A few days ago I turned 30, and believe me, I was going through all the feels! Anxious to not be as ‘successful’ as I thought I would be at this age, sad because my playful 20’s were over, and worried because I don’t own a house or have a family yet. But in the last couple week’s, while moving across the world, I have celebrated my birthday with friends & family who have been cheering me on in this new chapter of life. Because of them I found courage in turning 30, and now am so grateful and proud of the life and relationships I have created in the last 30 years.
Although we all have ideas of where we should be at 30 or 40 years of age, I challenge you to ask yourself what do you really want and what are you proud of? Is it the house, job, your family, friends or life experiences? Not that it has to be one thing over the other, but life is a journey that we all do a little differently. So if 30 looks different on me than my friends or family, I have to remember that’s ok!
In the last 30 years I have learned a lot of important life lessons, mostly through traveling. I thought it would be fun share some with you. Keeping to the theme of 30, I’m sharing my top 30 lessons, I’ve learned thus far. Hopefully you’ll find something up that you haven’t learned yet.
30 Lessons I’ve Learned from Traveling
1. Try new things & even better, pick one new thing that scares you. I guarantee you will grow from it.
2. It is important to make goals and try to achieve them, but be flexible, if the goalposts change. Change with them!
3. Shop LESS: coming from a serious Shop-o-Holic; it’ll steal a lot of your time and money.
4. Balance & change is the key to a blissful life. When you find yourself constantly unhappy, it’
s a sure sign it is time for a change. Maybe you need to shake things up significantly with a new job, new city, or new hobbies.
5. Simply, be nice to people. Idea: say hi to a stranger today; you will make their day and yours. 🙂
6. Get comfortable spending time alone. Better yet, enjoy it!
7. Ask more questions and actually listen – it’s incredible what you can learn from asking questions.
8. A job is a job, it will never love you back like your family or friends will. (For more perspective on this, see why I decided to quit my dream job to travel for 2 years).
9. Stop saying, I’ll be happy when (blank). Figure out what you need to do to be happy now. Enjoy today, as we are never guaranteed tomorrow.
10. Age is just a number – especially important in terms of dating and friendship. If I didn’t get over this, I wouldn’t have been open to meeting the love of my life.
11. Get outside & exercise often. When you are feeling down, this is an easy way to pull you out of your funk and turn the day around.
12. Be a gracious host and invite friends and family to stay with you when they are in town. One day, they will return the favor!
13. When traveling, try to speak the native language, even if it is just couple words (hello, please and thank you). It is amazing how much more people will try to help you.
14. “Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher.” – Oprah Winfery
15. After you find a good book, podcast, movie, or blog ( 😉 )pass it onto someone who you think would enjoy it. Sharing is caring after all!
16. Travel often: you will never regret the money spent on travel, as it will give you memories that will last a lifetime.
17. Take time to meditate & visualize what you want in life (even if it is just 10 minutes during your commute to work).
18. Be kind to your parents.
19. Make decisions based on what your want & what will make you happy, not based off of what everyone else is doing.
20. Don’t be scared to ask for help. I’m always surprised how much people are happy to help when I reach out.
21. Don’t settle, mostly in terms of a partner. Find the person that you couldn’t imagine your life without, and the person who treats you that way.
22. You only have so much time and energy, so choose how you want to spend it. Also, for the same reason, it is ok to say NO! It is OK to be selfish with your time, it’s your life, not theirs.
23. If you want something bad enough, keep trying. You can make it happen! And if people tell you, “you can’t do that”, go and show them you can!
24. Say I love you often. Life is short, and you never know when it will be your last time to say it.
25. Perfectionism is self-destructive & addictive mindset. Remember, no one and nothing is perfect. Instead, “Strive for progress, not perfection.” In other words, done is better than perfect.
26. What you think of yourself is much more important than what others think of you. “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.” – Dr Seuss
27. Don’t let your past, steal your future. Any day is the perfect day for a fresh start.
28. Save some money for a rainy day, or for a day when an opportunity presents itself.
29. Everything happens for a reason, even if you can’t see the reason right away.
30. “You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. Friends, co-workers, family and romantic partners all count.” Knowing this, be mindful who you spend the most time with, as they can impact your success & happiness. – a theory by Jim Rohn that I believe to be true.
Although I’m sure you’ve learned some of these lessons already, I hope you pick up something new. If these are just the some of the lessons I learned in the last 30 years, than bring on another 30 years!
What have you learned from traveling? Please share with everyone below. xoxo
*Photo Credit: First Photo taken by Corissa Bagan
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