The 5 Different Mindsets of Successful Travellers

If you love going to places, seeing new things, trying out new foods, meeting new people, then you must be a traveller. Maybe not now, but possibly you have been or you got your sights on it in the future. This post I want to illuminate how you should view travelling, and the right mindsets you should have everywhere you go.

Not to escape. If you have problems with your life at home, people you want to avoid, don’t travel to escape from them. The problem with this kind of mindset is that the cause is usually yourself, so when you travel you will bring all these problems with you. So if you’re having problems at home, and you escape to the Himalayas to be at peace there, then a few months down you’ll start finding issues there as well. So escaping doesn’t really work, unless you plan to do it permanently and start fresh.

For the love of new experiences. If you’re travelling because your friends do it, people tell you to do it, or whatever other reason, then you will suddenly find yourself not enjoying the places you go. You get there and you’ll suddenly start asking yourself, now what? Where do I go now? If you love new experiences, you’ll automatically gravitate towards them. Every new place you go to, the first thing you will do is put down all your kit and start walking, running, or seeing as much as you can. You have little care for luxuries, as in, you don’t care how you get around, where you sleep (reasonably), or where you’re next meal will be. You will be the explorer lost in paradise, and you’ll enjoy every minute of it.

To meet all the different characters of the world. This is one of the most interesting things about travelling. The people you meet and the radically different lifestyles which they all have. The world is so different and filled with so many different ways of living you’ll find yourself amazed at how people live that way, and do it so happily. Some people wake up at 6 am to take their cows to the paddocks, because that’s where they graze. If you leave them out in the paddocks, then they’ll  get stolen. How many of you have heard of doing this? This is what happens every morning in farming villages in Thailand. There are so many different ways of life that you can’t even comprehend yet, so don’t judge the people you meet, accept them and their lifestyles and you’ll find out more about the world then you could possible imagine.

doesn’t this look delicious??

To enjoy the delicious delicacies. Deep fried grass hoppers? faeces coffee? sheep’s stomach? monkey brains? All these things probably sound absolutely horrid to eat, until you actually try it. Try everything I say, as long as your instincts aren’t telling you to stay away (listen to your instincts). If other people are eating them, then you, as a human being, will be able to eat it too. You have one life, so why not try everything? Who knows, you might even find a new favourite breakfast. Deep fried grasshoppers are one of my favourite things in the world. I think they even grill it too if you’d prefer the healthy option. It’s nutritious (2-3 times more protein than beef), tastes like chicken, and a lot cheaper than a bag of chips.

A character builder.  The last and final one, a summation of all the other points is to simply gain new experiences and improve yourself. The new rich, as Timothy Ferris puts it, is not to accumulate things but to accumulate experiences. As the Buddha says, all things are impermanent. They don’t last. But experiences on the other hand will be with you forever. The way they shape you, the way they bring you new insights will all contribute to your character and make you a more interesting person. Have you ever met a world traveller who is boring? Who just sits at dinner parties and not say a word? Very unlikely.

So before you go on your next big adventure, check with yourself why you’re doing it. If you love it, then go ahead and do it, but if it’s for the wrong reasons then you’ll find that travelling isn’t so much fun for you.

Thanks for reading. If you have any thing to add, or criticize (be nice I’m sensitive) then please comment!