Below is a list of things I thought I would miss on my travels...after over 3-years of travelling, I can reveal my answers.
Family
I had planned to visit my immediate family in the US in 2020. A combination of the plannedemic with its restrictions and a falling out with my brother, resulted in my visit being rendered impossible.
Friends
While obviously missing personal contact with friends, video calls partially helped reduce the pain. Strangely, this has become "normal" for most people around the world! I also have to acknowledge, that some of my immediate friends, are at different stages of their life journey. Careers, relocation, marriage and children, among other reasons, had contributed to a huge reduction in the times we would meet up, apart from the usual special occasions.
While this is sad, this is a reality for many such as the divorced or those moving to new locations. It can be seen, as an opportunity to create new friendship paths organised around areas of interest, which is something I am working on. I was fortunate at the begining of my backpacking travels to meet a fair number of interesting people, some of which I have continued talking to and occasionally, meeting up again in new countries.
Weather
This is an easy one...I have not missed the weather in London. What has surprised me, is how much my body has responded positively to really warm weather. I like many, love sunny days, but not necessarily really hot ones. This has changed since staying put in one location for an extended period of time. I have gotten used to 90 degree heat and surprised myself with how cold I felt when the temperature dipped into the 60s.
Colds, flu, a blocked nose from pollution, are all a thing of the past. Hot weather has also meant a reduction in my body weight; I now weigh less than I did in my thirties. This is a combination of simply eating less as it's hot and intermittment fasting, which has become part of my daily eating routine. Most weeks I simply eat two meals per day; either breakfast + lunch or lunch + dinner. Walking in the sunshine to top up my vitamin D levels rather than to get tanned is my new normal...I have never felt better.
London
Without a shadow of a doubt, I have missed London. Having spent all my life in this amazing city with its diversity of people, arts, food and culture, has indeed been hard to find anywhere else in the world. Only a few major cities are truly international with their choices of food coming close to the sheer diversity in London. While I love pretty much all food from Asia, I am not likely to find Ethiopian, Peruvian or Mexican food etc.
Surprisingly, the full spectrum of the arts: theatres, galleries, museums, exhibitions and concerts I have solely missed. My solution going forwards, is to visit my old home town of London on a regular basis as a tourist rather than a Londoner to enjoy London in all its glory.
Home Cooking
At the beginning of my backpacking journey, pretty much 100% of meals were from street-food stalls or restaurants as most hostels in South-East Asia do not provide cooking facilities as eating out tends to be extremely affordable.
Once I had settled down into slow travel and living in one location long-term, I was once again able to cook for myself. While I have been able to cook some favourites, other recipies are harder to bring together due to the lack of ingredients. I have adjusted and created new dishes so that has been fun.
Christmas Dinner
A highlight of my year was always cooking this feast. I managed to put together a xmas dinner of sorts, while staying at a very friendly boutique hotel and hostel in Tulum in Mexico. While not exact, some of the ingredients remained the same. Hours of hard work, copious quantities of food & drink, swearing, burnt items, but most importantly of all, a collection of twelve people from different walks of life sharing an enjoyable eveing.
Wine
While good quality wine has been off the menu due to budget constraints, I have been able to find average bottles, in pretty much most parts of the world I have visited. I was completely spoilt with extremely low priced and good quality Argentinian wine, while I spent a month in Buenos Aires. So much so, that in a few restaurants, I ordered the cheapest bottle on the menu which came to £3 and £6 with both proving to be very decent. My local supermarket has a decent enough collection of wine including Argentinian and Chilean for around the same price...happy days.
Ale/Bitter
I haven't missed paying £6-7 for a pint in London, but I do miss a glass of the amber necter at room temperature. There have been a few craft ale houses which I have visited, however prices almost approach those in London due to importation costs. In warm countries they also tend to chill ale which as anyone knows is a no no.....I look forward to catching up with ale on my return. In the meantime, cheap cold beer has taken its place.
Pubs
In combination with ale, pubs are an institution which cannot in any sense of the word be replicated...bars are simply not the same...I do miss everything that goes into making the British pub an institution.
Home Comforts
My list included: sonic toothbrush, bath robe, comfy bed, clothes, magazines, books, hi-fi, tennis club membership, powerful computer, fast internet and my mid-life crisis Porsche. Of all of these, a comfortable bed is the only one I truly surprisingly miss, having said this, many of the more modern hostels do have high quality dorm beds. My philosophy of travelling ultra light with just a small 30 litre backpack, was by far, the best pre-travel decision I made.
While many of my home comfort items are not missed as they're not a part of my current way of living. Others have been replaced by digital versions so I'm not really missing out and internet speeds in the vast majority of destinations have been sufficient for my needs. Delayed gratification for a replacement for my Porsche is taking shape once I settle down.
Conclusion
Part and parcel of travelling is expecting the unexpected and coming up with a plan to navigate a new path forward. Adaptation is instrumental to survival in one sense. We all know change is the only given in life, yet many of us recoil from it. Humans are amazing at change and adapting, some things remain, some things change, simply accepting this fact means we go forwards.
Looking back at this article, I find it interesting and funny to find out that in reality, most of the list did not matter!
HOMEPAGE
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