“I regret travelling around the world; I wish I’d stayed home instead,”
… said no-one ever.
The open line to my friend Simon’s recent post entitled My biggest travel regrets. You probably know Simon, he runs a super sweet blog over at http://www.manversusworld.com. If you don’t know the fine fellow to which I am referring or his blog, shame on you! I suggest you hot step it over there and check it out, for his blog and the a fore mentioned post in particular have spawned a cool new tag post series, within which I have been lucky enough to be tagged.
I’ll admit I am a lucky git when it comes to travelling, this site is case in point to that fact, but I am my own worse enemy when it comes to thinking ‘what if’. I wonder if I could have done things better or smarter, I wonder if I’ve missed out on experiences that could have changed me forever. I guess you could say that makes me a greedy traveler of sorts, but doesn’t everyone have just a few little regrets from their time on the road?
1. I didn’t explore Thailand
So its 2006 and I’m on my rtw trip. In between leaving Sri Lanka and hitting Oz I stop in Thailand for a week. A WEEK? Whats that about? God I wish I could slap my 24 year old self around the face with a power house backhander, the type that leaves you cheeks still shuddering a week later. What on earth was I thinking, why didn’t I take a week or two or three to explore Thailand?
Luckily for my cheeks they were spared the pain of said backhander as I was able to right my wrong two years later and re-visit Thailand for a much longer period that an week. It was worth the wait, but its a mistake I should never have made in the first place!
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2. I didn’t stay longer in India
India and I didn’t always get along. For the first two weeks of my volunteering project I sat in the volunteer digs and twiddled my thumbs, the project I had signed up and payed for seemingly didn’t exist. It was a pretty frustrating time. Luckily things did get better, but by that point I was already set on returning to Sri Lanka early on the back of having had such an amazing time there before heading to India.
I spent those first couple of weeks as I say twiddling my thumbs and trying to get to know the other volunteers, but maybe I should just have been a bit more selfish and left the house to go explore the country!? I could argue that I spent a fair bit of money on becoming involved with that volunteer project, but as it was nearly non existent maybe I should have just filed for a refund and left to explore India on my own. I’m gutted I never made it north to Agra, and south west to Kerala. One day in the future maybe …
3. I didn’t go to Tasmania with a mate
Whilst in Oz like most I was determined to visit Ayers Rock and one random morning I walked into the travel agent and booked up my 4 day tour, happy days. Upon returning to my hostel and meeting up with a mate, before I could tell him my epic news he told me he was off to Tasmania on a roadtrip for a week and asked if I wanted to join. Hell yes did I want to join, a road trip sounded awesome, but wait what dates did you just say mate? … ah feck they clash with the tour I just booked.
Now, yes I was on a budget, but why was I such a tight wod as to not even look into moving my Ayers Rock tour? It might have cost $100 or so, but I would have probably waxed that down in the hostel bar within two evenings anyway, so $100 here or there wouldn’t have made a massive difference. I wish I wish I wish i’d have changed my dates and gone to Tazzy with my mate.
So there you have it, 3 of my biggest travel regrets. To be fair, I have little to complain about when it comes to travel, I am very fortunate to be able to do what I do. Still, every now and then I allow myself to wonder what if …
Nomination Time
Like all other relay type posts, there comes a time whereby I must hand over the metaphorical baton to a few other worthy travel bloggers. Step forward these incredible peeps …
Lizzie Davey – @Wanderfulworld1
Kate Clarke – @Canuckiwikate
Kiera Barnes – @TravelTheatrics
Tom Stockwell @waegook_tom
Chris Stevens – @bckpackerbanter
Thanks for the tag, Neil! I share the same sentiments in that I don’t have many regrets of things I have done, but kick myself for the things I didn’t do! What those things are, you will just have to wait and see – luckily there are only 4 school days left before summer holiday freedom for this teacher… but who’s counting….
Kate – Canuckiwikate recently posted..Photo Friday! Week 46: Cable Bay Morning
Another one of my travel regrets – finally catching up with you for a beer just one week or so before I left London pretty much for good. We should have met up AGES ago. Anyway, cheers for the shout-out and thanks heaps for participating. Haha, I’ve slap a 24 year old you, too, for only spending one week in Thailand!
Simon recently posted..My biggest travel regrets
I think my regrets usually revolve around repeating touristy cities solely because friends want to go there, even though I wasn’t a fan in the first place, i.e., Prague.
Alex @ ifs ands & Butts recently posted..eating amsterdam.
Cool post! I know exactly how you feel about Thailand – but at least you got to go back! You got to go again, knowing that you’d love the place and you already had a week under your belt so you’d get your bearings quicker. I did the same thing with Japan on the way to Europe in 2007. I loved it so much I came back a year later for a ‘proper’ trip. :)
Caitlyn recently posted..Hanging out with Charlemagne in Aachen
@Kate – Yep, its always the ones that got away. Enjoy your summer!!
@Simon – Slap away, I deserve it. Yeah we kinda failed on that front didnt we, was a good night though!
@Alex – If that meant you missing out on experiencing somewhere new I totally understand that. I’m sure your friends appreciated you taking the time to travel with them though.
@Caitlyn – Yep, it was like a mini taster session that whetted my appetite. I could still go back for a 3rd time, its a big ol’ country.
Thanks for the tag! I try and push my regrets to the back of my mind but this will make me face up to them! I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing? But it’s happening….. I have a lot of regrets about not spending longer in places but I guess all will be revealed in my post :D
Lizzie recently posted..5 Lessons that Harry Potter can Teach us About Travel
@Lizzie – I felt the same about writing about them originally, but hopefully exploring the mistakes i’ve made will help me become a better traveler in the long run.
Sometimes $100 can seem like soooo much can’t it – then you look back and think what was I thinking! I have done that a few times, but at least now I remember that and take the chance and do those things!
Sam recently posted..I want to ‘Go with Oh’ to Venice!
I would suggest you to explore India more and more. You will find different cultures, languages, lovely peoples and historical Places..
thanks for tagging me in bro – my post should go up tomorrow :)
…can’t believe you only did a week in Thailand!hahaha!
Chris recently posted..2012 – My Year in Pictures
@Chris – I was young and stupid … still am the second of those.
It’s really hard to know if you’re making the right decisions when travelling. There are so many options open to you. I think you just have to stick to your decision and make the most of it. Tazmania would have been cool though!
Arianwen recently posted..A lesson in cocaine