I’m nearly to the end of my third month with We Roam, a quarter of the way through the time I’ve signed up for. My challenges so far haven’t exactly been the ones you’d imagine. In the midst of a busy month, I’ve been mulling over a few unexpected hazards of constantly circling the globe.
1. There’s not enough time to plan…and anticipate.
Currently I’m in Berlin. I really want to explore and appreciate the city as much as possible. But I’m also taking a road trip around the country tomorrow. And next week I’ll be in Croatia, where I want to island hop. And the following month is Serbia, with a trip to Hong Kong en route to Seoul, and a possible long weekend in Montenegro. And my friend and I are tentatively planning on Machu Picchu next spring and need to reserve by September for Inca Trail permits.
All of this is AMAZING. But trying to plan for these things while on the road takes a tiny bit of the fun out of it for me.
I’m a planner. I love it. And I’m really good at it. I can cross reference travel guides and blog posts and TripAdvisor reviews until I find the perfect spot. This trip is definitely challenging my desire to have things mapped out (just got word of an itinerary change that may dash those Machu Picchu plans), and I can appreciate that some great things happen with spontaneity. But there are also some things you just miss out on if you don’t plan.
For instance, I can’t find a restaurant with availability for Saturday night in Kassel. And I’m pretty sure I got the last Airbnb in the main town on the small island of Vis. Several of the places I would have liked to stay were sold out or only had their most expensive rooms still available. Some things about travel require advanced planning.
Also, researchers now think that the anticipation of a trip–the investigation, the daydreams, the culture studies–may be even more enjoyable than the trip itself. (See this Times article for more.) It’s tough to anticipate one thing when you’re in the midst of something else.
2. When I’m always traveling, I’m never on vacation.
I’m on a work-while-traveling program. So yes, I’m sightseeing and touristing and experiencing new cultures. But I’m also doing my job, which means sometimes I’m sitting inside sending emails on a sunny Berlin morning or leaving the farewell to Barcelona party to have a conference call about a crisis. I’m lucky that my job is more flexible than some. I don’t have to keep US hours and be at my computer from 4 pm to midnight. But when I get an email about an audio book in the middle of a food tour in Prague (7 pm my time, 1 pm theirs), I step to the side and answer it.
And in addition to work, there’s just…life. I can’t eat whatever I want for a year because “calories don’t count on vacation!” I have to pay bills, do laundry, wash dishes. I’ve heard a few Roamers talk about getting back to real life, but honestly, this feels pretty real to me. There’s more fun smushed around the edges, but a lot of the day-to-day is the same.
Also, a few people have implied that I must be slacking off if I’m traveling, and I feel I have to work even harder to counteract that perception. So there essentially hasn’t been any time since I left a few months ago that I haven’t been on call–the distinction between work and personal time has been completely wiped out. And while it would be perfectly reasonable to take a few days off to go island hopping in Croatia, I was scouring the Airbnb reviews, making sure the WiFi is good in all the apartments I’m staying in. Even though I’m on this fabulous trip, I’m still longing for a vacation.
3. I feel guilty about downtime.
Sometimes even though I’m in an amazing city, I’m tired and have cramps, and I just want to lie on the couch and binge watch Suits all day. (That…may have been what I did yesterday. That plus all the planning. Those Croatia ferries are booked!) I don’t really feel great about doing this in NYC, but I feel absolutely terrible about doing it in Berlin.
But you can’t go nonstop for a year with no breaks. Or I can’t, at least. Hamilton probably could. And a month in each place really is enough time to a) get your work done, b) see the major sights, c) get a feel for the day-to-day life of a place, d) go on one side trip, and e) take a day or two off. But that’s still a pretty crowded month, and the pressure is real.
The group definitely heightens that pressure: someone is always doing something cool, whether it’s a new restaurant to try in a city you’re in or a crazy side trip. A bunch of people are going to a music festival in Amsterdam this weekend, for instance. I’m doing my German road trip instead. I hate bullshit millennial acronyms, but…FOMO.
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I came on this trip in part because I felt like I wasn’t traveling as much as I wanted. I’m loving being able to explore places more deeply, not having to deal with jet lag, and having easy access to side trip destinations. But I think the ideal for me going forward might be 2-3 month travel stints followed by a few months at home–where I can relax a bit, focus on work, and plan my next adventure.
But for now, onwards.
