A lot of us don’t need reasons to travel more. Travel is part of us and we are constantly dreaming and planning our next adventure.
For others, the idea of travel is locked up in the parking lot of your brain with no gate key. Travel is a thing you do only when necessary, like attending a funeral. I’m not talking to those folks today.
I’m reaching out to this third group of people. Those that want to go places and see things. They want to taste food they’ve never even heard of. But we are so often trapped by cultural standards that tell us things like: we don’t deserve a vacation because we should work harder to get ahead, travel is too expensive, or travel is only for retirement.
Nothing good can come from believing that crap! So here are 10 reasons to travel more.
1. Travel More To Experience The World In New Ways
This is big for our family. Think for a moment how you gather your information about the world. In our modern society, we can each create individual information funnels that match our ideology. It’s easy, it’s comfortable, it’s even validating. But this doesn’t serve us. It doesn’t help us to only see, hear, and experience the world in just one way.
When you travel more frequently, you allow more authentic information into your bubble.
The worst thing we can do is believe the single story of places and people. That phrase ‘don’t believe the single-story’ said in a TED Talk by Chimamanda Adichie was one of the greatest inspirations for us to travel full-time.
The best thing we can do is to gather more first-hand information for ourselves. Experience people, places, food, and life in ways new to us avoiding the danger of the single story.
2. Travel More To Learn New Things
Curiosity did not kill the cat, you can, in fact, teach an old dog new tricks, and let’s bust any other cliches myths that are hanging around to hold you back. Not only can you learn new things – you NEED to learn new things. Our world is ever-changing, are you? It might be as mundane as a new way to flush the toilet. Yet that will be the thing you talk about the most upon your return. Travel puts us in a unique position to learn. Travel teaches us in ways we may not even realize. Always taking in new info. Traveling to learn is great for anyone at any age.
3. Travel Is Restorative
We feed our bodies with food, exercise, and activities. We feed our minds with books, rich discussions, and learning. But we don’t always remember to feed our soul.
Travel feeds the soul and some of us are starving.
4. To Meet People With Different Perspectives
Sharing perspectives is one of the best ways to find commonalities. Sharing perspectives is more than just stating here’s my point of view. It’s having enough empathy to see a situation through another person’s lens and truly try to understand them.
Why do we want to find commonalities?
First, it’s easy to define an entire group of people – be it a nation, a culture, or a faith by the actions of just a few. But this is not a true representation. The more we look for the things that connect us, and the more informed we are about others, the more we realize how much we are the same.
This means we become less divided with less hate. Hate comes from fear and fear comes from lack of knowledge and understanding. Also, I accept that this is an oversimplification of the process and invite you to add depth on your own.
So when you travel, seek to engage with people. Don’t just check sightseeing destinations off your list. Ask questions, converse, get to know people. You’d be surprised how willing people are to share their stories.
5. Travel More To Grow As A Person
If you’re not growing, you’re not living. While there are many ways to grow, travel offers a large dose of growth opportunity all at once. Learning, contemplation, perspective, testing personal boundaries, and more. It’s cool if you don’t believe me, I invite you to test it. Here are two pictures of our oldest kids overcoming fear and growing.
6. Travel More To Challenge Yourself
There’s no shortage of ways in which one can challenge themself. As a full-time traveler, I’m here to say travel wins.
•Want to challenge yourself physically, travel to a foreign land and climb their mountains and eat their food.
•Looking for a mental challenge, travel to a place that doesn’t speak your language.
•Want to see what your relationship can endure, travel anywhere. I don’t say this lightly, I’ve seen travel make or break relationships so be ready to test your communication skills, ability to compromise, and your commitment to one another.
•If you want your kids to be resilient, flexible, and worldly – travel!
While travel can challenge you mentally, emotionally, and physically, for some of us the biggest challenge is to go on vacation and just relax. So do some of that too.
7. Because There Is More to Life Than Your Job
Contrary to what American culture has been forcing into your head your entire life, you are not defined by your job. I know for many of you, part of your identity is connected to your career. However, your worth is more than what you can do for the company for which you work.
The truth is working harder and working more does not equate to a better life. Only you can define what a better life looks like. You won’t find it by listening to industries trying to exploit your time.
8. To Connect More Deeply With Your Family
You know those adventure movies in which the family has to find the treasure or save the world and in the end they are all besties? Travel kinda reminds me of that without the bad guy chasing you.
Travel helps you connect with one another for several reasons.
- Time. You have time to be together without the responsibilities of regular life.
- The setting. You’re not at home, work, or normal activities. You’re in a unique setting and circumstances that allow you to connect.
- Bonding memories. Because you’re doing something different than normal, you’re going to remember it – together.
And if you’re not traveling with family, it’s an opportunity to connect more deeply to yourself.
9. Travel More Because Someday Has An Expiration Date
For many of us, the easy answer to big things is just saying the word someday. Sometimes it’s spoken surrounded by seeds of hope while other times it’s said quite dismissively. Someday I’ll organize all the family pictures. Someday I’ll start the kitchen project. This “someday” removes you from actually having to do anything. No thinking, no action, no energy but also no reward.
Someday is like a get out of jail free card. The problem is some of us keep adding real things to this someday list with no thought that someday expires.
So right now make a commitment to yourself to take one thing off your someday list and start planning it.
10. No Deathbed Regrets
I know it’s heavy to think about death, our culture kinda sucks at all end of life thinking. When one learns that the end of their time on Earth is near, no one says “I wish I put in more hours at the office.” However, one of the most spoken deathbed statements is “I wish I had traveled more” or “I should have taken that trip to fill-in-the-blank destination.”
In business, they say begin with the end in mind. Shortly summarized, it means establish a goal and live into it. I wonder how we would live our lives differently if we began with our end in mind.
We all have light bulb moments that push our growth. Perhaps something you read today will be the awakening that guides you to your next level. For me, one such moment was reading the following phrase: I will not die an un-lived life.
We each get to define what that means for ourselves. I hope that when you reach the end of this amazing journey called life, you will die with few regrets and a life that was lived to the fullest.
Reasons not to travel
- If you’re the person that will trample the flowers to get a cute Instagram selfie…
- If you’re the person that goes to a world-famous beach, then complains that it’s too sandy…
- If all you want to do is see a given monument but could care less about the people that created it and maintain it…
- If you’re not willing to step a little outside your comfort zone to have a potential personal growth experience that helps you better understand the world of which you are a part…
Don’t travel.
Stay your ass home, really. Stay on your safe couch, with your validating social media, in your narrow bubble of existence. Sincerely, you’re not doing yourself any favors and you’re certainly not doing the world any good.
So in conclusion, this year, and every year moving forward. Get out of your routine and travel more. I know travel is a big decision. Many of us default to a good ole pros and cons list. For travel, it seems like a no brainer that the pros outweigh the cons.
What you gain when you travel more often far outweighs any perceived cons like the costs, time away, or stepping outside of your comfort zone.
So just go do it!
The post 10 Reasons To Travel More {And 1 Not To} appeared first on Full Time Field Trip.