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Travel May Help You Discover What’s Best for Your Life, Here’s Why
Travel, despite all its beauty and wonders, brings along its own moments of terror and pitfalls. As a matter of fact, even the best adventures can feel unsettling and uneasy, especially in the beginning, as you’re getting used to a different set of cultures and customs. But at the end of the day, these changes can make you stronger and more open-minded. And more importantly, travel will ultimately help you find yourself, as well as figure out what’s best for your life.
Traveling and getting away mean leaving not only your home, but also your old frame of mind. As you travel, you’re immersing yourself into another world, which may oftentimes means becoming another version of you. As far as I’m concerned, travel is a time for discovery and self-reflection, as well as a chance to open yourself up to new sights and ideas.
Still not convinced? Here are a few ways travel can help find out what’s best for your life.
Travel is a reality check
When was the last time you jumped into a waterfall or a pool full of extremely cold water? Can you still remember what happened moments later? After a few minutes of immersing and swimming around the pool, the water all of a sudden stopped being as cold as ice. But as we all know, the water’s temperature didn’t change a bit. The truth is, it was your body that adapted to this temperature change, so you won’t feel cold.
That’s exactly what happens with your emotions. After weeks of grinding and working, you get so accustomed to the daily stress that you believe you are living a typical life. Sure, at some days, you may think that the stress is rather overwhelming, but that’s just because the stress you’re having exceeds the level you are used to on your so-called normal days.
Can you imagine what could happen after years of ignoring the many different negative emotions you’re experiencing? You’ll become a person who feels unhappy, stressed, depressed, sad and guilty, without realizing that there’s a better life for you out there.
Luckily, though, traveling can give you a change of scenery, helping you discover more about yourself and what you want in your life. As you travel, you get to drift away from your comfort zone and break your daily routine, allowing you to notice the holes and issues in your life. In other words, traveling is like a reality check that lets you realize how unhappy, sad and stressed you truly are.
Travel removes outside influences
Life, for most of us, is full of outside influences. We have parents telling us to study hard to good jobs, and we have bosses directing our career paths. We also have friends swaying your opinions, and social pressure from colleagues encouraging us to fit in and be normal. Heck, we even have advertising, billboards and television telling us what’s acceptable and trendy. In short, we have a society that creates a mold and constantly pressures us to fit into it.
And, with all these voices screaming in your head, your decisions become so heavily influenced that it is impossible to figure out what you really want.
When you travel, you get to remove these outside influences, allowing you to see your life with a fresher and clearer pair of new eyes. Without anyone to sway your opinions, you’ll have a great deal of time and space to think deeply what’s best for your life.
Travel creates a spark of excitement in your life
When you are doing pretty much the same thing every year, you’ll feel like you’re a hamster running endlessly on a wheel. You’ll, then, begin to feel miserable and bored AF. Thankfully, travel can, in many ways, totally ignite your enthusiasm and spice up your life.
And, make no mistake about it – this renewed enthusiasm about your life can give you the momentum that’s needed to make positive changes in your life.
Travel lets you meet people who can give you new perspectives in life
Travel offers a multitude of opportunities to see and meet awesome folks from different walks of life. As you travel, you get to talk to people who have lifestyles and careers that you never thought were possible. Likewise, you’ll meet people who, with their wisdom and diverse backgrounds, can give a better understanding about life and the world.
Travel forces you to act
In today’s world, it’s easy to become passive, and just drift through life. While it may not seem harmful, it can harm your ability to think of your feet and make decisions, in the long run. What’s more, it makes you lazy as well as clouds your ability to think what’s best for yourself.
Traveling, however, will force you to act, and enhance your skills in decision making. From activities and restaurants to travel plans, you are going to make a lot of decisions, as you travel. Of course, travel gives you plenty of incredible opportunities to make decisions and take charge of your life.
Choosing to intentionally and actively live your life is one of the best ways to have a fulfilling life, and travel lets you spend your days with life and color, instead of being a passive and nonchalant drifter. Plus, once you succeed in making small decisions, you’ll develop the confidence to make the bigger decisions in your life.
It’s a step outside your comfort zone
Don’t know what excites you in life? Trust me, you’re not going to find your bliss by living and breathing the exact same routine, every day of the week, year after year. That’s why you need to travel to a new place, every once in a while.
Travel, in essence, is a step outside your comfort zone. As you travel, you get to experience a lot of new things, helping you grow as a person. When you experience new schedules, cultures and cities, you are practically opening your mind to new possibilities. When you realize that not everyone on earth has a 9-to-5 job, is chained to a cubicle or has children at a certain age, you’ll realize that other unique lifestyles and means of living are possible for you as well.
It’s a chance to think more about your future goals
When you’re stuck in your daily route, you tend to lack vision, and soon, you’ll forget about all your long-term goals. Focusing too much on your own can absolutely stop you from seeing the whole picture. But, when you take a break from your daily grind, you’ll have a better view of your dream, future and your life’s purpose.
Do you need to travel, to find yourself? Maybe, not! But in midst of the hustle bustle of your daily life, it’s quite hard to give yourself the time and space and do so. And when we travel, we get lost, and eventually find ourselves as well as the true meaning of life.
