“Everything Went According to Plan” — said NO ONE EVER
My travels didn’t start out luxurious. When I was 22, fresh out of college, I knew what I wanted: to travel the world no matter what it took. So, I worked as many jobs as I could, dog walking, house sitting, serving, I even did a stint as an assistant for a Financial Advisor twice a week for a few hours.
Whatever it took, I did it.
Eventually, I saved up a nice chunk of change and took off on a one-way ticket.
My entire life fit into a 32L backpack— which honest is incredibly small compared to others— and I was gone til my money ran out (or was planning on it until I had a run-in with border patrol but that’s a story for another time).
My budget looked like hostels, couch surfing, work exchanges, and anything that stretched my money one more day.
Nowadays, I’m staying in gorgeous, luxury hotels, eating incredible meals and wine I did not steal off of someone else’s table (also a story for another time).
They all probably look perfectly curated. But that is far from the truth.
No, my favorite travel stories are the ones where everything went completely and totally wrong.
From getting kicked out of a dodgey hotel in Paris because we tried to sneak a few extra people in to getting on the wrong train in Bulgaria.
Attempting to hitch hike in Germany and ending up walking what felt like 10 miles to Neuschwanstein Castle.
Or spontaneously leading a “tour group” on a hike through Cinque Terre— that one was fun, we took a wrong turn, collected about 15 other people along the way, made up history and even got tipped €20 at the end.
The point is, no trip is perfect, things go wrong, we are human, and even if you get drunk in Greece, take money out of the ATM that you don’t remember and fall off your sailboat and get stung by a sea urchin (true story, the money was found in three different pockets the next day) it will become the story you tell more often then “the trip was perfect, nothing went wrong”.
No, the story you tell the most is going to be how you said yes to allowing a deckhand on a yacht to buy you a drink then proceeding to bully him into letting you onto said yacht that turned out to be the heir to Coca-Cola (also a true story and the carpet was the softest thing I’ve ever stepped foot on).
That being said, you can always aim for perfection in your itinerary at least, but leave room for error, adventure, and wrong turns, because who knows, missing your flight might lead you to finding the coolest cafe or an extra night where the most gorgeous French man jumps the wall of your hotel just to say goodbye to you (also a true story).
And who knows, maybe one day I’ll elaborate on these stories, or about the time I was trespassed from the Monaco Aquarium for trying to see the whale shark from above. And I can guarantee you I did not set out for ANY of these things to happen, but who wants to hear about everything going according to plan anyway?