What You Can Learn From Traveling

By College Tourist; Author: Nicole Darian, University of Iowa

What The Existent Earth Won't Teach You

Contrary to popular belief, traveling tin teach you more than than a classroom, job, or relationship e'er volition. I've found that people's definitions of "the real earth" vary quite a flake. For me, the real world ways packing up and leaving your comfort zone, the familiar, your safe place, and experiencing unknown things - a new place, new people who may not empathize y'all, unfamiliar customs, the list goes on. Traveling is being in the existent world, and here are 10 vital lessons that it will teach yous.

ane) To be more than patient

Being American and from a big city, the fast-paced lifestyle is inevitably engrained in me. Waiting for anything - food at a eatery, lines for the restroom, even waiting for a professor or boss to electronic mail me back - drives me crazy. The biggest lesson I've learned through my travels and backpacking is that it'due south okay to wait and have lag time, and if something happens to go wrong, to be patient when seeking help. Though it seems that way, traveling isn't at all luxurious similar advertisements and glamorous Instagram accounts brand it out to exist. Your flying gets cancelled considering the airplane pilot is sick and you're stuck in the drome, you catch a stomach bug and you're on bedrest, your autobus is tardily, you get on the wrong train, bad weather condition will minimize outdoor activities - it happens on every trip, and trust me, it builds character. If things always went smoothly, the chance wouldn't exist. Patience is truly a virtue and you'll learn to tackle the circumstances as they come, which volition make you appreciate the experience even more.

ii) To leave your comfort zone

People don't enjoy traveling considering it means leaving behind what's comfy for them, whether it's their grouping of friends, refrigerate, their favorite foods, pets, the list goes on. Just getting on a plane and going is the first footstep. It's exhilarating to forget what'southward familiar for a bit and aggrandize your horizons. Once you do, there is no better feeling than taking on unfamiliar territory and making it familiar. All it takes is pulling the trigger, and you'll come up dwelling house with endless stories.

3) To be more curious

I recently listened to a TED Radio Hr podcast called "From Marvel to Discovery" and I loved every second of it. Fully understanding something that was once just an idea makes traveling so worth while. Being in new territory will probe new ideas and curiosities - what the local community are, the local food, what language is spoken, and religious practices. Traveling and interacting with locals and natives will give you a better understanding, and therefore turning these curiosities into discoveries. This will then make you hungry to learn more, ask questions, and completely immerse yourself into a new place.

iv) To appreciate other cultures

Information technology's easy to question and judge cultures that are dissimilar than yours. Traveling or living somewhere completely different gives you a new perspective that'southward different from just hearing or reading about it. The act of existence somewhere new allows you to fully immerse yourself and appreciate that new place, from the people, the linguistic communication, the wearable, and everything in between. Taking the fourth dimension to come out of your shell and collaborate with the local culture is the style to experience and appreciate it fully. Over again, this tin't be taught, just experienced.

v) To live just

Believe it or not, yous can survive with very, very fiddling and get by just fine. Most people around the world practice. Traveling extensively forces yous to pack so lightly that you'll get home overwhelmed by how much you actually ain. Not only that, merely sleeping in rundown guesthouses, hostels with bed bugs, and tents pitched anywhere that y'all tin can find space really isn't the stop of the world, y'all just learn to live with information technology. Steering away from lavish meals on the boondocks and fancy cocktails on outdoor patios is another feel yous may have to cede while traveling if yous want to save plenty to travel longer. As a result, yous'll come up habitation and realize that you lot don't need annihilation more than the essentials to survive.

half-dozen) To make friends with strangers

If you lot're traveling alone, you'll exist desperate for homo interaction. And guess what? Every other traveler is too! I've constitute it extremely rare to come beyond another traveler who isn't eager to hear your story, where yous've been, for how long, and your opinions and advice. You can seriously build a global network fifty-fifty if y'all're traveling for just a few days. Information technology'southward a beautiful matter to say that y'all're friends with people effectually the planet, and you're all bonded by one common trait: dearest for adventure and new experiences. If you're traveling lonely, you'll never really be alone, as there will e'er exist someone wanting to tag along for an activity or just sitting next to other travelers on public trans. This is definitely my favorite role about traveling.

7) ...just to likewise comprehend your solo travel experience

Admittedly, traveling alone does get lonely. Y'all're constantly saying goodbye to new friends who are going to different places, having to leave a new place that yous've mastered and fabricated familiar and taking on new territory with minimal information, and sometimes no ane to talk most the astonishing day you had sightseeing with. Learning to eat meals in restaurants, go to bars, or walking around a new metropolis alone takes some getting used to, only information technology's really okay to practice these things alone. Being alone and having fourth dimension to reflect on your experiences will help you appreciate them more, and you lot won't be distracted past outside opinions. You lot also won't have to deal with conflict of interests or compromising on activities! It'south the all-time, and you will come dwelling house with a new sense of independence.

viii) To try new things

We're going to exist forced to come up out of our shells no matter what. Doing what we're used to at home doesn't e'er work when nosotros travel so we have to arrange. Pick upwardly the language and try not to stick with what'due south familiar. Effort a restaurant serving ethnic food and avoid the touristic restaurants with equivalent food from home. Take public transportation and larn the system, it'due south not difficult after the first couple of times. Sign upwardly for an outdoor activity that you might non go the opportunity to do at home like hiking, sailing, or flying in a helicopter. New places ways new opportunities, so try not to pass them up.

ix) To call up creatively

Sometimes it takes a little thinking outside of the box to get by. No wifi for directions? The restroom you entered is merely a hole in the ground? The buses to your side by side planned destination are all booked? There are always alternatives, and bumps in the road should never proceed people from traveling. Studies evidence that people who travel call back more creatively and are better at adjusting to new situations. Again, traveling isn't full of glitz and glamour as it's portrayed. there volition always be something to overcome, forcing us to be artistic.

10) To detect beauty in small things

Returning from a trip, a study abroad experience, or a weekend away feels rejuvenating in one case we return. New perspective is gained. A home cooked meal volition mean and so much more than to y'all because you lot missed it for so long. The person who smiled at you lot on the street becomes your best friend. Seeing a statue or monument in your hometown will remind you of the ane you saw abroad. It'south actually the small things that requite the states joy in life, and they're ordinarily free. Traveling is one way to acquire this.