What has travel taught me?(#TravelLinkup)

Paris, France-one of my best trips ever!

Whether I join the monthly travel linkup or not I always like to read what other bloggers wrote about each month’s theme. My  last contribution was in June when I wrote about my unexpected places but I didn’t feel inspired to write about my home last month. I don’t know about you but I can only write when the writing muse smiles upon me. I cannot force my writing. Luckily, I don’t need to rely on my writing to eat! Also, it’s too hot to think properly and I’ll be offline next week anyway so I didn’t think that I would be writing about what travel has taught me but somehow I started to think about this theme last night and here I am pounding it out.

My first trip abroad happened when I was only a couple of months old but I don’t really remember that and besides it wasn’t really abroad then since Croatia was a part of Yugoslavia. My next real travel abroad adventure was a trip to Venice when I was about 4 but again I have no recollection of that trip either. So I guess my first abroad trip (that I remember) was a shopping trip to Trieste, Italy! Go figure!:) My proper travelling career started when I was at university. Then I started to travel with my friends around Europe. So what has travel taught me? A lot. Too much to put in this post but I’ll try to identify the most valuable lessons.

Dreams do come true

For years I have dreamt about travelling. I’d also been in love with London even before I’ve visited it for the first time in 2006. Ten years later and 11 trips to London I’m still crazy about that vibrant melting pot called London. And I have travelled a lot. So my dreams did come true! Maybe I haven’t travelled extensively as some bloggers did but my circumstances are also not the same as theirs. It’s not the same whether you travel somewhere if your currency is strong and your buying power quite substantial or if your exchange rate is 1£=8.9 HRK. So, yes Croatia is cheap for the British tourists but Britain is majorly expensive for Croatian tourists. Furthermore, if I wanted to travel to London before Ryan Air came to Croatia that flight would have cost me around 500€ with the national airline and my first trip to London with Ryan Air cost me only 50€ return ticket! So I’m happy with the amount of travelling I have done so far but there are still some destinations that are out of my reach at the moment. But I’ll keep on dreaming (and saving!)

in London this May

Prepare, prepare, prepare

I enjoy in travel preparations. I research extensively the cheapest way to get somewhere, the accommodation and I also plan what landmarks I want to see. Having said that, it’s also nice to just relax and go with the flow and be spontaneous from time to time. But on my recent trip to Stockholm I missed seeing beautiful and artistic underground stations simply because I haven’t done the research. I heard about them but I figured I would come across them but I didn’t. We used the underground on our second day in Stockholm but we only saw plain stations.

Stockholm-a great weekend trip in April this year

BUT

Things don’t always go according to your plans

No matter how much you plan or how well you’re prepared things can go wrong at any time when you travel. Buses break down, trains are late, your flight gets cancelled or you forget your camera. Or maybe you argue with your best friend or you get lost with your husband or maybe you get sick and vomit in the street! You may plan as much as you want but there are always unpredictable situations around the corner. Even when everything is ok you might get disappointed with the place you’re visiting or maybe it just wasn’t a good time to travel. When that happens, you need to stay calm and go with the flow. Remember, it’s better to have one bad day on the trip then a hundred good ones in the office! Or something like that 🙂

a trip to Madrid was full of problems but it was such a great trip

So what has travel taught you? Join this months’ travel linkup by Emma, Angie, Jessie and Nano until 7 August!

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94 thoughts

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  9. My plan when I am ar keast 18, is to travel. It is something I have to do and that’s why I started my blog because I hope I will get somewhere with it. But I have a question. How to I do it? Do I have to save up money? How to I start?

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  10. I think one of the best things you can do when you travel is to go on your journey with an open mind and with no expectations – let the destination surprise you don’t build a perfect image of how it should be like. I love your blog and your pictures are phenomenal – wish mine were at least half as good!

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  14. You are absolutely right! Sometimes things don’t go according to plan in a good way but there are also always great surprises waiting for us. For instance, I went to the Vatican City spontaneously and saw a wonderful parade. 🙂

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  16. I was looking for new reading material and I stumbled upon your blog. Great post. Well written and inspiring. Looking forward to coming back and explore other ones you have.

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  26. I am totally in love with London too.. I think I was the same – I was in love with before I even go there. Now it’s my favourite city in the world & I’m planning my 4th trip in 6 years! Can’t get enough of the city 🙂

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  27. Great post! yah things sometimes never go our way… like booking a one week kitesurfing holiday and there was no wind. Or getting food poisoning the night before embarking on the flights home… twice in one year! as for preparing.. there’ll be always something you miss… just have to do the best you can.

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  28. Oh my God! how I loathe the writing muse sitting with a frown but when it smiles…boy does it smile! and try One Pound = 80INR (approx) so travelling to London or anywhere in the West or Europe can be quite an expensive affair for an average Indian but as you rightly mentioned in your post…Dreams do come true!
    Here’s to dreaming and travelling…Happy Travels!

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      1. I guess that’s what dreams are made of…wonderland and unicorns! Until it turns into a nightmare when the reality sets in where unicorns are commercial airlines that overcharge you for a glass of water and an extra pound of luggage…But that’s no reason to stop dreaming ’cause some dreams do come true! Happy Travels

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  29. That’s a really good point about the difficulties of travel from other countries. Thank goodness for cheap Ryanair flights from Croatia nowadays! I’m with you on the need to balance good planning but also allowing for those spontaneous moments. And yes, there will always be times when travel goes horribly wrong. Hurrah for those times when it all comes together and is just utterly perfect in every possible way.

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  30. This is great! I agree with you on so many levels! I love London too but I’ve only been there once sadly.

    If you have time check my blog 🙂

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  32. Yes, when travel adventures do not go according to plan, that is when the fun begins… There are times for plans like arriving on time to a wedding. Then, there are times for going with the flow such as when a friend randomly drops by your place (in another country to go out to towns you have never seen – some places and must do experiences are simply not in the tourist guidebooks). I enjoyed reading your blog. Your photos are beautiful!

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  36. You’re so right about planning. I like to get a balance between planning and being impulsive with my trips but I must admit that back in the day when I used to do almost no planning, I did miss out on a lot of sights I wish I had seen so that’s definitely a lesson I’ve learned along the way 🙂

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      1. Yes!! before you swim up close to a sea snake, at least check with someone whether they are dangerous! Luckily no harm came but I had no idea they were so poisonous!

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  37. I completely agree with you about planning and research, I have been to London so many times, as you know but there are still places that I want to go to, that’s the beauty of London, there is always something new to do and something new to see!!! We need to try to meet up in London some time! Tammy x

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  38. I couldn’t agree more, when it comes to writing. I’m much the same! I’ve always been a little nervous at the idea of somebody requesting a particular post as I tend to write only by what inspires me. It gets the words flowing! ps. One of my favourite things about travel would have to be the planning/preparation as well! The research gets me so excited and I love stumbling upon little gems to add to my itinerary 🙂

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  39. I always have a plan of main things to see, food to try, places to go. And the rest I leave to a spontaneity. The best travel of my life was when I went along for 3 months in South East Asia. What has it taught me? – travelling alone opens more doors than when going with somebody.

    Great post!
    Katya

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  43. Have you noticed that sometimes even “bad” travel experiences can be interesting and in the end positive? I remember getting lost in my first time in Paris so many times, but everytime I’d end up finding some place even more interesting and worth visiting than my original destination 😉

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  44. So true! It’s hard to strike that magical balance between planning and being spontaneous. I also deliberately try not to talk too much about my travels if I’m talking to people who don’t have the same means – or time – to travel. It’s hard to contain my excitement but i don’t wanna bum them out!

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  46. I love planning and am exactly like you if I haven’t planned or researched properly there’s always something I will feel I have missed out on 🙂

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  49. I’m always torn between planning and being spontaneous, I always want to go with the flow but don’t want to come back and regret missing something out. We should always keep dreaming 🙂

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