If there was ever a time that we all felt the urge to travel, it is now during the COVID-19 crisis. We bet you all miss the beaches, mountains, travel spots, or maybe just your nearest resort or hotel.
If nothing but the fact that we yearn for them now and want to travel as soon as the travel restriction is lifted, below are the 'Top 10 Reasons Why One Should Travel'.
1. Traveling Makes Your Stress Levels Go Down Considerably
This should not be surprising and we have long suspected this but a scientific study shows that returning after vacation, a person feels well-rested and has their mood boosted for at least three days. These effects are said to even persist for weeks on end!
2. Traveling Makes You Healthier and Live Longer
Evidences of this comes from different fronts:
- It makes you fit – When we travel, we feel that we have very limited time to see everything we want to see and so, not only do we do a lot of walking, we tend to do it briskly. Good cardio!
- It boosts your immune system – Traveling exposes you to some dirt and minor illnesses in different places to which research shows, when exposed to your antibodies, makes them stronger, making you more resistant to more serious diseases.
- It will make you less prone to heart disease – According to the Framingham Heart Study, people who travel at least once per year are less likely to have a heart attack or any heart-related disease.
- Mysterious healing properties of some Places – Be it the mineral-rich hot springs of Turkey or Iceland or the rumored rejuvenating aspects of Egypt or Stonehenge, these places can contribute to your overall health whether you believe in them or not. At the very least, it can nourish your belief and make you think that you are healthier!
3. Traveling Makes You More Intelligent and Creative
When you travel, you get exposed to different cultures, experiences, and situations from all around the world. It sharpens your mind on how to react and accept different things and it makes you more adaptive and even creative.
You learn when you experience unfamiliar situations. It is even said that learning this way is more effective than learning through school. A behavioral study in 2014 from INSEAD showed that people who got exposed to other cultures during travels had an easier time holding multiple, conflicting viewpoints in mind at the same time. It gave them a more flexible and wider perspective compared to other people who do not travel.
4. Traveling Strengthens Relationships
When traveling with other people, deeper bonds are formed as you experience these new things together. Your lasting memories are filled with these travel companions as well so the bonds last a lifetime.
If you are traveling with your child…take this opportunity to get closer to them and actively look for activities or venues that your child will enjoy. This can be a chance to form positive and long-lasting memories, ones that they can get back to and associate with you while they grow up.
5. Traveling Makes You Happy
Traveling enriches your life experience and makes you happy. According to a Cornell University study in 2010 satisfaction gained from experiences starts high and keeps growing (at least 20 years), while the satisfaction that comes from buying things quickly wears off (2 years).
Not only that, a 2002 study in the UK shows that people are the happiest when people have a trip or vacation coming up. In short, you are happier for and for a longer time when you spend on travel rather than material things.
6. Travelling Can Make You More Confident and Optimistic
No matter how carefully you plan a trip or how meticulously it has been prepared for you, something almost always goes wrong. It can be as major as a cancelled flight or as minor as you not being able to see Mickey Mouse.
For some people, their trip is immediately unsalvageable and ruins the rest of the trip, but some come of it with a lesson learned and a mental note on how to avoid such mishaps again. Such situations wherein how you react or resolve the issue at hand is a big confidence booster especially in unfamiliar situations of places.
7. Traveling Makes You More Open-Minded
When you travel to a new place, you are immediately placed in a situation wherein you are forced to reflect and maybe accept how the local people are different from you. Not only in culture but their way of thinking or demeanor. You also become self-aware of how you interact with these differences in such a way as to not create socially awkward situations.
We tend to be more accepting and patient. Being immersed in a different culture also pressures us to try new things. This can range from the strange local snack all the way to that once in a lifetime sky diving activity over a glacier. The fact that you are there only for a limited amount of time makes you think that you may never be able to do this again and so it pressures you to try it out at least once in your lifetime.
Studies show a link between imitation and empathy. The more we try to imitate or copy what other cultures are doing, the more we come to understand their reasons for doing so.
8. Travelling Makes You More Organized
The fact that you are in that destination only on a very limited time forces you to plan carefully and efficiently such that you are able to go see whatever you want to see and do whatever you want to do in that limited amount of time. This organizational aspect is manifested in; time management, logistics or transportation, route planning, meal scheduling, rest periods and even just choosing which destinations, attractions or events to go to. It can even be that little bit of research just before and during a trip to ensure that our trip goes the way we want it.
9. When Travelling, We Learn How To Be Cooperative
Travelling, especially in large groups can be a nightmare and can put a strain in some personal relationships, however, that fact that your time is limited forces you to be more patient and, for the sake of saving time, be more cooperative and steer things in a more positive direction. You also do not want your whole trip be marred by the fact that you are angry with one of your companions.
The mere fact that being on vacation tends to make you more positive, more confident and more accepting, you and your companions will most likely be working cooperatively and work towards a positively fun-filled and logistically fluid itinerary. Not only will your empathy be trained but it will also promote positive dynamics between you and your companions.
10. Travelling Helps With Self Reflection and Internal Thinking
A lot of people experience life changes after going on a trip. A very famous Brazilian Novelist- Paulo Coelho went through a lot of challenges throughout his life. One time, he got into walking through a Roman Catholic Pilgrimage route, a 500-plus mile Road of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain. After which he decided to become a writer and went off to write “The Pilgrimage: Diary of Magus”, and “The Alchemist”, among other literary pieces.
This is just one of many examples where someone, whether or not they were in a crisis, experienced something life-changing during their travels which steered their life path into a more positive direction.
So, there you go. I bet reading through the list has you daydreaming about the sunshine on your face and the wind in your hair as you traipse around your favorite vacation spot. That or you are probably planning for your next dream destination right now! Give in to the urge and “Follow your Heartbeat”!
Don’t forget to contact Isla Story for any assistance in getting you there and make your next best trip memorable.
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Did we miss something? Let us know by commenting below or send us an email at tours.ph@raksotravel.com. If you'd rather talk to one of our travel representatives call us at +63 (2) 8 651-9000.
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