TRAVEL | 5 Welcome Side Effects of Travel

September 17, 2018 Shell Robshaw-Bryan

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You needn’t leave the country to enjoy a change of scenery. A weekend camping trip or a summer road journey can offer many of the same advantages as flying abroad. However, there’s no denying the unique magic of visiting a foreign land—wandering through unfamiliar streets, marvelling at signs you can’t read, and immersing yourself in a tapestry of strange and wonderful sights and sounds that enchant with their sense of ‘otherness’.

Wherever you travel near or far, the experience is always a rewarding one and here are 5 of the benefits of travel…

1. Travel liberates us from routine

Traveling provides us with freedom; a break from our usual routine and the freedom to luxuriate in leisure time. With nothing too pressing occupying our minds, and often unreliable phone signals and WiFi, it temporarily distances us from our constantly connected, frenetic everyday lives.

There’s no doubt about it – travelling can sometimes be stressful in its own way (as anyone who has experienced a last-minute cancelled flight will attest). However, the hours spent travelling often offer us valuable moments of downtime.

Time to read a fiction novel without feeling guilty, time to listen to a favourite album or watch endless trashy movies on the inflight entertainment, there’s rarely a more liberating feeling than being free from our usual routine.

2. Travel helps us to grow

Overseas travel, particularly independent travel, can be challenging and will undoubtedly push us out of our comfort zones. All those unfamiliar sounds, sights, and smells bombard the senses, pulling us away from the mundane, presenting new challenges, and compelling us to live in the moment!

Getting to grips with new environments, assimilating different cultures and overcoming adversity helps us to evolve and grow as a person, teaching us transferable skills beneficial to everyday life.

3. Travel makes us more considerate human beings

There is nothing quite so humbling as visiting a developing country or deprived region, and witnessing poverty and lives lived in the face of adversity. You don’t have to be into dark tourism for this to hit home. Even a typical package holiday tourist can experience contrast by simply venturing beyond the resort, stepping outside of their plush hotel grounds and experiencing, even for just a short time, a more authentic travel experience.

Seeing people who prosper with so little, living life in a way that is far removed from our own comfortable existence, allows us to put our own woes into perspective and nurtures our ability to be compassionate and live with greater humility.

4. Travel invigorates the soul

The beauty of nature can be breath-taking, stopping you in your tracks, literally taking your breath away. In showing us new places and revealing stunning new landscapes to marvel upon, travel reminds us to take pleasure in the simple things in life, the beauty of nature that is all around us.

Experiencing awe has been scientifically proven to make us nicer people, transforming our sense of self and even positively influencing how we treat other people.

5. Travel makes us more creative

Routine acts like a straight-jacket, compelling us to be logical, strategic and productive; when you break out of that often stifling routine, it naturally frees our minds.

This mental downtime, will often happen during travel whilst we are captive in some mode of transport or other and with nothing to do but kill time, our mind travels on its own flights of creative fancy.

This mental downtime is highly important to our creativity, and ultimately makes us more productive. Free of the everyday need to be analytical and endlessly productive, our brain is able to roam free, promoting relaxation, creativity and a sense of well-being.

Don’t ever believe anyone who tells you that travel isn’t necessary, we know our lives are all the more richer for it.