Even if you travel regularly for business or take frequent domestic vacations, nothing can give you the unique experience that traveling abroad offers. Visiting a foreign country provides a broader worldview and is often considered life-changing. Consider the following benefits to traveling abroad:
1. You gain a new frame of reference. If the only world you know is the one in your own back yard, you only have a small set of criteria in which judgements can be made. Traveling abroad opens your eyes to new cultures and ideas, expanding your definition of how the world should operate, think and behave.
2. New experiences increase your resourcefulness. Whether you are forced to communicate in a foreign language, drive on the opposite side of the road, or eat food you don't recognize, introducing yourself to living situations you would never encounter at home help you embrace change more readily when you return home.
3. You experience history firsthand. Numerous cultures have lasted for thousands of years around the world. Traveling to these places brings history to life.
4. The world becomes a much smaller place. Travelers who visit other countries often return home with a list of new friends they made along the way. With social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, it is easy to remain in contact with those friends living on the other side of the world. Now, 'worlds apart' virtually doesn't exist.
5. Traveling is refreshing and revitalizing. True, spending a week on your local beach might achieve the same result. However, traveling to a foreign culture helps you escape the routine of your life more quickly. Waking to scenery, lifestyles and activities so apparently different than what you experience every day, leaves you with no other choice than to forget the stresses of home and live in the moment enjoying yourself.
6. It is rewarding. Let's face it. We are a hard-working society. A trip abroad is a nice way to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Treating yourself to a rewarding vacation makes the hard work worth it!
7. You are introduced to new discoveries. It may be as simple as eating gelato, or as adventurous as riding in a hot air balloon across the vineyards of France. Either way, traveling abroad offers opportunities to try things you might not consider or have the opportunity to do at home.
8. Traveling abroad inspires creativity. When we stay in one environment too long, we find that our sesnses become numb to things around us. Trying new foods, communicating in a foreign language, and being in different surroundings awakes our senses, stimulating possibilities.
9. You gain a lifetime of memories. Most people can relate to your stories of a beach holiday or ski weekend. International travel will give you countless interesting stories to share with your friends.
10. You learn to enjoy the ride. It has been said that true contentment is the power of getting out of any situation all there is in it. Traveling to foreign countries is an incredible experience that generally shifts you beyond your home roots, making you a more transformed and developed person.
Are you ready to make traveling abroad one of your New Year's resolutions this year? Click here to find out how I can help make your vacation a unique postcard in your travel scrapbook!
