The Cons Of Being a World Traveler

We have been traveling non-stop for 10 months and by now I can tell you guys what kind of challenges we’ve been facing so far. Traveling the world is not only rozy, it has its downsides as well. Maybe hard to believe, but not less true. Here is a list of what we are always missing during our long trips.

1. Our family and friends

Small visits now and then aren’t really sufficient knowing you have to leave them soon again. There are many moments we just wish they were sitting in front of us instead of those long FaceTime calls or WhatsApp messages. We convinced them once to visit us in India, making it possible to combine the best of the two worlds; quality time with our beloved ones while traveling around together in Rajasthan & Punjab! We will never forget those moments of exploring Delhi bazaars, strolling through small villages around Pushkar & Amritsar and enjoying Indian food together. Or those funny moments when Farhang would play the tough bodyguard as being the only guy in the group with 5 women. And last but not least, traveling in dirty trains with disgusting toilets, rats & cockroaches all over the place. We could go on and on. Let’s just say it was one big experience and it truly was one of the highlights of our trip last year.

2. Rest

You might wonder how that’s even possible when you’re on a long-term vacation the whole time. Well it’s not exactly that. I wouldn’t want to complain, I mean you’re still traveling which is uber awesome. The thing is that you’re constantly on the road from one place to another and it really is difficult to find the appropriate time to just take a long rest. I remember how nice it felt when we sometimes decided to stay a week at one place and not having to pack for a while.

3. Staying healthy

While traveling, you have little control of what you’re eating. First, cooking is difficult without an appropriate kitchen. They are either really filthy or poorly equipped. Eating outside is efficient and cheap, therefore more tempting (especially in Asia). Since you’re constantly on the road, you just have to eat what comes on your way. We did try to eat as healthy as possible and have our daily dosis of fruits and veggies, but we (especially Mursal) still faced a lot of health issues along the way. 
Most days you’re so happy that you can finally lay down on your hotel bed after a long bus- or train ride that you can hardly find the time and energy to exercise as well. Now you do the math.

4. Social life

Building actual friendships instead of superficial contacts every now and then. We are people who go for quality instead of quantity. We did meet locals and co-travelers through couchsurfing events which was nice, but you don’t really become friends after one or two meet-ups. Before you know it, you’re already packing for your next destination.

5. ‘Normal lifestyle’

Certainty, stability, having a job we love and a place of our own (which we do have now, but it’s only temporary). 
It’s not like we’re going to travel non-stop the rest of our lives like we do now, although it will always be a big part of it. We both see these years of traveling around and living abroad as the perfect period of time when we have all the freedom to do what we want, find inspiration and chase our dreams. We would love to have our own start-ups (Farhang health-tech oriented and Mursal travel-dance oriented) and find creative ways to make money (try to get big with our travel blog Awesomeworldtrip), etc. If your work makes you happy, you won’t be needing time off. And that is what we both are aiming for. To make sure our life is going to be like one big holiday!