Thoughts and lessons after my first big adventure

So I'm back in Sturdee now, slowly but surely unpacking all of my stuff while disturbing the immense piles of dust that have formed all over the bachelor pad that is my childhood home. One working man and three bedrooms does not a well-maintained house make! But I forget my dog! I don't think he has been taught to clean properly yet so outside of his occasional attempts to mop the kitchen floor using his urine I expect to be slowly but surely blowing the cobwebs out of most of this place in an attempt to make it livable for me for the next couple of months. I remember when Tom used to come home from university and me and Dad would be living practically in our own filth and he would get so angry at us... I like to think I'm approaching this problem in a different way although it is staggering to go somewhere else to then come back here, where cleanliness gets forsook so hard

I wanted to impart a few bits of (pseudo)wisdom to people after living away from home for half a year in case they wanted to do some travelling themselves or happened to be in love. I might go on a bit because I have so much (!) free time, applying for jobs all over again is eye-rollingly boring although getting rejected by McDonalds was a bit of a harsh one to take for the ego. Some of these points may be paraphrased although the points themselves are first-hand experienced.

Lesson 1 (Guys) - Do not compromise your higher purpose for a girl 

It doesn't even matter if you don't know your higher purpose yet - finding that out is a different matter. Massive amounts of getting out there and trying stuff out/self-reflection sessions will help. Anyway - men are supposed to have higher purposes and girls will be more attracted to those who clearly do have said purpose. It doesn't have to be a career purpose although that isn't a bad one to have... the moment you make a girl your higher/sole purpose, count the days until that relationship ends or she leaves you, brother. Stay focused and driven, she wants you to find a beautiful balance between YOUR life and hers. If you can't find that balance because the two facets don't overlap... well, you'll have some hard decisions to make but it would be better to end a relationship that might in the future burst back into flame then to have a damp squib of a compromised relationship that ends in a whimper. Imagine if a man spent his whole life wanting to be a soldier. He was dedicated and trained hard and then he was due to go out on tour and his girlfriend of many years (obviously) begs him not to go, scared for his safety. Should he turn around at the door and stay, for her? Is that what she really wants? Because she knows what it is he wants and has wanted for years. Think about it.

Lesson 2 - Keep a diary when you're travelling (+ don't lose your photos)

When the travelling ends and it's back home there is a certain feeling of emptiness because you are no longer being fulfilled by the new things you're seeing and doing. For the moments of grey, make sure you have something to refer to. Back your photos up onto your laptop often - my camera got nicked 3 days before I left Oz and I only saved about 30 photos you know? It sucks. I didn't keep a diary either although I did in moments of extreme loneliness write to myself to try and Harry Potter-style pensieve the memories away. Make an extra effort to do it. It isn't worth finding out when it messes up.

Lesson 3 - Do not change your money until you get into the country itself and look around for a good rate. 

Think about it. If you managed a ForEX branch who is your demographic? The travelling citizens of the country you're based in. The currency of the country you're staying in will be what you take the most. These companies want foreign money the most. Bring it into the country first and change it, I promise you'll get a better deal 10 times out of 10. Also look around first, I was ripped off big time in Bali airport by three customs guys at the airport who insisted I changed my money before I left the airport, saying they wouldn't let me through unless I changed more than the little bit I already changed (I figured change a little bit and then go look around right?) Three big guys who were carrying my bags bullshitted me into changing it at an awful rate at the airport, about 8000 for a dollar. I should have got 10000 per dollar so we're talking a big difference. 

Lesson 4 - In an outdoor market in an Asian country, whatever price you get offered in most places divide it by 10, negotiate from that point and settle somewhere around 5-8 times cheaper than their original price

Start very low but show a keen interest in the product. You need to play this exhausting game with almost every purchase. You do need to let them feel like they've got your price up though - its better to start at 10x less and settle on 5x than to go down to 5x as a first price and then stay there the whole time. That way they don't feel like they've been beaten so badly. I was told by an Irish girl "oh, these people who get so upset about paying a dollar more than someone else who is even cheaper are so annoying". I said the same thing to her as I say to you people - "It's the principle, not the money"

Lesson 5 - It's called "backpacking" for a reason. You need to be able to carry what you pack all on your back

Even in developed countries, pulling suitcases with wheels along roads and pavements and stairs is a fucking nightmare. Get a high quality backpack that can carry 10-20kg, a smaller backpack that can do ~7kg and put that one on the front of your body when you're walking around. Keep your arms free and your movements flexible. Once you go anywhere that isn't the developed world with a wheeled suitcase, you are f**ked.

I'm gonna go apply for some more jobs but I'll post some more as they come to me. If you've got this far in my post, enjoy.