Detachment From People and Things (In a good way) Relying on things or anybody else to make me feel some way was a guaranteed letdown. So many things went missing, or there simply wasn’t room for them in my backpack so I gave them away. The first time I purged a pile of stuff from my bag I realized how attached to things I have been in the past and this time they were just things., and it felt really good, I felt free from needing things. I just detached myself from one needing things, but also from those things meaning something about me. That mentality of detachment seeped into my relationships with people as well. Travel people live in flow, the come and go as they please. I love all of the people I met, they are the purpose of the whole experience, but I let go of attaching myself to them. We are all gypsy souls wandering and exploring and making great memories together as we go. They served a purpose, I learned new things from them, I laughed with them, I swam with them, I mountain biked with them, but never did I need them to make me feel some way or stay forever. They impacted my life and then went on their way, which is exactly how it is supposed to be.

Live Simply When all that you own is in a backpack or two, your mentality shifts. You realize how much you need and don’t need. It shifts your focus to the environment and people around you rather than the rat race, a to-do list, or the array of other shit people worry about constantly. You realize you need clothes on your back, and sometimes just a bathing suit, food in your belly, a bed to sleep in, and great people along the way.

    Love The Natural Travel is what you make it, it can be busy or lazy, jam-packed or free.. I was constantly running around to different beaches, doing different adventures, exploring new towns and countries, and at some point I stopped caring what I looked like. At first it was because I simply didn’t have time because I was so busy, but eventually I didn’t care cause I based my day off how I felt in my skin, and usually I felt pretty awesome. I felt happy to be traveling, sometimes I felt really hungry, I felt the sun on my skin, and I felt the deep bite of the travel bug. I hardly ever wore make-up, my hair was usually a hot mess with sand in it, and the most fussing I did with clothes was making sure they smelt okay. I learned to love my natural self and rock the hell out of it.

Trust the Universe Trust and travel really went hand in hand for me. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve shown up in a place with no plan, no agenda, and no place to sleep. But every time I just shrugged, took in what was around me, grabbed a beer and relaxed cause I figured it would work out. And it always did. I always found a place to sleep, people to hang with, food to eat, and cool places to explore. Before traveling I would constantly need a plan, and have anxiety about things working out how I wanted them to in my head. Stepping into the nomad mentality though, I let go of expectations, I had no plan, I had no anxiety about things working out cause I was along for this wild ride. I figured what ever happened, happened and it was all a part of the experience and would give me a story, a lesson, a laugh, an adventure, or a new perspective and that has yet to let me down.

Doing What Makes Me Happy, and Not Apologizing for It Solo traveling means not answering to anyone but yourself. You wake up and ask yourself “what do I want to do today?” And you get to do exactly that and you don’t have to apologize for it. It seems so small, but this was a big one for me. At home I would constantly do things I didn’t want to do because I thought I was being a good friend, or a friend or family member expected me to do it, and would get mad if I didn’t, I thought they would label me selfish or a bitch if I just did what I wanted when I wanted. But I realized I am a human who deserves to be happy, and it’s my life, and the only opinion of life I care about is mine.

Living in the Moment Having no phone service or reliable wifi was such a blessing. When you have no phone, you’re not constantly on a laptop or iPad, you’re not worrying about any to-do lists or things you have to do, living in the moment gets pretty easy. When you don’t have all these distractions, you get to be fully in the moment and focus on the people around you. You get to be in the moment of the adventure, or the moment of just laying on the beach soaking up the sun, or the moment of cheers-ing and throwing back a shot. The moment is where all the memories are made and it’s a good place to be.

Get Really Comfortable in Your Skin Traveling did something to me where I just got really comfortable being myself all the time. You are constantly meeting new people, and everyone is so friendly and looking to make new friends that it’s easy. You don’t have to worry about people not liking you cause for one most people are just looking to have a good time and just generally like humans, and two if someone doesn’t like you it really doesn’t matter cause there are so many people and you will probably never see them again. The biggest reason is also that things just don’t feel as big or matter as much, especially the opinions of other people. You are just there to have a good time and to travel and live your life and you just don’t care as much about the stupid crap that you really can’t control. Finding Your People Travel people are my people. They get me. They have the bug as bad as I do They think it’s normal to quit your day job and buy a one way ticket to a country you’ve never been to, where you know no one, with no plan whatsoever, and to figure it out when you get there. Travel people love life, other travel people, and they know all these things above and live by the same principals. So cheers to the gypsy souls and values we live by.