话虽如此，它和电视一样，都有可能变成时间的黑洞。你可以用它来丰富生活，但也要控制使用时间，这样才能有时间走出去，真正地体验生活。用一个屏幕代替另一个屏幕（即使只是用来和人聊天），也只是在逃避更美好的真实世界。
13. 到户外和其他人一起做点什么
我最喜欢的网站是Couchsurfing.org ，恰恰是因为我花在上面的时间很少。它极大地简化了我的旅行生活，让我可以接待客人来练习语言，还能在上面寻找有趣的人见面。
真正值得体验的世界不在书本里，也不在电视或电脑屏幕上，而是在与其他人相处的时候。 别再害羞了，走出去，认识他们吧！
14. 只会说英语对非旅游旅行者来说限制极大。
如果你周末去某个国家旅行，那么你可以入住酒店，在高档餐厅点餐，还可以参加英语导游讲解。你甚至可以结交一些受过大学教育的当地朋友，成功地营造出一个与当地语言隔绝的“泡泡”，并自欺欺人地认为这就是当地的常态。
但如果你仅仅局限于与受过良好教育的人进行深入交流，就永远无法真正体验当地文化。 英语旅行者错过了太多——不会说英语几乎贯穿了我所有的旅行，如果我没有尝试学习当地语言，我那些精彩的经历都将不复存在。
任何人都能学会一门语言。我21岁的时候也觉得自己学不会，但有一天我抛开所有借口，开始开口说。 从第一天就开始说这门语言，是快速学习的“秘诀”，而且无论年龄多大都能学会。
15. 现代外国文化不必符合你的刻板印象。
世界各国都在现代化，但这并不意味着它们正在西化或美国化。它们的独特之处并不一定符合你对它们“古朴”的旅游宣传册印象。抛开无知的刻板印象，以开放的心态去了解这种文化中的现代生活。
并非所有爱尔兰人都喝酒， 并非所有巴西人都跳桑巴舞和踢足球，如果你把对德国人、 荷兰人、 菲律宾人以及其他所有人的成见留在机场，他们一定会让你大吃一惊。
尊重差异，努力适应差异，并意识到在他们看来， 你在很多方面可能显得落后。
16. 慢慢来
如果说我在那些生活节奏比较“悠闲”的国家生活过有什么感悟，那就是他们在生活节奏方面比我们其他人要明智得多。凡事都追求速度的人和国家，往往也会把事情做得更糟。放轻松，慢慢来。
细细品味每一口食物，放慢脚步，欣赏周围的景色，认真倾听对方说完，在一天中抽出时间，闭上眼睛或看看大自然，感受自己的呼吸。
17. 你不可能让每个人都满意。
“我不知道成功的秘诀，但失败的秘诀是试图取悦所有人”——比尔·科斯比。
表达你的观点，并坚持己见。如果你足够自信，并且与足够多的人分享你的想法，无论你谈论什么， 总会有人不高兴。那是他们的问题，不是你的。
18. 试图耍酷或追随潮流是愚昧无知的行为。
同辈压力是那些害怕展现个性的人才会承受的。要坚持自我，如果觉得逆流而上才是最好的选择，那就去做。现在流行的东西，几年后可能就过时了。
19. 犯错——而且要犯很多错！
错误是学习的途径。 失败是通往成功的垫脚石。
20.涂抹防晒霜
说真的，保护好你的皮肤。请遵循视频中的这条建议以及其他所有建议：
21. 别想太多，行动起来
人们总是想方设法逃避生活中所有值得做的事情。我之所以觉得过去几年自己效率如此之高，恰恰是因为我把所有时间都花在了过度分析自己是否应该做某件重要的事情上：我一个时间都没花。
22. 尽可能多地唱歌跳舞
跳舞和唱歌都是很好的放松方式和表达方式。做完这两件事之后，很难不感到心情愉悦！
23. 结交新朋友很容易，珍惜现有的朋友也很容易。
我八年的旅行都是独自一人。很多时候，我抵达一个陌生的国家，身边连个朋友都没有。我没有任何人脉，但我还是会努力结交朋友。我会在网上找到聚会，然后直接过去，和每个人打招呼。只要我足够热情，很快就能找到可以经常一起社交的朋友。
如果你性格友善、真诚、有魅力，那么与来自各种文化和背景的人交朋友是完全可能的。
当那些被家人、人脉、同事、朋友、俱乐部和社群环绕的人告诉我，结识新朋友很难时，我真想扇他们耳光，让他们清醒清醒，意识到身边有多少机会——而我近十年来却一直没有这样的机会。看看你周围吧！
24. 直到失去才懂得珍惜。
不要把任何事都视为理所当然。有一次，我因为付不起住宿费，只能睡在路边的石头上。从那以后，我格外珍惜床、沙发或吊床，无论它们多么狭小，无论它们位于何处，因为我体会过没有床的滋味。仅仅一晚的经历就让我刻骨铭心——现在，每次上床睡觉，我都会如释重负地长舒一口气。
我曾因耳部感染而部分失聪两周，正因为恢复了听力，我才更加珍惜现在的听力以及周围所有美好的声音。我也因此体会到了手语交流的重要性，并在几年后受益匪浅。
我从未失去过至亲，但我会抓住每一个机会拥抱我的家人，告诉他们我爱他们；我会和朋友们化解矛盾，毫不保留地分享我的情感。人生苦短——如果我失去了什么重要的人或事，我希望确保我从未浪费过与他/她相处的时光。
25. 放下自尊，道歉。
永远不要记仇，也不要试图在每次争论中都赢。有时候，为了和对方化解误会，最好放下自尊。主动道歉， 不要等着对方先开口。
26. 刻意去做任何事来给别人留下深刻印象都是愚蠢的。
如果你为了博取别人的欢心而装模作样，他们永远不会给你想要的认可。炫耀你会说多少种语言、你有多富有、你认识谁、你在哪里读书、你的职业是什么，或者试图用其他任何方式炫耀以博取别人的好感，或者仅仅为了吹嘘而努力， 最终只会让你失望。
人们往往会被那些不刻意讨好别人、自在自信、善于社交且有趣的人所吸引。有时候，要想变得“有趣”，你只需要做一个好的倾听者。
27. 孤独并非人们的独处之痛。
作为一名长期独自旅行者，我最常被问到的问题之一就是：我是否感到孤独？简而言之， 不。但要详细解释这个问题，恐怕需要专门写一篇文章了。
但事实是，孤独在世界各地比我之前想象的要普遍得多。实际上，我在大学时期（相对固定的）生活中比现在孤独得多。我遇到过很多拥有庞大社交圈的人，他们却感到极度孤独，因为他们觉得没有人真正理解他们。
还有一些人，他们的生活方式发生了一些变化（不一定是旅行，而是结婚或开始一份高强度的工作），因此与所有儿时的朋友失去了联系，他们也会感到孤独。
我跟很多人聊过，他们都坚信自己是唯一有这种感觉的人。每次听到类似的故事，我脑海里都会响起警察的声音：“看来我不是唯一一个感到孤独的人……”信不信由你，当我真的与世隔绝，甚至连个知道我名字的人都没有时，这种感觉反而让我感到安慰。虽然每个人的处境都不尽相同，但我遇到的形形色色的人告诉我，即使在此刻，我也很可能不是唯一一个身处这种境地的人。
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38 PAST RESPONSES
28. I beg to differ love is all you need. We don't need Love from others true however SELF LOVE is what has made you travel as you are listening to yourself. All we need is love love love love is all we need. Good on you.
Great article! Thanks for sharing and keep doing what you do!
What a great article. I only travel once or twice a year, primarily to Spain, but I do have a wide variety of friends all over the spectrum - male, female, black, white, christians, muslims, atheists, gay, lesbian, straight, bisexuals, some of the above rolled into one person - and I wouldn't wanna be without them.
Though I'm not fluent in Spanish (I know a few words and phrases) I always try to become a part of the Spanish culture and I always feel very welcome, even with my limited Spanish, people like it when you at least TRY and also when you meet them in their world.
thank u...That's one of the best and wonderful article I've ever read Benny.
dear benny,how fascinating,so much one can learn from travelling..i would like to travel myself,and have the funds for it.. i am a practising medical doctor in mumbai,india,working in a charitable clinic.
home is beneath the stars!and stars are everywhere in the world.i would love to meet benny.
you are welcome at my home in mumbai,if you should visit it.we are jains by religion.
purvimshah@hotmail.com.
thank you benny,
traveled 40 years ago for seven years like you, backpacking and with nearly no money at all, now after the 'working periode' again on my way since 2 years and the insight in all what you wrote is just the same:
you are a wise young man and I do know that many travellers and people going their way with open eyes and no prejudice in mind and open heart and willing to see and to learn will appreciate your comments.
(european traveller klaus, 66 years)
i've really enjoyed your article Benny - very inspiring and enriching!
Happy Travelversary! Lovely, upbeat post though the last point I partially am forced to disagree with simply because not everyone has the luxury of being able to travel or just fly somewhere to immerse yourself in a new culture; people are blessed in different ways and you can only play with the cards you are dealt. Otherwise lovely!
And yes, everything apart from the travelling part too. Much respect to you man
You have no idea how much I appreciated this blog thingy. Travelling is one of my passions and I want to travel as much as possible in the near future. I'm 19 right now and studying!
Quick question, how do you fund for all your travels and stays and all that?
don't make too many plans, the places will make them for you.
don't make too many plans, the places with make them for you.
Wonderful - thank you xx
YUP, it's the journey, to experience!
Love is my religion no matter what country I traveled to! =o) TOTALLY AWEsome!
My experience is that those who travel seek escape from reality for a variety of reasons. Some may say it's because of the cultural experiences, the meeting of new people, the freedom of daily tasks, etc. but it's really about the fact that they aren't happy with who they are and what they have in their life. No photographs, necklaces, clothing, social understanding is going to make you any happier than you are today right where you are. It's like a drug addict seeking another fix. You want to save a lot of money and be happy? Don't travel and make what you have now your happiest moment.
In my 70s and still traveling, still discovering for myself many of the things Benny describes. Every year I relearn two fascinating truths about "travel that inspires." Bring less stuff with you, and don't plan very far ahead.
Nice... Being a Pilot and travelling, I couldn't understand why there's so much non-acceptance in this world.We have no control over our thoughts, it's origin, etc to 'some extent'. But what we can learn to do is control our emotions and help others find their way. After all that's what all cultural traditions (religions as some call them) profess. Then......... I learnt
Benny, in your experiences..... that's what H.H. Sri Sri Ravishankar has been doing for nearly 30 years with His foundation www.artofliving.org . Keep up the good work Benny. Love,
Fuzzy
www.aolreasearch.org
Love you Benny Lewis - thanks for the inspiration. Michele in Michigan, USA
my travels have taught me so many things. but one big realisation is......nature is wonderful. it showers itself on everyone in the same way. it is not partial. standing next to a huge mountain, or a deep forest, or vast ocean makes me relaise the insignificance of my selfish self. if nature can support so many beings within it, then why cant we? we r nature too and in our own way we need to be open and supportive of all. life is truly beautiful, lets live it in its simple form rather than complicating it. lets live the way other natural beings r living.
Thanks so much for sharing, this is a great article!
Thanks for your great insights! I know the next 29 will be even better for you!
Benny, I always wanted to travel and have never had much money in life, so I made a determined effort to reach out & meet people of different cultures through my various jobs in retail. My life is sooooo much richer for it. I've made many friends, laughed & danced, and even learned a smattering of many different languages. And I learned the same things you have (well, except for #9 re money). I guess you could say start at home, and then travel (or as you travel & bring your lessons home to share with others) and then the end to discrimination, racism, etc will end around the world. There is no "self " & "other", there is just "us"!
This is an amazing article - thanks so much for sharing! A student myself, I can very much relate with some of the points you make about learning it all and yet not understanding the world thoroughly and in all its beautiful nuances. Keep up the great attitude of living by example. One quote which came to mind while reading your article was:
"Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Howard ThurmanAlso I just shared the video and linked back to your article on The HappyHap Project Blog. You can check it here: http://happyhap.tumblr.com/....
Benny Great Work on sharing your Experience with the world! I can imagine you started out your travels with an open mind and that is why you have gotten so far and learn t so much.
I grew up in Africa and so i understand where your appreciation for life comes, not from materialism but for the Gift of Life itself.
Benny, one of the important lessons I've learned while traveling is never assume that someone else is thinking the same as I am. Because of cultural differences, what is obviously white to me may be obviously black to someone from a different culture. Hope you find your companion to share your life and travels. My husband of 40+ years and I have been to 80 countries in the past 15 years and are having a blast!
Benny~ your article has inspired me more then I can tell you in this short comment. I find myself turning 50 this year and going through a sudden unplanned and heart breaking divorce! My husband and I traveled all over the United States, Canada and Mexico meeting new people and I feel in love with the human race. Until today ...about an hour ago, I felt like I had lost the the ability to experience that again. I read your article and it was as if a spark ignited inside of me...I can do this. I can continue seeing the world and enjoy it perhaps in a greater way then before. Our (my soon to be former husband) and I next trip was to Ireland, I have been really mourning that lose. Now I am looking at the trip in a different way and am cautiously excited at the possibilities! Thank you for sharing your travels and inspirational words with me.
That's one of the best and wonderful article I've ever read Benny. I may not get the chance to travel outside the country but I've learned so much from you..Thanks and have a blessed life.
wow, i am amazed. i wanted to leave my home country and start on my own by traveling around the world. This may not be happened now in my life at this time but i do hope and pray that i can step my first move in the near future. Thanks Benny for this one. applause to you! You may found one great true LOVE!
Loved every bit of the post specially the video "use sunscreen" and also completely second you on the points 6,7,8 and 25. Surprisingly i woke up this morning and started writing about my journey after college. How I gave it all up have been experimenting the past 8 yrs when this post comes through the daily good news. Its good to know that there are people like me :)...
walk lightly,smile sweetly,sing,dance and make merry.
love n peace
jumana
Love it! I especially love #16, 17, 19, and 22. Keep on truckin'! I have to say, though, #28 is not true, unless you specifically mean "romantic love." We do, in fact, need love to survive, all of us. And clearly you're finding it--by giving it, which is the whole point!
The Wanderlust by Robert William Service
The Wanderlust has lured me to the
seven lonely seas,
Has dumped me on the tailing-piles of dearth;
The Wanderlust has haled me from the morris chairs of ease,
Has hurled me to the ends of all the earth.
How bitterly I've cursed it, oh, the Painted Desert knows,
The wraithlike heights that hug the pallid plain,
The all-but-fluid silence, -- yet the longing grows and grows,
And I've got to glut the Wanderlust again.
Soldier, sailor, in what a plight I've been!
Tinker, tailor, oh what a sight I've seen!
And I'm hitting the trail in the morning, boys,
And you won't see my heels for dust;
For it's "all day" with you
When you answer the cue
Of the Wan-der-lust.
The Wanderlust has got me . . . by the belly-aching fire,
By the fever and the freezing and the pain;
By the darkness that just drowns you, by the wail of home desire,
I've tried to break the spell of it -- in vain.
Life might have been a feast for me, now there are only crumbs;
In rags and tatters, beggar-wise I sit;
Yet there's no rest or peace for me, imperious it drums,
The Wanderlust, and I must follow it.
Highway, by-way, many a mile I've done;
Rare way, fair way, many a height I've won;
But I'm pulling my freight in the morning, boys,
And it's over the hills or bust;
For there's never a cure
When you list to the lure
Of the Wan-der-lust.
The Wanderlust has taught me . . . it has whispered to my heart
Things all you stay-at-homes will never know.
The white man and the savage are but three short days apart,
Three days of cursing, crawling, doubt and woe.
Then it's down to chewing muclucs, to the water you can eat,
To fish you bolt with nose held in your hand.
When you get right down to cases, it's King's Grub that rules the races,
And the Wanderlust will help you understand.
Haunting, taunting, that is the spell of it;
Mocking, baulking, that is the hell of it;
But I'll shoulder my pack in the morning, boys,
And I'm going because I must;
For it's so-long to all
When you answer the call
Of the Wan-der-lust.
The Wanderlust has blest me . . . in a ragged blanket curled,
I've watched the gulf of Heaven foam with stars;
I've walked with eyes wide open to the wonder of the world,
I've seen God's flood of glory burst its bars.
I've seen the gold a-blinding in the riffles of the sky,
Till I fancied me a bloated plutocrat;
But I'm freedom's happy bond-slave, and I will be till I die,
And I've got to thank the Wanderlust for that.
Wild heart, child heart, all of the world your home.
Glad heart, mad heart, what can you do but roam?
Oh, I'll beat it once more in the morning, boys,
With a pinch of tea and a crust;
For you cannot deny
When you hark to the cry
Of the Wan-der-lust.
The Wanderlust will claim me at the finish for its own.
I'll turn my back on men and face the Pole.
Beyond the Arctic outposts I will venture all alone;
Some Never-never Land will be my goal.
Thank God! there's none will miss me, for I've been a bird of flight;
And in my moccasins I'll take my call;
For the Wanderlust has ruled me,
And the Wanderlust has schooled me,
And I'm ready for the darkest trail of all.
Grim land, dim land, oh, how the vastness calls!
Far land, star land, oh, how the stillness falls!
For you never can tell if it's heaven or hell,
And I'm taking the trail on trust;
But I haven't a doubt
That my soul will leap out
On its Wan-der-lust.
[Hide Full Comment]Since the question comes up a lot, I had to add it to my original blog post so I'll add it here as a comment in case someone feels the need to ask:
People keep asking me how I can afford a travel lifestyle for so long, or if I'm rich or if my parents paid for everything. I paid for the entire trip myself, starting with no money saved up; I can assure you my lifestyle is way cheaper than most settled people who prove observation #10 and need so much money to buy rubbish!
[Hide Full Comment]You don't need to be rich to travel the world. To find out more about me and my story, please read my site's About page to see a list of the many jobs I've had during my travels. For just the last one year I've been earning money by helping people to hack languages quicker.
Benny ... having been on the road for 15 years, almost without pause, having worked in 3500 communities, I find your 29 points right on track .... validated, verified, ready to be etched in stone. Keep traveling!!!
This is one of the best experiences I've ever read. Thanks Benny.. :) I think I can summarise what I've learnt from this.. "The next time I'm wid sm1 whom I don't know I'll try to talk to them, listen to them, share things and as Benny says 'meet them' rather than reading a book or listening to songs"... :)
This is GREAT ! Keep living and be who you are now that you have found him.
Benny, I want to pack my ruck sac and join you!
Thank you for this amazing wisdom
My excitement for life has been replenished!
Siobhan County Kerry
This is one of the best articles I have ever read. Thanks. The only thing I disagree with is the point about the Internet. I learn so much from it each day, this article being a case in point. I may never get the chance to travel as much as Benny has but at least I can learn from his wisdom.