Choosing to get on a plane/train/bus and going traveling is easy. Choosing where you want to travel is less easy. Thanks to how globalised our world has become, traveling is almost borderless with an array of countries you can visit. Even North Korea accepts 100,000 tourists every year!
While it is great to have so many options, it makes deciding the perfect one for you a challenge. Thankfully there are little tricks you can use to make sure your friends (and wallet) don’t cringe at your choice.
Explore your own backyard first
Young people have a tendency to want to travel the world before ever really setting foot in their own backyard. But stop and think about this for a moment: right now somewhere in the world, hundreds of people are dreaming of the day they can visit your country.
When you live in a country, it can start to see a bit ho hum. But when you look at it with fresh eyes, all the little things become marvelous. So you might just find little nuggets of gold in your country.
Analyse your favourite trips throughout your life
I’m about to say something that would make any travel agent faint: you do not need to spend thousands on around the world trips to know yourself. Tourism marketers play on our sensitivity about not knowing ourselves and try convince us that the only way to know what you like is to see everything.
I call bluff. You can look back on your favourite trips to work this out. Even if you’ve only ever gone to another city! Do you love the bustling city you grew up in? What about the snowy peaks you visited as a child? Or have you always been attracted to the antique buildings of a nearby town?
Do remember though travel isn’t just about the places you go – it’s about the people. What made your trips so special? Perhaps you met fellow art critiques or maybe it was an opportunity to connect with old friends.
Ask your doppelgänger not your travel agent
Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against travel agents. I think they’re great at helping you sort out the logistics of a trip. But would I trust them with making such a personal choice for me? Not a chance!
A lot of people have one or more doppelgängers. These are people who have uncanny resemblance to you in the way they think, the things they do and what they like. After all, birds of a feather flock together.
So who would be better to ask, then a close friend or an extension of yourself? They might have a place they have alway dreamed of going which just so happens to be perfect for you. Now you have a destination and a travel buddy.
Try not to take things too seriously
Traveling is not a decision you should take lightheartedly – by no means. But once the decision is made, it is made. So try not to spend too much time thinking about it and regretting it. This will make it difficult to enjoy your destination.
You could choose the perfect travel destination for yourself, whether it be golden beaches or an isolated mountain. But if you approach it with a negative attitude, you won’t be able to enjoy it.
The difference between a travel destination you love or loathe doesn’t have to do too much with the destination itself. it is all about attitude. Like I said before, you can always find nuggets of gold. But you can also always find coal. The choice is yours.
In short: Talk to yourself and friends, not a travel agent.
