Travel Regrets

Great post about travel regrets from Nomadic Matt.

Yes, I hyperlinked to Matt’s site for a reason! Click it to read on Matt’s post. Below is my comment on his post, and some more thoughts.

First, my comment (in case you don’t want to search for it):

I wanted to study abroad but my major was set up in such a way, had I left for a semester, I guaranteed myself an extra year of school. Because of the financial impact a fifth year of school would mean, I didn’t get to study abroad.

But I also didn’t lose the bug. During my senior year I learned about a program called BUNAC that enables recent college grads to work and live abroad. Five months after graduation I packed up and went to London for six fantastic months. And you know what, when I came back, everyone was still doing the same thing – looking for jobs, starting jobs and there I had been galavanting around Europe for a few short months.

Great post. So true.

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Now, more commentary:

I don’t like having regrets but if I have to have another it’s not getting the bug sooner and not going where I would have had a local contact with more insight on a place.

As a kid I had friends travel to visit family in Alaska and Israel. My parents would have been financing those trips since I don’t think my minimum wage jobs would have paid for those trips.

While living in London I traveled a lot, but never to somewhere I, or my travel partner, would have known someone. If I went to Wales and Norway, I would have been with friends’ families. A few years ago I had friends living in Japan and I didn’t make it out there either.

A trip to Prague with a friend was swapped for a trip to the Isle of Wight…an English summer resort, which a friend and I visited in December! So while it wasn’t the original plan, it was still a great trip.

I currently have friends in New Zealand, Australia and South Africa and I’ll be damned if I don’t get to those places while they are there!

These are a few regrets but I can’t focus on them. I am very fortunate to have gone where I have gone. Even without these particular places under my belt, I’ve seen and experienced a lot and met incredible people. There’s a lot more to see and do. I’m nowhere near done! I have the travel bug, and it’s in my blood.

In the meantime, travel is about making new friends and having new experiences. Thanks to my recent travels, I now have penpals in Costa Rica, Argentina and Croatia. Those are some pretty incredible places, whether or not you had a local contact before you got there. And by the time you leave, you’ve got some great memories, and friends.

Frank, I concur…Regrets, I’ve had a few. But then again, too few to mention.