The Best Travel Advice? Be Spontaneous!

If I had to choose one tip for the best travel advice, I would tell you to be as spontaneous as possible while you’re traveling. Avoid making too many plans in advance because great unforeseen opportunities always come up and some of your best memories often come from when you decide to do something on a whim. Basically, this means you need to leave your comfort zone, be flexible, openminded and become a “yes” person and say “yes” to new adventures and experiences. This attitude can and should be applied at home too.

Some of my favourite spontaneous travel memories

MIDNIGHT SWIM IN CAMBODIA

I had arrived in Siem Reap, Cambodia from Canada 2 days before and I was extremely jet lagged, so I had gone to bed somewhat early and I was just falling asleep when a guy in my hostel dorm room woke me up to ask if I wanted to go swimming with him and some others at a pool nearby. Typically, I’m not a fan of getting woken up and it would’ve been so easy to say “no” and go back to sleep, which I desperately needed, but it sounded fun, so I went.

A small group of us went to a nearby budget hotel, where we each paid $1US to have a late night swim. It was so fun and I’m so glad I went!

A month and a half later in Bangkok, I met up with one of the guys from the pool night, and a few years later, we still keep in touch.

IMPROMPTU SUNRISE IN SIEM REAP

The same night as the midnight swim, after only a few hours of sleep, I was wide awake at 4:45am from the jet lag. This had also happened the last two mornings, so I thought that since I was already awake, I might as well go see the sunrise at Angkor Wat because it was on my must-see list anyway.

A tuk tuk drove me there, but as we were driving, the sun was starting to rise, which meant I was going to miss the full sunrise at Angkor Wat. I only had one day left on my pass for Angkor Wat and I didn’t want to waste it (because I could go tomorrow instead), so I asked my driver to take me somewhere else to see the sunrise.

So he took me to the countryside and this happened:

7 years later and it’s still one of my favorite sunrises

BBQ IN MENDOZA, ARGENTINA

I was in Mendoza and I was planning to leave for Chile on a night bus, but that morning I met some Argentinians at my hostel who asked if I wanted to join them for a barbecue that night. Barbecue is one of Argentina’s specialities, so the answer was a very enthusiastic “yes”!

Ten of us went to buy an impressive and grand assortment of meat, but it was getting late and I needed to leave for my bus soon (dinner is eaten very late in Argentina). Everyone was trying to convince me to change my bus ticket to Chile, and one of them said that he was going to throw my ticket into the fire. This was a proper Argentinian barbecue with Argentinians, and it really doesn’t get more authentic than that. I decided that I couldn’t miss it, so I skipped my bus. After, I found out that there weren’t anymore beds at our hostel, but I figured I’d worry about that later. I was going to leave on the early bus the next morning and with the way Argentinians party, there was a good chance I would have no use for a bed anyway.

The barbecue was amazing and we all went to the bar after and danced the night away.

I got to bed at 6am (a bed made of couch cushions that I borrowed from the common room in the hostel) and got up at 7:45am for my bus to Chile, in which I slept for the entire 7 hour bus ride.

MOROCCO ROAD TRIP

I was in Fes and had decided to leave for Marrakesh the next morning, when I met 8 people in my hostel dorm room who were traveling together and adopted me immediately. Within 5 minutes of meeting them, they invited me to come to Meknes and Volublis with them for the next few days. They seemed fun, so I went with it. I figured that if I wasn’t feeling it later on, I could leave whenever I wanted.

I ended up having a blast and spent the next few days road tripping Morocco with them. We went to Casablanca, where half of them were studying, and then I continued on to Essaouira with 2 of them, until they had to return home. I would’ve traveled with them even longer, if possible. It was one of the top highlights of my entire month and a half trip in Morocco and Turkey. And I met up with one of them in London later on.

SHARK CAGE DIVING IN SOUTH AFRICA (Which I regret now that I’m aware that it’s unethical, but we all make mistakes)

I had arrived in Cape Town from Canada after 36 hours of travel (3 flights, 2 of which were long haul flights back to back) and I was absolutely wrecked. As soon as I woke up from a nap, 2 people in my room invited me to come to dinner with them and also shark cage diving the next morning. But wake up was 3:30am. That was not appealing after such a long journey, but I knew I wanted to go shark cage diving anyway, I had met a good group of people and I’d likely be wide awake anyway around then, so I took a page out of my Cambodia book and went for it. Years later and we all still keep in touch 🙂

I’ve got loads of other travel stories like this as well. Being spontaneous is very freeing and fun, so take every opportunity that comes your way while you’re traveling and you’ll have the trip of a lifetime with unforgettable experiences and memories.

Just do it.

For more travel tips, see My 45 Best Travel Tips From 11 Years of Traveling the World

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