8 Ways to Celebrate Your Birthday While Traveling 

As some of you might know: it was Manon’s birthday last Monday! This was actually her second birthday this world trip and before that we had many birthdays away from home as well. Is it sometimes hard that you can’t celebrate it with friends and family? Yes, of course. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t have an epic birthday while traveling! So how can you celebrate your birthday while you’re away from home and make sure you have an awesome time?

In this article we’ll give you 8 ideas how you can celebrate your birthday while traveling!

1. Do something you’ve never done before

Celebrating your birthday with an activity you have never done before and you might never do again, is something you will never forget! Jump out of a plane, stay in the plane during a scenic flight, jump from a bridge (with a cord attached to your ankles), go diving, get a tattoo etc. This will definitely make your day special.

We for example did a scenic flight over Uluru (Ayers Rock) in the outback of Australia with Manon's birthday a few years ago, where we also went on a camel tour with sunset! More recently, Bram went bungee jumping from the highest water touch bungee jump in Taupo NZ for his birthday and Manon choose to get a tattoo for her birthday. Those things will stay with us forever!

2. Go local

So you are on the other side of the world, away from your family and friends in a strange culture. No reason to feel sad, because this can be the best experience! Embrace that new culture and go local! Go and meet some of the locals or get (or cook) some local food.

In Australia we celebrated it the Aussie way, with a barbie and a beer on the beach, and in Fiji we drank Kava and did the whole ritual around it on a white sandy beach while some locals played Fijian songs on the guitar! Afterwards there was even a local group of women dancing for us!

You don't have to feel lonely, there are many other fellow travelers that would love to meet up for some drinks! Social media is a great way to find those fellow travelers, look on Instagram or Facebook. There are many pages for travelers in a certain area. Or meet them at your hostel or wherever you are staying. We're sure that there is always someone that would love to celebrate your birthday with you!

If we go back in time, we had a great celebration of Manon's birthday at Curaçao back in 2011. Cheap drinks on a tropical beach with our housemates, something we did actually forget quickly :p

4. Spoil yourself

Traveling can be tiring and it's nice to have some rest in between. And although you are a budget traveler and therefore don't have much money to do nice things for yourself, make sure that for your birthday you spoil yourself! Get that massage to relax, buy yourself that travel gadget you always wanted etc. Or stay at a nice hotel for once! It will feel so luxurious after being back to basics all this time! We did this last Monday because unfortunately the weather was bad on Manon's birthday.

5. Go on a weekend trip

Yes, you might be always traveling already, but it still will be cool to go away for a few days to some place nearby you've dreamed about. Especially if you're working or if you're stuck in the same place for a while already and want to get out of there then we really recommend booking a weekend trip!

We did this many times, even when we were already traveling. Last year for example, we went on a roadtrip to the Pinnacles for Manon's birthday.

6. Get drunk

Whether you're meeting up with other travelers, or celebrating alone, you can always decide to get drunk. That will definitely make your birthday a lot more fun. Only the day after might not be as fun.

7. Eat cake

What is a birthday without a cake?! 'Nuff said.

8. Throw a virtual party

If you really can't celebrate your birthday without your own friends and family and are missing home, then go on Skype and throw a party on there! While it's not the same as partying in real life, it might be cool to get virtual birthday wishes from your friends and to get the feeling you didn't celebrate your birthday without your friends and family.

BONUS TIP: Decorate!

Decorate everything wherever you are! Even if you're alone, get some party hats, confetti and party poppers to get into the party mood! Decorate your hostel room, campervan, apartment or tent with flags and balloons and wear a party hat the whole day. If that doesn't get you instantly happy, then I don't know what will! People will also notice you, so you won't be alone anymore on your birthday ???? For us, a birthday isn't complete without decorations and as you can see on the photo below, we go all out on it!

We really hope you’re gonna use these tips for your next birthday away from home! Make sure it’s gonna be an awesome day!

This blog was originally published on Flip Flop Wanderers.