🙋🏻♂️Essential questions to ask yourself while traveling
A short guide on how to act
Welcome to Itchy Feet, a Travel-Inspired Newsletter! I’m Daniel and happy you’re here! If you’re new, consider signing up and get my Ultimate Travel Toolkit on the house:
Hey friend, before we get started, this post is an experiment.
As Yesi and I get closer to the arrival of our daughter, I want to adapt how I write Itchy Feet.
For a few weeks, I’m going to publish shorter posts, to avoid large gaps in writing.
At the end of each post I will be asking for feedback, because your reading enjoyment means a lot to me.
Thank you in advance, and let’s get to it! 🌍
Once upon a time, in the center of Bangkok, I did the most cliché thing any farang “white foreigner” would do:
I ate a fried scorpion on a stick.
Sure, its tiny stinger and pincers made me feel cautious, but after a few nibbles it instantly reminded me of pork rinds.
It was the Thai equivalent of ordering cotton candy at a theme park. I didn’t feel any better about myself than before, but there was satisfaction because I knew I would’ve regretted not trying it.
I asked myself, before forking over a few baht: Will I regret not eating this later?
When a voice told me, “Yes, Danny, you will always wonder what fried scorpion tasted like.”
It wasn’t a question of manliness or bravado, it was a question of curiosity.
This is maybe the most important question to ask yourself when making decisions on a trip:
• Will I regret not doing this later?
Other important questions:
Is this going to put me in danger?
Will this hurt other people?
Should I trust these people?
Besides being different, is this food or drink safe for me to eat?
What are the risks involved?
Is this person being too pushy?
How can I get back to my accommodation if I say “yes?”
And, for all the writers out there:
Would this make for a good blog post, book chapter, or Substack post?
When in doubt:
It always helps having someone you trust next to you. Whether it’s someone in your travel group or a local.
However:
Sometimes, there won’t be any clear answers. In this case, your good ol’ friend named gut instincts needs to step in. This is especially important when you are traveling solo.
Back to you: ✴️
What questions do you ask yourself when faced with an important decision on a trip?
Travel quote of the week 🌍
“The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do.”
-Amelia Earhart.
Thank you for the support! Time is precious, so I appreciate you taking time to read this. Another Itchy Feet is coming soon.
Much love,
Daniel
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Vintage Itchy Feet posts:
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• 🌌 Happy Birthday Itchy Feet (plus free stuff)
When it comes to your question about whether you should write about this... It's certainly a very valid post that could go into more depth. But, in the end, you have to write about what speaks to you in your soul. If you write from there, you will find the people that want to read what you write.
I think the length of post depends on the content. If it is lists of travel tips, shorter is probably better. If it is an description of how a place feels or why you should explore a place, perhaps a longer post is more appropriate.
As for the questions, I always ask if I would regret it later. (I do the same for shopping—will I regret not buying it?)