Travelling for as long as I have you get used to living without a few of the comforts of home.
For me, I’m afraid to say, that I miss my beauty products.
I do miss looking pretty. It is a sad but true fact, but I only feel really pretty when I have a good pair of heels on and my hair is looking good! It’s not like I would spend hours in front of the mirror. Give me thirty minutes I would be done and out the door.
I loved doing my hair and getting all dressed up, but the best I can do now is throw on my maxi skirt and a pair of earrings.
I don’t believe I am necessarily a very vain person, but when I look through my pictures I think to myself…
Haggard Or Well Travelled?
I've Seen Better Days!
I no longer have a fringe (there was no way I could be bothered with the constant trimmings) and ‘full’ looking hair has long gone without the help of blow drying it.
At one stage I did buy a small hairdryer in Bangkok, but it just became a nuisance to carry around and didn’t really work all that well.
So I was back to square one.
It frustrates me that I can’t be happy with how I look all of the time, but if a little mascara and some lip gloss helps me feel pretty once more then is that a bad thing?
To be fair though, I must admit as much as I whine about how I wish I could look prettier now, I don’t do a lot to really keep my appearances up.
My eyebrows have gone wild; I have to be really bothered to shave my legs and washing my hair? Meh….I can just wear a hat.
I’ve fallen into an all too comfortable routine of throwing on dirty clothes, hat and sunnies.
There are the days I like my practical shoes, my practical jumper and my practical zip off pants.
There is a certain feeling of liberation not doing my hair or putting make-up on, but if I was to outweigh my feelings on both-I think the beauty would win.
It would be nice, just for a little while to look like this again:
A Night Out With The Girls!
Ant & I At A Concert
Instead of this:
Tired From Trekking In Nepal
So, go ahead and judge me if you will. I don’t care, but for me to feel and look pretty once more I think I’ll be leaning towards my hair and beauty regime. It sure will be the first thing I do when we are living in Sydney once more!
How do you keep yourself looking and feeling good when on the road?
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And whats the reason you cant just spend a day getting pampered (on a budget of course)?
I went 2 months without a haircut, then decided to just give it a shot. They didnt speak a word of English, but I look so much better for it.
ps. the website (optional) box wont let me type
I know, every now and again I do go and get a mani or what not, but I think it is the overall feeling of just being clean and pretty!
Hair cuts (and colors) can be an issue if you have hair radically different from the locals. For my wife, who has ultra thick long curly Italian hair, getting a cut and color somewhere like Thailand where 99% of people have straight thin hair was pretty tough outside of the touristy bits. Several tried to tame her mane with limited success. It would been even tougher if she was blonde.
In the end it was simpler for her to train me to cut her hair
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What I would give for your wife’s thick, long curly hair! Mine is thin, straight and oh so boring!!
When I do get a haircut while overseas it is never anything fancy, just a trim off the ends-but really I do a lot of that myself. We also cut Ant’s hair too, as his grows so fast and is so thick!
Haahaha! I can definitely relate… I remember once after I had been living in this little Filipino fishing village for three months that I came back to an expat community looking pretty rough and one of my fellow Euros told me that my crappy sandals were just not cutting it with the rest of my outfit…. a little embarrassing for sure.
How much do you guys pack for the road? I am trying to be more and more of a minimalist and my wife may as well be hitching up a trailer with all her stuff:) Any advice on how to pack for the occasional dress-up event on the trail? Buy it all locally?
Buying locally does help that’s for sure. I got a whole bunch of stuff made in India and then have also bought some bits and pieces along the way and dumped other stuff too. Ant got a couple of shirts made in Thailand and they have been great for him when we want to feel a little dressier. Also, when my Dad came to visit us in Nepal we asked him to bring over our jeans. For the better part of the year we had been travelling without them and then when we did finally have them again, it is amazing how good you can feel in them! I don’t care that they might be bulkier, heavier etc. I wish I’d packed them from the get go.
I can definitely understand your frustration. For me, I haven’t worn make-up most of my life, so when I’m traveling it seems like just another day. I do need to shower and wash my hair at least once every other day, otherwise I start to feel like a scum bag. I can do without make up, but I always have at least one sundress and one skirt which makes me feel a little better when I haven’t been able to shower. Or I just hop in the ocean.
Christy, you are so right! A swim in the ocean always makes things better! The worst time I feel like a scum bag is on long transport days when you can’t shower, have been sweating then in freezing air con buses, then back out again all with lack of sleep! Getting to a shower after those days feel the best!
Ah yes – I’m so tired of looking scrappy. I gave up makeup months ago because I just don’t have time and trying to grow my hair out means I’m wearing a ponytail every day. And wearing the same clothes over and over again. I love travelling but I also miss the comforts of home and looking pretty.
Glad you agree with me Andrea!! I know how you feel. As we speak I am sitting here in dirty clothes, unwashed hair and well….yes, my legs do need a shave!!
I know what you mean Elise, I mean sometimes I’m just lazy but also because I don’t have any of the means (curling iron, etc) anymore since I have been traveling off and on.
I think that we always look much worse to ourselves though to be honest. You look casual in the last photo but you still look good! Anyway, like Ian said I think you should splurge on a spa day/night out or something you want to do that will make you feel good!
I guess you are right Annie, maybe we are our own worst critics! A little splurge every now and again on a mani or something is great to do, but as the funds are slowly dwindling, this is becoming less and less now!
When I first left on my rtw trip I only had one pair of pants! And one pair of shoes, not counting flip flops. And no beauty products aside from a bit of makeup.
Travel destroyed my skin and I was sooo over my pants a few weeks in. This time I have a lot more pretty products with me (but no hairdryer!), including jeans, and a second pair of shoes. Earrings and a scarf can go a long way, I’ve found!
My skin si wrecked too from travel. The harsh water/weather, lack of facewash etc all has made it much more worse for wear!
When we met up with you I was so jealous of all your new clothes! I want to go shopping so bad!!
Looking good while you are traveling is too much hard work. I would prefer to stick the hat and just get out there, instead of spending too much time getting ready.
hilarious and true post!!! i totally get you girl. there are times when you just want to feel pretty, and if a good blow dry and some mascara are what is required, what the hell? so splurge every now and then and do yourself right
Hahaha, so true! To a certain extent appearance stops mattering when you’re living an adventure! Most days I throw on a pair of cut-off shorts and the same tank-top I was wearing yesterday, and it’s out the door to explore a new country!
I’m right there with you! I do love myself a good travelers tan but that’s about all I can pull off. It feels so good to go home and use all of your old beauty products but then I soon get fed up with how much longer it takes to get ready. You win some, you lose some