Why Travel Makes You an Awesome Person

As much as 47% of 18- to 34-year-olds spend their money on travelling versus buying a house. This is a huge jump compared to their parents’ and grandparents’ generations, which only 26% express a similar interest.

So why the big change? Our guess is that thanks to social media, the world is literally at our fingertips. People don’t just want to see that beautiful images of Guam posted on Facebook; they want to see for themselves what another state, country, or continent is all about.

Whether you’re a millennial or a proud Generation Z or a baby boomer, if you’re on the fence, consider these ways travelling makes you an awesome person. (We can assure you that after reading this, you’ll be booking your next trip in an instant!)

Photo by Bambi Corro on Unsplash 

1. Get to Actually Explore the Great Outdoors

We’re talking about the Amazonian rainforest, hiking Machu Picchu, or simply walking around flea markets in Barcelona. As the cliché goes, the world is your oyster. When it comes to travelling, it really is.

As Huffington Post states, by exploring the great outdoors and allowing yourself to travel, you get out of your comfort zone. You put yourself into unfamiliar (yet safe) situations that test your coping skills and make you face the fear of the unknown.

Once you figure out how to book hostels and ask where the bus is using local dialect, once you get home there’s nothing you can’t do.

2. Become More Self-Aware

(This goes with Point #1 but deserves its own section because it’s that important.) When you’re in a different country, interacting with locals and a culture other than your own, you get a front-row seat to your life.

In other words, you get to watch yourself and reflect how you react to certain, unfamiliar situations. You can then change your behaviour or realize qualities you never thought you had. 

Photo by Val Vesa on Unsplash

3. The Interesting Stories You Take Back with You

Let’s face it, travelling and having new experiences gives you many, many interesting stories to share with friends and family when you get back home.

You can tell your friends about that one day you got lost touring Florence but ended up finding the perfect reading spot down a narrow, cobblestone alleyway. Or what about that time you saw fireworks around the Eiffel tower?

4. You Make More Friends

Especially if you stay in hostels or take a group tour, you’re bound to run into other like-minded travelling individuals. And, through your interest in travelling, you can spark a friendship.

Now, you don’t just have your friends at home, but new friends all over the world you can contact when you travel to their hometown (and vice versa).

5. More Memories

Like having interesting stories to tell people, you have fond memories you can look back on. You can think about how it felt to gaze up at the stars in Paris.

Or how satisfying it was to eat that delicious schnitzel in Germany. Or perhaps how happy you felt after searching estimates for private jet charter prices and going to another part of the USA.

Photo by KaLisa Veer on Unsplash

Final Thoughts Your Backyard Becomes the World

Your world becomes bigger when you travel. Thanks to travelling, now you are officially a citizen of the world. Instead of taking a walk down your neighbourhood (which, of course, you can do), why not take that trip to Argentina?

Are you ready to take your next trip? Have some travelling experiences you’d like to share with us? How has travelling made you an awesome person? We want to know! Be sure to leave a comment in the comments section below.