Your life will never be the same.
I mean this in good and bad ways. Giving in to your wanderlust will rock you to the core, and change you in ways you never thought you would change (read The Gypsy Life: How Living Out of a Backpack Can Change You), but it will also make the life you left behind no longer a part of you. Don’t get me wrong your past will always play a part in your story, but you can never ungrow or unlearn or unsee the world or experiences you have. This means that friendships you had will change for better or worse, dreams you had will transform into newer, bigger dreams, and the life you used to imagine you wanted is no longer the image you have in your head. Now all you can think about is traveling, seeing the world, and living an unconventional but really big and inspiring life.

Traditional work/life will seem like an impossible reality.
After giving in to wanderlust, spending all of my money, and getting into debt to see the world, I knew it was so worth it but getting a job when I got home was going to be a necessity. Luckily I have a great job that I love (and am building a business that I love even more), but even so living within the confines of 4 walls and having to be here at defined times and being so structured in my life because I have many bills to pay is sometimes too much to handle. There’s this new intensity in me that needs to wander, have freedom, explore, march to the beat of my own drum, wake up and sleep when I want, be free and wild, and it hits with such ferocity sometimes I feel I can’t breathe if I stay inside these walls one more minute.

Scratching the itch will only make it worse.
“I’ll just try it once” is never something you should think when it comes to traveling. It will seep into your soul, burrow into your bones, your mind, and your spirit so deep, and etch itself so permanently on your heart that there is no turning back. Your heart will ache deeply when you see travel photos or of places you have yet to explore, your mind will wander at all times of the day whether or not it’s convenient for you, and your soul will crave travel with such an intensity that you cannot sit still for long. So one piece of advice, if you’re not ready for a lifelong commitment to the world but you have wanderlust, get over it. buy a ticket. transform your mind. live your dream. Change. Grow. hold on tight for the ride of your life. Let go of the lust, just wander.