The best travel advice I've ever gotten...

When I was 19 I had never left the country without my family. My friend had gone abroad with her university and wanted to go to Southeast Asia next. I said that I would come and I went ahead and bought my flight about six months in advance. As it grew closer the US had travel warnings against visiting Thailand which is where I was flying into. My friend said she wasn't coming and I was faced with losing the money I'd paid and forfeiting my tickets or traveling alone.

I took the plunge and went, the near 22 hour flight by myself and ended up in what felt like a different world. Before I left I met with my friend, the only person I knew who had been abroad alone and I asked if she had any advice. She passed on to me what someone told her the first time she was abroad.

When you come home and people want to hear about your trip, keep it under 5 minutes and less than 3 pictures. Your friends and family weren't there with you, and while they're happy for your experience and want to hear about it, don't bore them.

This seemed like pretty simple advice at the time, something pretty obvious but since then I've sat through nearly hour long slide shows of travel pictures, have heard about month long trips for the next 3 years and realized how easy it is to be annoying while traveling.

Some people will want to hear more, and you will know. And trading travel stories with someone is a interesting, informative and fun thing to do. But don't bore people with your stories, your trip was incredible for you and you don't have to prove that to anyone else.