Why do we need to travel? Well, this is quite an unfathomable question —only because we can’t really answer it, no matter how much we study about it. Although I have not traveled much in my busy daily life over the years, I have developed an understanding of the importance of traveling. In this essay, I want to share my beliefs.
The first experience of me traveling is that it gives us peace of mind. It opens us to a new and wider diaspora from what we have been living in. Traveling broaden the horizons. Traveling will give you a new perspective on life. Have we ever imagined the other side of the coin unless we turned it upside down? No. So, you can only experience the way of life in different places only when you see it yourself. What you have followed and practiced is what you have been taught, but you still learn the different page only if you travel. The new place and the new environment will obviously help you discover and consider newer and better ideas you hadn’t thought of it before. After every travel, we will enrich ourselves with better ideas, some better knowledge, and understanding. Once I read somewhere, “Traveling is one great form of learning”. Yes, indeed traveling is the most successful method of learning without books. The books will showcase how to react out in the world, but traveling will test you with all those ground realities. Traveling will teach you history, geography, sociology language and culture, as well as life lessons in each newer place you travel. As every new place will have a new and unique identity. By traveling to new places, people, and cultures, you’ll always cultivate a broader view of the world we live in. Travel is a smarter form of education.
In addition, traveling is important as a great relief from all the stress and despondency that come along with our daily schedule. A restful vacation is just what we need to renew ourselves. As for me, I am working in a city area, so when I get to travel, I always love to get to the hills or the snowcapped mountains for a trek. What I expect when I travel is something different from what I see or meet every day: a nice bright sun and a bright blue sky, nicer scenery, and meeting and experiencing newer people from what I have around. May be kicking a soccer ball just around with the local kids. This gives me an immense amount of throttle which I cannot do and get at my workplace or home. Hence, traveling is beneficial, particularly for workaholics, who just cannot ignore or leave their job behind. Sometimes moving away from the regular workplace is good for both mental and physical health. Travel is the best possible medication for being stressed out.
Traveling sometimes can be more than just getting out of our daily routine. Traveling sometimes can be both taking a break from work and getting along with your friends and family. Traveling along with friends and family will strengthen the bonds. Whether it is a short weekend family getaway, a romantic trip, or a long weekend with friends, important bonds can be strengthened. And especially in a culturally bound country like ours, traveling with friends and family will even make better social respect and bonding. The longer you don’t meet, the larger and weaker will be the bonding. In today’s time, friends and families are scattered all over the world, so they can’t see each other for a long period, and it definitely demands that families travel.
Getting back home on festivals like Christmas, Dashian, or Chath will not only make you feel happy and relaxed but also it will help to strengthen the bonding between the families. Sharing a childhood game story at a place in your village or hometown with your old friends will give you ecstasy for a few more years. Traveling no doubt is an occasion to connect with each other. Traveling at some best times might even relinquish any family grudges and build healthier and happier family relationships.
One famous Hindi language says that even a dog can be a lion in its place. Doing all those things you have been doing and repetition of the same – you could be the master of it. But what if a new environment and a newer challenge? So, to acknowledge newer problems and new challenges, you need to different places. Traveling is the ideal thing how to test yourself. It pushes us above our limits and gets us outside our comfort zone. You will get to know how much of a caliber you are when you are in a new place with new people and a new mindset. When you get successful in adjusting yourself within the newer environment, then the pride you receive within yourself will be bigger than the Oscar or a Nobel Prize. It will also prepare you for future challenges and opportunities with confidence. Traveling to places where you do not know a person at all will assist you to gain confidence and have the presence of mind. Just like watching ‘Man vs. Wild’ of Bear Gills on the Discovery Channel. You will develop the ability to cope with obstacles, which will make you a confident person. While traveling, you will find yourself stuck in situations where things don’t always go as planned. Such situations will help you learn to cope with the uncertainties in life. Traveling is one of the best ways to learn more about yourself. Every day traveling brings a new set of issues and opportunities. The way you handle those also gives you an insight into who you are. You’ll come home knowing yourself better and with a fresh perspective on what you want out of life. The experience will change your life.
Take that ‘child inside you’. Even at the eldest phase of your life, you will always love to sing, dance, kick a ball, swim, play a swing, or go down to a club and have a shakedown of your hips. All we ever want is to have fun. The best option for having fun is traveling. When you travel, you do not care what you do at all, and you can just break free from the norm. You might have always complained about the type of food you have been served at home, niggled about the roads and the government of your town, and bargained at the workplace for better opportunities. You will only realize the importance of a cup of warm water when you are at the altitude of a mountain. You will only realize the importance of a muddy road or bumpy traffic when you have to carry a load of your needs at a trek. You will only realize the importance of what you have when you have to live without having them to see. Your eyes aren’t open to what’s really special about your home or workplace. Exploring another place will give you a fresh appreciation for your hometown, country, and ‘real life’. Once you’re back, you’ll feel lucky to live and work where you do, and even post the status ‘back to home sweet home’ or ‘back to work’ on the social media walls.
One of the main benefits of traveling is that you learn how to communicate better with other people. Have you ever tried asking for directions to your hotel from a random person when you don’t know how to speak their language? This is how you can improvise yourself. Traveling will teach you new and better tricks and processes in a different way in whatever difficult situations. It is often said and believed that if someone gets out of their comfort zone, the mind gets more creative. To develop new neural connections that trigger original and creative thoughts, you must explore new places and break out of your daily routine. Traveling also makes you smart and makes you more confident. When you get to meet new people and new cultures, new experiences and stories, you become more social. This is more authentic in the age of Facebook and Instagram.
And finally, what makes traveling so important is that it helps to create memories. Memories are more priceless than a Rolex or a Ferrari. It’s better to spend on traveling than on buying materialistic things. Make memories and these are the most valuable wealth you ever earn. Share memories and this is the best ever kindness you can offer. You forget meetings and the talks you make, but the memories you make are imperishable.
Summing up, I am convinced that traveling is incredibly important in life. We should all remember that we only live once and start traveling to different places and getting unforgettable experiences. Accept new challenges. Be it for happiness, be it for escaping from your routine, be it a celebration, be it for fun, be it for adventure, be it for business, be it for study, be it for nothing. Who knows the other side of the world has a better fortune for us.