Travelling is a way to break with the ordinary and gain a sense of wellbeing through exploration, discovery and surprise. In the past, a journey into the distance meant significant changes in life. It could take months or even years to reach the distant destination. But now this has changed fundamentally. Now we can travel the whole world in a few days and with luck and the right connections we will be on the opposite side of the globe in 24 hours.
By travelling we change our perspective and let fresh wind into our mind. Travelling is an invitation to break out of routine and give parts of ourselves the opportunity to flourish, which cannot flourish in everyday life. We face new challenges, train different skills than those we usually use.
Travelling will immerse us in situations that are less predictable because in these new environments there are many unknown things. This uncertainty can be a source of fear, but even more of excitement and a sense of adventure. Born travellers need this adrenaline; sporadic travellers know that this feeling reminds them of how beautiful it is to be alive.
When we travel, we leave our comfort zone. We allow ourselves to broaden our horizons. But the best thing is that we also stimulate our intellectual capacities, which makes us more creative and helps us develop important social and emotional skills such as tolerance.
Travel awakens creativity
It is said that you enjoy a trip three times over: when we plan it, when we travel and when we remember it. All three phases need a lot of creativity.
First we have to choose a destination, be clear about what we want, define what we are looking for. But even on the journey itself, creativity should not fall by the wayside. We go to unknown places, or at least to places we don’t usually visit. We will notice that we have to adapt to many situations: Traditions and customs, tastes, smells and noises, a different togetherness and a foreign language.
In order to preserve our experiences, we want to choose the best way to organize our memories and give them meaning. We relive them, reflect and interpret what we have lived.
All these activities are synonymous with complex mental activity. As if we were writing a book, painting a painting. The organisation and realisation of a journey requires certain intellectual abilities, openness and curiosity. For these reasons, after we have made a journey, we are never the same person as before. Experiences we gain on journeys are intense and stimulating and that is exactly why it is so beneficial to be on the road.
Travel makes us better people
Those who leave their comfort zone are guaranteed enriching experiences. As the saying goes: Fascism is eliminated through reading and intolerance through travel. Travel liberates us from prejudices, especially when we go to places where we immerse ourselves in a culture which is foreign to ours or which offers a great contrast to our daily routine. We should not catalogue differences from top to bottom, but look at them on one level. No culture is better or worse, only different.
It has also been proven that people who travel at least twice a year have a lower risk of depression. The fact is, travelling is a cure for mental illness, because in one way or another it lets us see the world in a new light. It is like a rejuvenating bath that allows us to renew our perspective on reality and on ourselves.
Travelling also helps to come into contact with ourselves and our inner being. It frees us from our ordinary environment, makes it easier for these ideas and emotions to emerge that are normally in the background. On the way, all the daily excuses and inhibiting influences no longer apply.
It is one thing to look at life through the lens of stressful everyday life, and quite another to enjoy it during a break that allows us to travel.
Because we learn on the road, travel makes us better people. It renews us, gives us strength and makes it possible to fill our lives with colour and magic. Never doubt that travelling will bring you closer to your goals.