5 Lessons I Learned While Travelling Down Under

As mentioned to you in a previous post, I have now been living in Australia (#IloveSydney) for a couple of months and it has been quite the adventure to say the least. Despite the ups and downs, I remain immensely grateful for this opportunity and I am so glad I took the plunge and decided to come explore this distant part of the world in order to expose myself to new experiences and of course continuing my learning journey. Since first arriving in Sydney, I have met so many new people and have experienced so many great moments (as well as down times). And because I recently hit my halfway mark on this adventure, I thought that it would be a good idea to share with you 5 lessons I have learned while travelling not only down under but abroad as well, basically since leaving Canada, my little home, almost two years ago now.

My hope in sharing these lessons is that you will be inspired to take that leap of Faith and travel too if it is what your heart is craving. Yes, it might get scary sometimes. And yes, you will encounter many new and unknown situations. But the best part about travelling is that, in addition to discovering new regions of the World, what you truly get to explore is yourself. So be ready for it because you will most likely surprise yourself.

In the meantime, here are some of the lessons (and tips) that I have drawn so far from my travelling experiences….

1. You can make friends anywhere in the world

My closest friends always ask me how I get to make new friends so easily while I travel and when I move to new and foreign places. I am always surprised by that question because I truly believe that anyone has the ability to make new friends easily and anywhere in the world. You simply need to put yourself out there and go with the flow. When I first arrived in this foreign part of the world, I was really apprehensive at first but then I had this affirmation in my mind and I firmly believed it to be true: “I meet like-minded, kind-hearted people everywhere I go”. And honestly, I do! At airports, on the plane, in the streets, in a store, at work, at a restaurant, at an event… just remain open to meeting new faces and don’t complicate it. Be genuinely interested in the person you have in front of you. Listen to their story, ask them questions. I am a very curious person by nature, so I always ALWAYS ask a lot of questions. You will realize that most people love to share their stories, especially when they have a good listener to talk to ;). So don’t be afraid and go ahead say hello and start a conversation…

 

 2. You are more resilient than you think

 

Travelling is great. Travelling is fun but travelling can also be super scary, lonely and stressful! That is also a part of the whole experience though. And what I love about travelling or settling down in a new place is that you get the opportunity to be pushed to new personal limits. You suddenly find yourself in completely foreign situations and you have no choice but to find a way to make it work. And guess what? You ALWAYS, always find a way. When the problem arises, at times it seems impossible to solve and you get scared and it can be easy to get all panicky and depressed. But please realize that you got this! You can do it. Just breathe through it and see it as an opportunity to try something new, to trust someone, to let a new opportunity arise.

I remember when I arrived in Australia, I had only booked my hostel for a couple of days (5 to be exact) after that I figured I would have either find an apartment (flatshare to be more accurate given how expensive real estate is in Sydney lol) or I would book a new hostel. Well, turns out after 5 days neither solutions were possible for me. I started to panick and started to rethink my whole decision to come here on the other side of the world, where I had no family and knew no one! But as it always often happens, the Universe had my back. One of my University friend had an aunt who happens to live in Sydney with her husband (Hey Elaine & Tim!) and she put me in contact with this lovely couple. Guess what? They offered for me to stay with them in their lovely apartment as they had a spare bedroom. How awesome is that? I was so grateful and still remain in awe at how these two people decided to be helpful and oh-so-generous with a complete stranger. They trusted me and for that I am forever grateful: Elaine, Tim, you guys rocked my world.

 3. People, yes even strangers, are for the most part nice and friendly

I know what you skeptics out there will say about this one… “yeah right!”. But I promise you, having travelled on 4 different continents and having visited several countries and lived in a few, this saying is true! It is with this belief in mind that I travel, even alone, with great optimism. I find it can be so easy to buy into the whole “The world is a scary place, trust nobody” phrase the media is feeding us all of the time. I, personally, choose to look at the world in a different way. Of course, I am not an idiot either. I remain careful and avoid dangerous situations. Aside from that though, when I meet new people or interact with strangers, I believe that they are genuinely nice people. And more often than not, the people that I meet are always nice and helpful. The more I believe in this, the more I encounter the sweetest souls in the most random situations. So all this to say, go ahead and trust other human beings a little more. You will see they are not out there to get you! Remain vigilant and careful whenever you sense something is wrong but don’t be paranoid either!

 4. Be open to the new and the unknown

When you start travelling, you quickly start noticing the various types of travellers that exist out there. Some travel alone, some with friends and family. Some travel with a lot of things, some with close to nothing. Some travellers like to stay within their comfort zone, while others choose to explore and experience something completely new. No judgment here. Just a suggestion. If you are travelling, chances are you decided to do so to experience something new and something outside of your comfort zone. Now, that being said, of course, if along your journey you meet people from your country of origin or with similar attributes (similar cultures, backgrounds, religions or even schools,…), it gets so tempting to stick to those people and those people only. To recreate a sense of comfort and belonging. It happens to all of us and it is natural. However, I would encourage you to get out there and go towards those people or experiences you usually tend to shy away from. These are very often the ones that will enrich your journey even more. You will discover something new about yourself and learn to appreciate someone new as well. It gets so exciting and I personally rejoice in these encounters and experiences. So please, my friend, remain open-minded while you travel and try something new, get out of your comfort zone and remember to smile.

 

 5. Stay centered & develop a grounding practice

 

I know. I know. It sounds like I am contradicting myself but bear with me and let me explain. One thing I have noticed while traveling, especially here in Australia, is that you can quickly get lost in the midst of all of the freedom and choices that will present themselves to you. You will hear about so many other travelling stories and will want to do it all, every single thing sounds better than the next. And trust me, FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) will at times get high. I know that at some point for me, it was no longer fun. I quickly realized that I could NOT do it all. It got me all sad until I had a conversation with my lovely brother, who reminded me of why I had decided to come to Australia in the first place. Yes, I wanted to explore and travel and experience new things but not everything I was hearing about was necessarily for me, nor was it what my soul craved. I had to regroup and recenter myself. While you are travelling, make sure you have some sort of daily practice that allows you to reconnect to your core and your desires, your voice, your soul. What do you crave? What do YOU want to do? What feels right for YOU on YOUR personal journey? Make sure you stick to your guns and you have a way to stay grounded and come back “home” (within yourself). This will be your best compass to not get lost while traveling and your best help when you have to decide whether or not a new experience is worth it.

 

I have so many more lessons and tips that I would love to share with you but I will stop here for today. Let me know if you have had any similar experiences in your personal journeys whether you travelled locally or internationally or in your daily lives. I would love to hear your feedback.

Stay healthy and vibrant folks.

Cheers!

Sarah.