Lessons I Learned My First Time Traveling Abroad
Every article about travel talks about what an amazing life changing experience it is to wander in foreign lands. The cultures you encounter and the experiences you have will change your life forever, so they say. Here was my experience.
The Portugal + Spain Road Trip
My first time traveling was an ambitious journey. My friend and I had the bold idea to go to Portugal junior year of college. He had family there, and we were definitely looking for ways to make a trip to Europe affordable.
However, we didn’t want to stop there. We wanted to see what Spain and France had to offer in one sweeping 17 day road trip across Southern Europe. One thing we failed to realize was that manual transmissions were the norm there, and neither of us knew how to drive stick.
So we planned our trip over 3 weeks like it was our full time job. After a 2 hour lesson in driving stick from a friend of ours, we put a post on Craig’s List asking to borrow someone’s car with a manual transmission in order to practice. Who in there right mind would lend there car (likely illegally) to two guys who have 2 hours of experience driving stick?
Well, I guess it’s true you can find anything on Craig’s list, because a high school student lent us his car for a few hours for $100.
So three weeks, 2 driving sessions later, and against the strong recommendation of my friend’s family regarding not driving in Portugal, we flew to Lisbon and drove a total of 24 hours (without crashing, surprisingly) exploring Lisbon, Porto, Algarve, Cuenca, Barcelona, Ciudad Rodrigo, and Madrid.
This trip was one of the most memorable experiences of my life, and here are some of my takeaways from the journey…
Languages Unlock New Worlds
The first thing I realized was how hard (impossible?) it is to communicate with people who don’t speak my language. Yes, this is glaringly obvious, but I say it because I don’t think people realize how limiting this is.
There are infinite experiences, places, potential friends, potential business partners, and revelations about people, culture, and life that are off limits to you because you are literally blocked by language. I truly believe people who speak multiple languages have an unfathomable level of freedom. Locals will likely be friendlier, traveling is safer, and entire regions of countries become more accessible simply because you can communicate with natives. It’s like unlocking new parts of the map in an open world video game, except you are actually living it.
People are People
As a species, we have a real problem with snap judgments. We believe stereotypes about other cultures without having experienced them. We watch the news and think we understand what is happening in the world.
We absolutely don’t. The media is full of exaggerations, stereotypes, and both political and business agendas. Rarely is it that what we see portrayed in media is the whole story. Going to a new country for the first time makes this glaringly obvious if one takes a moment to compare what their preconceived notions were with what actually is.
The truth is, 90% of us behave in a way none of us would find out of the ordinary. Everyone faces different challenges in life we aren’t privy to, yet no matter how much empathy we each demand individually, we rarely give it in return. If not knowledge, I find that traveling can bring people a better sense of empathy.
The Best Moments are Spontaneous
We planned activities to do in Portugal, but it was always the random hours wandering down the hills of Sintra, the sipping of sangria late night at an outdoor restaurant in Portimão, the panic attacks stalling our car on a massive hill with a line of angry Portuguese drivers behind us, the conversations with Ukrainian hitchhikers we picked up in Spain on our way back to Portugal, and all the other random moments that made the trip truly special.
This was a nice reminder that planning is always good, but sometimes the best things happening when you go down the path least taken and see what you find.
You Won’t See Much in a Two Week Vacation
We split our time between Portugal and Spain, but in reality there was barely enough time to explore a single city. Despite spending about 7 days in Lisbon, there were many things that we didn’t get to see. As eye opening as traveling can be, unless you spend months in a specific country you probably will only see 1% of what it has to offer.
Doing More Than the Touristy Stuff
It’s always great to visit the tourist attractions / locations, but it usually doesn’t do a country justice. My friend had family in Portugal, making the experience far more personal and “immersive”. We learned about day to day life, the school and work systems, the differences between American culture and Portuguese culture, lifestyle, and more. When we went to Spain, we didn’t have any connections in the country, so the visit was much more superficial. If you can make a connection in the place you’re visiting through an Airbnb host, a tour guide, or even the Meetup app, it may make your trip a whole lot better. I even met my girlfriend (love ya Suzana) through a language learning app before meeting her in Brazil, and it ended up being the best decision I have ever made.
What Was Your Experience?
These were my personal discoveries on my first trip outside of the US. I was curious what others may have learned from their first time visiting another country. Let me know in the comments!
Random Facts About Kristopher Guzman
- I’m a front end developer looking for new projects
- I have an abnormally large pitbull who is afraid of the wind
- I love traveling. There is so much to see and so little time.
- The “places I’ve been” list includes Portugal, Spain, Ecuador, and Brazil
- I’m learning Portuguese (whether or not I’m succeeding is up in the air), yet I’m Puerto Rican and don’t speak Spanish.
- I play fingerstyle arrangements on the guitar, but my singing would kill a small animal
- I eat until I hate myself. Then I keep eating.
