Top 3 Travel Tips

One of my main goals is to inspire others to travel farther and get more out of their journeys. These are the top 3 ways to do exactly that.


#1. Plan your next trip TODAY


I’m serious. Right now. Where do you want to go? Who have you been meaning to visit?

Pick a place and make it happen. Skip Thanksgiving if you have to. Put a big marker line on the calendar. Talk about it at dinner tonight. You’re going.

You’ve got one life to live and playing it safe is the most self-limiting thing you can do. By saving money early in life you are sacrificing your own potential – your potential to grow beyond your comfort zone, discover who you really are, and gain direct experience of the world.

“I refuse to walk carefully through life only to arrive safely at death.”

– Paulo Coelho

And the sooner you travel the greater the benefit – because you will benefit longer from the new doors that are opened, your new understanding of yourself, and the benefits of being open-minded and more well rounded.

Normally this topic is couched as a dilemma between spending money to travel and investing it “responsibly.” Now, I’m not saying be irresponsible – but fuck bank accounts.  Bank accounts don’t live your life, you do. Invest in your mind, in your memories, in the stories you will tell and the person you will become. Nothing makes you richer or builds wisdom faster than your own adventures.

“Some people are so poor all they have is money.”

– Anonymous

#2. Stay with a local


This is the single biggest secret to get more out of travel.

Instead of just sight-seeing and inevitably feeling like a tourist, by staying with a local you get to go behind the scenes of a city, experience what their life is like, and build lasting friendships.

Nothing makes a trip better than the advice and hospitality of a local. Staying with a local has the obvious benefits of them knowing all the best restaurants and hidden places – but it also gives you a more authentic experience of life in that city. In my experience, staying with a local will overwhelm you with a sense of our shared humanity and will become the most memorable part of your trip.

Staying with a local will overwhelm you with a sense of our shared humanity and will become the most memorable part of your trip.

So tap into your network. Who do you know? Think harder. What about that college friend that moved away, or that distance relative who married a Moroccan? Scroll through all your Facebook friends if you have to. Talk to your coworkers and friends-of-friends. They want to show you their home country, I guarantee it.

If your network falls short, or you’ve already exhausted it, CouchSurfing is a limitless resource for finding eager locals. People from every country in the world now have profiles that you can contact and request to stay with. They will review your profile and if they agree to your stay you have free accommodations and the priceless advice of a local (and more than likely an enthusiastic tour guide).


#3. Just Say Yes


This is your chance to try something new and go beyond your normal limits (which are entirely self-imposed). Make a point to try things you don’t normally try. Find your curiosity for the world and allow yourself this chance to grow. You have every other day of the year to do your normal routine back home.

“Some people die at 25 and aren’t buried until 75.”

― Benjamin Franklin

When you travel, open up. Go with the flow. You won’t see new sights if you follow the same path everyday.

So go get lost. Go explore. Go to that country you never thought you’d visit. Go with the flow. Open up. Say “Yes” to every opportunity, every side trip, and every unidentifiable dish. This is where the real magic happens; eating food you can’t identify, traveling places you can’t name, in a part of the world you never thought you’d visit. Just say Yes. You’ll be a richer person for it.

“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.”

― Neale Donald Walsch

P.S. – Screw Nancy Reagan

Why Travel?

Traveling is one of the most transformative experiences you can have in life. I believe it’s also one of the greatest forces for positive change in the world.

I travel a lot but I can’t remember the last time I went on “vacation.” Travel is not an escape. It’s not a retreat into umbrella cocktails and Swedish massages. Travel is an embrace of the moment, an adventure into the world beyond your comfort zones, and an exercise in mind expansion.

I’m not talking about visiting museums or monuments either. I mean how getting lost, and being uncomfortable, not being able to speak the language, or shitting your pants on a third world bus teaches you really important things about life. When traveling, you don’t have any of the things that make you “you,” which makes you question who the fuck you are in the first place. You’re forced to do things another way, outside of your comfort zone. These experiences change you, irreversibly, and that’s a good thing.

“Safety and comfort are mortal dangers to the soul.”

– Sam Sheridan, A Fighter’s Heart

Be Open – Embrace Change


There is no greater path to personal growth than traveling. Nothing else will prove to you more that you’re not defined by the circumstances in your life. When you leave behind everything that makes up your daily life, you see that you’re free to be anyone, anywhere.

“You’re not your fucking khakis”

– Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club 

By stepping outside of your everyday life and seeing it from a new perspective, traveling ultimately teaches you more about yourself and where you come from than staying at home and being “yourself” ever could.

Traveling brings you face to face with a whole spectrum of different ways of doing things. This direct experience of the world begins to cast your home country in a new light. It starts to become clear that all the little things you took for granted in life are arbitrary conventions of the place you were born. Like what side of the road you drive on, what food you eat for breakfast…or even what makes you a man (Hint: it’s not watching football and fetishizing over meat).

You realize too that you weren’t born perfect, and that the norms and conventions you grew up with are not the only ways to live. It is only by embracing change that you can hope to be better.

“To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.”

– Winston Churchill

The only way to change and grow is to be open. Nothing tears your mind open faster than traveling the world.


Finding Out What you Don’t Know


“The farther you go, the less you know.”

– Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

Although you learn lots of new things while traveling, you also start to discover just how vast the world really is; by encountering regions, sub-regions, languages and entire histories you never knew existed. You’re forced to do things you’re not good at and have never done before; like trying to speak a new language, or comprehend the process of a Turkish bath. With the vocabulary of a five year old and no idea about local customs you are reduced to a kind of functional-infancy. The whole affair is an exercise in your own ignorance – which can be really eye-opening and rewarding with the right attitude. These experiences develop a deeper appreciation for what you don’t know about the world – which will always out number what you do know.

There are more amazing places in the world than any of us know. But beyond amazing places there are different places; and experiencing different is what keeps you growing. Different makes you realize what you don’t know, what you didn’t know you could know, and what you hadn’t even considered. This is what matters.

“The best journeys in life are those that answer questions you never thought to ask.”

– Rick Ridgeway

By diving head first into that unknown you will rediscover the present moment, learn patience through pain, and foster the genuine wisdom of open-mindedness.


Every trip, no matter how short, is an opportunity to try something new and expand your horizons. Every trip is an investment in your mind, in your memories, in the stories you will tell and the person you will become.

If you’re excited to travel now check out my Top 3 Travel Tips.