Mentality of a Backpacker, facing fear and getting over it

I’ve been very lucky in my travels and haven’t encountered many problems along the way.

Apart from the time when my backpack was stolen in Canada of all places!

Fear is one of the big reasons that puts many people off travelling.

As you can tell from this video, I was pretty pissed off.

When you’re travelling you have to keep being positive, you shouldn’t let anything get in the way of your dreams to travel.

Sure, I did sit down by myself for an hour or so before to think deeply about the loss of my backpack.

It wasn’t a nice experience.

In the end, I was thinking to myself, come on! I’m in CANADA! Who needs clothes and things when you’re in Canada.

I was half way around the world for the first time in my life, I could always buy new items and I’m sure the guy who took my stuff needed it more than me, maybe to feed their family or something along those lines.

I tried not to let the fear I first encountered before I had even embarked on the trip face me again.

Sure, it sucked, but you have to always look on the bright side of life, even when you are faced with the worst situation ever, face it and conquer it, then move on.

It may look like a scary world out there, but you bump into more friendly faces than negative ones and you’ll kick yourself for not giving it ago.

I had travel insurance, I managed to get everything back in the end, so happy days.

Situations always end up finding a way of working themselves out.

Believe in karma and you will go along way.

Sometimes it’s hard to always be positive, but always look at the larger picture, not many people get an opportunity to experience what your doing, always look at the bigger picture.

Normally the scary travel related stories spread like wildfire rather than the good experiences.

These situations rarely happen and they shouldn’t put you off.

Normally these are the stories that your family first read about before you can even defend yourself.

Family and friends care and that’s why they worry about you, try and not let this fear directly get to you.

It is sad when backpackers get into troubling situations in the press, but every day, millions of backpackers are moving constantly all around the world, but you don’t hear about how successful their journey went, as it’s not interesting, so don’t let the negative stories you read in the press put you off.

Some people relate travel to being stressful, unsafe experience, especially when you’re planning it yourself, but this doesn’t have to be the case.

Let travel takes over your life and enjoy it.

Information is key

Avoid being apart of scams or tourist traps by reading up on some local knowledge in a guide book.

I like to use wikitravel.org which is free and you can print or download onto a PDF.

You should pick up some local history and information on where you are visiting, which is helpful to understand the people, as well as read up on the warnings which you should know about before you arrive.

This information can be easily read on the flight over before you arrive so you’re fully up to date.

It will give you a piece of mind that you will appreciate.

It’s also wise to read about the customs and what you should do to prepare yourself so you avoid not offending anyone.

Knowledge is king.

It’s just important to pick these tips up as you won’t be told them when you arrive, you will just be expected to know them and this can easily offend locals which is never a good thing.

Read up on the location before you arrive and you can keep on top of these areas and continue to be a well informed traveler.

When you arrive now you’ll be ready to easily jump onto any route/plan or whatever you want.

Confidence is a great way of battling fear.

You’ll be flexible and free, with little worry, and you’ll be prepared for the joys of travelling.

Travel without fear and enjoy the world around you.