Drawing reference from the words of Martin Yan that says: “People who don’t travel cannot have a global view; all they see is what’s in front of them. Those people cannot accept new things because all they know is where they live”, has given us an insight into the world of travel and its importance. It is no news that travel is one of the most remarkable and transformative experiences in life. In as much as travel costs money, its benefits are without a doubt, profound.
People mostly see travel as an activity to do for fun in their spare time; it can also be seen as mandatory for business, family functions, and health reasons. However, people may not realize how beneficial it is for the all-round development of the mind and how it brings a sense of satisfaction and happiness to those who look to explore.
Just because travel is our business and we want to let you in on its rewards, here are some benefits of travelling you should know:
1. Travelling broadens your horizon
The knowledge drawn from books, news and documentaries, the internet, and even other people’s experiences about a certain place could be filtered and not give you the undiluted feel or experience you’d get if you travelled to such place. Gaining knowledge about the world we live in from only books and media, narrows your mind to a specific and biased perspective. However, when you travel, it exposes you to meeting new people from different backgrounds, and this broadens your mind and perspective. You get to form your point of view about the place and experience things for yourself. It opens your eyes and challenges your views on the way of life of other people.
2. Travelling helps you gain a sense of Independence
It’ll make you believe in your abilities and become self-reliant. Irrespective of the kind of travel (solo, duo, or group travel), travelling makes you independent. You’d need to make decisions by yourself, make and manage a budget, plan your itinerary, and even change your mind on things when necessary. By doing these, you start to develop a sense of self-belief and reliance; you start to make personal decisions and learn to trust them.
3. Travelling improves your health
Leaving your familiar environment for a new one to explore the wonders around, could be another form of de-stressing. Basking in the freshness of this new environment could potentially improve your health. Travelling is a stress relief because it improves your physical and mental well-being. It also makes you happy and takes your mind off present reality.
4. Travelling helps you make beautiful memories
All it takes is stumbling on a picture in your photo album to make you revel in memories of a trip you’ve been on. You start to remember the intriguing rush of adrenaline when you skydived at Fox Glacier, New Zealand, or the crispy feeling of nature that enveloped you in Bali, or even the pristine beaches you visited in Zanzibar. Reliving those moments make you happy and eager to share those memories and experiences with your loved ones.
5. Travelling gets you out of your comfort zone
Many of us are so used to being in our comfort zone and it’s sometimes difficult to come out of. By travelling, you get out of familiar grounds. You get to experience the newness that the environment brings you. You hear a foreign language and interact with new people and locals, you see changes in weather, try new foods, and engage in activities you wouldn’t normally do like paragliding, mountaineering, camping, and boat cruising.
6. Travelling makes you appreciate other people’s culture
When you meet new people and interact with them, you tend to be more understanding and accepting of a culture different from yours. You will become open-minded and view life from a wider lens. Being around people from different backgrounds as you, makes you understand their values, traditions, and ways of thinking. You learn to appreciate their differences and similarities.
7. Second Language acquisition
Without exploring new places, you may never fully understand the importance of being proficient in another language other than your native or first language. Travelling to a different country opens up a whole new world of people you can connect with and challenges you to learn the language(s) they speak.
8. Travelling builds networking
Meeting new people on your trip makes it enjoyable and opens you to a world of opportunities. You establish connections and build your social network when you travel. Making connections with new people from different walks of life who share the same interests, values, and views as you, seem like a smart thing to do in today’s world as you never know when these connections will be useful, either for social, business, and academic reason.
9. Travelling makes you know yourself
You’re made to understand yourself, learn your triggers and thresholds, adapt to changes, and identify your strengths and weaknesses. When you’re exposed to the world of travel, you tend to adapt to changes in environment and weather conditions, the food, the music, the language, and even your daily routine. Travelling teaches you to adapt to changes and how to deal with uncertainties or challenges you may be faced with. You get to see how adaptable and strong you are, when faced with real-life situations on a trip.
Also, travelling helps you learn your triggers. You may not know you have certain allergies till you travel and try new things. It could be an allergy gotten from an ingredient in a local meal or trigger by harsh weather conditions; it helps you know your body better. Travelling makes you know your likes and dislikes. It could be that you’re more drawn to nature than the busy streets of New York or you’re not the super adventurous type, so skydiving isn’t your type of activity, or that you don’t particularly enjoy long walks or climbing, so mountaineering isn’t for you.
10. Travelling is a form of education
Travelling is part of learning. When you meet new people, you learn about their way of life; you are exposed to their music, language, food, and dressing. As you travel from place to place, you get to see popular landmarks and tourist sites, discover the names of capitals and currencies of countries you’ve visited, learn their greetings and dance, interact with locals and see how they live.
Saint Augustine, the Philosopher said, “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page”. You realize there’s so much to life and the world than the little space you occupy.
Now that you’re familiar with the ways travelling can be beneficial to you, we hope you realize that the world is more fun and there’s a lot out there to explore other than what books or media paints to you.
We encourage you to take that trip if you’ve never travelled, and if you have, we ask you to travel more and never stop.