Lessons in Travel: Part 1

Having spent 3 months travelling through South and Central America then Canada from February until the end of April, I’ve learnt more than a few things about the world, myself and others. And now that I’m about to embark on “part two” of this midlife gap year, I thought it would be timely to capture just some of these important lessons in travel.

Lesson Number 1: I hate my suitcase (so don’t travel between extreme climates or seasons)
I tried very hard to be strict with what I packed on our first phase of this year long travel adventure. From the outset, I was doomed. We went to places for over 60 days of continuous sunshine and plus 25 Celsius temperatures and then flew to Montréal which was -4 degrees and snowing when we landed in early April. So having to ensure there was a puffer jacket, beanie, gloves, thermals, jumpers amongst the lightweight linen ensembles I had planned to swan around in meant the suitcase was already too heavy before I even landed in our first country. Which leads me to…

Lesson Number 2:Always read the details about luggage allowances on every flight you have booked.

That slightly too heavy suitcase then became the bane of our lives when we realised before our first internal flight in Argentina that the maximum weight your check in luggage can be is 15kgs. So we traipsed around very non-touristic areas of Buenos Aires on our 3rd day in a panic shop for an extra bag so that we could re-distribute our luggage across three bags to meet the maximum weight in each one and then pay for an ‘extra bag’. That extra bag, let’s call him Bluey, then became an outrageously expensive companion for the rest of our trip until we finally sent him home in disgrace from Montréal. Good riddance and very expensive lesson learnt as we could have bought a lovely new winter wardrobe each for the extra expense he entailed. This leads to…

Lesson Number 3: I don’t need to wear make up.
I’m quite devoted to lovely skincare and make up so travelling for three months taught me something quite profound: I don’t actually need to wear make up every day of my life. I can slap on my moisturiser and 50 SPF and leave the house without anyone actually caring what I look like. My vanity slowly diminished over these months and made me realise how much time, money and luggage space I had wasted on this oversized make up bag which I never opened once the whole trip. The sky did not fall in because I didn’t put foundation on. It also halved my getting ready in the morning especially helpful when you have 3am transfers to the airport for a 6am flight which takes me to…

Lesson Number 4: Early morning transits absolutely suck.

There is nothing quite like the delirious state you find yourself in when the alarm goes off at 1am for a 1.30am pick up to go to the airport. That sick feeling as you stumble quickly into the shower to try to awake your poor confused body is only surpassed by the even sicker feeling when you go to bed at 8.30pm thinking you might manage to get 5 hours sleep before the alarm goes off. Of course that never happens because you lie there for 5 hours worrying how little sleep you are going to get and/or panicking that you might actually fall asleep and then miss your alarm.

Lesson Number 5: Be prepared to be stuck at an airport for more hours than you expected.
The worst transit experience we had was when said 1am alarm went off at an airport hotel in Mexico City for our 6am flight to Montréal. We had done all the right things the day before. Booked an airport hotel only to discover it was in the wrong terminal and we had to get ourselves to the other terminal over 5kms away. We did a reconnoiter of the transport between the two terminals and were reassured the shuttle bus ran 24/7 (it didn’t) and kept the exact amount of cash we needed for the fare (but actually had to spend some USDs on a ridiculously expensive taxi fare). We arrived in plenty of time, got through customs (weirdly no immigration at MXD) and settled in for a nap before the flight. These naps are of course the most uncomfortable upright, slightly paranoid ones you have while sitting on plastic benches at the gate. Then around 5am we get a message to say our flight has been delayed. SIX HOURS. Turns out the co-pilot got food poisoning (more on that later) and they had to fly someone else in from Toronto. We finally made it to Montréal at 10pm that night securing the award for longest, most torturous transit of the entire trip. I learnt that you have to give over any frustrations or desperation to the travel gods because you never know how things will go at any airport or on any transit. They still just suck.

Lesson Number 6: I really hate buffets.

Maybe as a kid, buffets were some kind of food paradise but now as a grown up woman I see them for the evil they truly are. I certainly have fond memories of the bar at Pizza Hut with its array of potato, bean, coleslaw and grated carrot and sultana salads but a buffet while you are on a group tour in foreign countries only means two things: you are going to be ripped off mercilessly and the food will be terrible. We only had to endure a few buffets throughout the three months of travelling but each experience reinforced them as the singular worst thing about group travel. Being shuffled into a huge, cavernous hall with a few hundred hangry tourists and told that you would have to pay $80 per person (I’ve got you in mind Iguazú Falls) for what you know will only be one small plate of food (because who can actually eat multiple plates of food to get their money´s worth??) is simply the worst that tourism has spawned.

Lesson Number 7: Prepare to get sick and treasure your good health.
Our decision to take this amazing year off work to travel the world is in part motivated by a growing awareness I have in my midlife that you can never, ever take your good health for granted. Every birthday is a gift and investing time in keeping fit (physically and mentally) is essential. As I clambered up 300 steps to the top of a Mayan temple in Tikal, Guatemala or sweated like I have never sweated before on a hike in the Amazonian jungle, I was so thankful for my body and how it moves. To be able bodied and fit enough to embark on some heart pounding adventures is something I feel very grateful for. Even more so when after eating a bowl of fried crickets and some amazing chicken mole in a rooftop restaurant in Oaxaca, Mexico, I spent the next 24 hours suffering “Montezuma’s Curse”. When you travel this long you will inevitably get sick. I was “cursed” twice (I swear the second time was a literal curse from the weirdest Catholic/pagan combo church I have ever visited in a village outside San Cristóbal) so you have to give yourself time to recover, build in some rest days and probably skip the crickets. Or maybe not…

Lesson Number 8: Say yes, take risks and do the things that scare you.
Some of the most memorable experiences I had over the three month journey was saying yes to things I would normally have said no to. I have a list as long as my arm of things that scare me but this time around I tried to take a deep breath and do it anyway. I never would have thought that I would happily walk through dense jungle in the Amazon where there were probably a thousand things that could kill me. But I did and absolutely loved it. I never thought I would don a life jacket and take a jet boat ride into the rapids and under some of the biggest waterfalls in the world. But I did and squealed with pure adrenaline filled joy. I definitely never, ever thought I would be willingly strapped into a harness and zip line across the tree canopy into the clouds as they rolled across the mountains of Monteverde, Costa Rica. But I did and screamed my little lungs out on every span. And almost sort of enjoyed the final run. These are just a few of the things that made me realise I am tougher and braver than I realised. I can jump into a lake where I can’t see the bottom. I won’t ever bungee jump though. I’m not that mad.