Britany Robinson likes to tell the story about how she left a trail of bedrooms with little plastic stars stuck to the ceilings as she moved from place to place with her parents growing up. Now, as that little girl’s lust for movement never stopped, Britany is leaving a trail of metaphorical stars everywhere she goes and writing about it on her blog, Stars on the Ceiling. In our One Question response today, I ask Britany about independent travel and whether or not she’d have any advice to give a first-timer. Enjoy!
As a blogger who advocates for independent travel, what’s the one piece of advice you wish you’d had before you started out, and why?
I’ve been thinking about how to answer this question for awhile and I think I’ve finally concluded that there really isn’t any advice that I could have been given that would have significantly changed my trip.
The endless bits of advice and tips and words of encouragement we find in the community of solo travelers can all be put to good use, like… make sure to arrive in new cities during the day time, carry different types of locks for your belongings, and always tell someone back home where you are. You’ll constantly collect this type of advice whether you search it out or not because people are inherently concerned about solo travelers — particularly solo female travelers.
Then your trip starts and things happen that you never could have anticipated. Some of the advice you’ve collected proves useful and some proves completely futile. Ultimately, you realize that despite the challenges involved in any type of travel, it’s actually a lot easier than people portray it to be. You discover your groove — the ways in which you like to travel, and spend your days, and spend your money, and look after yourself. For me, travel has simultaneously proven completely awe-inspiring and completely natural. I love the challenges it presents and the comfort zones it forces me to abandon, but it has also started to feel normal — almost mundane, like this could just be my day to day life.
So I guess I do have one thing I wish someone had advised me before the start of my trip: don’t stress out about the overwhelming amount of advice you’re going to receive prior to traveling.
If someone says “You CAN’T MISS THIS in Colombia” but you don’t have the time or the desire or either to fit it into your itinerary, then miss it. Focus on making your travels your own. At the end of the day, you’ll have endless stories, chock full of useful advice to doll out to other travelers but none of it will compare to what you’ve learned about yourself in the process of learning everything else.
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Britany Robinson’s blog, Stars on the Ceiling, is an outlet for recording a stubborn determination to discover what she wants out of life on her own terms. Its also a testament to the often ignored possibilities available to anyone who wants to do the same. She’s always up for exploring somewhere new and inspiring others to do the same!
Good advice!
naturally like your web-site but you need to take a look at the spelling on several of your posts.
Several of them are rife with spelling problems and I find it very bothersome
to tell the reality then again I’ll certainly come back again.