Reflections on 200 days of travel

Some feelings and numbers

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May 22, 2024

Ok, so it’s actually 212 days right now. Either way, we’ve been on the road for a long time, and that’s afforded us time to reflect. Here are some thoughts on our experience so far.

Long term travel is a laboratory of choice

There’s a constant economy of time, information and money. For example, traveling for a year means planning on our trip. This is so different from spending our after work hours planning a perfectly structured vacation. (Not to mention, surplus time means we can really just chill.) In addition, since I find planning to be a chore, I end up planning more up front. That way, I don’t have to do it all the time. At the same time, it’s such a joy to plan late, to go off a whim, or coordinate our travels with the weather. It’s quite a blessing to practice making decisions — which we have to do over and over again — in a truly low stakes environment. It’s not like we’ll lose the promotion or be fired if we try something new. Beyond practicing how to travel well, this is a great opportunity to learn how to choose, to learn about ourselves, and to embrace ambiguity.

An evolved sense of home

Cam's "three sisters" honor her past self, present self, and future self. She loves all three.

Our sense of home has evolved a bit. For one, we’ve noticed there are two “communication distances”: you’re either in the same room as someone or you’re remotely connected. Because of this, we don’t feel homesick. How much different is traveling from being at home, anyway? Most of my loved ones live across the state and country; our relationship is already remote. (Hey, living physically close in the Bay Area feels like having a long distance relationship.) Maybe, when we’re nearby, we communicate more, even spend more time in the same room. On the other hand, we’ve had friends and family come to visit us, much like we’d have normal holiday visits home. Homesickness for us has always been less about place and more about people. Because we can be gone and present at the same time, we don’t long too much for home.

Second, our sense of home is expanding to each place we visit. Every stay feels like moving in. (Don’t get me started on how great it feels to do normal errands in a new country.) Every day we walk down new streets and return to freshly familiar roads. Every new stay brings a new sense of “our neighborhood.” Our memories are expanded with new places, and so too, our sense of home. Maybe, home is just being next to the person you love.

All advice with salt

Kids visit the chocolate factory. Adults visit the cheese factory.

We’ve learned to take all advice with a grain of salt. Getting advice goes hand in hand with travel. Recommendations have the same spirit of hospitality as someone inviting you to their home for a dinner party. While we feel the love, we’ve learned to be discerning with the advice we receive. We’ve learned, for instance, to consider the assumptions underlying the recommendation. Cam and I are budget constrained but have a surplus of time; much of the advice we get assumes the opposite. Another thing we take into consideration is the tastes of the advice giver. Do they resemble ours? Like how you might not listen to those whose life you don’t want, you may find yourself disappointed taking even the most enthusiastic recommendation.

By the Numbers

A few updated statistics about our 212 days:

Countries visited: 17 (+11 since our first 100 days)
Miles flown: 32,584 (+9,260) across 30 flights (+13), 35 airports (+20) and 15 airlines (+9)
Number of UNESCO world heritage sites visited: 31 (+18)

Thanks for reading. With love,

Alex & Camille