Be nice and cool things happen. My guide to traveling the world.

The Hotel Alex Johnson. The place that made me getting stuck in Rapid City, SD not so bad

"You're so lucky you get to travel and get paid for it,” is a thing I hear most people say to me when I talk about being on the road doing shows.

Sometimes I need to be reminded how awesome it is to be able to travel and never have to do the same thing every day. Traveling can be the most stressful thing in the world, but no matter what happens, there’s always an opportunity to spin it into an awesome learning experience. Travel forces you to look for the positives in every situation. I guess you could focus on the bad parts. If you want to be miserable and are looking for the negatives you won't have a hard time finding it.

Your brain has a funny way of finding exactly what it's looking for.

I'm looking for a good time, but I have to remind myself often to eliminate the poisonous thoughts. Jealousy, anger, frustration will all ruin your day.

Things won’t work out how you expected. And that’s pretty cool. You’ll have to adapt to canceled flights, lost hotel reservations, getting stuck in endless traffic, and countless other unexpected issues. Each one offers an opportunity to experience something awesome that you might not have been able to do if your plans got in the way.

People are nice and strangers can become friends very quickly if you’re open to stepping out of your comfort zone

Last week I got stuck in Rapid City, SD for an extra day that I wasn’t expecting or prepared for. The girl at the front desk is usually the person you take your frustrations out on. They have nothing to do with the problem and probably can’t do anything about it, but we just want to be angry at someone.

If I’ve learned anything from travel, it’s be nice to people who have access to the computer that can get you things you need (re-booked flights, last minute hotel rooms, rental cars). I was nice and chatted about my issue which led to her giving me a ride to return my car (which I didn’t want to pay an extra day for) and got a nice ‘buddy discount’ on the hotel room for the next night.. oh and upgraded to a suite and even a dinner friend later that day. 

If you find yourself in Rapid City soon, go be nice to someone working at the Hotel Alex Johnson. 

Here’s the lesson: be nice and cool things happen to you.

Whether you travel the world, or go to work each day, we’re all travelling through life. Each day passes faster than the last.

Appreciate the small moments.

As a traveler you’ll be leaving soon, so let’s do this together and make the most of right now.