Comments on: How my Failure Leads to Success

By: Amy Piper

Amy Piper — Fri, 05 Nov 2021 14:51:28 +0000

I enjoyed the structure of this article.

By: Ivan Kralj

Ivan Kralj — Sun, 31 Oct 2021 12:49:16 +0000

Great read, as usual!
I’m writing from my current fail destination – Greece. I flew into the beautiful island of Zakynthos, then traveled to Patras, the mountain region around Ioannina, Volos on the eastern coast, and now I’m in Athens.
What’s a fail in that? I haven’t seen much of any of these places, as I was just spending my time in Airbnb’s and hotels, trying to recover from an injury that makes it hard for me to walk. Of course, I walk from the accommodation to the bus station, and so on, but that walking definitely does not help in recovery. I could have easily stayed at one place only, in order to minimize the movement, especially as I see those cities mainly through the windows of my accommodation. But no, I ended up going around Greece, without swimming on Zakynthos, hiking in Ioannina, or drinking tsipouro in Volos.
The success in this strange month of traveling around Greece as “disabled”? I was forced to open my laptop and come back to blogging out of bed.

By: Christine

Christine — Sat, 30 Oct 2021 06:40:04 +0000

haha I love this! At least you’re learning and growing from your mistakes, and sometimes the best mistakes end up being the best stories

By: Natalia

Natalia — Sat, 30 Oct 2021 00:11:59 +0000

It’s a great article. So thoughtful, funny, and sincere. We had almost the same experience with our huge and heavy suitcase, which we pulled uphill for many blocks along the bumpy cobblestone streets in Edinburgh, Scotland on the way to our hotel. I have never thought how this failure could lead to a success, but we like to reminisce about the funniest moments of our travel and these moments are the most memorable ones. Thank you for a great idea and inspiration.

By: Tanya Michelle

Tanya Michelle — Fri, 29 Oct 2021 19:20:30 +0000

Wow that is a whole lot of fails and success my friend! I am envious of all the good and the bad!

By: Darla G

Darla G — Fri, 29 Oct 2021 19:17:23 +0000

These are great examples of what looking at the bigger picture, patience, humility and a positive attitude can do! Thanks for sharing!

By: Indrani

Indrani — Fri, 22 Oct 2021 03:25:38 +0000

We too had no clue of smart packing when we started traveling initially. Once we figured that out the travel seemed so enjoyable. Ground transport is another issue we haven’t been to tackle yet. Good compilation of failures and solutions.

By: Emma Earthwanderer

Emma Earthwanderer — Tue, 19 Oct 2021 08:25:51 +0000

Oh gosh, you’re always good for giving me a chuckle Eric! I love that you can look back at all of those ‘failures’ and turn them into lessons well worth learning. I’m a bit more organised, probably due to anxiety, especially when in new places. I couldn’t imagine sitting atop a random hill and not knowing how to get back to base! You’re right though, the majority of the human race are actually friendly and helpful. I hope you get to tick the Northern Lights off your list… one day!

By: Sarah

Sarah — Mon, 18 Oct 2021 19:53:09 +0000

Love how you managed to turn all your failures into something positive. I remember seeing that sign 790kms to Santiago- it’s a bit intimidating but I did it !! Fun and motivating article,

By: Jamie Italiane

Jamie Italiane — Sun, 17 Oct 2021 20:12:59 +0000

I love that you keep going in spite of your failures. Travel is all about things going awry. Our worst was being pulled over by Federales with many machine guns in the middle of the night while traveling from Mexico to Belize. BTW, estoy aprender Español mejor hoy también.

By: Khushboo

Khushboo — Fri, 15 Oct 2021 17:40:26 +0000

That’s a very inspirational post. It’s better to fail after trying I believe

By: Agnes

Agnes — Fri, 15 Oct 2021 14:11:55 +0000

I agree that failure builds character, and it’s worth learning from each failure and going on. Your list is impressive and quite funny. I also had a problem with catching the Northern Lights for a long time. Great tips on how to solve problems!

By: Polly

Polly — Thu, 14 Oct 2021 17:04:45 +0000

This is an entertaining post and I apologize if I cracked a few times. My favorites would be your encounter with the gators. And the incident with the Indian police (he's so adorable)! Hahaha! I am also trying to learn Spanish (the Philippines is a Spanish-colonized country but my Spanish is... Nevermind.) I had my fair share of mishaps and it's unfortunate that most of them took place during my first trip to Tokyo. 1. I was stuck in Shinjuku station upon arriving - there are gazillion exits there and I didn't know which one to take. 2. Then there's the instruction going to my Airbnb. I made sure I have both Japanese and English translations and for some reason, I lost the English so I randomly asked strangers for directions (very grateful for those kind souls). 3. My Airbnb was near the red-light district. Like literally a few blocks away. 4. Then, I forgot my luggage combination and it took me more than an hour trying all sorts of combinations - I was tired, hungry and I just want to freshen up and change into my jammies. 5. I was approached by some guys in uniform so I automatically assumed I was in trouble. Looking back they're too young to be police officers. They're in a boyband wearing uniforms similar to the cops. 5. THEN, I missed my flight home. My trips to Japan after that went well, I even volunteered as a tour guide a few times. Obviously, I enjoyed this post so I apologize for the lengthy comment. More of this, please!

By: aisasami

aisasami — Thu, 14 Oct 2021 13:06:52 +0000

What a really good post! Negative things most likely turn into good things, you gotta just expect for the best.

By: Kez

Kez — Wed, 13 Oct 2021 20:57:40 +0000

I can relate to the sunscreen and Aurora fails. Just like you, I never got into the habit of using sunscreen.

I’ve only failed once with my Aurora chasing and it stung so much more when my host in Northern Finland saw them when getting of the bus a couple of nights after I left!
I don’t really look at it as a failure though, because I got to see 4 new countries on that trip!