Most of us are blessed with the means to travel to places. Blessed with the financial means to pay for the trip and blessed with the opportunity to take a few days or weeks off from work or school. But how many of us actually use those means? How many of us actually decide to grab our chance and get on that bus or step on that plane? Of course, it is great if you are satisfied with where you are; however, traveling to places – and especially to different countries – is way more valuable than most of us think it is. Why? Well, I have 10 reasons why!
1. Unique moments
Unique moments are what make life beautiful and traveling to different places will give you endless unique moments. Even if it is a “Hello” from a stranger or a smile from a child; finding these unique moments in places different than our home, will make us aware that the world isn’t as big as it seems and our home isn’t as small as it looks. We belong everywhere, not merely in our own town, state or country.
2. Meet new people
Another great reason to travel the world is to meet new people! Just think of all your friends; how many of them are from different cities and countries? In my case, all of my friends are from different countries and continents and we all fill a different spot in each other’s lives. Because I traveled I met so many people and all those people bring their own passions and wisdom with them, which makes each of them so valuable. I definitely learned a lot more from other people than I learned from books and I became a better person because of them. One thing is for certain, I would never have met as many great people as I have if I hadn’t traveled to different places.
3. Explore the world’s beauty
The world is beautiful, even more beautiful in real life. 😉 We can see plenty of videos and pictures of famous tourist destinations such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the pyramids in Egypt, and Venice, Italy. But nothing is as beautiful as witnessing the world’s beauty with your own eyes. There is so much beauty in the world and you have the opportunity to explore it! Go and take a dive, climb a mountain and expand your horizons, whether it’s in the air, in the ocean, or on land.
4. You never know what could happen
Well, you probably have heard the sentence “You miss all the shots you don’t take” before, and I couldn’t agree more. If you never travel, there are beautiful experiences that you will miss. Yes, you could meet the girl or boy of your dreams. You never know what could happen on that trip, which makes life exciting!
5. Exposure to different cultures
Another important reason to travel the world is the exposure to different cultures. Every culture is different and getting to understand other cultures is how stereotypes you may have had before disappear. Not only is this great for your own benefit, it is also beneficial to the people around you since you can correct any assumptions or prejudices they may have.
6. You don’t know where your heart is until you find it
Traveling means exploring and exploring means discovering. The discovery part is so important about traveling, because you don’t know where your home is until you find it. You may visit a town or city or country and suddenly feel like this is your place to be. You may suddenly get the feeling that you would never want to leave again. I think you all want to be happy and all want to make the most of your lives. Well, I assure you that traveling will help you with that.
7. Discover yourself
Besides discovering other places, discovering yourself is also a benefit of traveling. Whether it’s a long or short trip, traveling comes with challenges and responsibilities, which will mentally make you stronger. Furthermore, traveling usually comes hand in hand with alone-time, which are crucial moments in our lives where we can think about who we are and what we want. It is something about sleeping in a different bed or looking out of a different window, which makes us humans think about our lives. Suddenly we think of questions such as “Are we happy with where we are?” and “Are we happy with who we are?” Traveling gives us plenty of chances to discover who we are as a person.
8. Fun times!
Let’s definitely not forget: traveling is FUN! Who doesn’t want to take a break and go on a fun trip with your friends, family or even on your own? Ibiza? Thailand? Morocco? Alaska? Sure, I’m in!
9. Appreciation and gratitude
If there’s another thing that I learned from traveling, it is that it makes you appreciate your home, your family and friends and what you have in life. The problems we have aren’t as big as we think they are and traveling definitely makes you aware of that. I have met people with the most tragic stories but the biggest smiles. Additionally, seeing other places puts aspects of our own city, state or country into perspective. How does the infrastructure or homeless population differ? How does health care work? How are people’s rights protected? What are the different laws? Seeing how different countries are and hearing the stories of other people makes us appreciate what we have and shows us that there are bigger things to worry about.
10. Why not?
Honestly, why not? Whether you live by the statement “YOLO” (You Only Live Once) or “YODO” (You Only Die Once), the message is the same: Live your life wisely. How you interpret that is totally up to you. I say, do what you want to do when you can do it, because tomorrow isn’t guaranteed.
Go, go, go!
I hope this list made you aware of the value of traveling. What are some places you want to go to? What country did your friend once tell you about but you never looked in to? Think about it and go! Read my post on how to get cheap flight tickets to get the best deal. If you are a road tripper instead, read my post on how to prepare for your next road trip.
Photography by Nat Photography.
