Travel Your Way to a Better Life

Nothing in this world can quite beat the feeling of having your bags packed and making your way to the airport to start your adventure abroad. Whether you’re jetting off on a solo trip around the world or just a weekend away with your best friends, getting the chance to experience new cultures and ways of life are truly amazing. There is a lot that travelling can teach us about ourselves and others which can’t be learned in a book or classroom, you simply have to get out there and experience it for yourself.

People always talk about how great travel is – and for good reason, it can change your life forever. From opening your mind to improving your confidence and so much more, travelling the world will influence aspects of your life you may never have expected it to – and also change you. So, without further ado, let’s dive right into the ways travelling can improve your life.

Break out of your comfort zone

It sounds so cliche but it’s true: Traveling takes you right out of your comfort zone. If you’re used to the daily grind and find yourself sticking to the same old routine, travelling will snap you right out of that immediately. When you’re in a hostel on the other side of the world, you won’t be able to find your daily comforts anymore and it makes you quick to adapt. Getting into the habit of pushing yourself out of your comfortable bubble and do new things will not only improve your travel experience, but it will also follow you home when you return and you’ll find yourself becoming a more outgoing and adaptable person.

Meet the love of your life

Whether you’re studying abroad in some of Europe’s most exciting cities or spending an extended amount of time travelling around one country, getting into the local dating scene can be a great way to meet new people and make new friends. From the romantic streets of Rome to the energetic city of Glasgow, services like Badoo make it easier to meet new people nearby who you can grab a drink with and learn more about the locals. Plus, dating in another country can be a million times better than dating back home, as having a local take you to the hidden spots the tourists don’t know about makes you feel like a local too. Who knows, taking the chance to start dating abroad could very well lead to you meeting the love of your life!

Roll with the punches

It’s easy for the rose-tinted specs of social media to make it seem like travelling is a breeze which is stress-free and wonderful all of the time, but that’s simply not true. Travelling comes with the inevitable challenges of missed flights, language barriers, getting lost, losing luggage and so on. These things are annoying, but by learning to roll with punches and keep calm, you can always find a way to get past these barriers and come through the other side a better person. Whether it’s Spanish, Japanese or Russian, one of the most frequent challenges when travelling is trying to get over the language barrier. Living in the technical age helps a lot as we have the tools to navigate these issues with a lot more ease, with apps such as iTranslate making it easier to communicate and online maps helping us find our way. These kinds of problem solving skills will be tested frequently while you travel, and by the time you return home, you’ll be a pro at getting through difficult situations with ease which is invaluable in any job or personal relationship.

Open your mind

Travelling is a fantastic way to get a big slap of reality hit you in the face which shows you that your way of life back home simply isn’t the way other people’s lives are or should be. No two countries are alike; you’ll find that two seemingly similar cities even in the same country can have entirely different ways of life. Each place you visit will show you another way of life that will broaden your mind to new lifestyles and make you challenge your own countries customs. Despite the huge range of different beliefs and cultures across the globe, one thing that will stand out is in fact how much we as human beings have in common, and that will help further your understanding and compassion for others for the rest of your life.

Improve your confidence

Going travelling is a surefire way to help build up your confidence. If you find that you are struggling with your self-confidence back home, your time abroad will quickly help to improve it. Proving to yourself that you can adapt to such a lifestyle change and successfully navigate the challenges that come with travel will boost your self-esteem to no end and show you that you are capable of anything. Of course, there are things you can do to help you build your confidence when it comes to communicating with locals, with apps such as Duolingo which can help you get to grips with some phrases to help you out when you arrive. The combination of leaving your comfort zone and testing your problem-solving skills will have your confidence soaring with each interaction you have, and before you know it you’ll be a changed person.

Memories to last a lifetime

It doesn’t matter if you’re travelling with a big group or making it as a solo traveller, your adventures abroad will provide you with memories to last a lifetime. By the time you board your flight back home, you’ll have accumulated a wealth of stories from your travels that will stay with you for the rest of your life. Some sound advice when travelling is to collect photographs, not souvenirs, and make sure you have somewhere safe to store them like Dropbox for your digital snaps or a safe case for physical photographs as they can’t be replaced as easily as a snow globe or keychain can.

Learn more about yourself

There’s a reason why so many young people go on a year abroad when they leave high school or choose to study abroad, not only is it a lot of fun to jet off to exotic and exciting locations but it helps you get to know yourself a lot better. You don’t have to be fresh out of school to embark on your life changing journey, you’re never to old to change your life. I know, it sounds cliche and a lot like Eat, Pray, Love, but it’s true. When you throw yourself into an experience unlike anything you’ve done before, you learn that you are capable of so much more than you ever thought you were. Traveling also consists of a lot of time spent on flights and buses which is the perfect time to be alone with your thoughts and figure out what you want to do with your life. By the time you return home from your travels, you’ll have a lot more clarity with what you want to do with your life than you did before you left and it could lead to the making of you. 

Get in shape

Not only is travelling great for your mind and soul, but it’s great for your body. When you’re living life on the road, you don’t have time to sit around and be lazy. When you’re not running to catch a flight, you’re walking across the city to see the sights or swimming in beautiful blue waters. One of the best ways to see a city is by bike so cycling can easily become a hobby, and most cities have a bike share scheme such as Mobike so you don’t need to pay much to hire one. You’ll also find that eating homemade local cuisine is often much healthier than the convenience food you may be used to at home and it will often be much cheaper too.

The whole point of travelling is to gain new experiences and have fun, and the experiences you have on your journey can change your whole life for the better. You can grow so much as a person and to the point where you feel like an entirely new person by the time you return home. But, it is what you make of it. None of this great stuff can happen to you if you don’t go out there and make the most of it.

If you spend your entire trip in a comfortable resort and spend the whole time at the hotel, you miss out on experiencing the real side of the country and you’ll return as the exact same person with a suntan. So, go out there and make the most of your life, and by throwing yourself into your travel experiences with everything you’ve got, you’ll see you have the power to change your life change completely.