10 Life Lessons From Traveling The World

Yuli Azarch | November 20, 2017 | No Comments on 10 Life Lessons From Traveling The World

Many people want to travel. However, most of them do not feel brave enough to step into the traveler’s shoes. I share 10 life lessons which I learned from traveling the world over 3 years.

My intent with this episode is to inspire and encourage you to go out of your comfort zone and experience all beauties of the world for yourself.  

Lessons from this episode:

1.       There are many ways to live. Every place around the world is different (00:23)
2.       You do not really need much. Less is more (02:07)
3.       Happiness has nothing to do with money (03:29)
4.       In the core people are good! (05:19)
5.       Embrace the unexpected (07:35)
6.       If you want to do something, go and do it! Do not wait! (09:26)
7.       Shaking things up is a good thing (11:03)
8.       You are affected by your environment much more than you think (12:51)
9.       Experiences are much better than stuff and things (15:49)
10.     Traveling is the best education there is (17:15)

10 Life Lessons From Travelling The World Over 3 Years

1. There Are Many Ways To Live. Every Place Around The World Is Different (00:23)

Every place is different, and people around the world are different, too. I’ve been to South America, Middle East, Asia, North America, and Europe and I can tell you that for sure.

What I learned traveling is that there is not a “right” way to live. Each culture is different, and everybody does things the way they know.

When you think of your business, this is also true. Everybody does business the way they know and use the tools they have. What works for me might not work for you, but when you see how others do business, you learn a lot of valuable life lessons.

But more importantly, you learn there are many ways to live.

Another life lesson I’ve learned, and this time from successful people, is that there are many ways to succeed. Some say you got to hustle; some say you got to work smarter. You can be a writer or own a business; you can do whatever you want because there are so many different paths to success.

Just find the one that fits you. It’s like life; there are so many ways to live. Find what you love and live it. You don’t owe anything to anyone.

If you don’t like what you do and where you are right now, change it.

2.  You Don’t Really Need Much. Less is more (02:07)

I have to admit that travel has made me minimalistic, which is, kind of, a requirement when you move a lot because it’s really tough to move with tons of stuff in your luggage.

Moving made me realize I accumulate a lot of junk and you can throw away or sell many of the things you accumulate. I’ve been pretty much living from my suitcase in the last three years, and the more I travel, the more I’m always throwing away stuff.

Actually, many of the things you accumulate you can buy in any place and after living with fewer things I realized I’m becoming happier with less.

It’s not that easy, though. For instance, when I’m staying in the same place for a few months I’ve noticed that all the sudden I start gathering stuff.

And one of the life lessons here is that you don’t really need them. I’ve learned that less is more, but we’re always pushing for more. More happiness, more success, more money. More.

But sometimes, you need to remove things from your life. And that’s the beauty of traveling because it can force you to be more minimalistic and focus only on the essential things you need.

Don’t forget: less is more.

3. Happiness Has Nothing To Do With Money (03:29)

You might have heard this line from pretty much everyone, but it’s an entirely different thing when you see it with your own eyes and experience it.

Many of the countries I’ve visited over the last three years are, in fact, third world countries and I’ve noticed something really interesting: the poorest people are simply happier. They have a bigger smile on their faces.

On the contrary, people from the developed countries that have more things to be grateful for and live better lives with less to fear are not as happy.

That’s something that boggles my mind.

But it helped me realize that happiness has absolutely nothing to do with money.

If you are an entrepreneur or really any person in the developed world, you might be used to chasing money and think that it will bring you happiness. And that’s definitely not the case. I’m all for money, but I don’t believe it correlates to happiness. You can absolutely be happy with no money too.

One of the life lessons was that if you have to choose between being happy with or without money, choose to be happy. Start by being happy and then get all the money.

Let me show you a quick example. Nine months ago, I went to New York, and I noticed that people were not really happy there. They were very tense, they were nervous, they were always running fast. People were not nice.

On the contrary, people from all the small villages I’ve gone were nice. They were always smiling, saying hello, teaching me their life lessons. They had this sense of life happiness that was beautiful to see.

4. In The Core People Are Good! (05:19)

Traveling scares a lot of people. They have many fears, especially when traveling to third world countries. They’ve seen the news and are afraid of the country; they’re afraid of its people.

Let me tell you something, I had those fears, too. I was scared of going to some of those countries.  But after being around the world, I’ve noticed that in their core, every person is good.

I really believe that the majority of the people are good. Everywhere I go, in each country people are good. They always want to help me, even when I’m surrounded by locals and far from touristic places, they have always wanted to help me. Poor, rich, regular, they were always helpful.

In truth, I’ve never had an experience where somebody wanted to fuck me up.

For example, when I started traveling, I went to Brazil. Everybody was so scared of Brazil. My friends, my family, even a local in the plane! They all warned me to be careful.

But, I don’t know, I didn’t see much danger.

I know there are bad things that can happen and bad people in the way, but every person I met wanted to help me out. The same when I traveled to Mexico, to Colombia, and to every single country I’ve been to.

For me, believing that every person is good is one of the life lessons that removed my fear from traveling. If you think people are good, you’ll find reasons and ways to see their goodness instead of thinking they’re bad and fear them.

5. Embrace The Unexpected (07:35)

Shit happens. Particularly when you’re traveling, and that’s inevitable. It doesn’t matter if you’re traveling for one week or six months, something bad will happen to you. I haven’t met a single person that traveled without incidents.

When you live in the same place, less shit happens to you, and that’s a good thing. When you travel, many things can happen that give you life lessons: from a stranger trying to steal from you to a plane that’s been canceled or even not finding accommodation.

It doesn’t matter where it is when you’re traveling shit will happen to you, and you can’t avoid it.

When I started traveling, I got angry and frustrated when shit happened.  Instead of being angry I learned to embrace it. It will make you calmer, and if you actually expect that something will happen you, you will be more relaxed and will approach things with a different perspective, and this is a lesson you can use in your business.

Instead of being surprised when the next crisis happens, learn to embrace it. Expect that something bad will happen and you will react intelligently to it, navigating the crisis instead of sinking in a sea of anger and frustration.

6. If you want to do something, go and do it! Do not wait! (09:26)

A life lesson I’ve learned is that tomorrow won’t come. When you want to do something just fucking do it.

Through my travels, I’ve spoken to a lot of people and entrepreneurs from many countries, and I’ve come to the conclusion that when people delay things, they usually don’t do them. When you delay your travels, you don’t do it.

When I started traveling, I was barely making money with my business. I had loans to pay and a lot of stuff to take care of, but I went for it and started traveling. I could’ve waited until I paid my loans, or until I had more money, but no, I said “fuck this!” and just did it.

If deep inside that’s something you want to do, just do it, don’t delay it. Don’t wait for anyone or anything because, usually, tomorrow doesn’t come.

And this is true for everything. If you want to start a business, do it. If you want to travel, do it. You want another job, do it. When you want something, you have to go and get it.

7. Shaking things up is a good thing (11:03)

Another thing if learned from traveling is that shaking things up regularly is good and it’s something you should do from time to time. Even if you don’t want to travel, change your city. Do something different at least for a few days.

I’ve noticed every time I shake things up, something new happens, and things change because new variables appear. New languages, new people, new experiences. Even when you go to a different city, everything changes. You see different people. You come up with different ways to get things. Things change when you move.

I really believe we get stuck in our thinking sometimes. Maybe we get stuck in a linear way of thinking and shaking things up opens up your mind. It opens up your creativity, and you can expand yourself much more as opposed to when you’re stuck in the same place.

Before I started traveling, I lived in the same place, did the same things, met the same people, and I think I was very linear before shaking things up. Of course, when you fly a lot, this happens naturally, but as soon as I did it, I felt more creative and open to.

That’s why I think everyone should do it regularly, and it’s something I will continue doing for the rest of my life.

8. You Are Affected By Your Environment Much More Than You Think (12:51)

Something I keep observing is that I’m a different person in every place I go. My environment affects me a lot, and I believe it affects us all. For example, if I’m on the beach and everybody is relaxed, and I’m tense, I’ll become relaxed really quickly. If I’m going to a big city where everybody is going fast and are more anxious, I notice I become more anxious too.

If I’m in a place where everybody is talking about yoga and spirituality, which are two things I love, I become that person. And when I’m with other entrepreneurs, I talk business; I’m not really thinking of yoga or the beach at that moment.

So, I realized your environment really can affect you. When you travel, and your variables change, you realize that you become what’s around you and it affects you. People, food, culture, accommodations. It all affects you.

That’s why I really believe you become the average of the five people you spend your time with.

When you surround yourself with people who are doing good, you become better. My conclusion is that you need to surround yourself with the environment you want to be. If you want to be happy, surround yourself with an environment of happy people. If you want to be relaxed, go to an environment where everybody is relaxed.

But this is more about happiness and relaxation; it’s about how you feel, what you do, and whom you become.

Every time I go to a different place, I take a look at the environment, and if I don’t like it, I change it quickly. When you’re in a place for a short while, it might not matter much, but after you spend a few months in a place, it really gets you, and you become different.

Be aware and keep changing.

9. Experiences Are Much Better Than Stuff And Things (15:49)

Looking back to the last three years, I realized I’ve had a bunch of experiences and life lessons. I change my country, on average, once per month, I’m doing a bunch of cool stuff and fulfilling lots of dreams.

I’m having a lot of experiences.

I have really vivid memories of the things I’ve done, but not of the things I’ve bought or given over the years. I just remember the experiences.

Which is why I’ve come to value experiences, and I’d rather spend my money on something other than things. I prefer getting a great experience rather than a souvenir for my house, and that’s one of the reasons I have become more minimalistic.

This has also lead me to think that people are now spending their money on things rather than experiences. People get a new phone or a new computer, but they don’t invest in an experience that will last them the rest of their lives.

In the end, your experiences and the life lessons you get from them are more valuable than your things.

10. Traveling Is The Best Education There Is (17:15)

This is the last point on my list because I think nothing can replace travel. Being in different places, experiencing different cultures, and seeing the world is something you won’t fully get from books, the news, or watching movies.

My experience in travel dictates that you can get a lot of education from other people. You even learn a lot about yourself, which is even more important. You see how you react, which people you connect with, which cultures you connect more with.

Also, when you travel the world you learn more about yourself and getting to know yourself better is such a huge thing because we don’t really know ourselves much. You can still doing without travel, but traveling speeds the process.

Three years ago, before I started, I thought I knew the world, I believed I had education, I even thought I knew myself. I even had a business at that time. I thought I had everything figured out, but turns out I didn’t.

After being in almost thirty countries, I see the world in a very different way. For children, I believe this is a great education that the school environment can’t give. I’d definitely send my children to travel because they will learn more life lessons by traveling than what they would get just sitting there in a school doing repetitive tasks.

Last Words And Key Takeaways

• There is not a “right” way to live.
• You don’t really need a lot of stuff.
• Money and happiness don’t correlate.
• People are good at their core.
• Embrace and navigate the crises.
• Tomorrow won’t come. Just do it.
• Shaking things up opens your mind and your creativity
• You become the average of the five people you spend your time with.
• Spend your money on something other than things

Remember, if you liked this episode and these 10 life lessons, leave your comments and your feedback, I’d really appreciate it. 

All the best until next episode,

Yuli