Travel is a wonderful way to relax and explore. It’s also a great way to expand your knowledge. Here are 5 reasons why traveling is both fun and educational.
Cultures
Getting exposure to cultures outside of your own is a wonderful way to learn about the world outside your personal bubble. You’ll be able to see the differences between how people in other countries live compared to how you live. Food, lifestyle, and etiquette will likely yield the biggest differences but there will always be commonalities if you’re willing to look for them.
Languages
As you travel, you will pick up words and phrases of the spoken language. If you’re there for an extended period of time, you’ll likely become fluent. Putting your knowledge of the language to practical use is one of the best ways to grow your skills. Traveling will help your fluency in new languages.
History
Traveling is a series of history lessons. An article written by Nabin Paudyal for lifehack.org explains, “You studied about the civilizations and major historical events in your history class. All that was really cool. But nothing beats traveling to historic landmarks and exploring your way around a city’s history and culture. When you stroll through the streets and visit museums, palaces and galleries, the entire nation’s history comes out right in front of you. Learning about different dynasties, conflicts and changes is so much easier when you actually explore a nation.”
New Skills
A vacation is the perfect time to learn a new skill. New experiences will force you to do things outside of your comfort zone. Take a cooking class in Italy and learn how to make pasta from scratch. Take dance lessons in Spain. No matter where you go, you’ll have the opportunity to learn a new skill. Take advantage of these moments and you’ll have something specific to remember each trip by. It’s almost better than a souvenir!
Yourself
While traveling, you’ll definitely learn more about yourself. You’ll learn who you are outside of the world you grew up in. You’ll learn things that make you happy, things that trigger your anxiety, and what activities make up your ideal trip. Additionally, you’ll learn how to be more independent. Traveling sort of forces you to take control of your itinerary and make decisions on your own. It will make you into a more decisive person. Another thing you’ll learn while traveling is how to put things into perspective. You’ll look at your life and find that the things you’re worried about at home seem small. When you realize how big the world is, it’s a wonderful, humbling experience.
There are so many valuable and incredible learning opportunities that come with traveling. Get to know your fellow humans. People from different countries and cultures have insight and experiences worth knowing. Go into your trips with an open mind and you’ll be surprised how educational the journey can be.