Travel Tip – Stay for a Month

I’ve had the same conversation hundreds of times.  It goes like this: friend: So you’re travelling for a year, huh? Where are you going? me: The Philippines, Japan, France and Germany friend: That’s it?! Then they go on to tell me that if they had a year off, they’d visit 120 countries in 365 days.  They’re completely flabbergasted that I would “waste” my time by only visiting four countries. It’s not uncommon thinking – more than half the travellers I meet have ambitious itineraries like this.  I completely disagree with it.  When travelling, the QUALITY of your time is worth so much more than the number of countries you visit. I advise everyone to stay at each stop of their journey for a month.  Here’s why: You Make Better Friends One of the biggest reasons I go travelling is to make friends.  I’m not talking about those 1-night-party friends, I’m talking about the kind of friends you genuinely miss when you leave and are still in contact with years later. I’m currently staying in the hometown of a friend I met over 10 years ago.  We’ve only seen each other one other time in the 10 years since we met, but our friendship is still strong.  Why?  It’s because we had the time to bond.  We’ve had shared experiences, stories and learned what’s important to each other. Even if it’s 20 years before we see each other again, we’ll still be friends.  You can’t make that type of friend in a few days, it’s just not enough time. As I travel, my only souvenirs are my good friends.  We always promise we’ll see each other again, and we always do – I’ve hosted and been hosted by friends like this.  These relationships wouldn’t be possible if I’d only stayed for a week. You TRULY Experience the Culture Ask a traveller why they travel, and often they’ll say something like, “I want an authentic experience”.  What’s authentic about hitting all the tourist spots in a weekend and leaving on the next flight? This point goes along very closely with the idea of making good friends – if the friends you make are locals, then you gain a true insight into the culture. This year alone, I’ve been invited: to a 50th wedding anniversary backstage of a bunraku show to the stands of a perpetually sold-out baseball stadium mountain climbing and cottaging in the French Alps …and even...
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