5 Reason You Should Travel At Least Once In Your Life…
Most of the people who have been on some sort of extended travelling trip will agree that it was one of the best times of their life. They will continue to tell the stories about their adventures to anyone that will listen (sometimes annoyingly) for the rest of their lives. There is something very liberating about leaving your hometown, setting off to the airport with nothing but a bag on your back. It is a feeling I believe everyone should experience at some point in their lives. I feel so strongly about it that I would even go as far to say that it should be mandated as part of our education that we take an extended trip away before we are allowed to enter the world of work. I believe the experience and skills that you gain on these kind of adventures give you everything that a formal education does not. So let’s dive in and get started, the first reason is an obvious one.
- It’s a hell of a lot of fun
In my five years of travelling I don’t think ever met one person who said they were not having fun. And that is pretty good considering I was a travel agent, I met 100 of people of every single week just through work, plus the 100s more I met that came through the hostel I was living at. The only time I happened to pass on someone who was a bit down or was not having a good day it was usually because something was stopping them being able to travel rather than them not enjoying it the experience.
2. You learn to take control of more that just your adventure.
In the process of organising your trip, booking it and actually doing it you learn a lot of skills. But for the maybe the first time in your life you start to get a a better understanding and vision of the direction you want to go in. A lot of the lesson you learn in school are theory based and you rarely get a chance to put them into action. When you go away on a trip you are forced into taking control of your finances, safety, social interactions and general day to day life management. By doing this every day while you are doing something fun you improve on your general life skills set. This will help you to create a feeling of having more control and understanding with the direction you want to take your life in.
3. You will fall in love in a 100 different ways.
Everything is new. You will stare up at the night sky that you have see a 1000 times but this time it will be different. This time you will be in love with it. As you make your way around the world you will meet people, places, landmarks, animals hostels, cities, countries and so much more and you will fall in love with so many of them. Each new experience will give shock you and give you that ear touching smile and help you to fall in love with the world. You might meet your new best friend or find your favourite city and for the rest of your life when you think about that memory it will bring you so much joy.
4. You will find your why.
A trip away could be exactly what you need to help you make some changes in your life. Before I went on my adventures I felt like my life was going no where. I was lost, wandering round in the dark looking for something that would light me up. I tried things out but in the end I just got myself a job and focused on things I was not passionate about. The whole time I couldn’t help but feel like something was missing and when I went away something magical happened. I found my mojo, and that was travel.
When you are away you are exposed to so many different people, places and cultures and in each interaction you have you will start to notice the things that light you up. Having the chance to see and experience so many different part of life in a shot time is not something you can get at home. It is unique in that you get to test, try and trial things out and then you can cherry pick the things you love. For me that was travel but for some of my friends that was getting a new job with a charity, starting their own businesses or re train to become a nurse, or moving the a new country. The opportunity to experience the world in bitesized chuck and then take all the best part home with you is really special and you should grab that chance with both hands.
5. You will gain your independence.
If you are feeling trapped, stuck or in a social space that you are not happy with going away on an extended trip is a good way to take stock, understand what is happening and improve on that situation. You might feel like it is the right time to break it off with you boss and leave your job or you might want to improve your relationship with you other half. When you travel you gain your independence, you learn how to be resilient and you gain a better understanding of what you want. The time you get to pause and take stock is so valuable in helping you to make those decision so you can put your life back home in a better place for you.
A common conception of travelling is that you are running away from your problems or worries that you have at home. I actually disagree with this as I believe it helps you face up to then more. It gives you the space and time you need to really face up to any worries and think about what you can do tochange them.
That feeling of freedom and accomplishment that you gain from going away on a backpacking, snapacking or a gap year style trip is not matched by any other feeling in the world. It will improve your social skills, your organisation and it will test your patience and your resilience. All key skills that you need when starting off in the world of work. It forces you to dance just outside of your comfort zone and that is a where things really start to evolve.
Having the chance to get to know another culture, taste some epic food and jump into new activities helps you to develop and grow as a person. You find a tolerance and understanding for other people around you and it helps you to become a better citizen of the world. You appreciate your surrounding and learn to be kind to other and their views. You learn to strike up conversations with strangers and create deep connections with real people, not with someone on the other end of a phone.
The best part is that as well as all the cheesy, cliche personal growth that you will be doing you will also be having the best time of your life doing it. It will not feel like you are making an effort, it will not feel like a chore or a task it will just happen. Every time you meet a new person, every time you learn to say ‘Hello’ in a local language, every time you watch a golden sunset over the beautiful blue ocean it will just happen.
You will create epic memories of nights out under the stars with people from all over the globe, you will get to see animals you have only ever read about in books and you will get to experience landscapes that will blow your mind.
But the single most important thing over everything else I have said is that it will bring you so much joy. The smile on your face will tell a thousand stories and that is why you should go and discover your planet.
Josh xx
