Everybody should travel. You, your friends, your family, your colleagues, your grandparents. It is never too late to hit the road on a life changing adventure.
Many people are scared that they are not quite cut out for a life on the road or that traveling may somehow damage their career prospects. Is now really the really the right time to travel? What if, by traveling, you screw up your career and can't find a job when you come back?
Well, I'm here to tell you that this will literally never happen. I want to travel the world and, there is nothing else that shall do. There are thousands of reasons why everybody should go travelling, atleast once in their lvies. But here are the best reasons why literally everybody should travel.
1. Travel means adventure
Zip-lining over the jungle canopy in Peru, successfully navigating the maze-like streets of Venice, bartering for the best price in the traditional markets of Marrakech, taking a speedboat ride in New Zealand, or hopping in a Land Rover and heading out to watch animals grazing in Tanzania: these are adventures worth having. People are hardwired for the excitement of adventure and travel may just be the best way to tap into it.
2. Travel is Education
Seeing the world provides an education that’s absolutely impossible get in school. Travel teaches you economy, politics, history, geography, and sociology in an intense, hands-on way no class will. Fortunately, the school of travel is always taking applications, no entrance exam required.
3. Experience new foods
You just can't beat it. It might look, smell, feel or taste disgusting but suck it up and eat it. You left home for new experiences, make sure you're doing that. There's nothing worse than travelling thousands of miles from home to taste the familiar. Speak to locals and find out how they cook certain dishes, what ingredients they use and why. Get them to write it down on a piece of paper, don't just stick it on your instagram stories and be done, learn the tricks of the trade and appreciate new flavours from around the world.
4. Happiness
Travelling makes people happier. This is because your mind is challenged, stretched, and you experience much more than you would in a standard 9 to 5. Just be prepared for the post-travel blues... good thing is you can always book another trip!
5. Learn new Languages
There’s something satisfying about being able to throw around a few words of Greek, knowing how to say thanks in Thai, pulling out that long dormant Spanish to book a room in Santiago, or simply hearing a language you didn’t know existed just a few weeks before.
6. New Friends
Speaking of new friends, some of the best people in my life are folks I randomly bumped into upon the road. Many newbie travellers worry that if they head off by themselves then they may be lonely, this simply isn’t the case. There are so many solo travellers and so many different ways to meet people that you will never truly be alone. I backpacked around India for over a year, all by myself. I was very rarely alone. I made lasting friendships with other backpackers and with locals. Travelling is kind of like speed-dating except with friends, if you don’t like someone, you don’t have to see them again. If you do like someone, you go in the same direction. It’s pretty neat.
7. Celebrating
There’s always a happy reason to take a trip. It could be a landmark birthday or anniversary. A graduation. A wedding – or pre-wedding festivities. Even a babymoon before a little one arrives. A special occasion is made even more special by celebrating away from the hectic pace of life at home. It’s also a good way to gather family and friends from distant corners to mark the milestone. Celebration vacations provide a lasting benefit as well: shared memories for a lifetime.
8. Volunteering opportunities
If you fancy giving back whilst traveling, there are loads of ways to get involved with reputable organisations. Volunteering obviously looks great on any CV but it’s not really about that and it’s certainly not about getting a new Facebook profile picture of you and a bunch of school children. Volunteering is about connecting with people. It is about giving back to the planet. Everybody should travel and everybody should, at some point, volunteer. It is a potentially life-changing experience that will allow you to see another side of the world you have very little knowledge about. Volunteering is also a great way to have new skills.
9. Self development
Traveling develops you as a person. It personally have become a much kinder, more patient individual who is willing to give pretty much anybody the benefit of the doubt. This is true for most travelers, your social skills develop much faster whilst traveling and if you don’t like something about yourself, this is the perfect time to test-drive a new personality. Traveling offers you an unparalleled opportunity to reinvent yourself.
10. Travel gives you cool stories
Let’s face it. Even for folks who can’t tell a story, just the words “last year in Mongolia” get you instant party points. Even when events seem trivial, nostalgia and distance create an irresistible spin that makes mundane things like getting your laundry done in Zanzibar, entertaining. Just don’t be that person and overdo it!