3 Lessons From Traveling Abroad
How being away for a month taught me to be more productive.
POSITIVE AFFIRMATION
"Today I’m firing on all cylinders. That’s what I choose to believe."
Late last year the stars aligned and my burgeoning family was able to live in Greece for a month. I know, super lucky. Our first time traveling with our dragon, aka baby, and it being international, we didn’t know what to expect but knew enough to keep the itinerary light and flexible throughout.
From a productivity and health perspective, I was personally intent on also keeping it light and flexible. Perhaps I’ll find a couple of hours in the morning to exercise and research Venture Out future pieces, who knows? Now a couple of months later and back home, here are lessons that I’d like to share, for your travels but also applicable here at home.
1 - Preparation pays off.
Learning a tiny bit of the Greek language proved to be great fun while abroad, as an awkward icebreaker most of the time (geiá sou!!!!). Having my full itinerary in a travel planning app (I use TripIt) was clutch like usual (and is great for historical reference for needs like background investigations). Scouting ahead for access to airport lounges proved to be a game-changer, allowing for more comfort with a baby during a several-hour layover (credit cards like VentureX come with Priority Pass). Thinking about the million possible scenarios that could happen with a baby helped determine what and how much to pack (we only went slightly overboard). Downloading maps of the towns we’d be driving in on the Google Maps app was perfect when driving down back alleys and cut-throughs, as scary as it was!
2 - What’s the real priority?
When I started planning this adventure, I was picturing us living in one place, adopted in by the locals and there’d be an old Greek grandma lady living next to us baking bread every morning and little Greek kids running down the alley early in the morning as I sipped my Greek coffee. But then the day finally came and we set foot in Greece, and suddenly we wanted to zoom around the country to see as many ancient ruins as we could! Then I had thought I’d be running through the streets of Greece early in the morning before the baby woke up, and maybe there’d also be a few more hours to sit and work on Venture Out. Suffice it to say, it was all too much sometimes, my fault. The lesson here is to keep it a bit more simple with what we’re trying to achieve.
3 - Be bold.
When I had the very first, initial thought of, maybe we should take a one-month vacation overseas, I immediately said no way, that’s impossible! No one here in the States does that! Then when we thought, would our precious little dragon do well traveling for more than 24 hours, door to door, taking 3 flights to finally reach our destination? Once there in Greece, could we quickly rent a car and learn how to drive on foreign land? The answer is always yes, if. What’s now a first-in-a-lifetime opportunity, our kiddo continues to amaze us by adapting to the environment, and I was driving like a local in our tiny rental car, road-rallying all along the breathtaking coastline.
TAKEAWAY
In our daily attempt to be productive, prep prep prep, keep the priorities straight, and be bold.
(travel gear)
➩ Your perfect backpack. For me, I’ve had great success with the Patagonia Refugio, on sale now.
➩ Miir travel bottles. I got my wife the Chug bottle and is loving it.
➩ Phone car mount, still useful on foreign car rentals.
➩ Grippy shoes, because you never know where you may end. Got a new pair of the Italian-made La Sportiva and will report back.
➩ Luggage with easy access, like a duffel roller bag.
➩ Pants with extra secure pockets. Try Roark’s layover travel pants, available for women and men.
➩ A versatile jacket that can handle cold, light rain, and nice restaurants. Try Alo.
