I have had the travel bug for a very long time, ever since I left college in fact when my buddy Daniel Ludolph and myself decided to go on a 3 month tour through South America. I will never forget that trip and it was not only the first time that I had left the US but also the first time that I had been exposed to such a wide range of different cultures. In my view, everyone should go traveling at least once in their lives whether it is in their home country or to far away lands, and when I say traveling, I am not talking about a 2 week break on a beach in the Bahamas, I mean exploring, and here is why.
Find Yourself
It really is true that when you go traveling and expose yourself to a wide range of new people and new experiences that you actually find out something new about yourself. Traveling puts you in unfamiliar situations which are at times exhilarating, at times scary and it is in these moments that you really find out what you are made of. As far as building your character and discovering who you really, traveling is one of the best ways to do this.
Reflection
When you are traveling and seeing different ways of life and things that you would not usually see back home, it really gives you pass for thought and a moment of reflection. Some times this may mean that you appreciate how fortunate you are, other times it might make you fired up to do more with what you have. These quiet moments when you are traveling are really the times in life when you decide upon who you are and you question what you are doing with your life.
Meeting People
Some of my best friends are ones that I have met on the road and you really do find yourself meeting a vast range of people from all four corners of the globe. Between fellow travelers it is much easier to strike up a friendship as you are not stressed out from a day at the office or in a rush to get home to see someone, you are both in a moment of freedom and as such, you are both more open with each other than you perhaps usually would be.
See The World
The best part about traveling in my opinion is that you have the chance to go and see the world, the ability to see for yourself the sights that you have only ever seen on TV, the chance to walk in someone else’s shoes for a change and the opportunity for all 5 of your senses to explore somewhere new, this is what travel means to me and it is this experience that I think everyone should live, at least once in their lifetime.