🌅 Inspiration Postcard: 11 Travel (and Life) Tips from a Legendary Author

What Rolf Potts, author of Vagabonding, can teach you about travel.

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I felt a fire inside, but nothing was burning.

Rather, it was the feeling of being inspired to pack a backpack and see the world. I’d just received some invaluable travel wisdom.

I was bursting with happiness, intrigue, and joy.

Who’d have thought the mere act of reading a book would invoke so many feelings?

I’d just finished reading Vagabonding, the debut travel book from Kansas native Rolf Potts.

Originally published in 2002, Vagabonding has nearly 4,000 reviews and a 4.5 rating on Amazon. It’s sold a quarter of a million copies and continues to inspire today.

The book introduces a revolutionary new concept called “vagabonding.”

I went down a rabbit hole and read some interviews with Rolf Potts to learn more.

I’m going to share my top highlights from these interviews and book, but first:

What is Vagabonding?

Photo by Philipp Kämmerer on Unsplash

According to Potts, vagabonding means taking a break from your regular life to see the world on your terms.

Throughout the book, Potts shares personal experiences from the on the road. He addresses important travel issues like overcoming adversity, budgeting for a trip, and adjusting to culture shock.

It’s an inspiring read and (in my opinion) should be your next travel guidebook.

Ok, so here are my top takeaways from reading the book and some of Rolf Pott’s interviews:

Stop being perfect on your trips. To become a travel expert, you must embrace trying new things and be ok with making mistakes.

This is just like all aspects of life. To master something, we need to mess up, rinse, and repeat. Trying to be perfect works against us, even when we travel. Perfection doesn’t lead to happiness in my opinion.

Pack less and you’ll avoid the temptation to bring unnecessary gear on the road.

I like this because it’s a reminder to stay minimal. We often bring more than we expect to use. Traveling light gives us the freedom to move faster and packing is less of a burden.

Related article: 5 Easy Packing Hacks (to Vastly Improve Your Next Trip)