anything goes with emma chamberlain - traveling for a month…

Episode Date: September 8, 2022

so for the last month of my life i have been traveling...i've been living out of a literal carry-on suitcase for an entire month. it's the longest i've ever traveled and while, overall, it's an incredible experience, it also isn't a perfect experience, because nothing in life really ever is. i kind of wanted to shed some light on what it's really like to travel for a long period of time. i want to share what i've learned - the best things about it, the things that can be hard and some little tips and tricks to make your long-term travel more enjoyable and sustainable. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello. So for the past month of my life, I have been traveling. I've not gone home once. I have been living out of a carry-on suitcase. I am not kidding. A carry-on for an entire month. And this is the longest I've ever traveled before. I've done some long trips like two or three weeks, but never a month. And I feel like a month is different. Like, it is a whole nother level of being gone. You know what I mean? I think it's very different than traveling for a vacation. When you're traveling for a vacation,

there's a different mindset. I would say the point of a vacation. When you're traveling for a vacation, there's a different mindset. I would say the point of a vacation is to sort of indulge in ways. You know what I mean? Maybe you're having drinks, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You know, you're having a glass of wine at 8 in the morning and it doesn't matter because you're on vacation and you're not getting any work done because you're off the clock, you're not getting any work done. You just get to relax. You're taking a break from all of the strenuous parts of your life. That's a vacation, and usually that's only one or two weeks.

Traveling for like a month is a different experience because you can't be on vacation for a month. You just can't, it's not sustainable. You kind of are forced to start existing in new environments as more of a local because eating out for every meal, laying in the sun every day, drinking a glass of wine, 17 times a day.

All of that's not sustainable for more than a week or two. After that, you've got to get back to some normal level of routine or else you'll lose your mind. That's why I think traveling for a long period of time may be a little bit more mind-expanding just because you're forced to sort of get into a routine in a new place. And I think that's why it's a different experience. A week of traveling is pretty short. Two weeks feels long, but it's still not too crazy.

Three weeks of traveling, it starts to get into the territory of being a really long trip. And then a month and anything beyond a month is just a long ass trip. Okay. You are out of town for a long time. Things back home start changing. You know what I mean? Like a cafe that you liked closed down, like shit starts changing. And your friends at home kind of stop texting you, like it's just like,

you don't even exist at home anymore after a month. Your pets forget about you. They start to think that your pet sitter is their new parent, like traveling for a month or more is a long ass time. Now, I feel like on the internet, here Emma goes again, talking about the internet, on the internet, on social media. Sorry, I know. Every time I say that, like on the internet, on social media, I'm like, shut up. But that is the matrix that we're living in.

So we got to just get used to it. But anyway, on the internet, on social media, I feel like I've grown up just watching people go on extravagant vacations, go on super long trips, explore the world for months on end. And to me, it's always seemed very ideal and very dreamlike and perfect. And I kind of want to shed some light on what it's really like to travel for a really long period of time. I want to talk about it because I know as a child, I kind of dreamed about it. And even up until now, I kind of dreamed about it. I was like, wow, like that's kind of living the dream,

going and traveling around other countries and exploring and, you know, blah, blah. Don't get me wrong. It's an incredible experience. I'm not here to say, hey, newsflash, it sucks ass like everybody's lying because that's not true. It is an incredible experience, but it also isn't a perfect experience because nothing is. And I feel like on the internet, And I feel like on the internet, the way that it looks is definitely different than the reality. So I want to talk about my experience traveling for over a month, talk about the pros, the

cons, the truth, and maybe even give some advice for those of you who would like to do a long extended traveling adventure one day. So for some context, I will tell you where I've traveled too so far. I started out in San Francisco, which is my hometown, and then I went to Copenhagen, Denmark, and then I went to the Netherlands. I went to a city called Harlem and a city called Amsterdam. Amsterdam, everybody knows. Then I went to England and I went to a city called Bath and I went to London and now I'm in Venice, Italy. And then I'm going home. And that's all she wrote.

So that was kind of my trajectory. I did a lot of a lot of Europe. And overall, I've had a really incredible time. I mean, it's been amazing. It's been definitely mind expanding in a lot of ways, but it's also been tough at times. Like it has been fucking tough at times. It was not like, you know, smooth sailing, a dream come true the whole time. I mean, it doesn't matter if you're at home or you're out

in your traveling. Life does not stop. Okay, life does not stop. So I think when people look at traveling for extended periods of time, they think, oh, well, that means I get to escape my life in a way for an extended period of time. But the truth is, is that your life follows you wherever you go.

Your problems, your mental struggles, those follow you. Just because you're in, you know, Amsterdam doesn't mean that, you know, you're not gonna wake up one morning and feel depressed. The truth is, that stuff follows you. For some reason, I always felt like, oh, traveling will eliminate my problems. I can run away from things by traveling. The truth is, that's not going to happen. What will happen though is that being in a new environment might help you problem solve a little better.

And that actually leads us into the pros of extended travel, a long trip. Number one, it helps you get out of your daily routine. When you're traveling, you are most likely experiencing a new or a less familiar environment. And that within itself is enough to sort of get you out of your normal way of thinking. Because when you're at home, you wake up, you have your routine, you do your thing, and you're kind of an autopilot, and you're not as conscious of your surroundings and of your emotions even sometimes and of the people around you. Because everything is so routine, but when you're traveling,

you know, it's a new environment, there's new people, there's new foods, there's new smells, there's new languages, there's so many new things. And you're so overstimulated in a way that you can't help but be present. It kind of forces you to be present. And it all happens very naturally, you know, just being in a new city somewhere, switches the gears in your brain to just being more present. And that is a magical thing. I find that when I'm traveling,

I immediately have a new perspective on life. Because I'm out of my routine, I'm out of my social circle, I'm out of everything. And I'm removed from my home life, which is majority of my life is my home life. And so being removed from that is a very powerful thing. Because with this new found consciousness that I feel when I'm somewhere else, I'm able to look at my home life and sort of dissect

it in a way that I'm normally not able to do. I can look at my relationships, look at my daily routine, look at where I live, look at my work life, I can look at my life from a bird's eye view because I'm not directly in it at that moment. And that is huge. This to me is possibly the most powerful part of traveling is the ability to look at your life from a bird's eye view and really pick it apart. I've had so many important epiphanies while traveling in the past.

For example, I've made decisions to no longer hang out with certain people. I've made a decision to move to a different area. Like move, I mean, I've lived in LA for like the past four years, but I've gone on a trip and realized, God, I hate this area of LA that I'm living. I want to move to a different part of LA, maybe a more quiet area, you know, blah, blah, blah.

I've made realizations about things that I want to do in my career. I've, like, the realizations that you have while traveling can be very powerful, simply because of your increased awareness of your surroundings and of your own mind, honestly. And I don't know if that's a universal experience. I know a lot of people experience that when traveling. Maybe some people don't, maybe that just doesn't happen, but there's definitely a potential there

for that to happen. And that's huge. Next incredible thing is that every day is kind of a challenge, whether you're traveling in a way that is maybe a little bit more luxurious, like you're staying in a nice hotel that has room service, blah, blah, blah, or you're staying in a normal hotel or an Airbnb and you have to go and get groceries for yourself

and figure out where you're gonna eat at a restaurant. No matter what way that you're traveling, you will be presented with challenges. Because everything around you is unfamiliar, you know? Let's say you have dirty laundry. Will your hotel do your laundry for you or do you have to go find a laundry mat? Let's say a lot of the places that you're at only take cash. And maybe you're in a foreign country and you don't have foreign cash. Now you have to figure out, okay,

where am I gonna find cash? Will the bank take my credit card? Blah blah blah. Or my debit card, blah blah blah. Let's say you wanna buy something, but you don't have room for it in your suitcase and you wanna ship it home. Where do I find the post office?

You know what I mean? There's so many different challenges that you're presented with on a daily basis. And that's kind of special. It also increases your sort of consciousness and like your presence. Like you feel so present when you're traveling because you have to, because that's how you survive in a new environment. Like for example, for me, I have been facing challenges on a daily basis.

Number one, I only pack to carry on. So anytime I buy something, I either have to ship that thing home or I have to ship something that I don't want anymore that's in my suitcase home. So finding post offices and shipping centers in these different areas have been, it's been a challenge. Also, I'm somebody that likes to go grocery shopping when I'm traveling. I like to get into a routine. I like to go grocery shopping by my own snacks, maybe buy some fun drinks to keep in my little mini fridge.

I love that. And finding a grocery store is challenging sometimes, but also if you're in a country where you don't speak the language, trying to figure out what is what and using Google Translate, trying to figure it all out, that's challenging. I also clogged the toilet in my hotel room

and I was too scared to call a plumber. So this is not a joke. My dad and I went to a hardware store and I bought a fucking plunger so I could unclog my toilet because I was too scared to call up the maintenance because I don't know how to put this in a way that's not foul, but it didn't look so pretty in there.

And I didn't wanna put anyone else through it. So I fucking bought a plunger for six euros. I know it was pounds because I was in England, six pounds and unclogged my toilet. Also, I had to learn how to use the train in England because it's very convenient to take the train in England. If you want to go from one city to the next, I've never taken a train in England.

I don't know how to do that. And the whole process was so confusing. But there's something mind-expanding about it. It's like solving a puzzle. All these little daily trials and tribulations exercise your brain in a way that you just don't experience at home as often. Another great thing is that you get to experience

other people's way of life, which is inspiring for your own life. And you can adopt qualities from these different cultures and bring those things into your own life. For example, when I was in Copenhagen, I really admired the way that people decorated their homes. And made their homes so simple but beautiful. And there's a lot of inspiring design elements that I was seeing in these Copenhagen homes. I was also inspired by the sort of ritual

of having a little afternoon tea and snack in England. I feel like normally on a day to day basis, I am kinda just running on autopilot all day, just trying to get what I have to get done. And I never even think to stop during the afternoon and have a little snack and a little cup of tea or a little cup of coffee and just relax for a second. And I love that sort of habit that they have in England.

Not everybody does it, but it's something that is definitely more popular there than it is in America, you know, to sort of have that afternoon tea. And I had my fair share of afternoon tea and I will say that that's something that I'm going to start doing at home. Another thing is I love in Europe in general, sort of the appreciation for pastry, you know, whether that's a croissant or little shortbread cookies or whatever it may be, having those little treats with your coffee is so enjoyable.

And it doesn't even need to be like a big honkin chocolate chip cookie, you know, because sometimes in the middle of the afternoon that's not really the vibe, but just having like a little shortbread cookie with your afternoon tea or your afternoon coffee is just so magical. And it's such a small little thing, but it's so magical. And they do that a lot at coffee shops, cafes in Europe. They give you a little cookie or a little treat with your beverage. And I think that that's so special.

And that's another thing I'd love to adopt at home is maybe making little shortbread cookies every once in a while and having them with my afternoon coffee, you know, like that's so cool. So it's like about adopting these little things that you see and you experience and bringing them home with you, you know, bringing those little habits home with you. That is such a cool thing. You discover so many new, magical little things when you're traveling. That are, they're so small, but yet they're so awesome. I think another great thing about traveling

is that it can sort of reinvigorate you to get back to work when you get home. And what I mean by this is, when you're traveling for a login period of time, you might take your work with you. Like personally, I, like, you know, I haven't considered my past month of travel to necessarily be like a vacation in the sense of, you know, I'm on vacation.

I'm not working on anything, I'm not doing it. I haven't considered it a vacation in that way because I'm still working as usual just from a remote location. But regardless though, it sort of has inspired me to, you know, really get back into the swing of things when I get home because even though I'm still

working while I'm gone, I'm not, I'm working in a different home. Because even though I'm still working while I'm gone, I'm working in a different way. You know what I mean? It's, I got a lot of stuff done before I left so that I wouldn't have to do as much while I'm here, et cetera. And so I have had a slight break, and I think that a slight break can really help you get excited

about getting home and sort of getting back to work. And maybe that's like going to school. Maybe you're in school and it's summertime and you're like, I'm gonna go on a month-long trip, go around, do whatever. For some reason, I think traveling can inspire you to get back into your routine of work in school and your normal life.

It can actually help you appreciate your routine at home. And a big part of that is work in school. You know what I'm saying? That's a big part of all of our routines. And I think we can get really sick of work in school and rightfully so a lot of times, but traveling can sort of weirdly make you appreciate those things that normally you despise. It's weird, it's weird because I even remember that from when I used to go on, you know, I used to go on a trip to Maine for two weeks at the end of every summer right before school started.

And I remember by the end of my two week trip, I would weirdly be ready to go back to school. I was like, you know what? I've been so removed from everything for so long it feels. I'm kind of ready to get back into a routine where I'm going to school and I'm seeing, you know, my friends and I'm getting the work done. And I don't know, it was weird. Even though I hated school more than anything, I, for some reason, my trip to Maine would kind of get me a little excited about going back.

Traveling also can inspire you creatively, whether that's on a personal level if your creative endeavors are more for your own personal enjoyment, or if your job involves some level of creativity, it could inspire you there. Seeing new types of architecture, seeing different types of art, all of that is very inspiring for all types of creations of art, whether that's clothing, paintings, drawings, writing, like creative writing, like everything, whether it's beautiful or not in a new environment is inspiring. Because the truth is, is that the world

is not all picture perfect, okay? So like, it's not inspiring because where you've traveled to is perfect. That's not the case. I mean, there might be some incredible architecture. There might be some beautiful art, but the earth is the earth, and the earth is far from perfect in every corner. Do you know what I'm saying?

So it's not like you're getting inspired creatively because things are perfect, but rather it's like just because it's different, it's inspiring. So that's a really powerful thing. And last but not least, traveling kind of forces you to interact with a lot of strangers, whether it's chatting with other people who are also traveling in the airport, on the train, in the street, or it's talking to a local asking for advice, in the street or it's talking to a local asking for advice, you definitely are putting a lot more situations where you need to be talking to people or you just end up talking to people. And I think talking to strangers can be a really magical thing because it can kind of restore your faith in humanity a little bit. I think on the internet sometimes we see so much negative stuff all the time and we can start to

feel like, wow, there's so much evil in the world. And maybe that's true, but there's also so many incredible people. And I think a lot of us tend to forget that when we're locked up in our own bubble. You know, we tend to forget that when we're locked up in our own bubble. You know, we tend to forget that there are just so many incredible people in the world, truly, and so many different personalities and so many different perspectives. And if we live in this sort of bubble where we're only experiencing others through the internet, we're experiencing

their worst. People on the internet are honestly at, it's, it's not their best self. It's their most showy and their most opinionated they're least filtered at times. There's nothing more pure and real and honest than just face-to-face interaction. I think you get the best out of a person when you are face-to-face with them. It's just a really sort of comforting reminder

to see good humanity out there. And I think when you're traveling, you're just outside of your norm. And so you're forced to see so many more people and interact with so many more people. And it can be a very reassuring thing about humanity. And I think that that's a magical, magical thing and it's especially important now when

we can feel doomed at times because we are looking at the internet where we're so overstimulated by Really good news, but then a lot of really bad news and and a lot of really bad people doing bad things all at once we can just start to feel like the earth is a god-awful place and There are some awful things about it, but we can't forget how many amazing people there are out there. And there it is. But now let's get into the cons. The negative sides of traveling for a long period of time. Number one, getting into a routine can be a little bit difficult.

When you're traveling for a long period of time, you have to get into some sort of routine because we kind of need a sense of routine to feel grounded. And if you're going on a one or two week vacation, sure, like throw the routine out the fucking window for a week or two. It's fine. But beyond that, it starts to sort of affect your mental state if you don't have a routine because you just start to feel aimless.

You're like, I don't know what to fucking do with myself because I'm not home and you just start to lose track of yourself a little bit. And it can be a little bit challenging to get into a routine, but it's important because it actually allows you to enjoy the experience so much more. For example, for me, it's really important for me to have a routine that makes me feel good physically. That means eating foods that my tummy likes, you know, because I have a sensitive tummy and certain things hurt my tummy. And so that's, you know, making the extra effort

to going to the grocery store and buying foods that don't hurt my stomach so that I can eat balanced and properly while I'm traveling. But it also means exercising, making sure I'm traveling, but it also means exercising, making sure I'm exercising while I'm traveling because exercising is very important for me, helps me with my anxiety, it helps me release endorphins, which makes me feel good. So having a sort of exercise routine is very important for me. Also finding spots in my area that I go to on a daily basis. Maybe that's a cafe, maybe that's a restaurant that I like to get lunch at or dinner at.

Finding spots that I feel comfortable at and that I can become a temporary regular at. Getting into a routine that is productive, uncomfortable, and healthy for you is really good. Because you can't be in vacation mode for too long. You can give yourself a little moment of vacation here and there, but you do need to find a routine if you're going to be gone for a long time. But it can be challenging, and that's why it's sort of a con, is because it can be challenging. The second challenging thing is you may find yourself feeling a lot of pressure to make the most And it can be challenging. And that's why it's sort of a con is because it can be challenging.

The second challenging thing is you may find yourself feeling a lot of pressure to make the most of your trip. And for the first week or two, it's easy. You're like, oh, this is great. You're going and exploring every day. And you have all this energy and you're excited. But at a certain point, you're going to have a dip in energy. And you're going to start getting tired. And you're going to feel like, okay, I just want to lay in bed all day today.

And you may feel a little bit of added guilt laying in bed all day when you're in a new place because you might feel like you're wasting a day. But the truth is, we need days to recharge and you can't feel guilty about spending a whole day in bed, even if you're in an incredible location or you're traveling. You can't feel guilty. And I found myself feeling very guilty on days when I was just emotionally exhausted and I just wanted to lay in bed all day.

I almost didn't want to allow myself to feel that way because I was like, well, you're on a trip and you're traveling and you can't waste even one moment laying in bed. You need to be walking around, you need to be exploring, you need to be like taking beautiful photos of the beautiful surroundings, you need to be journaling, you need to be mentally aware of your surroundings, you need to be conscious, you need to be like I, you know, all this pressure on myself to be making the most of the experience.

That's not realistic. If you're traveling for a month or longer, you are gonna need to have days where you lay in bed and you watch YouTube and that's all you do all day. And you eat the food that you got from the grocery store that's in your mini fridge all day and that's your day. You know, you're gonna have days like that. And speaking of that sort of burnout that you got from the grocery store that's in your mini fridge all day, and that's your day. You're gonna have days like that. And speaking of that sort of burnout

that you can feel when you travel for a long time, you can also get homesick. I've had multiple moments actually where I've been homesick and I've just wanted to go home. And I feel guilty when I feel homesick because I'm like, Emma, you are such a fucking little asshole feeling homesick when you know you're traveling and that's such a magical experience and you're so

Lucky to be able to experience that and I know that but that doesn't mean that you don't get homesick I still have felt homesick multiple times that doesn't mean I'm not grateful and happy to be here, but it's like, sorry, I wanna go home, I wanna lay in my own bed with my cats and have my kitchen and be able to cook myself a meal and lock myself in my room for three days and just be by myself like all of those things I miss. And so there's a chance you might get homesick, but on top of getting homesick,

you also might feel guilty for being homesick because you might feel like you don't deserve to feel homesick because you're so, you should be feeling grateful for being there. And that's tough, you know, I mean, it's obviously, it's not that tough. It's like whatever, you get over it and maybe you do fly home early or maybe you push through it and you get through it and whatever. Either way, there are going to be moments where you feel homesick and that's just the truth of it. You can also start to feel a little anxious because when you're out of your routine,

your home routine for a long time, you can start to feel a little uneasy. I found myself feeling a little uneasy, like the third week in. I was like, what is my life anymore? Like I don't even know, like I lost that sense of sort of what my day-to-day life is because I had been removed from it for so long. And that can be a little bit unsettling and it's actually caused me a little bit of anxiety

over the last week and a half or so. I've just been feeling sort of out of place. I don't feel like I have a home right now. I just kind of feel like a floating creature and it's weird. I don't have this sense of home that I normally have to retreat to. I kind of feel like I'm constantly on the move in a way that's making it impossible for me to feel any sense of calmness or hominess. And that can be a little bit unsettling and can cause anxiety and people who are maybe prone to it like me. Another thing is traveling,

this, okay, I'm putting this on the cons list technically, I don't think it's a con, but to some people it might be. And so that's why I put it on here. Traveling for a long period of time, and even just traveling in general, it's not always glamorous. Just because on Instagram, a place looks picture perfect,

no place on earth is picture perfect. There are gonna be little corners with piles of trash. Things might smell like shit. People might be rude sometimes. Like nothing's picture perfect. It's not as glamorous as it looks. Also, traveling in general, being on a plane for a long period of time, standing around at the airport, taking a train, all of this stuff, it's not glamorous.

I don't care who you are, I don't care what the fuck if you got whatever. No, I don't care. It's not glamorous. You smell like shit. You might feel like shit at times. It's not glamorous. You smell like shit. You might feel like shit at times. It's not glamorous. Okay. It's not all glitzing glam. And if you're going to be traveling for a long period of time, it's really going to get real quick because you're going to run out of clean clothes. You're going to have to do your laundry all the time. You're going to have moments where you smell like shit because all your clothes are dirty. You're going to, you know, get lost in the streets and you might end up in an area

that feels kind of scary. Like this shit happens. It's not all glitz and glam. There are ways that a vacation could be all glitz and glam. I'm imagining a two week vacation in like Bora Bora and you're staying at a resort and you never leave the resort and you're just in a utopia the whole time. That is a vacation. That's not like traveling for experience. That's a vacation. There's a different end goal. That's for just relaxing your mind.

Traveling is, you know, the sheer purpose of exploring is a little bit different. It's not glitzing glam. If you really want to experience a place, it's not going to be glitzing glam. I love seeing glitzing glam. That's going to be my new thing. If you're traveling for a vacation to relax your mind and live, you know, the good life, that's one thing.

But if you're traveling to truly experience an environment, a new environment and put yourself there and be present and do all that, that is a little bit less glamorous. And I mean, it's just two different types of traveling and both are incredible in their own ways, but it's just something to note. Okay, to finish off this episode, I'm gonna give my travel tips for those of you

who want to just go on a long trip. Maybe that's a road trip across the country that you live. Maybe that's traveling around different areas of a country that you haven't been to before. Wherever it may be, you know, maybe it's kind of exploring around different areas of another country. This advice applies to all types of long extended travel. Number one, create a uniform that you're going to wear pretty much every day in pack a few versions of that in your suitcase and call it a day. Don't pack, okay, you can, you can do whatever you want. Okay,

this is my advice. You don't need to complicate your life anymore than it's already going to be complicated. Just existing in these new environments is complicated enough. Trying to pack a different outfit for every day, it's just not going to work out. I packed a basic uniform in my carry on suitcase, and I've just been rotating through that uniform, sort of like different variations of it this whole entire time. It's the same pair of sneakers or a pair of loafers, either a long pair of pants that's simple,

like a pair of jeans or like dicks and like a white tank top with a sweater. Like, that's it. Okay, it's just been that over and over again. I packed super light because packing light makes traveling so much easier. Traveling is literally 50% less difficult when you don't check bags, or you don't have a massive luggage. And you don't need that much shit you don't have a massive luggage. And you don't need that much shit, okay?

You can do your laundry, you can ship stuff home, like it's so worth it to travel light. My second piece of advice is to create a routine. Maybe you write it down in a journal, maybe you just have it in your mind, but creating that routine is gonna give you a sense of mind, but creating that routine is going to give you a sense of normalcy and comfort. And I think it's really important. Number three, go to the grocery store.

Nobody's eating out for every single meal. Okay, it's not sustainable. Utilize the grocery store. Okay, utilize the mini fridge in your hotel room if you're staying in a hotel. Or if you're staying in an Airbnb or a rental of some sort, utilize that kitchen, okay? Cook your own meals. Make your own snacks, have your own snacks.

It's a great way to sort of go out of your comfort zone, you know, experience new different types of foods that they have in the grocery stores, and it's just a way better. It's I think it's a better option because it makes more sense financially, you know, like it's not cost effective, okay, to be eating out every meal. Maybe treating yourself to one meal at a restaurant every day. That sure.

But over the course of like a month, you know, come on, you got to get realistic here. Go to the grocery store. It's a vibe. It's so fun. I like, it's one of my favorite parts actually of arriving in a new places. I scope out my mini fridge in my hotel room. I clear it out. I take all their little drinks that they put in their out and then I go grocery

shopping and I get myself a bunch of snacks in different little ingredients that I could slap together to make meals. And it's really fun. And I love it. Next piece of advice. Talk to the locals. Ask them what's going on. Ask them where to go. What are the cool spots? What are the underrated spots? Get the tea from the locals. Next, give yourself days off. When you're traveling for a long period of time, there are gonna be days where you feel burnt out. You gotta give yourself those days

to just lay in bed all day. Next, utilize shipping things home. If you find stuff at a store that you like and you really want it, ship it home. If you buy new clothes and you want to wear them for the rest of your trip, ship your old clothes home, ship things around. It's a little bit challenging, but it's very worth it.

It's not that challenging, it's a little bit challenging, but you can handle it. Next, do research online, go and help, go and wherever and find cool coffee shops and cool restaurants that are maybe a little bit off the beaten path. It can be really easy to get sucked into like the most popular areas of wherever you are. For example, like when I was in London,

you know, it's really easy to just go walk up and down the most busy street and say, okay, I guess I'll easy to just go walk up and down the most busy street and say, okay, I guess I'll go into this cafe because it's on the most busy street. But if you do some research and look around, maybe the less busy areas, the more quiet streets, you can find some really amazing gems that you wouldn't have found naturally just by walking around because you might have missed it. But then also, it can show you a cool new area. Love it. And last but not least, try to live like a local.

Try to become a part of the community for the period of time that you're there. I think that there's something so magical about trying to blend in in these locations. It's kind of a challenge, but it's honestly even better than like going and checking out the touristy spots. There's something equally assimilating about going to the local spots as there is going to the touristy spots.

If anything, it might even be more interesting because you're really seeing the people exist in an organic way rather than going and checking out the touristy spots and just taking a selfie in front of it, whatever the touristy spot is or thing is and then walking away. That's a little bit less exciting and fun. It's a little bit less fulfilling.

I think it's so fulfilling to sort of try to hang out in the local spots. And on that note, that is all I have for today. Thank you guys for listening. To all of you who are on a really long trip right now or are planning one for some time in the future. I am sending you love, light, and the ability to only bring a carry-on suitcase because it makes all the difference. But yeah, it's been really fun and really mind-expanding in some ways. I think that it's an experience that everybody should have at some point in their life, and it doesn't need to be glamorous, and it shouldn't be glamorous.

It should be a human experience. That's what makes it so magical. That's all I have for today. Thank you for hanging out. Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this episode and you enjoy the podcast, follow anything goes on Instagram at anything goes or on Twitter at AG podcast. Subscribe to anything goes on all the platforms that you stream podcasts. New episode every Thursday.

Also if you want to check out my coffee company, Chamberlain Coffee, you want to pick up some coffee. You can use code AG15 for a little special sneaky discount. Pick up some delicious coffee, matcha, whatever your hard desires if you're in the mood. That's all I got. I'll talk to you guys next week. I love and appreciate you all very much. Talk soon. I'll talk to you guys next week. I love and appreciate you all very much. Talk soon.