Last Updated on 2023/08/01
There are countless people in the world who love to travel. What is it about travel that attracts so many people? Travel has great power, charm, benefits, and is believed to affect us in many ways. The benefits of travel vary from person to person, but I have listed some of them below, including my own experiences.
1. Travel Brings Happiness
Travel makes one feel happy before, during, and after the trip.
After deciding to take a trip, the anticipation builds every day with more fun, as you make preparations such as planning the itinerary before the departure date. It is really fun to look at the calendar and count the days until the departure, and to talk with the people you are traveling with about the things you want to do.
During the trip, you will be exhilarated by your encounters with people, enjoy delicious food, connect with nature, and enjoy the freedom that will fill you with happiness.
When the trip is over, the happy memories will remain in your heart forever. Every time you remember your trip, you will feel happy. Travel can bring us happiness for a very long time.
2. Travel Increases Self-Esteem
Traveling with a sense of accomplishment will boost your confidence. After returning home from a trip filled with anxiety and experiences, you will feel that you have grown a lot. You will be able to do things that you could not do before; you will believe in your own potential; and your self-esteem will be elevated.
I have experienced two trips around the world; one across the Eurasian continent, and the other around the world by myself. I’m a worrier by nature, so I was almost overwhelmed with anxiety, but was able to finish the trip safely. Even now, whenever I feel depressed, I remember that world trip and regain my confidence.
3. Encounters with People
Meeting people while traveling is one of the major attractions. You will meet the local people of the places you visit, as well as other travelers. Sometimes they talk to you and you become acquainted, while other times you muster up the courage to initiate conversation with them. Meeting people is a strange thing because if you don’t talk to them right there, you will never have the opportunity to know them. Because of the special circumstances of travel, it’s possible to forge lifelong friendships. I am blessed to have friends all over the world.
4. Discovering Your New Self
In the same way that you can learn about your own country, you can learn a lot about yourself through travel. You may discover a side of you that is bold and daring, whereas previously, you were cautious and timid.
When I was standing in a long line in the hot sun at the Vatican, I became quickly frustrated. I thought I was patient, but soon I couldn’t take it anymore.
5. You Can Learn More about Other Countries and Your Own Country
When you travel to a country or region that you have never visited before, you will naturally become interested in it. To learn more about the country or region, you research the people, geography, history, culture, religion, economy, geopolitics, and natural features. When and why were the ruins created, and what is the meaning behind them? You will want to know everything about them. Musical melodies that you have never heard before, and the design of artifacts that you have never seen before will stimulate your senses greatly.
After your trip, if you hear news about the cities you have visited, you will listen as if it has something to do with you, even though you had no interest in it before your trip. Traveling is a great way to learn about different countries and regions.
When you learn about other countries, you can compare them with your own country; this in turn will make you wonder and rethink things that you may have taken for granted about your own country. The characteristics of your own country will be revealed by comparison with other countries, and you will be able to understand them better. You will come to know your own country better.
Meeting people is one of the most fascinating aspects of travel, so you may become very interested in ethnic groups. You may discover ethnic characteristics that may or may not surprise you. You will want to know and study the differences between the ethnic groups of the region you visit and your own country.
6. Understanding Diversity
When you travel, you visit places where the races and cultures are different from your own. You can understand diversity in your own country, but while traveling, this understanding will be further enhanced by meeting more people than you normally do. You will be able to accept differences in race, culture, nationality, gender, age, values, religion, tastes, and many other aspects of diversity.
Mutual understanding of other countries and cultures, acceptance of diversity, and promotion of friendship across national borders through encounters will lead to a peaceful orientation. Travel is made possible because of peace, and it is also a way to create a world of peace.
7. Become Honest and Flexible in Your Thinking; Absorb, Like Cotton
To travel is to enter unknown territory, not only in terms of space, but also the flow of the mind and emotions. Since you are in a different country and culture, you will always be in the minority. You will always be forced to think about whether you can do this or that. You must follow the customs and conventions of the country.
You will accept different rules, become more honest, and be more flexible about things. You will start to accept what you can’t control, and develop more openness in your heart. Travel is a way to change the way you view things with the conventions you’ve always had, whether you like it or not. It makes you think flexibly.
By being honest, flexible, and accepting of what is going on around you, you will gain great knowledge, understanding of rules, and things that are new to you – in essence, “absorbing” the information, like a piece of cotton. By doing so, your world will expand further.
I even dared to change my pattern of thinking. I chose lodgings where there were no people from my own country, and dared to order food that I did not want to eat. I devised a new way to enjoy myself.
8. Enhance Planning Ability, Information Gathering, and Preparation Skills
Planning a trip is like a work project. It requires a great deal of advance research and decision making.
The ability to plan is also important in making the trip enjoyable. There are many things to plan for a trip such as where to go, what to do, what route to take, what to eat, where to stay, what to bring, how to balance it with your budget, and so on.
You’d be surprised how many skills you can acquire by becoming a good traveler.
9. Power to Overcome Difficulties and Achieve Goals
I believe that travel is a mass of uncertainty. There are troubles during a trip. Initial travel plans and itineraries can be easily turned upside down. Unexpected things often happen, so you may have to use your imagination, find enjoyment in predicting what might happen, or even come up with a Plan B beforehand.
You might get sick or complain of physical problems due to overwhelmingly ambitious plans for your trekking (hiking) trip. It is important to take care of your health to get through the trip.
There may be language barriers. There may be times when your English is not understood, and others cannot comprehend what you are communicating. Perhaps the best part of traveling is that it tests your communication skills and strengthens your ability to accomplish things.
10. The Beauty of Nature
When you travel the world, you will encounter an abundance of nature, and be overwhelmed by its diversity. You will be moved by animals, fish, vegetation, volcanoes, landforms, mountains, oceans, weather, the sky’s colors, spectacular scenery, and nature as you have never seen before. You will see the vastness of the world before your very eyes. As you encounter the beauty of nature, your desire to cherish the earth’s environment will grow stronger.
On Isabela Island in the Galapagos Islands, I saw giant tortoises, marine iguanas, sea lions, flamingos, frigatebirds, pelicans, and countless other animals. I snorkeled with many sea turtles that came so close that I could almost touch them, and the sea lions circled around me laughing (or so it seemed to me), which was an unforgettable experience.
Also, the starry skies of the Atacama Desert in Chile, known as one of the world’s best astronomical observation sites, is a memory I will never forget. I participated in an astronomical observation tour led by a kind Chilean couple, and while we were observing nebulae and star clusters, shooting stars fell one after another as if they were making noise in the star-filled sky. I still remember the scene very clearly.
11. Heighten Your Creativity
Traveling into uncharted territory, not only in terms of space, but also in mind, emotions, and thoughts, activates the brain and increases opportunities for inspiration. Being exposed to new cultures and customs, and being forced to think differently, can foster doing things in ways that have never occurred to us before.
The relaxed state and sense of freedom that travel brings may also act as an incubator that warms the creative eggs. While traveling, I am strangely inspired with ideas, insights, thoughts, and my own personal aphorisms. I always end up with a full notepad.
12. Expanding the Field of Vision
If you always live the same life and in the same place, your field of vision will narrow. Traveling the world will make you realize how spacious the world really is. The field in which you live expands from the town you were born and raised in to the global scale, all at once.
The flexible way of thinking that comes from being exposed to different countries, people, and values around the world will broaden your perspective and change your way of life.
13. Feel the Freedom
While traveling, it’s just you, in your own time, and you can do whatever you want independently. You can be free from work, and forget about the routines of daily life. You can regain your time without worrying about anyone else. Once you realize you are free, your trip will become more enjoyable.
If time permits, you may be able to enjoy your freedom even more by taking a random trip without a set plan. The greater sense of freedom will bring vibrancy to your life.
14. Get to Know the World Directly
Travel is primary information that you can acquire directly at destinations, not from the internet or TV. When you actually go to a place, it may be different from the information in the media. What you see with your own eyes is the most believable.
Certainly, there have been some troubles and bad experiences on my past trips. However, there were only a few, and the good things far outnumbered the bad. Based on my travels, my feeling is that all people in the world are kind.
15. Everything Becomes Simple
As you travel, you will find comfort in simplicity. Traveling with a lot of luggage can be difficult, and keeping an eye on all of your belongings can be stressful. To avoid pickpocketing or snatching, refrain from wearing showy outfits; or even if you do, minimize your losses by not carrying anything extraneous.
By being exposed to different cultures, customs, and diverse values, you will be able to reflect on yourself and sort out what is necessary and important to you. Not only your material things, but also your way of thinking will be sharpened and simplified.
The effects and goodness of travel are truly immeasurable. I’m sure there are many more effects. I myself am getting the feeling of wanting to go on another trip. What kind of discoveries, encounters, and fun things await me next?
Reference.
Sonoma Yuki (2015). Harvard ryu shiawase ni naru gijyutsu. PHP business shinsyo.
