The Disappointments That Led Me To Stop Traveling as a Nomad in My 20s

The dark reality of being a young nomad.

I have been traveling at least twice a year since I was 19 (6 years ago).

From all my friends and followers’ perspectives, I have amazing adventures and experiences, and in general, a life full of joy because I am from country to country and living my dream.

But behind all the posts, videos, and stories from these places, there is a reality of unpacked bags, lack of sleep, and incredible physical exhaustion that led me to reconsider my travel life.

Although I like to meet new countries, I have decided to stop for a while, not because it has stopped being my passion but because of many behind-the-scenes complications that have made me realize the true reality of being a nomad.

Here I will bring you the disappointments, bad experiences, and things I would have wanted to know before going to a country that led me to stop traveling, and why being a nomad traveler is not a perfect experience full of happiness and flowers as social media wants us to believe.

Many people take advantage of your ignorance as a tourist to fool you.

If I have made ten trips, in at least eight, the locals have tried to deceive me somehow (and others have succeeded).

The problem with being a tourist in a country that you don’t know anything about, or don’t have friends or family who are there to support you, is that the citizens will want to take advantage of you because they believe that as you are traveling, you have money.

From selling you things for up to 10 times their value to even directly robbing you, there are thousands of ways people can get your money.

Even though I always try to be alert and informed about where I am, there are many occasions when fraud has been inevitable.

For example, once, I was in a taxi at night, and since we were a “big group,” the driver told us he was not allowed to transport so many people and would drop us off one street before the hotel.

As the driver was giving us recommendations for places and advising us on what to do, we agreed to help him so he didn’t have any problems.

But he didn’t leave us at a corner of the hotel; he left us kilometers away.

This wouldn’t be a problem if it were daylight or in a safe place, but it was night in an unsafe country, and we didn’t know how to go to the hotel.

Fortunately, nothing happened to us, and we were able to reach the hotel safely, but there are many experiences of people who have been kidnapped and robbed due to this type of situation.

If you travel as a backpacker asking for accommodation, not everything will always be perfect.

It has become very popular to be a volunteer with pages that give you accommodation and sometimes food for helping them certain hours a day in a hostel.

Many nomads use this advantage to save as much money as possible and enjoy a country without having to pay for a hotel.

However, this is not always a perfect experience, and if you don’t have money for emergencies, you could end up sleeping in the streets.

Once, I went to an island where my only plan was to stay as a volunteer in a hotel in the middle of the forest.

There was no signal there, and I didn’t have a car, but I had no problems because they had offered me a two-week plan where they would give me accommodation and food for helping out in the bar and rooms.

The problem was that in my second week there, they overbooked the place for a large group that went for one night because they were going hiking the next day. They told me they needed the space where the other two collaborators and I were staying because it was a great opportunity for them, and we didn’t know what to do.

Luckily for us, one of the employees accommodated us at his house for that night since we had no other plan than to stay under a tree.

I have heard experiences from other people that when they arrive at the place decide that they cannot stay there, even if they pay, many hostels are not available when they arrive, and they do not have a second plan.

You will lack many basic and necessary things when trying to save money as a nomad.

As a traveler, one of the most important things is to be able to save money to continue traveling.

But by doing this, I have stopped buying basic and necessary things for me, which later have even cost me my physical health.

I have slept uncomfortably at the airport on many occasions because “it was not necessary to book another night at the hotel if I was already leaving,” and I have eaten quite badly because when you travel, you buy the first thing you see so you don’t lose time and continue your path.

On two occasions, I have become seriously ill, but I tried hard to continue enjoying my trip, and then I got worse due to my carelessness (once with tonsillitis and the last time with covid).

This was very irresponsible because I could have harmed other people with contagious diseases, but people and influencers have taught us on social media that trips are not to sleep or go to a hospital but to enjoy every minute, and I tried to do so.

And also, hospital expenses in foreign countries are usually very expensive, especially if you do not buy travel insurance.

We normally don’t pay attention to those little things because we think we will be fine, but this can cost more later.

You will never sleep well because you must “enjoy the country.”

One of the biggest issues I’ve experienced while traveling is not being able to sleep well because I have to do something.

I have always thought that sleeping is a “waste of time,” and I try to do it as little as possible when I travel because I want to get the most out of my time in a country.

The problem is that your body doesn’t think the same. And constantly pushing and driving it to the limit can cost you a lot later.

When I was in Cuzco, Peru, I fell asleep at 12:00 AM every day and got up between 4:00 AM and 5:00 AM to continue my tours.

If you have ever been to this beautiful country, you will know that the activities are hiking and require too much physical effort, so you must sleep well, which I did not do.

On one of the last days, I had to climb a mountain over 1000 feet high, and I almost fainted from the physical exhaustion I had.

I know I could have enjoyed it more if I had had more time to rest and take care of myself, but I wanted to do everything so quickly that in the last few days, I was almost doing it for faith.

Final thoughts

I admire all the people who have the courage to travel every month and have that bold personalities. I am personally mentally exhausted from all of this for a while.

I am writing this article to open some eyes to a reality that many people do not see when they decide to start being a traveler and to let them know that what they see on social networks is not all of what we really experience.

If you want to live the experience, I recommend you have emergency money in case you have to leave a place, be very attentive to fraud, and always use international insurance.

Finally, always listen to your body when it tells you it can’t do more. Visiting one less place won’t ruin your trip, but not sleeping can in unimaginable ways.

When I travel again, I want to do it with all possible comforts because more than knowing a place, I want to be able to enjoy it at its best and be calm and rest if I want to.

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