Tempering Travel

A decade ago I wrote about my love for travel, but lately travel has become exhausting.

These days I am not enjoying travel in many parts of the world. There are many places I go that I don't like.

The first week of travel is cool. After a month I miss my family. I think it is time for shorter 2-4 month trips. 1 month is too short because of the arduous journey where I waste two days travelling from and returning to Australia.

Travel is competitive. While I respect the guys who travel a lot, many are single and I have to remind myself that it is not my purpose and I easily get caught up in it. Many of the people in the travel community are single or divorced [1] [2]

In October 2023 I felt down. I haven't been able to make it in trading and I was focusing too much on travel. My money was gone just like it was after Ecuador/Peru in 2022. I followed many subscriptions that didn't work. I was derided by my overseas family for only travelling. I miss my mum and my sister travelling for so long. I prefer shorter stints now. It is just collect a bunch of dots on the map. There was no enjoyment except briefly in some cities where my cousins live. I am not even getting girls.

I didn't enjoy the trip. Or being away for so long. It was exhausting and no fun. I thought the trip would be cheap and cheerful but it was not to be. I have relatives and friends making one million dollars an year. I am living at home in a basic house, with no nice furnishing, no car, and can't even afford a good top.

At the end of my September 2024 trip I felt really exhausted. I went through tough conditions in the third world. I am not going for my goals. I am not attracted to the girls in the places I am in. I don't enjoy the places I visit. What is the point of going to so many places I don't enjoy? One or two is ok, but so many?

I have other places I enjoy but I didn't go to them. I have other things I like doing but I don't do them. Instead I put myself through a lot of moments I don't like. A lot of uncomfortable buses, trains, and cities with no attractive girls or amazing sites. 

Travel goes against my dream of having a girl and family. There is no happiness going to places I don't enjoy. Travel to purely tick off cities 'darting around' doesn't bring me joy. I didn't have any joy from travel in 2023 or 2024. I darted around Europe - no girls. I darted around central Asia - no girls. I am not staying anywhere long enough. I am repeating the same mistakes. 

I feel disappointed in myself for travelling and ticking off one more city but not achieving my long term goals.

Takeaways

- Shorter travel stints of 3 months

- Few stops in places I don't enjoy

- Balance my travel - go to places I enjoy and things I like doing like dating girls. 

- Stay somewhere I enjoy for 2+ weeks then dart around 1 week

- Focus more on trading. No more subscription services - tested two more services in 2024 and both failed

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It was never my intention to visit all the countries in the world.

In 2012 when I was in El Salvador my friend asked me about visiting all the countries in the world but I never thought I would.

In 2017 when I was in the Golan Heights I spent a long time marvelling at Syria, thinking that I would never actually step foot in it.

In 2019 I spent four months in Europe and could have easily visited over 20 countries but I chose to stay in four countries for weeks at a time. In fact, I stayed in Minsk for three weeks and didn't even venture out to the rest of Belarus. I do regret this a little but I had other goals at the time. I also chose to spend two months at the end of 2019 staying in countries I visited before.

In 2022, I spent 10 months in Latin America and I could easily have completed all the countries in South America but I chose not to.

There were many times I could have ticked off a country but I chose not to. I was on the Bolivian border in Peru and could have taken a boat across to Bolivia but I chose to save it for another trip. While in Seoul I considered taking a trip to the DMZ to tick off North Korea but I didn't take it. Likewise while I was in Zurich I considered taking a trip to Liechtenstein but I didn't take it.

Having said that, I went out of my way to visit San Marino, deliberately chose to visit Belize from Mexico, and drove to Lesotho from Johannesburg so I do enjoy ticking off a country in some circumstances.

As 40 approaches and after passing 100 countries I thought it would be a cool goal to complete all the countries in the world before I hit 40. But after some more thinking, I decided against putting a timeframe on it as it stresses me out and is not enjoyable for me anymore. My initial goal was driven by watching other travellers, which fuels inspiration but it also gives rise to competition and envy. It also takes away from my more important goals as was the case when I previously travelled hard.

I have my whole life to finish all the countries. But I have limited time to fuck around. I want to have a long term partner that leads to marriage soon. Basically I have one last chance before I settle down. I wanted to meet girls in Central Asia but it is too conservative.

I wrote about my desire to marry, however I want to spend one more year being single and hooking up with girls. I will spend some time gaming next year instead of visiting every country. I will search for girls in advance. I don't like wasting all my time doing street game.

The whole point of life is to be happy and do what I enjoy.

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Some travel statistics:

I retired in Jan 2015 (40 countries approx). From Jan 2015 to Dec 2024 (120 countries approx) - 10 years retired, approx 66 months away. 19 months Aus (7 Perth/WA, 4 Brisbane, 4 Darwin, 4 Adelaide) - 5 cities in Australia for 3+ months each. 47 months overseas. Prior to Jan 2015 - 10 months away