Ever since I was a young kid, I remember going places. It took quite a while for me to embark on my first adventure, until then, it was only my imagination. In school, I’d be in a forest deep in the Amazon. At playgrounds, I would be in the Colosseum among gladiators. At home, I would dream of being in an apartment in Japan. There were all these different lives, these experiences that were calling to me.
Real World
Traveling means to me to get to experience the real world. No matter where we grow up, what lives we lead growing up, there becomes a bubble. It holds all the elements of our reality, detached from all others.
Bubble
There’s a routine, involving the same people, same streets, same languages, same culture. This reality becomes so ingrained in our minds that it feels like the only reality as well as unreal, simultaneously.
When we venture into the world, it’s an unknown. A scary one. Even packing your bags might seem like a skill you feel inadequate at. Suddenly, you are in a world that is vast, and full of an infinite number of realities, or so it seems. You experience humanity, in its true essence, for the first time. You might come across some unsavory experiences but you will soon find out there’s kindness too in the real world. When you get out of your bubble, away from everything you know and everyone who is similar to you in all ways that matter, you come across new.
Culture
You experience people who may not look like you living lives different than yours. The cultures that have evolved over thousands of years with their own traditions and values. Once you experience it for the first time, it starts to feel like a shame that you can’t stay there forever and learn all there is to learn about your brothers and sisters you hadn’t met till then. You grow immense respect for different cultures and people from different walks of life, once you experience a sliver of their reality. All new things are out there, waiting for you to experience them for yourself.
Stress
With great wonders that came with advancements in our world came unprecedented levels of stress. School children now experience more stress and anxiety than psychiatric patients in the 1950s.
Environment
So many things in our environment are designed to add to already high stress levels that it can overwhelm even the best of us. Even day to day, mundane decisions can seem to bear such a weight that it can cause mental exhaustion to an already tired physical body. In such conditions, it becomes imminent to leave all that causes you stress, even for a little while, and take a much-needed break.
Better Life
Taking a break is not only important to get away from your everyday stress but all helps immensely in getting back to your regular environment like never before. Being rejuvenated does not only add stamina but enhances the quality of life to help you advance towards your goals and be better than ever.
Identity
In a high-paced world that settles for nothing but excellence, identities can get lost easily. It becomes another added chore to maintain it, let alone for it to thrive. Travel can contribute greatly in finding roots of your identity and nurturing it the way it should be nurtured.
In new environment, among new people, going through new experiences, you discover not only who you are but also who you were and who you want to be, and meeting your true self for the first time like never before can seem like meeting a new life-long friend.
People
Family
Traveling is a great way to strengthen your relationship with your family and friends. Sharing a history can enrich the new experiences when shared with each other. And you get to meet different versions of people you have known for long, being brought out under new circumstances.
Changed Parameters
Whether we realize it or not, growing up we get conditioned to look for friends in people that pass certain parameters. That is, when we look for friends at all. On adventures, you come across people from all walks of life, no matter age, gender, religion, country, etc., going through same experiences as you, and in them, you can find friendships that can last lives.
Purpose
Travelling can help you find your purpose. So many people report a sense of newfound purpose, after having been feeling lost for a long time. You come across people living their lives and fulfilling their purpose, and start asking bigger questions. Answers to these questions can bring peace and clarity, and most of all, a sense of purpose.
Summary
Going over few reasons to travel makes one to realize that there are more to do so than not.
There are countless experiences and adventures waiting for me out there, which is why traveling is important to me. Maybe you do, too.
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