I have had the privilege in life to travel far and wide within India and by this, I can say that if there is one thing that can help you explore the world around you. I mean communities, cultures & food among other things such as discovering facets of your own personality that you haven’t tapped into, can be achieved by travel. Here are 5 reasons why I believe planning your first/next travel could be one of your most exciting life decisions:
1. Getting To Meet New People!
Irrespective of whether you are an introvert or an extrovert, meeting new people can bring forth great life lessons and the chance to develop new relationships. I personally am an introvert and find myself more at ease with animals than human beings. However, some of the most exciting people I have ever met has been on flights, in heritage sites, even on the beach. Places where you are out of your comfort zone, other people are too and strangers often have the most interesting conversations imaginable.
2. Work And pleasure At Once!
The most intriguing characteristic of travel is that no matter what your educational background is, it is always relevant while travelling. In fact, more often than not, visiting new places can feed your knowledge. Every single place in the world has history, politics, culture and communication, finance and economics, art, and films. So, no matter what you study, you can always find a way to learn new things about your subject via travel.
Candolim Beach in Goa.
I remember going for a 15-day road trip with my family across 5 states in India – Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Goa just one month before my class 12th board examinations in 2019. We made sure to discuss the history and geography of every region we passed and I learnt more on that one trip than I did in my entire senior year at school! (It greatly helped in my boards as well)
3. Helps You See New Perspectives!
When you go to new places, you realize how insignificant most things in life are. We tend to take undue stress over career failures and failed relationships among other things. Travelling can not only take your mind off such sad dwellings but in some cases, also help you see the way forward. In 2013, I had lost my parents and begun my educational journey in a boarding school. For the next 6 years, every holiday, I would go stay with relatives in different parts of the country. This organically gave me new & diverse experiences and made me a stronger person. When you realize how big the world truly is, putting the past behind you is much easier.
4. Great For Foodies And Adventurous People!
I believe every person deep down is a foodie and loves adventure once in a while. That being said, travel holds something for every person – you can sit on a beach & read a book or go for sports like bungee jumping and cliff diving depending on where you are. The whole point of travelling is to break free of your inhibitions and try things that you haven’t before. That I believe is what helps you understand yourself better, while exploring the world around you.
5. Makes For A Memorable Feed!
While I am not particularly a fan of social media and selfies, I do think that clicking pictures helps store memories and moments. It holds the ability, years after you went for that Goa trip, to make you smile one dreary morning as you look through your feed and find that beautiful picture you had taken at sunset, with the smell of salt in the air right after a swim in the sea.