Cam Travels for 5 Weeks Alone, Learns Things.

Currently on a Westjet flight bound for Calgary.

Five hours is all that remains on this 5-week trip across the USA, running bootcamps in multiple different USA cities for Kingpin Social.

I feel blessed to have been on this trip. It was life changing. It’s been really cool, and I have learned a lot. In this article I’ll go through the various lessons I’ve learned, and also share the many observations I made along the way.

Ultimately what I will take away from this trip is the incredible calmness I have developed – a powerful quiet confidence if you will.

Where have I been?

I have travelled to Denver Colorado, Las Vegas Nevada, Washington DC, and wrapped it all up with a great weekend in New York City!

Here is a list of lessons/observations that have happened along the way:

Your mindset needs to be one of going with the flow.
– This mindset makes a massive difference. When you travel, encountering problems is an absolute certainty. No trip will go according to plan, so you need to be flexible. Having the mindset that you are going to go with the flow helps give you the mental energy to deal with problems when they arise. This is especially evident because the types of problems you encounter can’t always be fixed right away. For example: your flight being delayed causing you to miss a connecting flight. You can exert all the mental energy you want, but your flight isn’t going to get there any sooner, so you only have two outcomes: 1) be stressed out or 2) remain calm and carry on. One will lead you to be exhausted and in a bad mood, the other, you can continue to enjoy your trip for what it is. The difference is the mindset of going with the flow.

Hostels aren’t “good” or “bad”, some are just more bearable than others.
– On this trip I stayed in a top ranked hostel, and what I’ve come to realize is that no hostel is really good or bad, it just depends on what you can bear and what you cannot. That’s a personal choice.

Sleeping conditions are crucial
– A few times during my trip my sleeping conditions were drastically different than others, and in these times, so was my mood. As my mood plummeted, so did my desire and motivation to be travelling. You could say it’s a comfort zone issue, but I don’t believe that to be true. I love my home so much because I know what my sleeping conditions will be, and even in my own home, as my sleeping conditions deteriorate (like a roommate throwing an after party at 4am on a Tuesday), so does the quality of my home.

Air conditioning is a savior.
– Nuff said.

Freaks exist everywhere.
– … and they make me just as uncomfortable in another city as they do my own.

Cultures change city-by-city, not country-by-country.
– I used to think that countries had a certain culture, but from travelling across the USA, I no longer believe this to be true. Sure, a country will be united on certain core values and principles, but the culture really does change city-by-city, and not country-by-country. Just go to Denver, Colorado, and then to Washington, DC or New York City, and you will witness this first hand. One has people that are extremely friendly and welcoming, the other the opposite. Neither is “right” or “wrong”, it’s just the nature of different society norms.

Travel proves that “opening” (starting conversations) really is extremely simple, and we all need to stop over-thinking it.
– Throughout my 5 week trip, it was ridiculously easy to start conversations. This didn’t mater where I was. Of course the kicker was that every time I started a conversation on this trip I had no outcome in mind – I really was only looking to socialize and meet new interesting people.

Last but not least, one of the biggest lessons I learned along the way, that I believe applies to life back home as well:

The experience is what you make it.

And this comes down to making a simple choice. This is great news, because it means you actually have a choice. When you travel you have the choice to live it up and have the time of your life or you can sit in your hotel room daydreaming of a better one.

One of my roommates at the hostel in Washington, DC sat in his bed all day, eyes endlessly starring at his computer screen. For a few days I never saw him leave at all, other than to go down to the cafeteria and use his computer there. During these days I was working on mine so I didn’t leave much either. I felt bad for him because he seemed like he just didn’t have the social skills or motivation to assert himself. Luckily my fate wasn’t the same, and as soon as I finished my work for the week I was out socializing with people I had met. I would watch the NBA finals at a pub with fellow travellers, have a dinner date with a girl from the Netherlands, spend quality time at dinner with a waitress in Las Vegas, go out on the town, and countless other experiences, the most memorable being a loft party in New York City.

All of these happened because I was able to assert myself socially. Without developing my social skills, none of this would be possible. I have the pick-up community to thank for that, and with Kingpin Lifestyle I hope to help you guys do the same.

At the end of the day, LIFE IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT. So go out there and live the baddest mother fucking life you can.

Peace.