What Does a Day In The Life of a Long-Term Traveller Look Like?

In some ways, travelling is vastly different from normal life. Often having more memorable experiences than living a conventional life. In others, it can be quite similar in structure and responsibility. Taking care of the "must dos" and keeping up with work to fund your travels. Quick trips away generally take the same format. Long-term travel can be a bit different. What does a day in the life of a long-term traveller look like?

Days spent travelling can be mostly broken down into a few main types. Travelling and transportation, which is when you get from place to place. Leisure and enjoyment, are the days that make travelling worth it. Working or adulting, doing stuff that needs to be done to keep your life in order. Lastly, is a mix of some or all of the previous types. When you wake up early to get work done, before heading out for the day for an activity, flight, or both.

Travel

Travel days often take the shape of being on buses, trains, planes, and cars. These days often feel like the longest and most taxing. Sometimes these days can be pretty seamless. Other times you need to be flexible if busses don't show up when you think they will, or flights get delayed.

They're usually accompanied by a sense of novelty when you're heading to a new area. Travel days can be like type 2 fun, where you don't necessarily enjoy it at the time, but the end result can be looked back upon with happiness. For example, trying to plan busses to get to some semi-remote location and the busses don't follow any schedule and show up whenever they want to come by.

I often enjoy travel days. They provide a unique timeframe where you can really dive into something like a book or a podcast. I'd rather travel early in the day to make room for mishaps in scheduling. Travelling early also provides me with more time in the evenings to get settled into my new accommodations and get a lay of the land.

On days when I travel, I get up early because I'm usually excited to get to my next destination. I'll pack my bag and fill my water before leaving my room. I like to ensure I'm fully caffeinated before setting off. Once I arrive at my new location, I like to spend a bit of time settling in and looking over google maps to get a lay of the land. Depending on my arrival time, I usually take some time for self-care like getting in a workout or showering away the filth of the metro of sweating from having to walk in 30C temps.

Leisure

The next type of day is the most fun! Leisure days are when you get to experience an area more intimately and do the typical travel-type things. These types of days are what travel is all about. Sightseeing, exploring, eating, and being social are all things that make travel so enjoyable.

Depending on the day, you might head out before sunrise. Or, you might hit the beach in the afternoon after sleeping in and enjoying coffee. Or you slept in because you were up a bit too late dancing the night away at some small bar that you stumbled upon. Sometimes setting out from your hotel in the morning with no plan can turn into a day of discovery and exploration.

Sometimes leisure day activities take a long time, so there isn't much time for anything else in your day. If you head out to explore an island for the day, you might be too tired to do much else afterwards. So, the day is considered a write-off with regard to getting work done. This isn't necessarily a bad thing if you've planned for it or can play catch-up adequately.

When possible, I enjoy heading out early in the morning to get a head start on the day and the crowds. Since I consider myself an introvert, I dislike crowded areas and activities at times. It's also usually the best time to get out to avoid the sun. (Thanks Sol for all the harm that you do to my very very sunburn susceptible skin). Going out in the evening for a night market, seeing the lights of a city at night, or simply trying a brewery is also an enjoyable experience.

Depending on my destination, I like to head out for leisure once I have all my mandatory tasks done for the day. I will usually pack a bag to bring along the necessities for whatever activity I have planned. I usually time sightseeing activities around meals and try to find good food in the area I'll be in. On hiking days, I'll stop by a bakery and get a good trail or summit snack. If my activity is a tour, then I allow myself to be at the whim of the experience.

Work

Long-term travellers have some added responsibilities that others might not be able to put off. Being away for so long means needing to keep up with all the other aspects of life that can sometimes be put on hold for a week with an "out of office" reply or placing your work phone on silent.

While days spent working might seem arduous and unenjoyable, they have their merits. These are the days when you can deal with all the "work" required to keep up with your responsibilities and obligations. You might even be able to get ahead of your work so you can enjoy a weekday of doing more leisurely activities.

I've mentioned before that I enjoy full days of "work" and getting things done other than sightseeing and enjoying the area I'm in. I don't dislike the work I do. In fact, I see how critical it is to my functioning and actually enjoy spending time writing and catching up on digital chores instead of sightseeing or trying new restaurants all the time.

On days that I devote to "working", I start it like I start most days... with caffeine. That sets in motion my motivation and alertness to plug away on my tasks that have either built up or are routine. Sometimes I'll plan ahead and have bought some groceries so I don't need to go out for too long to find food. If I've devoted a day to work, then I'll likely try to accomplish as much as possible. Even getting ahead when I can.

Mixed

Sometimes days aren't always black and white. More often than not, you'll do a few things in a day. Such as travelling to a new town, sitting at the beach for lunch, and hitting the gym in the evening before replying to some emails you missed during your day.

Travelling long-term requires this type of flexibility in your days. Being able to take care of the things that keep you going, while living away, is crucial. And being able to experience the places you're in is why people travel. Otherwise, why spend all that money on flights if you're not going to take advantage of being abroad? (Unless it's cheaper to live that way.)

Sometimes I don't have any leisure activities planned until the afternoon, so I might travel to a new hotel in the morning while I have some downtime. Other times I'll have something like surfing lessons booked in the morning, and have an open itinerary in the afternoon to catch up on work and check out a new restaurant. Some days I will frantically write in small spurts while sitting on busses and trains that aren't on time while replanning my route to accommodate wherever I end up.

Conclusion

Despite there being three main ways to spend your time while travelling abroad, not all days are guaranteed to be the same. You can spend 12 hours flying across the Atlantic and only have the energy to check in to your hotel at the end of the day and plop yourself into bed to sleep. It's possible to be having so much fun exploring street art and food that you lose track of time and don't get around to going over your budget that day. It's also possible to batch your work to a few days a week of pure concentration.

Some of my days are spent wholly on one of the types above. Other days are a combination of them all. All of these types of travelling days exist, and that's okay. I've found being flexible the best way to exist while travelling.