alone and have fun.
Most people think that travelling alone is valuable because you get to meet heaps of new people, far more than if you were travelling with a group of friends you were already comfortable with. This is absolutely true! Through hostels, bars, tours (this was one of my personal favourites), walking up to some random in public (not weirdly, of course) or even dating apps, you never know who you’re going to come across when venturing on your own.
But, there’s an important part many forget about — travelling alone is also about being comfortable being alone. This is an image which is counter-intuitive for most — no one ever wants to imagine themselves exploring a city, eating or shopping alone. Yet, this is not only where much of the joy of solo-travelling can come from, but it’s a mode of living I believe you’ll have to be comfortable with at some eventual point in your life. Being a student about to graduate, who has lived at home their whole life, I’ve constantly been surrounded by my family, friends and colleagues — most of whom I’m comfortable and close with to a great degree. But as we enter the workforce and plunge straight into ‘adult’ life (whatever that means), we’ll have to learn to be familiar with the solitude that comes with being in the absence of those we’re most fond of — some scenarios that come up are
- Moving to a different city for work (or just for the adventure)
- Moving out by yourself or with strangers
- The loneliness that might come when you’re trying to find new friends
For this, travelling alone can teach you so much about being comfortable with your own company, rather than looking for someone else to fill the void of companionship. On the flip side, of course, do your best to make new friends during your travels, and keep in touch with your old ones through the amazing power of 21st century technology!
More is not better.
When planning my trip (having only been to a couple of European countries in the past), my simple aim was — ‘I want to explore as much of Europe as possible’. As you can see from my list of countries, I visited many of the top hits. And while this isn’t a bad idea per se, especially because it helps you find what you love most (eg. there are some countries in the list I would love to visit again, and some less so), be cautious not to optimise purely for the number of locations you’re going to, because more often than not, this is not correlated with a better trip experience.
I tried to stay in each city for 2–3 days, but quickly realised when comparing this to the locations I stayed for 5+ days in, that the experience you get as a ‘tourist’ (when moving quickly between cities), as opposed to immersing yourself fully in the culture of the locals, is vastly different.
Take my most recent trip to Vancouver, for example. Being there for five days not only meant that I could meet up with more friends and discover so many different parts of the city, but also allowed my friends and I to rent a car for a day to travel to a local hiking spot (Lake Garibaldi — one of my top recommendations) two hours away from the city. In contrast, for Cardiff, a location where I only stayed overnight, I still had a number of areas of the small town I wanted to visit when leaving, and was only able to quickly visit the main tourist attractions during my stay.
Even if it means that your first big trip away from home has more of these ‘pit-stops’ for you to find what you truly like, try to have at least a couple of destinations that you settle down in for a little longer, to give yourself a little bit more rest and consistency — because travelling through so many cities can not only get exhausting, it’s also a hell of a lot more expensive.
I hope you found these takeaways helpful! I’d love to hear about your trips both from the past and ones that you’re planning; and regardless of the above, don’t overthink every decision and be too harsh on yourself — otherwise, are you really on vacation?
