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Hey guys it's Theodore here, and in this video we're gonna be doing something
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a little bit different. First of all as you've probably already noticed
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it's gonna be animated in a different style. Yusuf is my animator and he's been
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animating a ton of past videos on the channel and he's learning a new style.
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So, let me know at the end of this video what you think of it.
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Secondly, the title of this video is what you learn traveling around the world.
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However, I haven't traveled the world yet one of my writers Megan has though.
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Megan is an absolutely great writer and has been on the team for about a year.
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She's been freelancing online while being a digital nomad all over the world,
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and well, I'll just let her tell you. Hey, my name is Megan Watzke, a traveller writer
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and yoga teacher from Philadelphia. I just got back home from
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over a year abroad and wanted to share a few insights for people who might be
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thinking about long-term travel. Here's a quick background for you.
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After a three-month backpacking trip through Europe I decided that I would
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save up some cash and take the plunge with the digital Nomad lifestyle.
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After six weeks of backpacking through Asia with my best friend, I began freelancing
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and decided to move to Australia for a year on a working holiday visa.
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Between the time that I left home and the time that I got back, I spent 16 months
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in eight different countries working in retail freelancing and exploring the world.
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My journeys are far from over but I thought it would be a good time to reflect on
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what I learned after a year of traveling. So without further ado here's a sneak peek
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of the knowledge and skills you might gain after a year of traveling the world.
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Lesson number one just getting around. Sure there are a lot of
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wanderlust e elements to traveling the world but unless you have quite a bit of
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cash, I did not, you will have to do a lot of travel on your own and when it comes
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down to it, travel requires a lot of life skills that you have to sometimes
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develop on the fly, pun very much intended. One of the most daunting parts
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of traveling is physically getting from point A to point B. So you've flown into
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the Kuala Lumpur Airport, now how do you get to your hostel? You're ready to move
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on from Kuala Lumpur and you've heard about a cool island called Langkawi,
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what do you need to do to get there. Google Maps has become my best friend abroad,
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whether I want to walk the night market or take a metro to my hotel.
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Other travelers and locals are also great resources for the best ferry companies
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to book with or whether the train or the bus is the easier option
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Nowadays we also have a lot of online resources including blogs.
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They give you all the information you need to get where you need to go.
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Public transportation can be daunting but it's a heck of a lot cheaper than taking
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ubers or taxis everywhere, again learning how to figure out train schedules
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or where to buy a bus pass are pretty crucial life skills and when you get home
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everything else seems less scary. If you can navigate the city of Vienna
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with a metro system that is entirely in German
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you'll feel pretty confident that you can do just about anything.
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Lesson number two, there are so many wonderful people on our planet.
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When I think about my favorite cities, I think about Edinburgh, Brisbane and Penang.
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And Edinburgh, I was able to check out the Fringe Festival and the beautiful architecture
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But my favorite memory from that city was running into friends that I had met in Ireland,
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and taking a spontaneous trip to an art museum with them.
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Brisbane doesn't have the top tourist attractions in Australia but I was able to form
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very close relationships with friends and musicians that I met at shows.
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I visited Penang three times with three different groups of people. Every time I had
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Wi-Fi problems and I had trouble working, but every time I could always count on going
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to Love Lane and introducing my new friends to my favorite bartender who
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always greeted me with a big smile. Bucket list items and beautiful sights
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certainly give you a reason to visit a new country or study, but often it's the
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people that you meet that will help you create warm and fuzzy memories of your travels.
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And night in with hostel roommates laughing over a cheap box of wine
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maybe just as special as seeing ancient temples in Thailand or holding a koala.
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Lesson number three you don't have to travel solo. Let's go back to talking
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about life skills for a minute. I spent a majority of my 16 months
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abroad quote unquote alone. I say like that because,
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although there were many moments where I was alone on different tours or traveling
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different cities there were also many times when I spontaneously traveled with
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people that I met on my journey. I bought a car in New Zealand with a girl that I
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met in Malaysia the two of us traveled from the North island to the South island
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with a crew of boys that we met along the way.
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After that I arrived in Melbourne by myself but I left with three of my
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roommates as we took a road trip up to Byron Bay. Back in Europe I went to a
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music festival with a friend from college and a guy that she met on reddit.
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I'm not kidding and we all traveled through Poland together.
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You'll be surprised so how easy it is to meet and become friends with travelers
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while you're traveling solo. When I arrived in a hostel in the Cameron Highlands
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I walked to a group of guests and asked them what they were doing for dinner.
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A few days later I took a bus to Penang with three of the guys from the hostel
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and then continued on my travels to Langkawai with one of them.
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Are you nervous about traveling solo? Don't worry, you'll find that
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before long you'll be begging to get some alone time.
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Lesson number four you'll be surprised at what you're capable of. I remember sitting in
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a hostel in Bristol trying to build up the courage to go downstairs and meet new people.
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Fast-forward to my time in Byron Bay when I departed for my friends and
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craved some time by myself. I walked into the lobby of the Byron hostel and told
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myself with full confidence I'll just make some friends when I feel like it.
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In a year of travelling, planning trips, navigating the world, meeting new people
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,and crossing items off of your bucket list you come a long way. I worked and
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lived in a working hostel in Melbourne where many travelers began a year-long
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journey through Australia. I watched travelers who were 18 or 19
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apply for and get jobs, travel a new country, and figure out taxes in a
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foreign place. My road trip buddy in New Zealand hadn't owned a car before a trip
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much less knew how to jump-start said car when she discovered the battery died.
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Don't worry we figured it out. When you travel for a year you have a lot of
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opportunities to face your fears and challenge what you believe you are
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capable of, and now that I'm home I can reflect on those opportunities and
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ask myself what's next. So as we in this video let me know what you think of this new
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animation style and also check out some imagines adventures on her
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instagram below. I hope you guys enjoyed this video.