What 4 months of travel taught me about self identity

In April 2023, I embarked on the crazy journey of solo travel around the world. I had a plan, tours in place and was ready to go! It was an opportunity for me learn more about myself, destress and discover the world around me.

"Traveling influences self-identity through personal, spiritual, and cultural experiences. "

So what did 4 months teach me about my own self identity??

The main takeaway was the trip reminded me how much I am capable of things, pushing myself to think on the spot when a tricky situation arose and getting out of my comfort zone to challenge myself to grow. In turn it helped me to regain my self esteem and develop myself further as a person. The other big learnings were:

1. Vintage style is my life.

For those who know me, I am an old soul and vintage clothing/culture/décor is such a big part of who I am. I didn't really realise this until after a week of trekking in Peru. I am a practical girl at heart and totally up for decking out in hiking gear for the required activity. But after my hiking trip I felt lost, I wasn't feeling like me in the clothing that I packed and learnt that vintage styling is something that is so important to me. It felt like a piece of me was missing. Don't you worry, I did pack one vintage style dress and purchased a vintage skirt in Scotland, I was semi back to normal and adapted to my new way of backpacker life.

2. I am a social creature at heart

You know those personalities tests you do in school for fun? No? Just me, okay ha. Well I suppose from my social observations and those tests I just put myself in the 'introverted' category. Nothing wrong with that, but I suppose deep down I denied and/or thought I didn't really need people to thrive and be happy. After spending nearly 26 days with a bunch of people touring around Europe, spending nearly every waking hour with them, I realised, people aren't that bad and socialising is good for you. Naturally, humans are sociable creatures, and we need people to feel connected and grounded in this world. You can have your space and have people too. Sounds simple but something I needed reinforced and shown to me. Cause, before this trip, I was kinda a hermit, sticking to myself.

3. Simplicity is best and simple things in life can bring the biggest joy.

I am someone who has always loved nature, made do with what I have and just look to nature for happiness rather than material things. These values where reinforced when visiting some of the most interesting places with diverse landscapes. The world around us is full of beauty, wonder and diversity that we need to appreciate more. We need to look up from our phones and marvel at the world we live in. Travelling really brought this value and feeling out further. One distinct memory from my trip is sitting at the edge of the cannel in Vienna and just watching the sunset. How often do we do that? Well, not often in Vienna, but in general where you live.

4. Life is short and fear is holding you back

They say "fear prevents us from truly living and doing things we desire." By pushing back we boost our confidence. And this is certainty true! Now, I am a crazy person who has minimal fears, I had more excitement then anything when I set out on this adventure. Sure, I had my worries and concerns but I leant into it and I suppose I did a 'trust fall', that it would all work out. That personally, built trust in myself that things will work out, even if I didn't know all the answers in the moment and that in turn grew my confidence in myself. I came back stronger, more assured in who I was and had this happiness glow that I achieved a goal that I set out to do, making me proud of me.

Now, as always, you will come back down from that travel high. You may come back home and the people around you might not share the same excitement as you and/or understand the joy/excitement/happiness in what you experienced. And that is okay, travel is really for you, your eyes, your soul and your own journey to what you get out it.

Life is full of possibilities and I learnt that I need to apply these skills, knowledge and learnings about myself while travelling in my everyday life. Trusting that I don't have all the answers to what my future holds but from the examples and things I experience travelling, I can handle it, it will indeed work out, and sometimes better than you imagined.

On that note, I have caught the travel bug and will be saving up for my next adventure. Where are you off to next?

Thanks for reading!