Many benefits of travel are obvious: time away from work, new experiences, delicious food. But aside from the expected, there are also several benefits of travel you might not realize. Here are just a few:
16. The effects of traveling aren’t just short-term
Aside from making you happier in the short-term, traveling can make you a much more contented, happy and relaxed person in the long run, too.
15. New experiences give us moments to remember
Recalling memories of happiness can sustain a feeling of contentment long after the moment has passed, and new experiences are memories that can stick with you forever
14. You’re more interesting
Making someone laugh is an easy way to instantly bump up your self-esteem, so hold on to those embarrassing memories — no matter how much they might make you cringe.
13. Get a Vitamin D boost
A beach break is a great way to relax and enjoy the health benefits of a warm climate. Admittedly, this is more of a short-term boost, but a healthy glow makes everyone feels better and lasts for a few weeks after your trip is over.
12. Education, education, education
Travel presents ways in which we can further our knowledge and education. Learning makes our brains more active, which psychologists have found increases our level of happiness – particularly when learning something we find enjoyable.
11. Getting some ‘you’ time
Having a moment to take advantage of peace and quiet and to simply ‘be’ allows us to let go of stress and tension and just enjoy being in the moment — a key focus of meditation and a practice you can take home with you.
10. Detox from social media
It’s liberating and allows you to better enjoy the ‘here and now’, which nicely ties into the point above.
9. You make new friends
When people are away from home, there seem to be less boundaries to cross and making friends becomes much easier, whether it’s a local curious to know where you’ve come from or a fellow travelers keen to have someone with whom to enjoy a beer or share a taxi.
8. Being away makes you appreciate family and home
Being away from things we often take for granted — family, close friends, home — makes us appreciate them more. Calling home isn’t a chore, but something to look forward to.
7. Happiness is infectious
When the locals are happy, smiling and friendly, it has an immediate knock-on effect.
6. Find your self-confidence by dealing with unexpected situations
Even if you plan your trip to the letter, things can take a surprise turn. Whatever happens, there is a way around the problem and knowing that you can deal with these situations is a big boost to self-confidence and therefore your happiness.
5. Anticipation
A relaxing vacation not only has the power to serve up delight while it’s underway, but, thanks to eager anticipation, it can boost vacationers’ happiness levels weeks and even months prior to its fruition.
4. Self-discovery
Travel makes us happy, because it offers us the opportunity to step outside our well-worn, self-constructed, realities and provides a platform to explore and practice our ideal visions for ourselves — who we might be if we weren’t married to our fears and anxieties about safety, security and status.
3. Travel reminds us how unimportant most things are
The more you see of the world, the more you realize how tiny your own corner of it is in the grand scheme of things. That doesn’t mean that your world isn’t a big deal to you, but it’s helpful to remember that very few things really matter forever and ever. You are small. This is small. So no matter how much you mess it up, it’s not really so bad. That perspective is a key tenant of sustainable happiness.
2. Travel helps us avoid dying
I’ve never heard of any research that links globetrotting to length of life, and I’m not actually suggesting that racking up frequent flier miles will help you extend your life. What I am suggesting is that travel helps you use your years on Earth to live. The cycle of living things is: birth, growth, dying, and death. Stagnation is an illusion that is often just a convenient cover for dying. Travel keeps you growing and blossoming. It doesn’t prevent death, but it helps us avoid meeting it with a basket full of regrets.
1. TRAVEL! The only thing you can buy that will make your life richer.
“Sitting in the background, just watching life go by in a country very different to my own and knowing that the feeling and experience will make me richer than money ever could.”
Excerpts taken from:
11 Reasons Why Travel Makes You a Happier Person
Will traveling make you happy?