Traveling is as addictive as caffeine. Wait, correct that. There is actually nothing more addictive than throwing yourself in a new environment and trying to extract whatever you can from it. Just ask the one billion people from around the world who make it their commitment to travel. Surely, they can’t be wrong for choosing to spend their time and money hopping from country to country, can they? There must be something about traveling that makes them feel like they can’t get enough, but what can it possibly be? The list below may just have the answer.
Limits Pushed to the Edge
One of the reasons why we should travel is that, as humans, we are hard-wired to be hungry for adventure. We may not always give leave to our audacious side, but it’s there within us, buried beneath our fears. As an individual, you may have that natural dread of the unknown, which is okay, as long as you don’t let it eat you up. Remember, the only thing that can ever hold you back in life is neither time nor money; it’s that little voice inside your head that whispers negative what-ifs. If you shut that voice and get out of your comfort zone, you’ll find the daredevil in you that’s been trying to break free for the longest time.
Lessons Turned into Gems of Wisdom
Traveling around the world is one great way to learn new things. You’ll be immersed in new cultures, exposed to different languages, and introduced to outlandish food. Traveling will give you all the real-world lessons and experiences you need in life. And the best part is, all this is more attainable than you can imagine. Just look around you. There are a lot of traveling opportunities out there that come in the form of travel promos and sponsorships. Of all the traveling facts you need to know, this is the one thing you have to remember: Money should never be a hindrance. If you look hard enough, you will find resources to support your travels. And even if you shell out a few bucks, you shouldn’t feel sorry. With all the great things you can get out of traveling, the expenses are not worth too much thought. The lessons you can gain about history, geography, sociology, politics, and life in general should be more than enough to convince you that traveling is worth all the time, money, and other resources you’d be spending.
Life Seen from a New Perspective
You know that feeling you used to get as a child when you learned what something meant or how something worked? That’s exactly what traveling feels like. It opens the eyes and the mind to a whole new reality. It gives you a fresh take on things that you stubbornly thought were absolute and irreversible. There are so many things you can learn on traveling that you can’t learn any other way. Don’t even argue on the side of vicarious experience. Seeing something from another’s perspective and seeing it through your own eyes are two utterly different things. The raw beauty of first-hand encounters and head-on discoveries is something you cannot bargain for. It’s a privilege and a pleasure that only travelers can enjoy.
Bonds Fostered for Eternity
Do you know what the best part of traveling is? It’s the people you meet and the connections you make. If you come to think of it, the culture is about the people; the language is about the people; the food, the experiences, the memories are clearly about the people. If there’s one thing traveling is about, it’s the people you sit with in the plane, the people you ask directions from, the people you watch in the streets, the people who cook your food in the restaurant, the people you chat with and tell your stories to, the people who share their culture, language, food, experiences, and memories with you. As Adam Galinsky, professor at Columbia Business School, so wittingly claimed, “…when people had experiences traveling to other countries, it increased what’s called generalized trust, or their general faith in humanity.” Traveling brings people closer together. And since it harvests trust between people from different backgrounds and circumstances, it can unmistakably be called a glue that holds humanity intact.
Keepsakes Tucked in the Heart
Travelers who choose long-term renting while in their travel destinations usually get more out of the overall experience. They are immersed in the environment longer so they are granted a better view on things. But regardless of how long they stay in a place, all travelers never fail to gain fresh perspectives. In fact, they can rightfully be called the bolder version of historians and anthropologists. They see the world the way it is – scarred and imperfect yet beautiful all the same. Beyond souvenirs and photographs, travelers are rich in intangible keepsakes that never decay or die. They are privileged with the gift of memory, the most personal of the many benefits of traveling. They are blessed with memories of people, places, experiences, and interactions. They are sanctified with memories of joy, excitement, fear, hesitation, thrill, dread, animation, and, most important of all, the memory of uncertainty. Travelers are the keepers of the world’s memories, and that is something nobody can take away from them.
The Self Rediscovered and Redefined
We can go on and on about the best features of traveling, but at the end of the day, there is really just one thing that wraps it all up: self-rediscovery. Why do you take a break from your job to go to a tropical island? Why do you spend your summer vacation in a quiet Western town? Why do you explore the world as a solo traveler? It all boils down to how you really feel as an individual. You may know this only on a subconscious level, but you surely know this: Traveling is an escape from the mundanity of daily life. It’s your way of coping with the stress, the boredom, the difficulty, and even the ordinariness of day-by-day existence. You know that traveling is your ticket to freedom. And it’s not just you. One billion others feel the same way. They wonder why exploring the world is so addictive, why traveling is good for the soul. And just like you, they secretly know the answer.
Mark Twain’s words are perfect for a final note. He said: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”
