I knew I wanted to explore the world, but the world is a big place and you really have to think about where and what you want to experience before you can set an itinerary and budget. I really recommend not having a set itinerary, and more of a list of must do spots with a lot of room to wander. As you travel, especially when you don’t have a set plan, you start to really enable the universe to guide you to the most amazing places and meet the most amazing people. If you get a recommendation to go to a certain place, well its the universe telling you something, go with it, everything happens for a reason. It will ultimately fulfill your deepest goals whatever they may be (if you don’t have specific goals-its probably time to start thinking what you really want out of life). For me I have 4 basic goals= To expand my photographic library of amazing places, find who I really am - what really makes me tick (you’ll have a lot of time by yourself so better figure out who you really are to enjoy it), to leave some positive impact on the places I visit that will live on beyond me (this was a recent addition to my list)- and I don’t really know what exactly this means but that’s OK, and most importantly to really enjoy the journey. Each day you will make decisions and actions towards these goals, and as small as they may be, each time you transform an idea to an action you are telling the universe what to manifest for you. By the end of my journey I have no doubt each of these goal will be realized and/or become very clear what is needed to fulfill these goals.  It may be exactly what I was looking for, and it may not. I may have to set new more specific goals because my goal while it may have been reached it wasn’t really what I wanted, meaning I need to reword/rethink the goal.  A good example is people who dream of being rich with money, well they may reach it but have an upside-down work/life balance and/or may be flat out miserable BUT hey the goal was realized.  More than likely the people who want to be rich with money really are saying they want to be happy, free from worries, and have ample time to enjoy life.  They have what is known as a disassociation, they associate money with happiness or freedom, which is not always the case. All they really need to do is rethink what they really want and reset their goals. I see this all the time and for a long time my goals were what I call earthly desired based, and not self fulfilling based. My goals have changed from everything from big houses and big salaries to happiness and the ability to help others. While I don’t know what career or house size this will result in but why did I want those goals anyways- to be happy, so maybe I will have a big house, maybe I won’t, but it won’t matter because ill have realized the ultimate goal of happiness and self fulfillment.  I encourage everyone reading this travelers or not to take a deep look at your goals. Do they really align with what you REALLY want or do you have a disassociation going on? Also when dreaming about your goals (a necessary step to keep you motivated to wake up each morning) don’t ever dream of wanting something (or else you will get exactly that), dream of what your life is like now that you have realized your dreams. How do you feel now that you have reached it? 

A wise man once said “A man is not old until his regrets take the place of his dreams.”