Do you like to stay at home? Do you like to spend most of your time in your comfort zone? Are you asking yourself: Why should I travel? When was the last time you moved beyond the border of your own country? When was the last time you went to a foreign country, put you out there and made new cultural experiences? If you’re the kind of person that spends most of his life within the borders of his own country, this article might change your view on traveling. I’m going to share my views on traveling and explain why I believe travel is a great opportunity for personal growth and character development.
Traveling Is a Pattern Break
It’s no secret that we live our lives on auto-pilot most of the time. Our behavior follows certain subconscious, habitual patterns on a daily basis. We get so immersed in our day-to-day life, that we become those patterns. We start to believe that those patterns are all that there is to life. We live in a certain reality, we perceive the world in a certain way and we do the same things over and over again. Travel is a great opportunity to break our old patterns and make new experiences. Whenever we move beyond the borders of our own country, we’re confronted with different social behaviors, cultural codes and we’re thrown into a foreign environment. In order to survive in that new, potentially dangerous environment, we have to adapt our patterns. We have to let go of our old, subconscious behaviors and take on new social roles, learn new social codes, communicated differently and solve new problems. This is a great opportunity to surround ourselves with fresh stimuli, make new experiences and get out of our old boring patterns. If you need a pattern break, travel!
Traveling Is Great For Reflection
But travel isn’t only a pattern break. Travel is also a great opportunity for reflection. Whenever we get out of our old patterns, we have the chance to reflect and make new decisions. We sometimes have to get out of the reality that we’re used to in order to see the bigger picture. Whenever we’re traveling, we can take on the role of an observer. Our old life seems far away and it’s almost as if we can look at it from a distance. To travel means to become an eagle. And only as eagles we can detach from our old life and look at it from a different point of view. That’s why travel is the best time for reflection and setting new goals.
Traveling Builds Your Character
Traveling is great for our character. Whenever we travel, we’re forced to survive in a foreign environment that we’re not used to. We can’t rely on our old, habitual patterns anymore. We’re alert, we need to solve problems and we need to adapt to new situations. The benefits of travel for our personal growth get magnified when we travel on our own. When we have no other person to rely on, we are solely responsible to “survive” in a new environment. We are alone, thrown into foreign territory. It can be tough and difficult. We might feel alone, insecure and it might be hard to communicate with other people. This forces us to step up, it forces us to get out of our comfort zone and make things happen. The reward for all this is a character.
So let’s get back to our initial question: Why should I travel? Traveling, especially on our own, is one of the best character building opportunities in a lifetime. And it’s great for reflection and goal setting.
