Wanderlust – everyone’s claiming to be infected by the incurable disease, but how do you know if you’ve got it for sure? Here are 7 signs you haven’t traveled enough – aimed to inspire and encourage you to travel more often, to more places, and with fewer reasons holding you back.
1. You haven’t explored your own country in its entirety
You’ve heard it before – the grass isn’t always greener.
If you have a case of wanderlust but can’t currently afford a trip abroad or can’t currently take the time off work, perhaps you’ve just forgotten the obvious – to explore closer to home! A weekend road trip can often be just as adventurous and exciting as taking a two week trip to a foreign country. Just remember, everything is what you make it.
2. You haven’t been lost
If you can’t recall a time where your travel plans went astray and you found yourself completely lost on your travels, you haven’t traveled enough. Travel in its purest form is about the ups AND downs, the good AND bad, the right AND wrong. You won’t learn anything from having everything go right – be sure to take risks, go without a plan, ditch the map for a day, and just wander without intent or reason.
3. You haven’t let travel change you
When someone asks you ‘how did travel change you’, you shouldn’t be able to answer. This question should keep you talking for hours on end as your passion for travel and all you have seen, done, experienced and explored pours to the tip of your tongue like another language you speak. If you can count the way travel has changed you on your fingers, you haven’t traveled enough. Similarly if you dare answer with ‘it gave me a tan’, you need to get back out there.
4. You haven’t inspired at least one other person to travel
If you’ve traveled enough, you will be so in love with it that you inspire others around you to want to share in your passion. Even if they haven’t actually gone on a trip, your travels should inspire at least one other person to want to go out their and see the world too. This doesn’t have to be through a blog, it could be as simple as sharing travel stories and photos on your social media or day I say it, through real, live, actual photographs.
5. You don’t have a global friend group
The travelers will always have someone online to talk to at any whacky hour of the day because they’ve met so many people from so many continents that ‘it’s always 5 o clock somewhere’. If you don’t have any foreign friends, it’s time to go out there and make some.
6. You haven’t created and recreated your travel list
You know you’re suffering from a serious case of wanderlust when your hobbies include researching travel destinations and creating/recreating your travel bucketlist or list of places to visit sooner rather than later. It is perhaps ironic that the more you travel, the less you feel you have actually traveled. As you make your way around the world you will inevitably hear about new places to visit and be endlessly adding these to your list.
7. You haven’t lived in the moment completely
If you can’t recall a time in your travels where you were completely in the moment, you certainly have not traveled enough. But how do you know? If you can close your eyes and imagine the place, recall the smell, the sounds around you, the way it felt, how the wind was blowing, and so on and so forth…. then you were completely in the moment somewhere, someplace, at some time. If not – get back out there!
Brooke Saward
Brooke founded World of Wanderlust as a place to share inspiration from her travels and to inspire others to see our world. Now in it's third year, World of Wanderlust is home to a collection of the world's best experiences, destinations, tours, hotels, restaurants, and lifestyle brands.
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September 21, 2014Susan
June 18, 2015 at 5:52 pmCan’t agree with them all. Been on 6 of the seven continents, have been traveling worldwide since 1969 and still am, but have not traveled my own country in its entirity. That will come when I am tired of taking long flights overseas and want to stay in my own beautiful country. Although I have been to approximately 40 states.
Cest La Vibe
June 18, 2015 at 12:37 pmNumber one is what you do between trips when you’re itching to explore somewhere now!
Tristan
June 18, 2015 at 2:58 amNumber 1 is absolutely correct! 🙂
About Travel | Pearltrees
November 23, 2014 at 2:22 pm[…] and vibrant with singing and dancing. The country itself has an infectious feeling of happiness. 7 Signs you Haven't Traveled Enough. Wanderlust – everyone’s claiming to be infected by the incurable disease, but how do you know […]
Ellie Quinn
November 22, 2014 at 8:57 pmGreat post! I’ve travelled quite a bit and glad to say that none of the above are true to me. I’ve recently started travelling my own country while saving for my next trip, I have friends allll over the world and would like to think I’ve inspired a good few friends to travel 🙂
Keep the great posts coming! X
Kelly @ Endlessly Exploring
November 22, 2014 at 12:48 pmNice post Brooke! I definitely need to start exploring my own country more often, rather than always trying to get out of here! 😛 Australia, here I come! x
Sarah
July 15, 2014 at 11:28 pmI definitely haven’t travelled enough! I love travelling but I haven’t done nearly enough of it to call myself a traveller. The only reason I have a global friend group is because of blogging!
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July 12, 2014 at 7:31 am[…] 7 signs you haven’t travelled enough, via World of Wanderlust […]
Bi-weekly Travel Inspiration - foodandphotosrtw.com
July 11, 2014 at 7:12 pm[…] 7 Signs you haven’t traveled enough by World of Wanderlust: Another very entertaining list. I agree with everything Brooke said and I should definitely explore my own country more. […]
Brian Whaley
July 8, 2014 at 1:00 pmVery well written, you have a great social media presence. I hope to be able to see have the places you have over the next few years!
Clipping Path Outsource
July 6, 2014 at 5:33 pmWow!!! excellent! thanks
Patrick and Laura
June 30, 2014 at 3:30 pmI love this so much! I think of the countless times I’ve had #2 happen and I think of all the people for #4 that I owe a huge debt of gratitude. I’d add my own from a travel manifesto on our blog:
“Love. Love with incredible foolishness. I’m not just talking about a partner, though that’s great too. I’m talking about life. Assume the best in people. The goodness, that is to say the light in this world, is so much stronger than the darkness. Walk into each day with optimism. Believe in the best of people and have patience when people stumble toward your expectations. Life often has us think of ourselves and sometimes others as particularly wicked, but, in reality, we’re all just a bunch of normal folks who stumble, fall, and hopefully, get back up. If you meet the world with a loving heart, I am not just convinced, but I’d dare say that I know, it will determine how the world meets you in response.”
