10 Lessons Learned (so far)

In honor of this being our tenth blog post, how about 10 lessons learned while living on the road? Cool!

1. SIM cards are not your enemy

I don’t really know why, but going into this, I just had this gut feeling like “oh geez… golly… shucks I don’t wanna have to deal with SIM cards! It doesn’t make sense! AT&T is gonna kill me! I’ll just pay more for something I don’t have to think about!” Wrong. SIM card vendors are easy to find, and likely they’ll do all the work for you. I can almost guarantee it’s cheaper than your domestic carrier, and we really haven’t had any problems with reliability. Additionally, if your phone has eSIM capability, it’s even easier. Just download an app or buy one online. Do it. There are certain countries where eSIMs are not yet available or it's not as easy to obtain as standards SIM cards (like Nepal, where you have to go to specific locations to purchase eSIMs) so make sure you do some research if you have one of the newer phones that only have eSIM capability. 

Or if you do, just be prepared for some level of disappointment. I’m not saying that it’s going to be bad, but it’s likely not going to be the same, and it may not really fulfill your craving. Let me elaborate. My favorite hangover food is a breakfast sandwich. In Thailand, we tried so so hard to make this work. We would order an American breakfast platter, which included toast, chicken sausages, eggs, and potatoes, and assemble a sandwich with these raw ingredients. It came close (did it?), but nothing beats a chewy bagel, melted cheese, fried egg, and greasy pork sausage patty, made right in front of you, preferably at Mike’s in Ballston. I’ll try again in another country, pending the next wild night. ;)  

We brought two of those all-in-one international travel adapters with us that should work in every country we’re headed to on this trip. I’d used one of these before on other trips abroad so I knew it was a must but Peter was a bit skeptical that it would work well. This just simplifies a lot. I remember getting our international wall adapter and looking at it like “this thing is very strange and I’m not sure it’s going to work.” But it does. Combine that with a compact power strip and you’re set. Don’t let your devices go dead when you need them most. 

Especially if you’re going to be gone for a week or more, it really helps to be able to have some sort of coffee and breakfast at home so you’re not eating out for every single meal and you can save some money. However, we’ve occasionally found ourselves without a tea kettle, bowls, glasses, or simple utensils. OR sometimes it’s a random mix of those things. It helps to check ahead of time so you can plan your meals a little better. This simple detail helps bring a little structure to your day and avoid unnecessary food expenses. In one spot in Thailand, we didn’t even have a knife, so I had to peel my mangoes with my hands and eat it like Tarzan. I’m gonna make it work however I need to when it comes to mangoes, but a lack of the basics does make other things a bit more difficult to consume. 

Personally, I hate haggling for a price. However, if you’re going somewhere where that’s expected, you really should do it. It will be the difference between paying a reasonable price or 2-3x its value. A simple google search will let you know if it’s culturally appropriate or not. Again, as someone who doesn’t really enjoy this, I’ll usually ask for a lower price at least one time, and if they drop, then great. If not, it’s okay to move on from the deal too, they may lower the price again! Meanwhile, I LOVE haggling. I think it’s so much fun and I enjoy the banter involved. I always joke around with the shopkeepers and try to ask them questions. It’s like a little game! 

I think we’ve learned this one over a period of years, but it still stands - make sure you communicate with your companions. There are a number of ways to experience foreign places, and everyone has a different preference. Talk about this going into it. Some people won’t bat an eye spending 8-12 hours of straight lounging (Peter), while someone else might see that as a day lost to the abyss (Shriya). There’s no wrong answers, and no wrong way to travel (this is incorrect LOL). However, if you take a trip to Italy just to find the nearest Olive Garden, I’m not sure I could forgive you. You love unlimited breadsticks that much? Can't go a week without feeling like famiglia?  Hmm… I do love that five cheese ziti… ANYWAY, just make sure you communicate during the planning process and throughout. All jokes aside, even though Peter and I traveled often before this trip, we’ve learned that this type of long-term travel does require more self-awareness and almost constant communication. We discuss what we need day to day and what we expect from each other often since we have no real routine or comforts of home to fall back on. 

There are lots of benefits here: it’s lighter, fits on the airplane better, and you know you’re going to want to bring back a couple souvenirs. I know it feels like you NEED all that stuff in there, but trust me, it's worth making a little room (especially if you have a behemoth backpack like I do). UGH despite Peter’s best efforts, I still haven’t learned this lesson. 

I resisted this for a long time. While traveling, I feel like I have to do and see everything in a new place. I can rest when I’m back on my couch! But this way of thinking backfired during our trip to Paris. I crammed our days from morning to night and got very sick and felt extremely worn out by the end of it. Turns out that you can’t see and do all of Paris in 8 days. Oops. Despite your best intentions and desires to see EVERYTHING, it’s smart to leave some down time on a couple days. Especially if you’re changing time zones, your body might not be able to keep up. As someone with an absolutely remarkable level of toughness and grit, I admit that sometimes, naps are a must. My wife has verified that I am incredibly tough (the toughest). Please don’t question this.  

Of course, you’re going to have to exercise patience during the usual stressful travel situations: flight delays, road closures, tour cancellations, etc. But we’ve also learned how to be much more patient with each other and with ourselves. I am a meticulous planner and I take pride in crafting the perfect itinerary when we travel. But that’s just not possible for a trip like this. I can’t plan out every accommodation, meal, flight, and activity to perfection for months on end. So I’ve had to learn to forgive myself for my mistakes and laugh at the inevitable mix-up. We’ve also had to be patient as we learn about local customs and differences in day to day norms. 

For example, I may want to suplex someone for crowding me in line or GOD FORBID cutting in front of me, but you know what? Not everyone sees queues the way I do. That’s okay. Just don’t stand on the left side of an escalator, because I might lose it. 

My role as a visitor is not to pass judgment, make assumptions, or change behaviors. It’s to observe and learn, and try to engage as responsibly and respectfully as I can. 

This was a big lesson to learn and I’m still trying to figure out a better rhythm for connecting with friends and family back in the US. The time difference is a huge pain. When you’re just on vacation for a couple of weeks, you know you can catch up on everything once you’re back. But a year is a long time. And FOMO is REAL. I’m missing out on seeing my friends’ life/career milestones, Christmas with family, Halloween parties, birthday celebrations, and so much more. Please, call me, text me, ask if we can Zoom/FaceTime/messenger chat/WhatsApp, WHATEVER platform you wanna connect on, I’ll be there. 

Let me tell you about Priya and her lovely friend Samu (Siwani). Has there been a more iconic duo? Both so cool and smart, and the first to comment on specific posts on Tik Tok and Instagram. What can I say other than LOD just isn’t the same without them, and it never could be. Congratulations! Wasn’t that worth it?

Shriya & Peter