Why you Don’t Need
a Travel Agent!

Rolling Solo… Why You Don’t Need a Travel Agent

After all the planes, trains and automobiles, all the hotels, hostels and guesthouses, all the taxis, tuk tuks and rickshaws, and all the crazy travel experiences in between, I can tell you… you really don’t need a travel agent. I’ve traveled more than 74,000 miles so far and still haven’t had much need for one!

Kayaking in Lagos, Portugal… I hadn’t planned on kayaking until a day prior nor had I even planned on going to Portugal within a day’s notice. Everything worked out great!

However, going it on your own without the aid and services of a travel agent can indeed be a daunting task. It’s especially troublesome when traveling in areas in which you don’t know the language, the customs, and what to expect once you get there. Trust me, I’ve been there, many many times….

But… If you like:

Adventure…

Saving money…

Unbiased opinions…

Independence and freedom… (Not controlled tour groups and guides)

Building your confidence…

Spontaneity…

Learning to trust yourself…

Discovering new things…

Traveling at your own pace….

Then you may want to direct your own travels, do your own travel planning and seek out adventure for yourself all while building some “travel legs” of confidence to stand upon. Sure, it’s much easier to simply allow someone else to plan your trip for you but when you realize just how easy it is once you’ve handled it yourself, you’re likely never go that route again.

Traveling through Myvatn in Iceland’s northern end… This was another trip taken to a country without much pre-planning or notice. The only thing I failed to bring was a good jacket!

Looking back on it, I wonder how I ever made it through some of those remote towns in which I didn’t speak the language. Similar to how I’d travel to a new country that was never on my itinerary with nothing more than a couple days pre-planning or how I managed to book an apartment for short term living in a condensed Chinese neighborhood without knowing the first person in a city of 12 million and not knowing how to say a single word of Chinese other than hello.

However, once you’re there, you realize things aren’t quite as intimidating as they seemed in your head as we usually build up mental roadblocks in our heads that cause things to get blown way out of proportion before we ever face them. So when I do look back, I realize that those difficulties I’d faced at the time were what truly made those experiences so rich and memorable. It’s what provided the sense of adventure and freedom to travel on a whim as well as adding to the spontaneity of travel.

Backpacking in India… As challenging as this can be, the 6 week trip was still amazing all while going about it on my own!

No matter what you decide to do, just don’t forget, travel is much more than just reaching a destination. It’s truly about the journey and adventure in the process. So if you do pass along the planning tasks of your trip to another individual or organization, just keep this in mind as it’ll make for a more amazing and unforgettable trip!

The baths in Budapest, Hungary. An amazing place and one that was found without the services of a travel agent while traveling through Europe…

And of course, if this article seems to clash pretty strongly with your core profile…  well then, you just might need a travel agent!