How travel helps your mental health

This past year has been tough…sometimes it seems that the weight of the world is on my shoulders. ?For me, travelling helps heal the soul and after my recent trip to Hong Kong and Japan, I've realized how much travel means to my mental health.

So how can travel increase your mental health??

1. Travelling gets you out and about! Being in a different place encourages you to get out of your bed, and plan for a productive day. On average, I did 17,000 steps per day, or 10km/6mikes per day. When I was working from home, I would do only 400 steps! Physical health keeps your blood moving, and travelling forces you to be active.?
2. Travelling allows you to step away from the daily grind. Every day we are faced with structure and habits, a day to day routine. Breaking away from this helps to rewire your brain, and boosts dopamine. In Kyoto, you have the ability to experience a traditional tea ceremony process. They dressed us up in kimonos, did our hair, and walked us through how to make matcha tea. And of course I took a lot of pictures! What I love about travel is ability to be flexible, try new things, and focus on being in a positive emotional state.
3. Travelling transports you into a different world. This was my first time in Japan and my partner’s first time in Asia. It's not a secret that the karaoke scene is huge so we decided to have a night out! We found a place from Lonely Planet and once we got there, we were greeted by folks from Houston, Texas and as well as some locals! We put on some Garth Brooks, ABBA and even Britney Spears! Meeting new people, doing something fun together demonstrated that we all have something in common and definitely made us socialize with people whom we usually would not interact with!
4. Travelling boosts creativity through thoughts and beliefs. I am a big believer in 'not reinventing the wheel', but instead having the ability to connect the dots to generate new ideas. In my opinion, one of the most popular Japanese development of daily life is their toilet. The heated seats, the sounds of nature to disguise what is otherwise heard, and the ability to spray your rear end! I am not sure why the rest of the world hasn't adapted this, but it goes to show that there's a lot of intellect outside of your norm which you can learn from!?
5. Travelling encouraged you to learn more about yourself. A strict rule is to not bring your laptop, instead bring your full self when travelling. One of the best cultural experiences in Japan is the ability to go to onsens, or public baths which have several pools for you to relax in. I intentionally used this time to self reflect to focus on my spiritual well being and reconnect with nature.

?Making these habits during travel is essential when it comes to transitioning back home. I’ll be working hard to keep up my physical, emotional, social, intellectual and spiritual health as we walk into 2023!!