Traveling can be terrifying. If anyone says it’s not, just go ahead and assume that they’re full of it. But that fear shouldn’t stop you from living, because learning and growth lie right outside of our comfort zones.
We learn some of our greatest life lessons from travel. Each country, each city, each person — they all have a different story to share, and something valuable to bring to the table. It’s about time we start receiving our greatest lessons from the world —it can provide us with some of our greatest inspirations.
Experiences are always greater than things
Pop culture has a way of telling us that the best way to “live” is by bedazzling our lives with all that’s glitter and gold — the big house, the fancy cars, and the latest and greatest technology. All of that “buzz” gets us so caught up on what our lives look like from the outside.
Traveling isn’t like that. It’s not about seeking validation, it’s about freedom and finding yourself. The experiences you get while traveling are far greater than any feeling that “things” can give you. Experiences make you, you. Nobody else can live the exact same moment as you, so make the most of it. Let yourself live, make great stories, and be on top of the world. Don’t be that person who ends up regretting the moments you didn’t take while you were young.
You learn more beyond the walls of the classroom
A classroom is a tiny little box full of never-ending lectures, judgment, and unbearable work-loads. While learning can be interesting, it’s when you sit at a desk for an unreasonable amount of hours, trying to think of anything other than what you are supposed to be working on — that it becomes a little old. Why do the stressors of life have to make everything seem so dull, when the world is full of all sorts of treasures that we know nothing about. It doesn’t seem fair, right?
I am a true believer that until we step foot in this world and experience new cultures, with our eyes and hearts wide open, we will not fully experience it’s true beauty. Sitting in a room doesn’t do the world any justice when you can’t experience it’s true colors in your own perspective. In life, we have always learned the facts — the hardcore, unchangeable facts. But that isn’t what traveling is about. Traveling is about opening up to new things and making it your own — seeing it’s presence and relating to it so it becomes something that resonates with you. That is the true beauty of travel.
Traveling doesn’t always mean comfort — and that’s okay
Traveling isn’t always going to feel secure. There are going to be ups and downs , just like anything else we do, but the reward you get from it is far greater than anything you could imagine.
You are probably going to get yourself into some uncomfortable situations, like getting lost while trekking in the Himalayas or eating Balut in South East Asia — but that’s part of the journey, and you have to figure it out for yourself.
Break free from allowing comfort to be a part of your travel vocabulary, because it will hold you back from so many amazing opportunities.
Living in the present will always be better than living in the past or the future
Why are we always in a place other than the now? It seems like we get so caught up with what happened and what’s going to happen that we aren’t living in the present. We can’t physically be anywhere other than where we are right now, so we might as well take this opportunity and do something spectacular. Visit a National Park, take a hike, listen to the birds sing, and clear your head a little bit. Travel taught me this — you can’t live authentically and purposefully until you truly flee from the thoughts that are controlling you.
Rest your mind, rest your heart, and be free.
The world is kinder than you might think — give it a chance
“The world is too dangerous for you to travel. Haven’t you heard the news talk about the drug trafficking and terrorist attacks?” This is something that I think everyone hears when they are deciding to go on a new adventure. There is a stigma that there is so much violence in the world, that the only safe country is the one that your feet are currently grounded on. To me, this doesn’t quite make sense. Sure, there is violence and hate, but it isn’t just in certain countries, it’s everywhere, and that doesn’t mean there aren’t good people. In fact, the ratio of good to bad is probably heavily one sided (obviously, good always wins). Don’t sit at home out of fear, when the fear is probably irrational anyways. You are going to meet some of the greatest, most unique, and lovable people out there.
Traveling is the gift that keeps on giving, because new friendships are like the worlds way of saying “you don’t have to go through this alone”. It’s the people you meet while traveling that change your life for the better.
Just let travel happen and I promise, you will learn something great from some of the most unexpected people, in some of the most unexpected places.
It’s the journey that counts.
