Let’s Go Places!

Imagine yourself flying across the pond to the cold yet historic city of London, England. There you visit the infamous Buckingham Palace. Then, going South to the glamorous city of Paris. Walking all 328 steps of the eiffel tower or shopping your way through the grand Galeries Lafayette. Next, you moved even further south sitting in a long-narrow gondola floating down the charming canals in Venice, Italy. Or maybe you want to go east across the Pacific Ocean to the humid and exquisite country of Malaysia. Walking through its majestic rainforests. Finally, you arrive closer to home, capturing the blinding billboards that surround you on Times Square in New York City. The world we are living in is beautiful, but not everyone realizes it. Some people do not make any efforts to go out. They instead choose to waste their time at home watching television or going on the internet. All things considered, traveling is beneficial for people because it promotes self discovery, enhances one’s health, and leads to uncovering the beauties of life.

To begin, an advantage of traveling is the motivation of self-discovery. This discovery is the most valuable lesson someone can learn. Gallivanting around the world can lead to self-awareness. It guarantees people to realize what they want and their goals.  The writer of the 9 Wonderful Benefits of Traveling, Adam Siddiq, explained, “...travel is to take a journey into yourself” (Siddiq). When traveling, people are registering who they really are. The attitude and life-choices that people make while traveling show who they are. For example, the place they choose to stay at. Luxurious people would choose a more elegant and expensive hotel. While more adventurous people choose to sleep in a tent or cheaper motel. Equally important, traveling authorizes individuals to notice their likes and dislikes. Cameron Karsten, a passionate traveler, wrote, “...[you realize] which elements in life you enjoyed the most and those you enjoyed the least. Then you leap upon the likes and discard the dislikes” (Karsten). Some likes or dislikes might come to a surprise. When traveling, people are exposed to new cultures and therefore learn to eat different food. Food that they might have once never even thought of eating. Cameron Karsten a blogger and photographer, also mentioned, “During travel...[realize that the future] is your empty canvas, and there’s no better time to wallow in hopes, dreams and possibilities” (Karsten). Traveling opens your mind to new possibilities. Possibilities for a better lived future. To make sure that your future will be the best it could be. Traveling is an amazing and wonderful way to discover the significant features that makes one who they are.

Furthermore, traveling boosts emotional and physical health of travelers. According to Lisa Miller of The Huffington Post, a popular online news website, traveling,“...helps you be more flexible and open-minded, making you more zen in your everyday life” (Miller). Traveling expands horizons and allows one to emotionally enjoy life. It motivates people to do activities that makes them feel good. The writer, Lisa Miller, also mentioned that “...[traveling] is a way to recharge and reduce stress levels…[It] lets you put aside your daily responsibilities and focus on yourself for a moment. When you return home you’ll feel refreshed and have the motivation you felt drained of before you left” (Miller). Traveling impacts people in many ways. Being away from everyday life is the perfect way to reduce stress. It helps individuals escape and forget about everything negative going on in their life. “Now you want more — harder...While home, you exercise and prepare for more challenging hikes. You’re healthier and fitter than ever and you get to look forward to accomplishing new goals” (Miller). People who come back after being away for some time take the things or activities, that they have learned to love, back home with them. Traveling improve’s people’s emotional and physical well-being.

Lastly, traveling is a journey that uncovers the beauty of life. As the same writer, Adam Siddiq, explained, “[Instead of] waiting until you’re saying “I wish I had”, live so you can say “I’m glad I did” (Siddiq). Traveling assists appreciation and advantage of the little time people have on earth. It fuels people to take challenges and to live life to the fullest. Yala Coelho, a writer of the Thought Catalog, a popular blog, stated, “You’ll forget to constantly worry about the future and regret the things you didn’t have the courage to do in the past” (Coelho). Traveling allows new changes in your personality to occur. Taking challenges to do things they have always wanted to do. To live life to the fullest with no regrets. “You will meet people with different cultures…[and who] have different lifestyles” (Siddiq). Exposing one to new cultures around the world can benefit travelers in many ways. Traveling has many benefits for humans it allows them to discover the world in a whole new perspective.

Admittedly, there are some major health risks when traveling. There are millions of diseases that people can come across while being out. A major disease that is making today’s headlines is the Zika virus. According to Mike Tierney, a writer for the New York Times, this disease “...can harm pregnant women and their unborn children when traveling to exotic destinations” (Tierney). The Zika virus is a dangerous virus that is affecting thousands of humans today. When reading headlines like these, people are scared of receiving this disease. Therefore, they decide to not travel. What people fail to consider, is the many ways traveling does not risk their health. If there is an outbreak in one part of the world, people should obviously not go to that area. Instead they should find places far away that show no risk. Research from the United States Travel Association proves, “...women who vacation every six years have a higher chance of gaining major health situations having to do with the heart, like heart attacks” (Erskine). People who go on vacations have greater health benefit than those who do not. Traveling is a better option than those who choose “save” their health by staying home. The same Association mentioned, “men who do not vacation often have a 20% higher risk of death than those who do” (Erskine). Traveling impacts many people and mostly men. Men who travel are less likely to have diseases. Some people may argue that traveling comes with a major health risk, traveling is the leading physical activity anyone can do to improve their well-being.

As one can see, traveling can expand one’s self-knowledge, improve their wellness, and display the beauties of life. Traveling is the best treatment for any kind of disease. It allows people to start over their lives and make it an even better one to live in. Do not miss out on your opportunity to travel. Today is the best day to go out and explore our massive world. Your destination does not have to be far or expensive. There are infinite many places that will capture your mind and change your life forever. So, get off the couch and dare to explore the places you thought you could only dream of going to.