– You NEVER have enough time to talk to your friends or parents, or to look at your pictures carefully
– Long-term travelling is by no means a “vacation” as some people seem to think… Yes, it’s fun, but it’s also hard work. You always have to think about what to do in the place you are NOW, as well as plan where to go next, and book the tickets, as well as a place to stay (or find a couchsurfing host ofcourse)
– Waking up at 4am to go somewhere exciting is actually quite fine (especially if you spent 5 years of your life waking up at 8.30 am to go somewhere extremely boring)
– Four pairs of socks, four t-shirts, two pairs of leggings, two skirts, six pairs of underwear, three pairs of shoes and two jackets are enough, as you have to wash clothes every 4-5 days pretty much anyway! (but ofcourse I have about double the amount of those clothes… time to get rid of some)
– Makeup is totally unnecessary (but I have three different nail polish colours with me… that’s called an addiction), and you can wash your hair and your body with a 2-in-1 shampoo
– There is always a new exciting street food to try (so far I haven´t had the traveller´s diarrhea… waiting to see where it will hit me, I hope not on the top of some mountain) and therefore I don´t really miss Greek food too much (but when dad said that mom is making tiropita, I actually realized that I do)
– The almost absolute liberty that a traveller has is rather hard to handle at times (where to go next? south, or north? how long do I want to spend online searching for flights? do I want to take another bus for 20 hours? is it gonna rain where I am going?)
– Packing and unpacking your backpack yet once more is extremely tiring (especially if you have bought some souvenirs that you need to re-pack)
– Packing and unpacking your backpack yet once more is extremely exciting, as it means that you are going to a new place
– Not everyone you meet on the street or in a bar wants to rob you or drug you, instead they may just be interested in you
And one specific thing for Latinamerica… Italian, Portuguese and Spanish are essentially the same language!
People who haven´t travelled for a long time will probably not understand most of the above – as I wouldn´t one year ago…
vanidio 
Having travelled 1 year in South America, I do understand you perfectly.
Happy travels…
Engin Kaban
http://routelatinamerica.wordpress.com/
Amazing! I had a 2 weeks vacations in SA and on the third day I realized that I really overpacked :S The souvenirs were a big problem and I had to improvise how to carry them…, regarding the “travel problems”, I had it when in high altitude 😦
Thanks for the tips, I am sure I will need them soon 🙂 Enjoy!
#11. it’s difficult at first to constantly keep an eye on your budget, until you do it by instinct and you don’t have to think about it anymore. [When your instincts tell you “run away” every time you see a restaurant with white tablecloths, you have become a budget traveler].
#12. You get an awesome tan, because even if you prefer to stay inside, you will still be outside much more than in your previous life.