Travel Inspires!
Aside from always leaving you wanting more, travel possesses a few other transformative qualities. It can change the way you view the world, yourself, and those around you.
Gaining a Global Perspective
Every country’s news media reflects the viewpoint of that specific country. When you meet new people from different cultures, you start to get all the other sides of the story and piece together a new international worldview that can only be gained through foreign exposure.
Learning to Pass Time
Whether it’s due to 20 hour flights to New Zealand or what turned into a 30 hour shuttle bus in Guatemala, you’re bound to have some down time. Some use this time to formulate business plans; others use it to empty their minds and relax, and some even learn to appreciate the moment for what it is.
Breaking Out of Patterns
Even with a fully formed itinerary in your travels, you’re going to take a wrong turn somewhere and find yourself exploring new avenues. The smallest thing, such as different meal times in foreign countries, can upset your usual routines and increase mental flexibility.
Boosting Patience
With cheap flights to India, Latin America, and other global destinations, more and more Western visitors are visiting developing nations. Toilets are different, the busses don’t run on time, and shops can close at odd hours. Patience is like a muscle in that the more you exercise it, the stronger it gets.
Inspiring Your Palate
No matter what your reason for travelling is, sampling new cuisine will inevitably be a by-product. You may fall in love with saffron, seaweed, or sundried tomatoes and start changing the way you cook at home as a result.
New Appreciation for Home
You can never really appreciate your home country until you go abroad. What you start missing about it may surprise you, whether it’s just a certain brand of hot sauce at your corner shop or the fact that strangers smile at one another in your hometown.
Finding New Ways to Make a Living
In my travels, I’ve met an Irish photographer who travels to India every spring solely to buy trousers to sell at summer flea markets in Berlin. I’ve met travelling massage therapists, real estate mavens, and event planners. If you think that the only way to get by financially is through sitting in a full-time office, travel will change that theory.
Making Your Own Acquaintance
As you find yourself in new situations, you may be called upon to make quick decisions and form swift reactions. These reactions can surprise you, with the end result being that you get to know yourself just a little bit better.
Building Trust
You may be relying on strangers who don’t speak the same language to help you, whether it’s in providing a room for the night or directions to the train station. You have to trust them, and this can make you more sympathetic to others at home in return.
Changing Your Pace of Life
Seeing the way the rest of the world lives can inspire you to slow down. Savouring a coffee on the terrace and walking a little more slowly through the park can reveal new details of your own life to enjoy.
Lainie Liberti is a recovering branding expert, who’s career once focused on creating campaigns for green – eco business, non-profits and conscious business. Dazzling clients with her high-energy designs for over 18 years, Lainie lent her artistic talents to businesses that matter. But that was then.
In 2008, after the economy took a turn, Lainie decided to be the change (instead of a victim) and began the process of “lifestyle redesign,” a joint decision between both her and her 11-year-old son, Miro. They sold or gave away all of of their possessions in 2009 and began a life of travel, service, and exploration. Lainie and her son Miro began their open-ended adventure backpacking through Central and South America. They are slow traveling around the globe allowing inspiration to be their compass. The pair is most interested in exploring different cultures, contributing by serving, and connecting with humanity as ‘global citizens.’
Today Lainie considers herself a digital nomad who is living a location independent life. She and her son write and podcast their experiences from the road at Raising Miro on the Road of Life.
