We’ve all been there – you don’t know which way to turn next, you’re bored, you need a challenge, but you just can’t quite put your finger on what. It’s frustrating, and it’s enough to bring the most uplifted person crashing back to Earth.
Life can be monotonous at times, but it’s important to keep trying to improve, try new things and broaden your mind. The thing is, how do you know if you’ve found the right avenue for you? A lot of it is down to trial and error, but there are some common routes to try. How about travel?
Before you shake your head, you don’t have to go all Eat, Pray, Love on yourself, because the benefits are likely to come to you without much effort.
Travel Allows You to Experience New Cultures
You don’t really think too much about cultural differences until you are thrown into a different one. For instance, if you visit the Middle East, you will notice a vastly different culture to what you are used to if you live in Australia. The great thing about this is that you get to learn from it all, soaking it up like a sponge. This makes you more open minded and tolerant, enhancing the life experience you already have.
Travel Allows You to Meet New People
Of course, when you’re travelling around, you’re going to come into contact with countless different people. These can be locals, ex-pats, fellow travellers, or a mixture of all three, but these people could become friends for life. There are many people who have been on a travel adventure and met their soul mate! In addition to this, networking overseas could also open some serious career doors for you, because of the sheer number of different people you’ll meet.
Travel Allows You to Explore Jobs You Might Never Have Thought of Otherwise
Depending upon where you live, it’s likely that your horizons aren’t totally broadened. For instance, if you live inland, you might not even have thought about doing a job which involves the sea. If you live by the coast, you probably haven’t thought about something in the city. Basically, travel allows you to think about your current job and explore different avenues. Who knows, you could even travel for a living, perhaps living the digital nomad life!
Travel Has a Knack of Helping You Appreciate What You Have
When you’re face to face with adversity, perhaps seeing poverty for the first time in your life, you’ll suddenly become very humbled and appreciative of the things you have in your life. These are the things you probably take for granted on a day to day basis. By seeing the world for its positives and negatives, you will take on a sense of how small you really are, and with amazing sights to set your eyes on, you’ll begin to appreciate the smaller things in life for their true value and meaning.
Travel Makes You a More Confident Person
Travel isn’t always easy. Sometimes you get lost, sometimes you can’t bring yourself to go out for a meal on your own when you don’t know anyone, sometimes you can’t speak the language, but with every small success, your confidence in yourself will grow. Travel is one of the biggest confidence boosters on the planet. You’ll feel like you can truly conquer the world!
Travel Looks Great on Your Resume/CV
At the end of this self discovery journey to wherever in the world you go, any experience you have should certainly be put on your resume or CV. Employers love the idea of their staff having experienced cultures, learnt new languages, and coped with problems first hand. This is life experience which cannot be taught, and can only be experienced one on one.
Life’s metaphorical ruts come to us all at some point, but how you react and deal with it is the difference between staying in that rut, and climbing your way out of it. Perhaps it’s time to grab your passport?
