a little bit different. First of all as you've probably already noticed

it's gonna be animated in a different style. Yusuf is my animator and he's been

animating a ton of past videos on the channel and he's learning a new style.

So, let me know at the end of this video what you think of it.

Secondly, the title of this video is what you learn traveling around the world.

However, I haven't traveled the world yet one of my writers Megan has though.

Megan is an absolutely great writer and has been on the team for about a year.

She's been freelancing online while being a digital nomad all over the world,

and well, I'll just let her tell you. Hey, my name is Megan Watzke, a traveller writer

and yoga teacher from Philadelphia. I just got back home from

over a year abroad and wanted to share a few insights for people who might be

thinking about long-term travel. Here's a quick background for you.

After a three-month backpacking trip through Europe I decided that I would

save up some cash and take the plunge with the digital Nomad lifestyle.

After six weeks of backpacking through Asia with my best friend, I began freelancing

and decided to move to Australia for a year on a working holiday visa.

Between the time that I left home and the time that I got back, I spent 16 months

in eight different countries working in retail freelancing and exploring the world.

My journeys are far from over but I thought it would be a good time to reflect on

what I learned after a year of traveling. So without further ado here's a sneak peek

of the knowledge and skills you might gain after a year of traveling the world.

Lesson number one just getting around. Sure there are a lot of

wanderlust e elements to traveling the world but unless you have quite a bit of

cash, I did not, you will have to do a lot of travel on your own and when it comes

down to it, travel requires a lot of life skills that you have to sometimes

develop on the fly, pun very much intended. One of the most daunting parts

of traveling is physically getting from point A to point B. So you've flown into

the Kuala Lumpur Airport, now how do you get to your hostel? You're ready to move

on from Kuala Lumpur and you've heard about a cool island called Langkawi,

what do you need to do to get there. Google Maps has become my best friend abroad,

whether I want to walk the night market or take a metro to my hotel.

Other travelers and locals are also great resources for the best ferry companies

to book with or whether the train or the bus is the easier option

Nowadays we also have a lot of online resources including blogs.

They give you all the information you need to get where you need to go.

Public transportation can be daunting but it's a heck of a lot cheaper than taking

ubers or taxis everywhere, again learning how to figure out train schedules

or where to buy a bus pass are pretty crucial life skills and when you get home

everything else seems less scary. If you can navigate the city of Vienna

with a metro system that is entirely in German

you'll feel pretty confident that you can do just about anything.

Lesson number two, there are so many wonderful people on our planet.

When I think about my favorite cities, I think about Edinburgh, Brisbane and Penang.

And Edinburgh, I was able to check out the Fringe Festival and the beautiful architecture

But my favorite memory from that city was running into friends that I had met in Ireland,

and taking a spontaneous trip to an art museum with them.

Brisbane doesn't have the top tourist attractions in Australia but I was able to form

very close relationships with friends and musicians that I met at shows.

I visited Penang three times with three different groups of people. Every time I had

Wi-Fi problems and I had trouble working, but every time I could always count on going

to Love Lane and introducing my new friends to my favorite bartender who

always greeted me with a big smile. Bucket list items and beautiful sights

certainly give you a reason to visit a new country or study, but often it's the

people that you meet that will help you create warm and fuzzy memories of your travels.

And night in with hostel roommates laughing over a cheap box of wine

maybe just as special as seeing ancient temples in Thailand or holding a koala.

Lesson number three you don't have to travel solo. Let's go back to talking

about life skills for a minute. I spent a majority of my 16 months

abroad quote unquote alone. I say like that because,

although there were many moments where I was alone on different tours or traveling

different cities there were also many times when I spontaneously traveled with

people that I met on my journey. I bought a car in New Zealand with a girl that I

met in Malaysia the two of us traveled from the North island to the South island

with a crew of boys that we met along the way.

After that I arrived in Melbourne by myself but I left with three of my

roommates as we took a road trip up to Byron Bay. Back in Europe I went to a

music festival with a friend from college and a guy that she met on reddit.

I'm not kidding and we all traveled through Poland together.

You'll be surprised so how easy it is to meet and become friends with travelers

while you're traveling solo. When I arrived in a hostel in the Cameron Highlands

I walked to a group of guests and asked them what they were doing for dinner.

A few days later I took a bus to Penang with three of the guys from the hostel

and then continued on my travels to Langkawai with one of them.

Are you nervous about traveling solo? Don't worry, you'll find that

before long you'll be begging to get some alone time.

Lesson number four you'll be surprised at what you're capable of. I remember sitting in

a hostel in Bristol trying to build up the courage to go downstairs and meet new people.

Fast-forward to my time in Byron Bay when I departed for my friends and

craved some time by myself. I walked into the lobby of the Byron hostel and told

myself with full confidence I'll just make some friends when I feel like it.

In a year of travelling, planning trips, navigating the world, meeting new people

,and crossing items off of your bucket list you come a long way. I worked and

lived in a working hostel in Melbourne where many travelers began a year-long

journey through Australia. I watched travelers who were 18 or 19

apply for and get jobs, travel a new country, and figure out taxes in a

foreign place. My road trip buddy in New Zealand hadn't owned a car before a trip

much less knew how to jump-start said car when she discovered the battery died.

Don't worry we figured it out. When you travel for a year you have a lot of

opportunities to face your fears and challenge what you believe you are

capable of, and now that I'm home I can reflect on those opportunities and

ask myself what's next. So as we in this video let me know what you think of this new

animation style and also check out some imagines adventures on her

instagram below. I hope you guys enjoyed this video.