When asked what they would do if they won the lottery, so many people would instantly think of traveling the world. The answer comes as no surprise, as traveling is probably the best thing since sliced bread. Once I became a student, I knew it was high time to take advantage of all opportunities to travel abroad, and now, after a couple of years, I realize that I owe all the best things that have happened to me so far to traveling. There are uncountable reasons why getting off the beaten track and exploring new cultures and environments is so exciting and enriching, and here I picked the basic top seven reasons to travel, just to stir up your curiosity. So, without further ado:
1. Traveling doesn’t have to be expensive.
Gone are the days when traveling abroad was just a pastime designed for the rich. Nowadays the market is awash with really convenient plane/bus/train tickets and travel packages. What’s more, there are couch-surfing and hitch-hiking, countless opportunities that combine travel and work/studying, and various funded programs. These opportunities only need you to grab them.Just don’t be lazy when it comes to research and paperwork.
2. You learn without even trying.
Have you noticed how hard it is to memorize some dry facts from a book about a certain place/museum/famous building, and how easy it is for the same facts to get stuck to your memory when you learn them on the spot? It is easier to learn when you can make connections to your own experience and that is what traveling does.
3. You interact with different people.
This is probably my favorite reason to travel abroad. I truly believe that one has so much to learn from people belonging to different nationalities, cultures and religions, and nothing compares to the feeling of establishing friendships across borders.Furthermore, it is wonderful to travel to a certain country and already know someone there who you can visit and who can show you around like a local.
4. You can practice or learn a new language.
As a student of languages myself, I am of the opinion that the best method to learn a new language or to speak it authentically is to live among native speakers and use that language on a regular basis. You know what they say about languages – use it or lose it. There is no point whatsoever in studying a language for years without ever using it in real life.
5. You learn to get around in a new environment.
And once you get accustomed to that, it gets easier and easier to switch to the local rules no matter where you are. Cultural shocks become a thing of the past, not to mention how simple it will be when you go back to your homeland and what before was a long series of complicated procedures now seems to untangle.
6. You are more likely to do things you wouldn’t normally do at home.
Extreme sports, jumping off a rock into the sea, climbing up a high mountain? Yes, please. Everything that seems too scary, difficult or against some prejudices at home turns into a possibility to take into consideration when traveling abroad. You just let yourself go with the flow and don’t overthink all the possible drawbacks. At the end of the day you check an amazing experience off your bucket list and feel more alive than ever.
7. You grow and become a better you.
I left this reason on purpose for the end as it is the deepest of them all, and describes a change that unfolds over time spent traveling to more and more places. The more you see and experience, the more you realize how big the world is and how much it has to offer, you start to focus on what matters and stop being disappointed by little failures here and there. You begin to look on the bright side of things and cease taking yourself and life too seriously. This is probably the best thing traveling and living abroad has done for me.
All these being said, I will end my top seven reasons to travel with a quote I came across some time ago, which in the meantime has become rather clichéd but that doesn’t make me find it less inspirational and beautiful than I did when I first learned it: “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page”. It’s possible that I will never finish this huge book, but that doesn’t stop me being curious to discover as much as possible of its plot.
Spread the Kindness
