Summary

World travel, regardless of the form it takes, is presented as a valuable and transformative experience that nurtures curiosity, reduces stress, educates, builds memories, and contributes to personal growth and future well-being.

Abstract

The article emphasizes the importance of travel in enriching one's life, suggesting that any kind of travel, whether it's an adventurous packaged tour, a resort vacation, or an immersive cultural experience, can have profound effects. It encourages embracing curiosity, which is inherent in humans and often reawakened during travel, leading to learning and engagement with the world. The act of traveling is also seen as a means to decrease stress and stimulate the brain, offering educational benefits and the joy of new experiences. Building lasting memories through travel is highlighted as a way to collect stories that contribute to personal growth and self-understanding. Moreover, the anticipation of travel can bring significant pleasure and improve one's current mood, making the future seem brighter. The article advocates for spending money locally, interacting with diverse cultures, and viewing international travel as a life-changing opportunity.

Opinions

The author acknowledges the potential snobbery in discussing extensive travel experiences but asserts that all forms of travel are valuable.
There is a recognition that the travel industry is eager for the return of tourists post-COVID-19 and that travel can provide economic benefits to local communities.
The author believes in the importance of curiosity and its role in human progress and personal development during travel.
Stress reduction is seen as a key benefit of travel, with relaxation leading to kinder interactions and overall well-being.
Travel is viewed as an educational tool that can rekindle interest in learning and knowledge, even for those with busy lives.
The article suggests that collecting memories, possibly alongside souvenirs, is more important than acquiring material goods.
It is posited that the act of planning a trip can be as pleasurable as the trip itself, with the anticipation contributing to a positive mood and engagement with life.
The author encourages engaging with local cultures and practices to maximize the benefits of travel, considering it a worthwhile and potentially life-changing endeavor.

Love adventure travel? Choose packaged tours? Prefer resort vacations? It’s all good.

How any kind of world travel can change your life

I’m sure I come off as a bit snobby. I do a version of name dropping you might call country dropping, which probably comes off as boastful. Yes, I’ve visited over 40 countries like Senegal, Cambodia, Ecuador, and Ireland, on five continents (see, I did it again!). And when I mention immersive experiences in places like Mali and around-the-world trips, I may seem dismissive of a week-long vacation at a resort in Cancun or Puerto Vallarta.

In truth, I believe that all types of world travel have value, and I encourage you to leave home however and whenever you can in life.

The billion-dollar travel industry and all its tour operators, guides, hosts, hotel owners, and drivers anxiously await the demise of COVID-19 and the influx of tourist dollars. People are struggling. Plan your next trip. The world needs you.

And whether you enjoy spending your days immobile on a beach, bungee jumping over a jungle canyon, or wandering ancient cobblestone lanes, you can benefit enormously from any type of journey.

Nurture curiosity

When we pay attention to a baby or toddler playing, we notice their innate curiosity immediately. They stack blocks with wonder in their eyes, reacting when the blocks tumble to the ground. They gnaw on objects as a form of exploration. They consider what might happen if they climb a bookcase or a sofa.

I believe that curiosity is one of our most important traits as humans. Curiosity led people to wonder how we might reach the moon, what would happen if we mixed the beans of the cocoa plant with sugar, how to pipe water directly into homes.

We’re born with curiosity, and as we settle into the demands of work and home life, we might neglect that important characteristic. But it reemerges in our travels. If we’re taking a simple vacation to the beaches of Playa del Carmen with the sole purpose of relaxing, we may become curious about unfamiliar fruits in the market, the life of a worker at our resort, or the geography of the bay. Who knows where that curiosity may lead?

Decrease stress

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with traveling solely to decrease stress, even if you take zero interest during that vacation in the culture around you. Almost any adult in the 21st century understands the toll that stress takes on our lives. We snap at our children; we’re cold and terse with strangers; we feel grim, uninspired, sad, overwhelmed; we may become ill or feel physical pain; we lose sleep. When we’re relaxed, we’re kinder to others, and that has a positive effect on all with whom we interact.

Educate and stimulate the brain

When we own a home, have a partner, a job, and possibly children, we may not have time for a hobby. Perhaps in our younger days, we read a novel each week, worked out puzzles on a rock-climbing wall, built model train sets, or learned about the Civil War.

Travel of any kind can stimulate our brains. Even if we stay in our country but go to another region, we can learn about the local foods, customs, and history. When we remain excited and engaged about the world, not only might we feel more inspired and alive, but we demonstrate that love of knowledge and learning to the friends or children in our lives.

Build memories

There’s been a lot of chatter in recent decades about collecting memories rather than souvenirs. I prefer both. Sometimes the perfect souvenir, just sitting in our hand, can elicit a crystal-clear memory that was previously fuzzy.

What are memories but stories, and what are stories but the ways in which humans make sense of the world. These stories offer a way of understanding ourselves in a moment, providing us with the holy grail opportunity of travel: lasting, deep personal growth.

Make the future bright

Researchers have found that the idea of travel is often more pleasurable than traveling itself, no matter what kind of journey or vacation we’re planning. (For the academically-minded, here’s the original study which was summarized nicely here by the Huffington Post.) When we research, plan, ask questions, and read about a place we’re about to visit, we may feel more pleasure than when we’re actually on the trip itself. After all, the trip might bring stultifying jet lag, nauseating bus rides on treacherous curves, uncomfortable beds, tummy troubles, and more, while the planning process takes place in the luxury of our own homes.

Also, looking forward to something exciting in the future can change our mood in the current moment. And when we’re in a good mood, we tend to be a kinder, more helpful, more engaged citizen of the world.

To fully absorb the benefits of travel, pay attention. Spend your money locally. Interact with people who are different than you. Learn from their cultural practices. While crossing international borders has never been simple, it’s always worthwhile and can, indeed, be life-changing.