From Check-In to Check-out
Why Travel Is the Ultimate Personality Test
If there’s one thing I know it’s this: travel is the ultimate personality test. Let me set the scene.
You’re dragging a suitcase across cobblestone streets, Google Maps is screaming “Recalculating,” and you’re 87% sure your Airbnb host ghosted you. You haven’t eaten since the plane snacks (if you can even call salted cardboard a snack), and your phone battery is at a dramatic 3%. Welcome to character development- aka travel.
I used to think I knew who I was. Then I spent ten minutes crying in an abandoned Spanish train station at 4am coz I had no clue where I was supposed to be.
Spoiler alert: I made it to my destination. I survived. And I learned a little more about myself.
🧠 So, what does travel reveal?
A lot, actually.
Here’s a non-scientific, wildly personal breakdown of the personality traits that surface the minute you step off a plane:
1. The Food Risk-Taker
Pre-travel me: *Avoids anything slightly funky*
Travel me: “Sure, I’ll try the fermented fish stew from a cart run by someone’s grandma.”
It’s humbling. It’s empowering. It’s sometimes stomach-challenging.
2. The Schedule Saboteur
I used to plan. Print. Highlight.
Then, maybe one month into backpacking, I learn it is infinitely better to abandon all structure in favor of spontaneous side streets and cafés I didn’t Google. This is your sign to leave space in the itinerary for being gloriously lost.
3. The Budget Philosopher
One day I’m saying no to a $6 hazelnut latte at home.
The next, I’m spending €20 on a pizza because it came “highly recommended” by the guy sitting next to me on the train.
Travel math ≠ regular math.
🧳 The Unfiltered Truth?
Travel isn’t always the sunset reel. It’s missed trains, unexpected detours, unwashed hair, and heat rash in weird places. But in between the chaos, there’s this tiny voice inside that says,
“Look at you. Figuring it out.”
You’re braver than you think.
More adaptable than your pre-boarding self gave you credit for.
And capable of making friends with a barista despite only knowing how to say “hello” and “coffee” in the local language. Although these are the most important words, along with the “please” and “thank you”s.
🌍 Travel Is a Mirror
Every passport stamp brings you closer to the version of yourself who says yes more.
The version who can laugh at setbacks.
Who finds joy in a €1 espresso, a silent train ride through the mountains, or that moment you finally navigate the metro without looking like a complete tourist (bonus points if you did it without looking at Google Maps every two seconds).
Final Boarding Call ✈️
If you’re waiting until you’re “ready” to travel solo, or until you have the perfect itinerary or matching luggage- don’t. This is one personality test that you are ready to take.
You’re already the main character.
Even when you’re sweaty, lost, or crying because you are simply overwhelmed by the wonderful world that you find yourself lost in.
Especially then.
Because those are the stories you’ll tell.
And I hope you do.
