Traveling consists not only of ups, but also some downs, and you have to learn on the way how to deal with difficult situations.
There are some things that made me stress out sometimes that I realized afterward are totally normal while traveling.
Many friends have had similar experiences, and it helped a lot to know that I am not alone with that.
So I hope I can calm you down with this post if you are experiencing the same things.
Just so you know, it will always help to talk about your problems with friends or family or even strangers at your hostel who might get your situation better.

1. plans get changed

You might want to plan out your whole travels before leaving, to have a route, and that is good, but not everything will go according to plan.
I planned my further travels while I already stayed with my host family to be sure I have somewhere to stay when I leave them, but nothing worked like I planned.
Everything I worked out for Australia’s West coast didn’t work out, people for road trips cancelled and didn’t tell me, places where I wanted to stay and work cancelled and the other one I planned instead was a complete horror, so I ended up in a hotel, on my own and I still managed to figure everything out.
It has been such a wonderful time, even though nothing worked out in the beginning and that stressed me out a lot, but it always turned out good.
Most of the time, plans change because of other people or accommodation, so try not to rely on other people too much.
Be spontaneous and open for new things.
Also, you don’t have to have accommodation and flights booked far in advance.
It is better to book accommodation shortly before going there, except you can expect that it’s going to be hard to find accommodation.
And for flights, you can book them a few months in advance, but it is also fine to do it a week prior if you keep the price in mind.
You don’t have to have all of your flights, even your flight back, before entering that country.
Sometimes you will meet people on your way and want to travel more with them, so you might want to reschedule your trip a bit.

2. spending time on your own

When you are solo traveling, it is normal that you will spend a lot of time on your own.
This helped me to grow so much as a person.
I learned to love spending time on my own and often take myself out on dates, chill at the lake, go on bike tours on my own, go to a café and read for a bit.
Try to see the time you spend on your own as something to learn about yourself, what you enjoy, think about stuff going on right now and try to find solutions.
Often the world around us is too loud to really think about everything, and this is the time to do it.
For people who travel with a friend, it is very important that you accept the other person’s alone time.
You don’t always need to do things together, you can go out on your own and meet up again afterward.
It can be hard being together all the time, so doing things alone is very important.

3. needing a rest day

Traveling isn’t always perfect.
It is actually really draining sometimes.
You’ll have long travel days, where you’ll catch buses, trains, flights, and you’ll be exhausted at the end of the day.
It is fine to start the next day slowly and get organized, stay close to your accommodation and get some rest.
This can be the same case if you did not have a travel day before, but just want to chill out a bit.
You don’t have to rush to see everything around you.
You are allowed to stay in, chill at the pool the whole day, read a book or watch a series.
There will be other days when you can go on outings and discover the area when you are full of energy again.

4. having very deep lows, and the highest highs

I remember a few lows I have had where I felt so bad and just didn’t know what to do because the situation I’ve been in felt like I couldn’t get out.
But afterward, everything always figured itself out and was good.
I learned from my lows, that I can let myself feel it and then let time do its thing and with a bit of work myself, everything will work out.
At home, I never had such deep lows because I always had my family around that could help, but there I was alone.
On the other side, the lows are not everything.
During 8.5 months I remember maybe 3 times when I’ve felt really bad and the rest of the time consisted of such good highs.
I always felt good and so calm.
I enjoyed everything I did, and all those adventures that I wouldn’t have had at home made me feel so extremely happy.
The lows I’ve had were totally worth the lecture I learned and the highs that followed.

5. getting homesick or not thinking about home for a while

At times, you will definitely feel a bit homesick and everyone that travels experiences that and at the same time, you can still be extremely grateful to be able to do all of that.
It always helped me to do stuff with friends to not think about it anymore.
At the same time, I sometimes realized that I didn’t think about home for a while and didn’t text or call home because I was so busy and happy to live in this moment.
My parents always told me that they are happy to get updates, but they wanted me to enjoy my time there and not feel obligated to text them about everything, and they were sure I was fine when I didn’t text for a while.
Usually they could see that I posted on Instagram, so knew I am fine anyway.
So now when friends ask me who or what I missed the most about home, I don’t really have an answer.
I did miss some people sometimes, but was never as homesick that going home now was an option and, to be honest, most of the time when I was feeling well I didn’t even think about home and I think that is very normal.

6. spending more money than expected

If you are paying for your travels by working in that country or with what you have saved prior or a bit of both, it can’t be predicted how much money you will spend.
There are things where you can save money on.
On activities, by doing free stuff and joining free group activities and on accommodation if you stay in hostels, but make sure to not get the very cheap and bad reviewed hostel.
I’ve been there, and I would always spend more money to have a fresh bed and clean rooms.
I guess many backpackers also safe on food and eat cheap and easy food, which can be boring, but you’ll survive on it.
But make sure not to save everywhere.
Sometimes spending more money will make your travels better.
Also, when it is about your health or your safety, don’t think about money.
It is important that you take care of yourself and if that includes spending money, then do it!
These things can come unexpected, so don’t make your budget too tight.

7. getting sick

I was sick a lot of the time on my travels and constantly had a cold.
My body was probably often drained of everything I have experienced during the day, that my immune system wasn’t too good.
There were also so many people around me whom I probably always caught something from.
So pharmacies were my go to place all the time.
Make sure you care about your health and go to the doctor if it is too bad and get a good travel insurance.
Don’t think too much about money when you need to get medication because you will enjoy your time more when you are healthy and can get most of the money back from insurance.

8. being in uncomfortable situations

During my travels I have been in one uncomfortable situation, and it could also have been very dangerous.
I talk more about this story in this post.
I realized that I didn’t feel safe where I was supposed to stay and at first I thought I’ll just try it for a night, but everything the other person told me made it worse by every second.
Tears ended up falling because I was so overwhelmed and scared I wouldn’t get out of this situation.
I am so happy I was able to tell the other person that I didn’t feel safe in this place, and I wouldn’t be able to tell my parents they don’t have to worry.
Luckily, that person felt so sorry for me and didn’t know that their place would make others uncomfortable, so they offered to drive me back to the city.
I booked a hotel for that night and was just so happy I got out of that situation.
So if you are uncomfortable, tell them, tell somebody you don’t want to stay here, or you don’t want to do that.
Most of the time, they will understand and don’t want to make somebody uncomfortable.
You can also share your location with a friend before meeting new people, so somebody knows where you are in an emergency.
There is always that option of booking a hotel or hostel at short notice, and you shouldn’t care about the money if it gets you to a safe place.
My dad told me that he will pay for everything that gets me somewhere safe, so that relieved me a lot at that moment, that I didn’t have to worry about money.
Please talk about your feelings!
It wouldn’t get better if you don’t.

9. gaining or losing weight

You are in another country, where they most definitely will eat different and will have other kinds of products.
It is normal that your body will change, if it is that you are gaining weight or losing weight.
Even though you might train regularly on your travels because you like to work out, the different food can make you gain weight.
Try not paying attention to your weight too much.
It feels better just eating what you want and trying the new food.
As long as you are in a healthy limit, and you still feel good in your body, you are totally fine with gaining or losing weight and don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise.

10. getting lost

It is a new place for you, a new country, and it will be normal that you get lost sometimes.
Most of the time I related on Google Maps and got to where I wanted to get.
Sometimes I like walking or biking somewhere without navigation to discover the area, and then I will navigate back, but I guess that is getting lost on purpose.
There have been times when I just didn’t know where I was.
Most of the time I wasn’t alone or was able to navigate back somehow or just drove an extra loop by car.
You’ll get back somehow, and don’t hesitate to ask people around if there is no signal.
Most of the people are happy to help.
Don’t get panicked, there is always a way back, and often I just try to walk back the same way I came from, so I get to my accommodation or wherever I came from.

Maybe you were already on some long term travels and can relate to me, and if not I hope I could prepare you a bit.
It will definitely be a very special time which makes everyone stronger.
All of these situations I wrote about make you stronger.
Oftentimes you have to deal with everything yourself, which you can learn a lot from.
Traveling in general is a time to learn for me.
To learn about life!