The thrill of traveling to a new place is almost second to none. Since the dawn of civilization, people have been attracted to the unknown. Whether it was an unknown land or an unknown community, our ancestors were always intrigued by the idea of discovery. Even now, within yourself, you have the same motivation to meet new people and seeing new aspects of this world.
The modern society hardly allows you to take a break from anything. Either you’re working 24/7, or you have to take care of your family. When the going gets tough, any human being, including yourself, needs a break. Some people travel to get away from their daily lives, while others look for new adventures. But behind all the reasons of why people travel is a motivation that fuels your desire to travel to an unknown place.
What motivates a person to travel?
In modern society, everyone lives inside their bubble, often detached from the intricacies and uniqueness of the earth. You only know what you’ve been taught. But have you ever wondered what a person is doing on the other side of the world? If you got to live inside their bubble, your perspective would change completely.
If you have a 9 to 5 job, you’d know how boring things can get at the end of the week. Sometimes you might have even felt like quitting your job. But have you considered taking a break from everything and going to a new place? It doesn’t even have to be a new country. You can go to a neighboring city and meet new people and get to know the place a bit better. In most cases, people are motivated to travel because they need to relieve their stress.
Then, there are people who you read about on Facebook and see posts on Instagram. They backpack across Europe, Asia, or any other continent for that matter. Most backpackers love to travel because they don’t want to stay inside a box. The fixed life doesn’t suit them. Can you blame them? Who wouldn’t want to watch the sunrise from the peak of Mount Everest?
Every individual has different ideologies, beliefs, and experiences that motivate them to travel.
10 Powerful Reasons Why Do People Travel
Traveling isn’t just a one-off thing. It has a long-lasting impact on a person both physically and mentally. A lot of the time, people become a completely different person after they’ve traveled, and the change is good. Here are some of the notable benefits of traveling that influences people.
1. Traveling is Good for Your Health
Traveling plays a vital role in lowering your stress levels. People who have desk jobs stay stressed most of the days. And because they don’t get enough time to step outside and enjoy some pressure-free moments, their work performance takes a dip. If you’re someone like that, you can easily go on a trip on the weekends. If you don’t want to travel to a faraway country, then go to a nearby city. In the age of the internet, it isn’t too difficult to find information related to an unknown place.
Staying stuck within the walls of your home can be suffocating for some. And as a result, your mental health might deteriorate. Traveling can help you ease the tension and take your mind off of unnecessary things. Even traveling to a nearby beach and soaking your feet in the sand-mixed water can do wonders.
2. Taking a break from the Normal Life
This is arguably one of the major benefits of traveling. Living a routine life is perfect as long as you’re taking breaks from it. Even experts say you can only maintain your packed schedule only for a certain amount of time. After that, your body and mind will be aching for a vacation. There’s so much pressure you have to handle.
Continuous assignments from your boss? Your parents weighing in too much on your life decisions? Is your partner being inconsiderate? All of these issues can build up inside your head and one day explodes out into unwanted anger. Before that happens, now you know what you’ll have to do.
Did you always want to try out that famous ice-cream parlor in the next city? You should take a break from everything and try that out. As simple as that sounds, that complete experience of traveling will make your life a lot easier.
3. Getting to Know Different Cultures
People travel to different places for different personal reasons. But people who have traveled a lot tend to be more considerate and knowledgeable regarding various aspects of the world.
For instance, if you’re someone who is living in America, you wouldn’t know much about South Asian culture unless you travel to that region. Only when you travel to India, Sri-Lanka, or Bangladesh, you’d understand the true essence of their cultures and norms. Even then, each country is different from the other.
Even a small conversation with someone belonging to a different country can increase your knowledge. That’s why people who travel tend to be more empathetic and respectful towards people of a different culture, race, and religion.
Miguel De Unamuno, a famous Spanish poet, has a saying that, “Fascism is cured by reading and racism is cured by traveling.” Even to this day, this quote rings true to the ears.
4. Traveling Improves Your Knowledge about the World
Most of the knowledge that we have of the known world is acquired through textbooks from schools and colleges. Even then, you don’t get to see the full picture. Unless and until you travel to a particular destination, you wouldn’t know whether the books are true or not.
People often learn a new language before going to a new country. This is a beautiful example of the benefits of traveling. It’s always good to be bilingual. If Hollywood has ever taught us anything, it’s this. Not just the language, your geographic knowledge will get better immensely. You’ll have a firsthand experience of different cultures and norms.
When you’re in a new place, you’ll have to be proactive and intuitive as you might not know the local language. This can help in building your confidence so that you can face future adversities head-on.
5. Trying out Delicious Food
Who doesn’t love food? Traveling allows you to taste different cuisines. If you travel enough, maybe one day you’ll know which country truly has the best food.
You might have restaurants right next to your home that serves Italian pasta or pizza. But to get the true essence of the Italian pizza, you’ll need to go Sicily and try out the world-famous Sicilian crust pizza.
When you’re at a new place, don’t just go to fancy high-end restaurants. Mix it up with street food. New York has a huge collection of street food, which is tasty and inexpensive. As a result, it has become an inseparable part of the New York culture. If you travel to New York and don’t try out the street wrap or the burger, you’re missing out on the experience.
6. Good for the Stories
You probably have someone in your life, or you’ve met someone who tells the most badass travel stories. They somehow turn it into a high budget movie directed by James Cameron. They instantly become the center of the group. Who wouldn’t love to experience such stories and maybe get some social points while exaggerating the story a bit more? For that to happen, you need to travel more.
Going out of your comfort zone and dealing with unpleasant situations make for the best bar conversations. Who knows, maybe the stories can even help you in your dating life! Ask yourself, who would you rather have a conversation with? Someone who has never been outside the city? Or someone who went backpacked across Europe in a classic Fiat car, saw the Northern lights and skinny-dipped in subzero temperature?
Traveling doesn’t only make good stories; it also makes the traveler more interesting and sophisticated.
7. Seeking Discomfort to the Fullest
Comfortable can be boring at times. When you get accustomed to your routine life, anything inconvenient will bother you. It can be as simple as the weather turning bad or raining. Because you’re comfortable in the sun, you don’t want to deal with the rain. But even the heavy drizzle has a unique beauty to it if you know where to look. That’s where traveling helps so much. It’s almost like a crash-course on how to develop yourself as a better person.
When you’re traveling it doesn’t have to be anything as scary as bungee jumping from a cliff, but if you’re afraid of heights, you can push yourself and try climbing a mountain perhaps. The main point is, you need to get out of your comfort zone and deal with uncomfortable situations.
One such example is the famous YouTube channel called the Yes Theory. The group consists of four friends who are constantly pushing their boundaries. Their main motto is to seek discomfort, whether it’s in your everyday life or when you’re traveling. At first, it can feel a bit weird, but once you get over the initial hurdle, you’ll become a completely new version of yourself.
8. Making New Friends
If you’re respectable to the people of a new city or country and be spontaneous, then making new friends isn’t that difficult. Even if you’re an introvert, you’ll easily find new people who like the same things as you, even if you’re from the other side of the world.
The key to meeting new people is always conversations. If you can go up to someone and have a decent conversation, that should be more than enough to make that person your acquaintance. With the inclusion of Airbnb to the traveling industry, it has become even easier.
With the help of social media, you can find interesting people. Having friends in different time zones is highly beneficial when it comes to accommodation and travel expenses. You’ll get to crash at your friend’s place. Maybe you can use their vehicle, which will save you a lot of money.
On top of everything, you’ll receive gift cards, postcards, and if you’re lucky enough, maybe even a wedding invitation from your international friend.
9. Strengthening Your Relationships
Traveling has the power of bringing people close and strengthening the bond. Whether it’s a trip with your family or a romantic getaway, traveling is a good way to clear your head and reflect on the relationship.
To keep up with the changes in society, family members spread out across the country and for some families throughout the globe. So you probably don’t get to see your relatives too often. Wouldn’t it be a fun experience meeting up with your parents or siblings and enjoying a walk on the beach? You’ll get to share your childhood stories and look back on how far you have come as an individual.
Now romantic getaways are the perfect way to get even closer to your loved one. If you’re in a relationship, it doesn’t take too long for things to get boring. Traveling can spice up your relationship and ignite such a spark that solidifies your bond with your partner even more. Imagine yourself watching a sunset from the coast of Greece while the waves come crashing in on the shore. Or sipping coffee while sharing a blanket under the starry night sky in Paris? Have a movie-like experience in your real life.
Traveling with your friends often creates the best memories. Because you don’t have to filter anything with them, you can do stupid stuff and still get away with it. Nothing can beat the thrill of going to a new country with your school gang. Reminiscing and getting nostalgic while getting drunk with your buddies, what’s better than that? But never forget to be respectful and responsible when you do decide to get drunk.
10. Come Back Rejuvenated
No matter which place it is, if you stay there for too long, you’d eventually get tired of it. The same goes for your small apartment home. There are days when you can’t wait to get home from work and binge-watch a show on Netflix. Then, there are days when you don’t want to return to your place. The secret to having a peaceful home is mixing things up, and travel can help you with that.
In the beginning, you were trying to escape from your normal life. So, you traveled to a new place. Now you have to return to that busy life of yours. But your experience while traveling has given you new perspective and motivation. It won’t feel the same. The first day at work, after your trip, you’ll be greeting everyone with a smile. That’s the impact traveling can have on people.
That’s why you should always take a break when you’re drowning in your work. Your soul needs peace, never forget that.
Best Travel Tips to Make Your Experience Better
These tips and tricks will help you to have a better all-round experience the next time you decide to travel somewhere.
1. Keep an Open Mind
Never forget the fact that not everyone is going to be like you, and not every place is perfect. So, don’t judge people when you’re in a new environment. Not everyone is going to have the same economic or social status as you.
Be accepting of different religions, cultures, and norms. Something that might be appropriate for you may well be a taboo for the other people. So be humble whenever you’re traveling to a new place.
2. Do Your Research
Finding out about a new place will help you to plan better and discover unknown facts about the new place you’re traveling to. Try finding out what the place is famous for and how to navigate from one place to another. If you know someone who has traveled there before, get in touch with them.
3. Don’t Plan Everything
Being spontaneous is way more fun than planning out every little detail. When you plan out everything, it can get very stressful. Not over planning will allow you to bump into some amazing people and have experiences that you otherwise wouldn’t have had. Let the universe dictate your path.
4. Learn the Language
Even if you learn a few words that would help you a lot when you’re traveling to a non-English speaking country. People are a lot friendly than you’d think. They just need to understand what you need help with, and everyone would come to your support.
5. Protect Your Important Documents
Things like passport, visa, and credit cards are valuable assets. These things have the power to get you in trouble or save you from it. So, keep them somewhere safe and don’t lose them.
Final Thoughts
So, why do people travel? Traveling lets you be free and spontaneous.
No one likes to deal with the same things every day. A change of scene can do wonders in your work life and personal life. When you invest in travel, you’re investing in yourself, and that’s something that will never go to waste.
