Wonders of Travelling

Travelling, by far the most awesome thing there is to do in this world. Without Travel, you can’t really know The Place you’re from

If you’ve not been fortunate to travel, this may sound a little strange. How can travel help me know the place I’m from? That’s the question I asked a few years ago when I was told this would be the case. The reply I got was: ‘you’ll see’.  Well, now I see

I’ve realised that we all, to a certain degree, take things for granted. Some of the things include food, electricity, transport, heating and safety.  Going to a country where these basics are not always available is a real eye opener.

I’ve seen how people struggle in Africa with my own two eyes, and it made me realise how much I took for granted.  Compared to the millions living in poverty, my life is incredibly comfortable. Travel brought this to my attention in a way the media couldn’t, and because of this realisation I appreciate my life a lot more.

Of course, travel can enlighten you about so many other things in your environment, like the attitude of people, quality of food, cultural behaviour, differences in fashion and much, much more.

For me, travelling has brought about new perspectives. A global mind set. A new way of seeing the old, and a new kinship with all the people of the earth.

Sometimes while travelling, life becomes more of a roller coaster ride, and the ups and downs of life become more intense. Through all of this I’ve developed a deep interest in understanding the world. The many different ways of living in the world, the many different personalities and behaviours that arise, the different interactions we all have, the countless problems humanity faces the many possible solutions and more

As strange as it may sound, going far helps you understand what’s near a lot better.

Travelling the world or even your own country can be a great asset to personal development. A heightened sense of our surroundings can stimulate all sorts of feelings, flooding the body with endorphins and creating a natural subtle trigger for internal happiness.

“I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.” – Mary Anne Radmacher Hershey

A ‘belief’ is something we consider as ‘true’, and to be ‘true’ means it’s a reflection of reality.
Then the question is: how can we be sure if something is a reflection of reality?
Simple: personal experience
If you take a moment to think about the things you believe about, let’s say, Japan.  The fact is that unless you’ve been to Japan, all of your beliefs were formed through what you’ve heard from a person, or a form of media. You can’t be sure if what you hear is true, nor can you be sure that you’ll hold the same opinion as your sources.
This is where travel comes into the picture.
Travel can help you unravel many false beliefs. Many go something like this: Americans are this, Spaniards are that, Italians are so…, Africans always…, French people are the most…, Arabs…… etc. etc.…
It’s easy to accept someone else’s opinion as your own without even realising it. I find it helpful to ask myself why I believe what I believe, and If the belief hasn’t been formed by my own experience, I know I need clarification. Travel is always a good option.

As an individual dedicated to becoming the best version of myself, it’s essential for me to step back to look at myself so that I can evaluate my strengths and weaknesses. You may discover that you’re shy, more confident, more open, more friendly or more cautious than you thought you were.

In my case, I discovered that I’m sometimes over-confident and courageous. This discovery helped me re-evaluate the way I approach some situations and as a result I made a big leap on my journey of growth.

It might sound a bit cheesy but, by choosing to do some gap year travel, you’re embarking on a life changing adventure that will enable you to develop as an individual. However, there’s no denying that by taking ourselves out of our usual environment, we learn more about ourselves. It can be difficult to accept at first, but we realise just how small and insignificant we are in this great big world

I know how scary it can be to set off into the big wide world on your own, believe me; I’ve done it myself a few times now, and still get butterflies every time. But with each trip my confidence has grown immensely, and that’s just one way in which travelling has helped me.

Much of your experience depends on how different your environment is from what you’re used to. If I am to move to London, sure, I am going to have a great time, but the transition will be fairly painless.

In This type of situation you will encounter many things for which you have no reference for. This automatically puts you in a different level of awareness, you’re forced to be alert, and you can’t rely on your old knowledge. This heightened sense of awareness will allow you to see things you never saw before, in yourself and the world.

Since everything is new and if you can’t speak the language you are automatically forced to try to make sense of it all. Typically our attention and energy is going out into the world. Now, if you stay watchful you will see your attention going inward Embarking on Your Inner Journey

For many of us we have never really looked inside ourselves. But now we have nowhere to hide, we need to look. This is the point where you will become really intimate with the ideas you have of yourself and of your ego.  

Your ego is essentially your self-image; it’s the mask you display to society. Your ego only survives by constantly seeking approval from that which it wants to identify with. This is the society you are raised in. Therefore all the unhappiness you experience comes from the constant battle of your ego seeking approval in the outside world

What happens when your family, friends, and your typical environment is not there to reinforce the ideas you have of yourself? They become shaky; they start to lose their grip on you. Living in the unknown your ego falls apart and the real you begin to emerge.

“Once in a while it really hits people that they don’t have to experience the world in the way they have been told to.” – Alan Keightley

You will begin to challenge and question everything you have ever believed. If you don’t run away and use this as a way to grow, you will see that all your beliefs belong to society, they were never really yours. This can be extremely scary, liberating, nauseating and a million other things all at once.

If you keep trucking along, losing and questioning many of your beliefs will lead you to develop trust in yourself. Trust is something society can’t give you; trust comes from your own experiences.

Now you may come to a point, where you feel completely lost, where everything you once knew is now seen as an illusion. But simultaneously you also get a tremendous feeling of freedom, freedom from all that was false. Now your journey really begins.

You may even feel a new quality or type of consciousness growing in you. Keep walking my friend; this is your opportunity to live a life of awareness, a life of authenticity.
You can only be authentic through your own understanding. Developing your trust will give you the courage to continually make the leap into the unknown.

Travelling makes you far more confident as it forces you to cope with a series of challenging situations, giving you the assurance that you are capable of doing things that you perhaps previously thought you weren’t.
Going beyond your comfort zone will benefit you not only whilst travelling, but will help you enormously once you’re back as well. If you allow it to happen then ‘the act of travelling can provide more lessons than you would ever expect’.
Travelling makes us try new things that we simply would not do in our everyday lives. Things like; bungee jumps, rock climbing, elephant rides are all personal development exercises that we would not normally experience.  The benefit of pushing ones comfort zones is the basis to personal development.  Once you have taken your fear to the next level the level before no longer feels that scary anymore. This will open your mind and better prepare you when exposed to such things in your home country

People say that being interested makes you interesting, therefore simply having a desire to see the world makes you a more interesting person.
On top of that, think of all the weird and wonderful stories you’ll come back with. It is unique experiences like these that make travellers such fascinating people. This is the part that I love the most actually, when my friends and I meet on weekend or over coffee our stories never seem to end. We can spend hours telling each other of our experiences and adventure.

 Nobody wants to live a dull, monotonous life. But sadly, many of us end up getting sucked in by our daily routine. Change is essential, variety makes us feel alive and engaged and is one of the six fundamental human needs per life coach extraordinaire Tony Robbins. It helps us grow and learn new things, enabling us to discover more about ourselves and our lives. 
The changes that we experience travelling make it easier for us to adapt to new situations back home, meaning that we don’t panic when something unexpectedly shifts.

We as humans can find life extremely boring doing the same routine day in day out, travelling can give us the feeling of an adventure, making everything seem more exciting and unexpected.  It has no relevance to whether you stay in a youth hostel or a five star hotel, the adventure is still the same.  The feeling of experiencing something new and not knowing what is around the corner or down a street makes life that much more thrilling.

Interpersonal skills can’t be taught in a classroom; they can only be learned through experience. Travel helps you to mature and become more independent and self-reliant. It also enables you to develop skills such as communication, time keeping, perseverance and leadership, all of which are invaluable.

Travelling Leads to Mindfulness & Observation, It involves learning to direct your attention to an experience as it unfolds and it can help you to constantly be in state of observation, a watchful state. Or, as Dr Jutta Tobias describes it: ‘Paying attention with a particular intention’.

Learning to watch is the key in learning about oneself. It’s about approaching a situation with curiosity and an open mind, rather than worrying about the outcome, and responding well to that situation. You need to learn to be a passive observer of your mind, of your thought process. Learning to watch your mind will make you know it’s positive and negative tendencies. Learn from them. You may even feel like you are turning on yourself. Expanding your consciousness will allow you to see your own faults; you bring them out into the light. Don’t feel bad; just by seeing them clearly they will begin to fall on their own. They were only existing because you where unconscious of them.

Developing a quiet mind will allow you to catch glimpses of really being here and now. For the typical tourist they may be under the London eye but they are still thinking of things from back home, along with all the anxiety that that brings. Then when they are back at home, their experience of the London eye is vague.  It’s vague because they were not really present.

There are some travel and tour programs with educational resources alongside unique experiences, combining personal discovery with peer collaboration, mentoring, learning workshops and more. Make time and space for personal development, trying something new and reflecting on your experiences and how they are influencing your future plans.  

Try writing or photo journaling your day’s journey to uncover new strengths or weaknesses, what makes you happy or gets you excited, all of which can help you gain a better understanding of your life’s passion and purpose.

Once a traveller, always a traveller. Even when back home, you’ll continue to adopt the mentality you had whilst on the road, which can only be a good thing. You will see your own country in a different light too, as you’ll start taking advantage of all the things on offer to visitors and discover that there’s much more to see and do than you realised.

Are you going away on your own for the first time? Don’t be afraid, grab it by the horns and be sure to savour every minute! There are virtually endless benefits to travelling, be it in a group or independently, and many ways in which it teaches you to grow.