Travel. Mindful Traveling.
What I Learnt from Travelling 10 Countries on a Shoestring Budget
It confines you in a liberating way.
It’s different when you come from a developing country and everything outside is so expensive. We’re used to paying $0.60 for coffee, but in the West, it’s for a few dollars. As a student, I had two choices — travel on the tightest possible budget and trade-off drinking nights to save money, or not travel at all.
You obviously know what I chose.
If there’s just one thing I want you to know before you read further is that while society and its culture has split us by religion, geography, and languages, humans still have a universal language.
Our emotions shine from our heart and reflect in our eyes, and you’ll feel that when a stranger goes out of their way to help you when they only understand a little bit of your language.
We all have the same elements within us we’re made of, and they find a way to communicate when they need to.
Stockholm felt so quiet and barren to me. I mean, I come from the second most populated country in the world, so there are lots of humans everywhere. Stockholm was obviously comparatively quiet and might I say, peaceful.
I couldn’t find a restaurant or a cafe. Also, it’s expensive! So I was looking for something super affordable.
I then saw a hot dog stall in the middle of what felt like nowhere. That 3 euro hot dog filled more than just my tummy. The stall was owned by a Syrian who just moved in. He told me about his family and his time in Stockholm, he was new to the city and recently opened this stall. His eyes spoke more than he did, but he told me he enjoys Bollywood which brings a smile to every Indian’s face.
I wouldn’t trade our conversation for any fine-dine in the world.
When I was in Prague, my old friend accompanied me. We had our first travel together when we were babies because our families travelled together, so we have to continue the legacy.
When I compared this to my other solo travels, I realised how much this travel was different. It was obviously fun, but a different kind of fun than my solo travels. What made it unusual? Comfort zone.
When you’re in your comfort zone, you’re happy and having a great time. It’s like a circle around you — you only see what you see and nothing else.
When you’re not in your comfort zone, you unconsciously explore because you don’t have an option. Your mind wants to find comfort in the discomfort, and it’ll take you to places to find that comfort.
This journey leads to stories, some by others and some you’ll create of your own.
How does comfort zone relate to travelling on a shoestring budget, you may ask? Because your budget (or rather lack of it) pushes you out of your comfort zone.
In a place full of glamourous tourist hotspots, it pushes you to find something you can afford. That something more often is local instead of what's popular, which is the true essence of travelling. Eat what the locals eat, go where the locals go, because this is your time to live differently than you regularly do.
Being on a shoestring budget led me to stay in hostels, where I met people across the globe.
How else would I hear stories of somebody travelling across Europe on road alone because her girlfriend cheated on her, or a man who started travelling full time at 30 because it makes him feel alive?
At that moment, it doesn’t matter where you come from, what matters are the experiences you put on the table.
Does a shoestring budget confine you? Hell yes.
- It confines you but also gives you the freedom to explore out of the ordinary because online and offline suggestions are anything but extraordinary.
- It could confine you away from fine-dine with fine wine but can also lead you to try the local ginjinha on the corners of Lisbon.
- It confines you from taking a taxi to reach faster but gives you the freedom for long walks with pit stops at the cafe or witnessing people singing on the train (I experienced this in Berlin).
It confines you to your ideal notion of what travelling should be like, but it leads you to a path to discover what travelling means to you.
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