Weekly Update: Wrapping Up 5 Weeks on the Road

Ok, not so "weekly" on the updates. But, I'm still on track for 100 posts by the end of the year, so I'm happy with that. I've had a lot of travel, train rides, uber rides, unpacking, repacking, moving hotels... A lot can change even in a few weeks, let alone months. I recently opened a 3-month time capsule video I made for myself in January, and it was amazing how significantly my life had changed in that time (post here).

After 5 straight weeks on the road, I've had some interesting thoughts and observations I figured I'd share. Some observations are personal to the hidden nuances I discovered of long-term travel, some are cultural, and some are based in history and learning about different countries. I won't share everything here. I have some other posts detailing what I've learned about specific countries or sites I visited.

A handful of thoughts and questions I kept coming back to were:

1. Wait, where am I again? Which city?
2. What language am I in right now, and how do I say thank you?
3. I can't wait for a normal week of eating, sleep, and working out.
4. Where is [insert article of clothing]? (Only to randomly find it a week later)
5. Where can I get a Guinness?
6. Wow, it's been 5 weeks since I've had pizza. Pizza sounds really good.

My thinking and experience would absolutely be different if I weren't working a full-time job. Maybe some day I'll adventure for many months. But, for now it required balance between exploring and still getting work done. It's not always glorious. In some cities, I was very familiar with the hotel, the office, and the train system. There was absolutely zero site seeing. But, let me tell you about the trains in Munich...

I wasn't jet-lagged at all, but by the end of this 5 weeks I was tired. When you travel, the brain is always on, searching, watching, navigating, processing. There's a lot of context switching, navigating different languages, and infinite unknowns to be processed. Every single trip out of the hotel is potentially something new to be processed. Maybe this is why people say they need a vacation from their vacation! Don't get me wrong, it's exciting and there's an immense amount of growth and learning potential in these experiences.

In a typical day with a normal routine, there's time to rest and recover. In our normal environments, we also typically have access to nutrition we're used to that fuels our brains and bodies. For example, I struggled to find protein drinks or bars. The brain can use upwards of 400-500 calories+ per day (20% of energy consumption despite being 2% of the average body's weight). It's been a good reminder to myself to find the ways to rest, recover, reset, and regulate, even while I'm traveling.

I'm incredibly grateful for all I've learned from traveling. Whether it was a museum, a castle or palace, or talking to locals and tour guides, I've been able to learn first-hand about many of the countries and events about which I've been reading. I won't cover all the lessons in this post. I've been posting about different countries and sites I've visited, and I'll continue to post summaries of what I've learned from different books I'm reading. At some point, the goal is to present a digestible background on everything in the world. Who knows, maybe I'll write a book! For now, I'll keep practicing here.