I am traveling to Texas this week. I have never seen the sights of Austin and can’t wait to experience a city I have never been to.
I spent many years growing up not having the opportunity to travel. Fast forward to today, and I love to see the world both from a domestic and international standpoint. It has helped me expand my mind in wondrous ways.
There are many benefits to traveling, and while you may be quick to go on the same vacation that has worked in the past, it can do wonders for your brain to explore somewhere new.
Let’s take a look at some of the reasons why it’s a good idea to escape normal patterns and finally take the vacation you’ve always dreamed of.
It Can Help You Break away From Stress And The Mundanities of Everyday Life
Everyday life can weigh on us. No matter how much you love your job or your home, it’s good to escape the ordinary every now and then. Toby Israel, the author of Some Place Like Home, tells us this, “Taking a break from business as usual enables us to pause, contemplate our lives, and potentially re-route the path we are taking on our journey.” When we are in the midst of the day-to-day routine, we can get so busy with everyday habits and schedules we rarely take the time to view our life from a wider lens. Traveling can put things into perspective to understand what’s working and what’s not working.
“If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine. It’s lethal.” – Paulo Coelho
It Can Help You Learn To Give Up Control
There are many unknowns when it comes to traveling. Flights can be delayed, luggage can get lost, the weather may not cooperate and the list goes on and on. I’ll never forget my trip to Paris when I sat down to look at the menu and I couldn’t interpret well enough to order . Eventually, I was handed a menu in English, and I knew I could always Google things to see what they meant, but it put me in a state of panic for a minute. Traveling helps you to recognize that there is very little that you have control of. And guess what?— not having control is ok too. Sometimes we need to embrace letting go.
It Can Help You Shift Away From Narrow Mindedness
Travel immerses each of us into the culture and lives of other people. To travel is to expose yourself to how others live. Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, an associate professor of education and psychology at the University of Southern California, says that cross-cultural experiences have the potential to strengthen a person’s sense of self. “What a lot of psychological research has shown now is that the ability to engage with people from different backgrounds than yourself, and the ability to get out of your own social comfort zone, is helping you to build a strong and acculturated sense of your own self,” she says.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all of one’s life.” Mark Twain
Scientists Say It Can Make You More Creative
Creativity is inherently related to neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is how the brain is wired. Our environment and habits heavily influence our neural pathways. Placing ourselves amongst new surroundings, languages, tastes, and sensations create different synapses in the brain.
These findings may be part of why some of my best writing was done on an airplane seat overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, on a beach in Mexico, gazing over the Grand Canyon, or aboard the Eurostar from London to Paris. Seeing new sights creates new neural pathways to fire up.
So what are you waiting for?
Travel for the present you.
Travel for future you.
Travel to find more happiness and freedom.
I would love to hear some of your insights and the lessons you learned from hitting the road.
Where do you plan on traveling next? Share with me in the comments below.