When you get past the laser sword fights and the frog warlocks and the timeless beauty of Carrie Fisher, Star Wars is basically just a bunch of space monks telling us how to live our lives.
“Do or do not, there is no try.”
“How is there not one fire extinguisher on a planet made entirely of lava? This is bush league!”
But despite all this Jedi chatter, the best advice in the entire series came from a man who is the intergalactic equivalent of that guy trying to sell you a stolen DVD player in a Home Depot parking lot.
That’s right, Han Solo. The man so cool that he’s the most memorable part of a series that features planet destroying lasers, legacy-destroying CGI, and a Lovecraftian sand vagina. The man so universally admired that his domestic partnership with an 8-foot-tall tree bear has inspired only the most respectful of slash fiction. The man that has such irresistible sexual magnetism that he effectively swayed Princess Leia from committing twincest.
Han Solo didn’t have to give long speeches about the correct way to live; his life was already the best lesson on the subject. Because even when he was about to be frozen in carbonite, Han was still the charming, cocky, badass we always wanted to be.
While it’s impossible to ever truly be Han Solo (even Harrison Ford distanced himself from the impossible coolness of the character with a mid-’60s ear piercing), we can still emulate the iconic space smuggler. And this is especially true during the most adventurous moments of our lives: when we’re traveling.
On the road, we abandon the ordinary and expect something new and different and (if we’re lucky) unforgettable. In short: When we’re on the road, we are our most Han.
So on your next trip, be a little bit more like the coolest man in the galaxy with these travel lessons from Han Solo.
LESSON 1: TIMING IS EVERYTHING
Just like Han Solo timed the perfect moment to shoot Greedo in the Mos Eisley cantina (or perhaps just a moment later, much to the rage spasms of the Star Wars fan base), you have to seize the most opportune time for your trip. Not only will choosing the right time to buy save you hundreds on airfare, but you will avoid the throngs of selfie-stick wielding tourists at high season, too.
LESSON 2: YOU’RE JUST AS GOOD AS ANYONE ELSE
Han Solo was born an orphan, got kicked out of the imperial army for Wookie sympathizing, and spent the ensuing years as a smuggler (more Force Awakens spoiler-free Han Solo info here). But he didn’t let his humble origins and lengthy criminal record define his life; he became a galactic hero, a respected military leader, and even locked this down:
Your vacation might start with similarly humble origins. Maybe you don’t have enough money for a fancy hotel, or 4-star meals, or even a plane ticket out of your state, but with a little planning (or sustained insanity) and a lot of patience, you can still have an adventure worthy of Han Solo.
To take this even deeper, it’s good to go into travel a little naive, but also know that the second you decide to hit the road, you belong on the road (so Star-Wars-zen!). As our travel editor put it, “If there’s any truth to the traveler vs. tourist debate, it’s self defining. You want to call yourself a traveler, then you’re a traveler.”
So be Han, define your trip (and your very existence) the way you want.
LESSON 3: SOMETIMES, YOU JUST GOTTA WING IT
In the Star Wars movies, Han Solo has a plan for every situation, and those plans last precisely until the moment he wants to shoot something.
While following Han’s example to the letter would only end in a quick death or a long prison sentence for the average person, we can still learn from the spirit of his actions. Because as much as we want to script every detail of our trips, sometimes it is the unexpected moments that occur through odd happenstance, blind luck, or deep stupidity that are the best and most memorable parts of our journey.
For example, if I had known that wandering into a contrada clubhouse late one night in Siena was a faux pas that might result in angry words and/or belt whippings (from my experience, the preferred fighting style of enraged Italians), I never would have stepped inside the building. But since I was blindly ignorant (and only slightly less drunk) I ended up having a delightful evening full of friendship and incoherent songs and questions about the attractiveness of girls in San Diego. I was relying entirely on luck that night, but sometimes luck is enough, and for a few glorious moments I was just like Han Solo.
[I later capped off this special evening of fellowship and cultural exchange by chain-puking behind a medieval church. Which is also, I like to think, something Han Solo would have done.]
LESSON 4: ALWAYS BE AWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS
Travel is full of uncomfortable moments and unexpected complications. Many times these difficulties can lead to some of the best moments of your trip. But on other occasions, you might find yourself in very real danger. As such, it’s important to pay attention to your surroundings, recognize any potential threats, and remove yourself from these situations as quickly as possible.
For Han Solo, it was realizing the asteroid cave he was parked in was actually the gullet of a space worm. For our travel editor, it was discovering he was moments away from being eaten by a komodo dragon. For me, it was fleeing from an impending mugging in the back of a pickup truck in Puerto Escondido, Mexico.
[Author’s note: this is a story for another time, but suffice it to say, if a cab driver offers to take you to “the cheapest strip club in town,” you should probably go somewhere else.]
LESSON 5: IT’S WHAT’S ON THE INSIDE THAT COUNTS
The Millennium Falcon may have looked like a “piece of junk,” but it was fast enough to do the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs (which is actually a measurement of distance and not time, but still pretty impressive). Han didn’t care what his ship looked like because he knew just how amazing it was beneath the surface.
Try to follow Han’s example when you’re traveling. You may be tempted to visit the shiniest and most popular tourist destinations — Venice, Paris, Shanghai — and you definitely should, but don’t ignore some of the slightly less glitzy destinations. Because trips to places like Detroit, South Dakota, and even Vernon, California, can lead to some unforgettable experiences too.
Also, it’s worth noting that “it’s what’s on the inside that counts” is a very valid way to judge people while traveling. As Mark Twain said (paraphrasing): travel is death to prejudice.
LESSON 6: EMBRACE OTHER CULTURES
Though no longer officially part of the Star Wars canon, the Star Wars Holiday Special features Han braving imperial patrols to take Chewbacca home for space Christmas. Just think about that; Han respects his friend’s cultural traditions so much that he is willing to risk arrest or a fiery death to deliver him to Kashyyyk. For his troubles, Han is not only rewarded with an orgy of furry cuddles, but access to a sacred cultural event, too. Granted, this sacred cultural event was also pretty stupid, but it was still a great deal more dignified than the rest of the holiday special.
When you’re traveling, be like Han and embrace the cultures and customs of your travel destinations, even the ones that might seem strange (especially the ones that might seem strange). When I played pickup basketball in China, between games the other guys would smoke cigarettes (“it’s good for the lungs”) and drink beer (“for hydration”). I thought the custom was equal parts disgusting and stupid, but I still drank and smoked along with them. Partly to honor cultural differences, partly because of the universal language of peer pressure, but mostly for the free beer. For this, my new Chinese friends embraced me with the vigor of a Wookie hug, and I was introduced to amazing cultural experiences like homemade feasts, secret noodle shops, and distressing amounts of baijiu.
LESSON 7: PACK LIGHT
Han Solo saved the galaxy from evil fascists, survived being turned into a charcoal briquette, and hooked up with a princess, and he did it all with basically one outfit.
So when you’re traveling, be like Han and pack light. You might not look as good in a vest (don’t worry, no one does), but it’s hard to take off for adventure when you’re anchored by a heavy suitcase.
LESSON 8: WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS, CRASH AT A FRIEND’S HOUSE
There’s an old saying: “guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days.” While it is terrible to be the person hosting that rotting fish carcass on your couch for several weeks (and I’m speaking from personal experience on this one), it’s decidedly better when you’re the one who is doing the rent-free stinking (and I’m speaking from personal experience on this one, too).
Han knew the value of a friendly couch, and stopped by his old buddy Lando Calrissian’s sky palace when he was on the run from the imperials in The Empire Strikes Back. So when you find yourself in a similarly tricky situation on your travels (or just don’t feel like paying for a hostel), be like Han and look up your closest friend (or friends of friends or distant second-uncles) and ask if you can stay at their house for a day or two. In all likelihood, they’ll be happy to host you. Until you have eaten their cereal and farted up their sofa cushions for a week; then they will be very much the opposite.
Of course, since Lando immediately sold him out to Darth Vader as soon as he arrived on Cloud City, Han must have been a spectacularly dickish house guest in the past.
Which leads us to the most important lesson of all…
LESSON 9: DON’T HESISTATE
For most people, embarking on the travel adventure of their dreams remains exactly that: a dream. We put off these trips for a “perfect time” that never arrives, for the simple reason that such things simply don’t exist. So we keep dreaming, and waiting, and before we know it, we have hesitated our lives away.
So let’s follow the most important lesson from Han’s life: don’t hesitate. Embrace the moment. Take the risk. Book a ticket. Flirt with a princess.
Let’s have the adventure of our lives. Let’s make vests fashionable again.
And most of all…
Let’s travel like Han.
