There are so many excuses not to travel – no time, not enough money, fear of the unknown – but letting those anti-travel sentiments get in the way of seeing the world means you’re missing out. We’re not suggesting you spend your life savings on a trip around the world or take weeks off work to see a new place, but giving yourself the opportunity to experience new places, cultures and people is a great way to get more out of life. If you’re still not convinced to take a trip, we’ve put together a list of the top five reasons to travel. Bon voyage!
To get a fresh perspective
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One of the best and most rewarding aspects of travel is its ability to provide you with a fresh perspective. It can be so easy to get into a routine – or worse, a rut – that we forget there’s an entire world out there just waiting to be discovered. Laundry, cooking, cleaning, shopping – not to mention going to work and coming home (likely through traffic) – keep us fused to a certain mindset, which is: Not much changes. Even if you’re happy in your job and don’t really mind folding all that laundry, taking a trip can mean opening your eyes and giving you a totally new lease on life.
Why it’s important: Whether you go one state over or halfway around the world, what you experience outside your daily routine will help you see that there is much more to life than what’s on your to-do list.
To recharge
Day-to-day life can wear you down. There’s so much to do that time passes in a blink of an eye, and by the time dinner time rolls around all you want to do is lie on the couch, feet up and television on. While there’s nothing wrong with a little downtime, if you really want to recharge, why not get away from it all? When you’re away there’s so much more to think about than whether or not you left dirty dishes in the sink, if your boss is going to give you that raise you asked for or if that colleague is going to actually put in any work on that project you’re (allegedly) doing together. The stress of daily life is replaced with thoughts of where you want to sightsee, what you’re going to eat, whether to hit the beach and what kind of souvenirs to take home.
Why it’s important : Being away gives your brain a chance to recharge and reboot in a way that just can’t happen as easily at home.
To see something new
It’s a big world out there, and while there’s no way to see it all, just experiencing a small sampling of what’s outside of your own town, city or state can open your eyes to all the interesting and wonderful things there are to see and do. You may be madly in love with where you live (which is great) but if you get out there to explore, you never know what treasures you might find. From new foods and customs to great people and places you never imagined you’d see, traveling is full of surprises.
Why it’s important: Any new experience you have can only help you become a better person and enrich your life in myriad ways.
To challenge yourself
This is probably one of the most important reasons to book a trip. Challenging yourself is never easy – that’s why they call it a challenge – but pushing past your lingering reservations about going abroad can be very good for you. Travel is challenging for a number of reasons – everything from not knowing the language to eating unfamiliar foods and even getting lost can keep you on your toes and pull you out of your comfort zone (and let you realize you can rise to the occasion). Life is too short to skip out on great experiences just because it could prove difficult in some way.
Why it’s important: Going out of your comfort zone and challenging yourself will help you grow as a person, gain confidence and push past emotional and physical limitations that may be holding you back in other areas of your life.
To learn
Travel is a great way to learn about yourself and others, not to mention get a crash course in totally new ways of doing things. You can pick up new languages, try new and interesting foods, learn about other cultures and gain insight into new customs you’ve never seen or taken part in. You may think that learning stopped the minute you left school, but you should never stop learning, no matter how old you are, and traveling gives you a great opportunity to soak up knowledge from other cultures, people and places.
Why it’s important: The more you learn, the better you’ll feel about yourself and the more fun and enriched your life will be.
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