Habits
ground us. They keep us from being
overwhelmed by too many choices and keep things from completely falling
apart. Locations are one of the main triggers
for a habit or routine- when you walk up to your door, you take out your
keys. When you get to Starbucks, you
repeat your order automatically, without considering every single option for
what to have. These things make our
lives more streamlined and simple.
Without the structure of a regular job, it can be hard to maintain good
habits- even more so when you add the extra challenge of traveling and not
having those location cues to trigger our existing habits. With that in mind, here are 10 good habits
that we can take with us wherever we go:
1. clean up at night (or in the
morning)
Cleaning up every
night helps me feel like I have everything together, so I can sleep
better. If I’m in an apartment or room,
I straighten everything up, wash all the dishes, and maybe even sweep the
floor. If I’m in a hostel or somewhere
that’s not fully mine, I at least organize my things and straighten up my bed
and area.
2. plan out the next day
This
is my number one strategy for staying on track: plan out the next day before
you go to bed. You can be as detailed or
vague as you want, but it helps to have a plan.
I tend to plan some parts with specifics (like what I’m going to work on
or what I’m going to eat for breakfast), and leave other parts with only a loose
idea (like going to the park or wandering around a neighborhood). The same thing with assigning times: meetups and skating lessons get assigned
times, but going to the grocery store and doing my admin stuff doesn’t. Sometimes I’ll assign a time that I need to
be home after the day’s adventures- just so I make sure I’ll have time to get
ready for the next thing or to finish what I wanted to accomplish that day.
3. check behind you when you leave
This
is a good habit for anyone to follow, but it’s essential for travellers: get in
the habit that, when you get up to leave a place, you always look back at where
you were sitting/ standing and double check that you didn’t leave
anything. Especially when getting off
buses/ out of cabs. This has saved my
butt more than once. (I only wish I started doing this BEFORE I left my camera in a cab in Peru...)
4. listen to podcasts/ books while
you walk/ wait
This
is my secret to staying on top of the news and sounding like I know what’s
going on. While I’m out wandering and
exploring, I listen to podcasts. (Some
of my favorites are Freakonomics, Radiolab, the TED Radio Hour, and
Radiolingua’s language learning series.)
This is a good trick for when you’re standing around waiting or on a
long flight/ train ride/ bus trip, too.
It’s a way for me to keep up on content that I want to hear without adding
another thing I ‘have’ to do. Now that
it’s a habit for me, I remember almost automatically when I’m walking
around. As a bonus, I find that I end up
walking much farther because I’m distracted by the stories and lessons.
5. carry a water bottle & drink
water all day
I’m
super good at remembering to take my water bottle with me. I’m not so good at actually drinking the
water. But at least if I have it, I can
refill it along the way. (It’s good for
saving money, too, because I don’t get stuck buying overpriced water bottles at
touristy spots. And, I don’t have to
order a drink with my meals, unless I really want to.) I do notice that, if I'm feeling sluggish, drinking more water usually helps.
6. keep a ‘to buy’ list in your
phone
This
helps on two fronts: 1. I don’t need to try to remember all the things I need
to get while I’m out. 2. It keeps me
from buying things I don’t need. (If I
didn’t need it before I saw it, then I don’t really need it.) I just keep a running list on the notepad in
my phone, and delete things as I buy them.
I usually keep two lists- one for grocery store items, and one for
everything else. I try to be specific,
too: instead of writing ‘shoes,’ which
is just an open invitation for poor decisions, I wrote ‘black shoes/ Toms to
replace H&M ones.’
7. clean up after yourself
We
learned this in Kindergarten. It’s still
solid advice.
8. ABC-always be charging (your
stuff!)
I
get so mad at myself about this! I’ll be
sitting next to an outlet, but I’ll just be too lazy to plug my laptop/
battery/ phone in. (like right now) I always think, oh, but I’m going home next
(or whatever), so I don’t need a full battery.
And then, my plans change or something happens, and I’m kicking myself
later. So I try to make this a habit- if
it’s not super inconvenient, always be charging your stuff. You never know.
9. check before you leave ‘home’:
wallet, cell phone, keys
Without
the structure of a typical job, it’s much easier to forget something. It’s always when I switch from my regular
bag to another one, or when my routine is even slightly different that I
start to lose things. When I first moved
to Paris, I was terrified I’d lock myself out of my apartment- I didn’t even
have a clue what I would do!! So, I
started implementing a simple habit to make sure that didn’t happen. Before I even open the door to leave, I check
to make sure I have my wallet and cellphone.
I have to actually see them- not just ‘think’ that they are in my pocket
or bag. Then, I open the door, with my keys
in my hand. With the door still open, I
look at the keys in my hand and say (out loud, usually): I have the keys! Only then is it safe to close the door. I do this even when people are with me- the
added distraction of talking to someone makes it even more likely I’ll forget
something important. Whatever your
important items are, create a habit so it’ll be almost impossible to leave
those things at home. (Of course none of this helps when the keys go flying out of your hands and down 9 flights of steps to land in the locked basement...)
10. reflect with gratitude
When
I get into bed every night, wherever I am, I stop and reflect on the day. I think about what I did that day, what I
learned or saw or tried that was new, the people I interacted with, my favorite
moments, etc… wherever my brain takes me.
I just take a second to think about how grateful I am to be where I am
and to have had the experiences of the day, whatever they were. It just brings a nice closure to my day and
puts me in a positive frame of mind so I can sleep peacefully.
* * *
(This post was written after a very long day hardcore touristing at the Olympic Park & Sculpture Garden in Seoul, South Korea.)
