“To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries”
…once said a very accurate Aldous Huxley. At the start of every year, the big dream for most people is to go travelling, to experience the true source of knowledge in the world that surrounds us, because Travel Broadens the Mind. Our brain produces the hormone adrenalin when it finds itself in places that are different from the usual, as well as when it has to process new experiences. Did you know that there are also other advantages for the mind?
It Increases Creativity
In a study by the Academy of Management Journal, it was found that people who have lived and worked abroad are more able to bring creativity and imagination to their career than those who never leave their hometown. It is simply a question of increased cultural awareness and a knowledge of different ways of thinking that, even if we believe otherwise, vary greatly between different places in the world.
It Opens your Mind
And it makes you much more tolerant towards life and new situations. They say that, when you’re abroad, if you get the chance to do something new or bizarre, do it! Throwing yourself into these things in a fun way that will help you to be more tolerant in your daily life, and more likely to agree to new adventures, which translates itself into an:
Increase in your Confidence
…in many vital aspects. Perhaps you had never even imagined you would be able to survive in a place with such a different culture to your own. Or maybe you only aim to live and work far from home just to get by, but you actually discover your true capabilities. A traveller’s self-esteem increases by 200% when they realise what incredible adventures you can have with friends, or even by yourself. You discover that there’s an enormous world out there, and that you’re no more than a speck of dust in the universe that is constantly moving and offering thousands of opportunities every second. When you travel, you will find you are so much closer to these opportunities than you would have been if you had decided never to leave the house.
It Brings You Closer to Reality in the Best Way Possible
Dreaming isn’t the only way to be closer to faraway places – go walk on your own feet on the land where that film you like was shot, or wander around that city that everyone tells you so much about. You can take in new cultures and new scenery, and understand international conflicts you didn’t even know about. You can understand what the ‘International’ news stories describe. Every place has its own history, and every history has formed a part of the puzzle that has created humanity today. Perhaps before travelling you didn’t know that it is easier to understand foreigners when you walk a mile in their shoes.
You Get to Reflect, and Find Yourself
Being aware of your limits, of what you do and don’t like, of just how capable you are of enjoying a whole day being a tourist, and of how little you do in your daily life. It helps you to reinvent yourself, and to discover that maybe there are certain things you haven’t done yet that you would like to, or on the other hand, bad habits that you would like to change. You learn that, after everything, you are a person who is in this life to have fun. That’s why you smile when you realise you’re doing just that – because your brain relates travelling with enjoyment.
You Learn to Find Solutions
What used to be difficult will become easy, and what continues to be hard won’t seem impossible anymore, after having faced so many obstacles abroad. Because it is true that you only learn from difficult situations. When we travel, we become much more cautious and our mind adopts an intellectual strength that lays dormant in our everyday bubble. A traveller makes thousands of mistakes that a native would never make, but it’s all part of the adventure. And next time, you won’t make them either. It’s all about learning.
You Become an Interesting Person
Your brain also undergoes a process of taking in experiences that will improve your communicative skills when you socialise. This will make you into a more interesting person with a lot more life experience when debating or creating opinions. Other people will appreciate your travels around the world when they hear about your experiences that they know nothing about.
It Reinforces your Invaluable Memories
The unknown helps to connect. If we travel with friends or family, it lets us appreciate them more, and allows us to share experiences and anecdotes that we’ll remember for the rest of our lives. If, however, we travel alone, it is a great opportunity to find ourselves again and to enjoy a greater freedom. Either way, you will always take away lifelong memories from every trip that will remain in the corner of your brain that stores away our most treasured memories.
So now, if we ask ourselves, why is it important to travel? We can summarise everything by saying:
Why Travel? In a Nutshell, it Brings You Closer to Happiness.
Thousand-mile journeys start with one tiny step. Shall we get going? Remember-Travel Broadens the Mind!
Translated by Francesca Kosmirak
You can travel Europe with us and broaden YOUR mind in our trips around Europe-
