Traveling doesn’t just mean lying on the beach and enjoying the sun. No, travel means so much more. Travel should have a meaning: it should affect you and your life. It should educate and challenge you. It’s supposed to inspire you. It’s meant to broaden your horizons.

Travel teaches us so much about ourselves, the people, the world and life. You gain experiences and memories, you make new friends, you gain perspective. And most of all it gives your live a meaning and a purpose.

With this blog post, I want to show you what it means to you and your life when you pack your bags, leave your life behind and jump into that adventure. I want to motivate you to leave your comfort zone and travel to different countries to see the world and life through different eyes.

It will help you learn to live in the moment

If travel can do one thing, it’s to help you live in the moment. You will appreciate more what happens around you. As you are so distracted by all the great experiences that you don’t have time to think about what was in the past or what is coming tomorrow.
You will learn to have fun, to laugh and to forget the world around you without having your ever-long To Do list in the back of your mind.

You will see the world through different eyes

Getting to know people from different cultures means getting to know different ways of life, different attitudes towards life or different habits. It shows you that the way you live your life at home is not the only way to live. So getting to know people from other countries and cultures means you learn that your view of the world is not the way everyone else sees the world.

You will make new friends & meet a lot of people

If you travel you will meet new people wherever you are going. You can make new friends with people from all over the world. How nice is it to have friends not only at home in your hometown, but all over the world?
Friendships formed during a journey are very special friendships. You share very special memories and experiences, which is why in just a few days it will feel like you’ve known this person for years.
And even if you don’t develop a new friendship, it’s still a great change to have dinner with a stranger on one night and listen to their exciting stories from their lives.

You are able to improve your english and other languages

Those who leave their home country are now forced to communicate in a foreign language every day (unless you live in an English-speaking country). If you can’t speak any other foreign language besides English, you will have to speak English with the people around you every day. This will help you a lot if you want to improve your English skills. Because the best way to learn a language is still to use it in everyday life.

You will see how beautiful the world is you live on

This world has so much more to offer than the grey, dreary houses of your hometown, where you experience the same things and see the same faces every day.
There’s so much more to see in this world. So many beautiful and spectacular things are waiting to be seen by you: waterfalls, volcanoes, jungles, deserts, beaches, national parks, canyons… The list is endless. It would be too bad if you only heard about all these things but never saw them with your own eyes.

You can learn more about live

This world will teach you so much more about live then any school or university ever could. You can read as many books as you want, you will never learn in the same way as someone who takes all the knowledge through real life experiences.
No matter which country you travel to or which culture you encounter, you can always learn something. Whether it’s about history, geography, politics or language.
You’ll also get to know dishes, sports and people you’ll never meet on your doorstep. You have the opportunity to really experience all this than just casually read about it in books; only to forget about it after a few weeks. You will discover totally different ways of living or doing things.

You can learn more about yourself

Not only can you learn more about the world and life, but you can also learn much more about yourself. Through all the experience you gain, you will acquire new knowledge, you will learn new skills and perhaps discover new hobbies.
You learn what you really want and need. You learn what skills you have that you never thought you had before.

You become independent and face new challenges

The constant challenges you have to face and the many problems you have to solve on your own show you what you are capable of. Humans are capable of so many things as soon as they are ready to leave their comfort zone. Those who pack their things and travel the world will definitely have to leave their comfort zone and face new problems every day that need to be solved.
Over time, things that cost you so much to overcome in the beginning become normal everyday things. Whether it’s taking a bus in a foreign city or communicating with people whose language you don’t speak.
You’ll notice over time how you’re becoming more and more independent. In addition, challenges in the future no longer frighten you, because you know you can solve them.

You are able to escape reality

Maybe you don’t feel comfortable in your hometown anymore. You’re going through a breakup. You don’t know if your studies are really right for you. Or your job’s stressing you out. There are a thousand reasons why you feel uncomfortable at home right now.
In such cases, traveling can help you to relief for a while from the stress and unhappiness that come along with those. Travel has the power to heal! You will come home and be able to face your challenging situation with a clearer head.

You can meet new and different cultures

Getting to know people from other countries and cultures will show you how different people can be and live. You see the different traditions and lifestyles there are. You develop new perspectives and broaden your horizons. In the future, you will be more open, curious and understanding to people who come from other cultures than yourself.

You are able to try new things and sports

Do you have the opportunity to learn how to dive at home? Learn how to surf? Or do you know how to cook a traditional Thai dish? Probably not. And you probably don’t even think about trying it. But if you are traveling and you suddenly have the unique chance to see Manta rays while learning to dive on Bali, you agree right away.
When traveling, you will have the opportunity to try new things almost every day. And maybe you’ll discover a new hobby along these paths that you didn’t expect to enjoy at first.

You will appreciate more of what you have

After a long day at work or university, you go home in the evening, chat with your family, and then go to bed. It’s just a normal day that you take for granted.
But if you’ve been traveling for months, haven’t seen your family for weeks, the time difference makes it impossible to talk to your friends on the phone, and you’re lying on the uncomfortable mattress of a hostel bed, you’ll find that all the things you take for granted at home aren’t really that. When you return from your trip, you will appreciate the time with your loved ones, the cozy mattress of your bed and all the other things you didn’t had while traveling more.

You will learn how to live with only the bare essentials

At home, you may have everything you need to live. A full wardrobe, a packed desk, a kitchen and a large bathroom… But if you pack your whole life in a backpack or suitcase to live in hostels, you will have to limit yourself to the bare minimum. You’ll learn that you don’t have to wash your clothes every day or wear a new T-shirt every day. You’ll learn that you don’t really need a dishwasher, a bathtub or a dryer to live. It also works without…
You will find that the things that make life worth living aren’t material things.

You are able to try new food

Out there in the world there are so many different people, cuisines and cultures who know the most different dishes. Those who travel to foreign countries get to know many new dishes that they have never seen before. Be open to letting the locals show you how to cook these dishes.

You have storys to tell

One oft the most important reasons is: You have storys to tell. Travelers experience much more than someone who spends their entire life in one place to do their 9-5 job. With so many experiences, you have so much to share that you automatically become a super interesting person to other people.
And how nice is it when one day you look back on your life and remember all the beautiful moments you collected on your travels?

You live a life for yourself!

You probably know it too: it’s Monday morning, the alarm goes off, because you have to go to school, university or work. Slowly you torment yourself out of bed, but actually you have absolutely no desire for the day.
If you are traveling, you do not know the problem. You get up whenever you want, even if it’s five o’clock in the morning to watch the sunrise. But then you’re happy to do it, because you’ve decided for yourself that you want to see that sunrise. In addition, every morning you can look forward to the upcoming day and the adventure that comes with it. Your life takes on meaning because you live for yourself and your memories and for nothing else and no one else.