Long Term Travel | Backpackingmatt.com

If you told me in November of 2009 when I moved to New Zealand that I would still be here 18 months later, I’d tell you that you were mad.

It’s certainly not how I envisioned things going; yet, as I’ve learned in the last year – things don’t always go as planned.

A mate who now lives in Spain told me recently that four years ago we graduated from the University of Iowa; it’s shocking when days turn into weeks, which turn into months, which bloody hell – turn into years.

I certainly never would have expected life to take me to small villages in Ireland, one of Europe’s most inspiring cities – Edinburgh, the markets of Turkey, the fjords of Norway, the canals of Venice, or the mountains of New Zealand.

I consider myself beyond lucky when I think of the experiences I’ve had, the people I’ve met, and the places I’ve seen.

Luck perhaps isn’t the correct word to use. As anyone branching off into the life of long term travel knows, it certainly has its ups and downs. Be that living in hostels, dealing with budget issues, overcoming travel planning woes or the unknowns that come from leading a life of uncertainty, long term travel is by no means easy.

Overcoming these obstacles is part of the journey and ultimately adds to what becomes a life changing experience.

So 18 months later, I’m still in New Zealand. There have been no shortage of obstacles to overcome in Aotearoa, don’t get me wrong – and ironically perhaps, these obstacles have added to my love of NZ. Overcoming the challenges life tosses at you inevitably shape you into the person you ultimately become.

Like many of my previous experiences traveling abroad, I originally arrived in New Zealand on a working holiday. Working holidays are a fantastic way to properly assimilate into the society of a country you’ve traveled to. You can absorb the culture and take it in as if the country were your home. You get to know its people, see it from their eyes as opposed to the eyes of a tourist.

You begin to get the place. Understand what makes it tick.

New Zealand is a country with no shortage of space. It’s a land of sweeping vistas, towering mountains and thick and uninhabited bush. It’s a country with 4 million people, 40 million sheep, and 100,000 square miles of land. New Zealanders love their sport – while there is no question of their love for ‘the rugby,’ they also have a special appreciation for the beautiful country they inhabit and make plenty of efforts to get out and explore it.

Lately, I’ve been right with them.

Whether it’s on a multi-day hike, a cross country mountain bike ride or a trail run in the mountains after work, I’m doing as much as possible to get out and properly experience the stunning scenery I’m so lucky to live near.

As I mentioned in my last update, I’ve returned to New Zealand to run NZbyBike.com. I spend my days promoting mountain biking in New Zealand – it’s an epic place to ride, and inevitably, I’ve fallen in love with the sport myself. It’s a bloody great job, yet it’s by no means easy running a web start-up and has been taking up a significant amount of my time.

I’ve developed even more of an appreciation for bloggers like Steph from 20 Something Travel who balanced full-time work along with developing and running a superb travel blog.

What are your tips for balancing an active life, with a full-time job along with maintaining a travel blog?

Leave your advice in the comments section below and I’ll put together a post featuring some top tips later next month.

In an effort to keep budget travel and backpacking focused posts coming your way more frequently, I’ve taken on a fellow American expat and travel blogger as a contributing writer for Backpackingmatt.com. Expect to see more content from Australia-based Lauren Fritsky of TheLifeThatBroke.com over the coming months with a focus on budget travel and backpacking in Australia.

Thanks for following along – for daily glimpses into my life living in New Zealand, be sure to follow me on Twitter.

Happy Travels,

(Backpacking)Matt
‘Life’s a Journey‘

Please leave your tips for balancing work, travel, and an active life along with running a blog in the comments section below. Alternatively, email them to me at matt (at) backpackingmatt (dot) com and I’ll feature the best in a post next month.

While I’ve never specifically set off on a Round the World Trip, I’ve done most of my traveling on working holidays. I find this to be an excellent way to temporarily get settled in a country and gain a better understanding of its people, geography, customs, and lifestyle. Prior to coming to New Zealand, I spent four months in Ireland and about six months in the United Kingdom.

Traveling long term doesn’t necessarily come easy. Being on the road for extended periods of time can become waring. While these challe nges are part of the journey, these seven tips will make traveling long term a better experience for you.

1) Keep a Schedule

These seven tips all revolve around this one piece of advice. Maintaining a schedule on the road is crucial to successful long term travel. While living the life of a backpacker is drastically different than the life of a 9 – 5er, it’s essential that you still maintain some sort of a schedule – just as you would at home.

2) Mind the Drinking

Backpackers that head over to Europe for a three week stint traveling around can stand to get pissed ever night. You can’t. If you’re considering long term travel, you’ve got to keep tabs on your drinking schedule. The midday pint or cocktail might be alluring for the first couple weeks you’re on the road – but sooner or later, you’ll find you’ve got to ditch the lunch cocktail and nightly benders.

Drinking to excess daily isn’t healthy – but I’m not here to act as the Surgeon General. A heavy drinking schedule kills the budget and generally makes for an unproductive trip.

3) Plan and make your dinner

If only the life of a backpacker allowed for nightly meals out, things would be so much easier. Or would they?

I think one of the main keys to successful long term travel has to do with your nightly eating habits. There is certainly an allure to eating out on the town every night, yet realistically this isn’t possible for the budget traveler. Clearly, a nightly meal at a restaurant with a bottle of wine would kill the budget. More importantly, I think keeping a nightly structure allows for easier travel plans. Make a habit of cooking your own dinner nightly. It’s significantly healthier, more budget friendly, and you’ll inevitably meet more people at the hostels you’re staying in. Which brings me to number four.

4) Avoid staying in massive chain hostels

There is something to be said for checking into a hostel like the Flying Pig in Amsterdam. The drinking, the parties, and (for you single gents), the ladies. Wherever you go, chances are you’ll be able to find a party oriented hostel similar to the Base or Nomads chain in New Zealand. Stay in them if you wish – but only for a couple nights.

If you’re planning on remaining on the road long term, and intend on staying in the same city for more than a couple days, consider finding a locally owned, chilled out hostel. You’ll stand a better chance of staying rested, keeping up with tips two and three, and chances are you’ll meet other long term travelers.

5) Keep up with your exercise

Even if you didn’t have an exercise schedule before you left home, now is the time to start one. Trying to keep to an exercise schedule will ultimately result in you trying to keep a normal day to day schedule. You’ll be less tempted to stay at the pub till the wee hours of the morning if you’ve got to run a couple miles in the morning. More importantly, I think exercise generally makes for a healthier outlook on life. Those down moments on the road will be less likely if you’re keeping active.

6) Keep up with the news

Sometimes it’s hard to believe, but while you’re cruising across Europe in a train, New Zealand in a campervan, or Bangkok in a tuk tuk, life in the rest of the world goes on as per the normal. Keeping up with the daily events of the news will help you to remain somewhat grounded. While sometimes I rejoice in the fact that traveling gets me out of the day to day politics of news at home, it’s still important to keep updated with the latest happenings in the world.

7) Write a travel blog

Maintaining a travel blog on the road is an excellent way to document your travels, keep up with friends and family, and most importantly – maintain a schedule. Two weeks into your traveling, you’ll probably still be glad to be away from work and the realities of home and will still be enjoying the midday pints. Two months into your traveling, and you’ll probably be looking for additional responsibilities other than planning your trip.

Keeping up a travel blog allows you to keep a schedule, but more importantly, you feel responsible for something at the end of the day. If you make it a goal to keep generating content, you’ll feel responsibilities from day to day which will result in a more meaningful time on the road.

If you treat your traveling as a lifestyle, and have structure in your day to day life, it’s much easier to continue on for weeks, months, or even years.

What do you think? Leave your tips for successful long term travel in the comments section below.

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