Have you ever traveled farther than 1000 miles? Have you ever been to a different country? Have you ever really wanted to? If you are a military brat like myself, then you are all too familiar with the travel life. Traveling and living in different countries changes your world view significantly for the same reasons why living in one place is different.
Traveling is good for the mind because it broadens your perspective of the world. It’s life experience that you can only get if you board a plane and land somewhere completely new to you. You learn to navigate and challenge the way you see and meet other people. You also learn to live in the moment. Instead of taking pictures of every little thing you see, maybe stop and take it in first or afterwards. Take it all in as you are there (Leimkuehler).
You become more open to different ways of life since you are around different cultures and the people of it: “you see that no matter how different people are or the way they live, there is inherent goodness in most people” (Leimkuehler). In other words, life isn’t just black and white. It’s full of various wonders and people who are different, but still human. Thus, you can connect with more and you become more cultured.
Traveling to different countries is one thing that most people can agree on to love. It can help you find your love, you never know. Becoming a creative influence on yourself just because you are outside your comfort zone can help you find out what you truly enjoy and want to do (Fern).
Learning to love experience
es over actual things is another way traveling can influence a different world view. You learn to take it all in as it is in the moment. It produces happiness since you are someplace different for once. Instead of saving for a new game or shoes, you put your money to experience a new place and people.
Behaviorally, traveling can “define what it means to have enough” (Bloom). Maybe you travel to a poorer country and you understand what it means to see how people are still happy with having so little. It also builds patience since you need it when a restaurant closes for the afternoon and you have to wait for it to open again. That’s not common in the states.
To conclude, traveling to other countries, especially not the states, can change how you see the world. Since you are traveling so often, you meet and learn about different people and culture altogether. You become more cultured, patience, happy with what you have, and it broadens your perspective of how you see life outside your own.
Leimkuehler, Katie. “5 Reasons Traveling Changes Your Life.” Lifehack, Lifehack, 12 Sept. 2014, www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/5-reasons-traveling-changes-your-life.html.
Fern, Ashley. “7 Ways Traveling Scientifically Changes Your Personality For The Better.” Elite Daily, Elite Daily, 20 June 2018, www.elitedaily.com/life/traveling-changes-personality/1036974.
Bloom, Steve. “How Travel Changes You.” Do Something Cool, dosomethingcool.net/how-travel-changes-you/.
