In a way that numbing your soul working a 9-5 job doesn’t. Many people report not feeling happy in the least bit as they grind their hours away. This doesn’t make sense, does it?
A lot of people feel like travelling is out of their reach; there’s just no time, there’s not enough money, etc. These excuses run up the wall and come out of the wazoo.
Because the fact is: travelling greatly helps us find happiness in unbelievable (and extraordinary) ways. Let’s take a look at just a teaser of those ways.
1. Reduces Health Risks
The Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee said that travelling reduces fatal health risks. Such as…
- Depression
- Breast cancer
- High blood pressure
- Diabetes
- And more.
With all the risks of staying in one place, for a certain amount of time, week after week after year after year… why do we choose to? How are we spending the short amount of time we have in life? Why do we deny opportunities for travel and adventure, in favor of selling our youth for back-breaking labor?
It doesn’t help the fact that we spend too much time watching TV. When spending hours zoning out in front of the “boob tube” is a form of relaxation… something is wrong. I’m sure you can think of a few instances where Netflix consumed your entire day. Were you left wondering where the time went?
When we take this route, I’m sure none of us feel like we’re leading successful lives pursuing our goals.
2. Boost Your Life By Reading
There are educational benefits to travelling, as well. Whether you’re in your hometown or in another country, there’s no time of the day that can’t be used to dive into a good book. Books enrich lives and help us learn about each other’s cultures; complementing the experiences gained from befriending people of those cultures.
Bill Gates annually comes out with a list of books he’s read the previous year. Sometimes he sends out a list of books he plans to read. Either way, when the mastermind behind Microsoft suggests something, people tend to listen. It’s hard to deny the advice of a man who was a billionaire by the time he was 31.
The average person with an internet connection spends approximately 200 hours a year on social media. That’s hardly a good use of time management. While social connection is important, it’s no hyperbole to assume most of that is spent in mindless conversation.
As a healthier, proactive alternative, consider reading books to pass the time. Depending on the genre, they can not only stimulate your imagination and increase vocabulary… but show you how to improve your life and manage time more effectively. Here are just a few books Mr. Gates suggest we all read:
- Business Adventures, by John Brooks
- The Rosie Project: A Novel, by Graeme Simsion
- Shoe Dog, by Phil Knight
If you’re visiting a new country, you might run into some of that country’s local authors! Whether you read books or not, it is crucial for us to expand our horizons as much as possible. I personally feel the most alive when I’m sitting down with a group of people. You have someone from [countries,] and this diversity of insights, minds and experiences blows my mind. It’s insane, because I’m expanding my thoughts and sharing those thoughts with other people.
It’s a double-sided coin, too, because those people can share the books they love with me. Whoever said books are boring needs to be taken back behind the shed and marry a shotgun.
3. Relaxation Is Easier
In today’s world, you’re faced with obstacles each and every day. It feels like a battleground trying to get through it all. The average person’s idea of winding down usually involves cracking open a beer or a bottle of wine, and zoning out in front of a screen.
Are you kidding me?
Relaxation is one of the purest forms of attaining happiness there is. When you’re travelling abroad, there are so much more rejuvenating forms of relaxation available. (Especially when you’re on vacation.)
A few of these are as simple as laying out in the sun. Others could be…
- Kicking your feet up on a patio
- Lazily waving in a pool
- Working on your tan
- Enjoying a festive meal at a prestigious diner with newfound friends or family
Sure, you can probably use these activities to relax at home, as well. Although you wouldn’t be utilizing the right mindset to make the most out of unique experiences. At home, when relaxation time is over you’re back into the same rat race, spinning wheel chaos you were trying to get away from. There is no reason at all to feel guilty about reaping life’s beautiful rewards – especially since you’ve earned the right to.
4. Stop Social Media In Its Time-Consuming Tracks
The importance of traveling in life, to some people comes as a result of feeling their happiest. Whether they’re on the road, in the air or on the sea, they’re gaining new experiences from countless facets of meeting new people. Planting the seeds for new friendships.
The potential to share (and gain) powerful, positive-impacting insights is only amplified when you meet like-minded people. Life’s challenges are met, crossed, and rewritten when you’re abroad.
There’s no shortage of knowledge to gain, and lively conversations to indulge in. It’s a fact that we all have something else to learn. That one golden nugget of juicy information, constantly eluding us. How often are we teased by our minds that there’s just something we have to know… but tragically don’t?
Listening to this “little you” is an effect part of keeping your life in check. Without continually learning, you don’t evolve. Without evolving, you’re stuck in the same rut you’ve been in for the past thousand years.
5. Become a New Person
Possibilities for being the person you’ve always wanted to be open up. With all of the joys and advantages of travelling, becoming a new person is inevitable. Success and happiness are entwined in a way that merely working for a paycheck cannot define. When you work for a paycheck, success doesn’t seem as fulfilling.
CNN Travel reported that travel gives us a chance to get out of our everyday lives. We can literally become new people – overnight. We’re given ample opportunity to “act out” the visions we have of our ideal selves, in ideal situations, with ideal people.
Living that out beats the dangers of being a couch potato reading the same feed, doesn’t it? You’d be using your time for evaluating your life, upgrading it, and making the most out of your time on Earth. Can you say social media will yield the same results?
Conclusion
Now that you know how traveling brings out the best in you, make a plan to travel this year – this month, even. Save your income and bonuses so you can afford a luxurious journey towards becoming a new you. I feel like 2017 was made for a world of adventure.
