Traveling isn’t just about taking a fancy vacation, although sometimes a fancy vacation can be exactly what you need. Traveling is about opening yourself up to different cultures, people, foods and ways of life. Traveling is about sharing a moment in time with someone you love, or with complete strangers. Traveling is about being willing to take a plunge into the unknown and come out the other side as a new and improved version of yourself.
There are so many reasons why you should travel, but here are the ones I’ve found to be the most compelling:
Traveling Makes You Happy
A 2015 study performed by researchers at Cornell University found that the only way money can truly make you happier is by using that money on meaningful experiences. Dr. Thomas Gilovitch, a psychology professor at Cornell University who has spent over twenty years asking questions about money and happiness, has found that using money on experiences like traveling, art exhibits or outdoor activities can actually have a profound effect on your happiness.
“Our experiences are a bigger part of ourselves than our material goods,” says Dr. Gilovich. “You can really like your material stuff. You can even think that part of your identity is connected to those things, but nonetheless they remain separate from you. In contrast, your experiences really are part of you. We are the sum total of our experiences.”
Traveling Makes You More Creative
In 2009, researchers from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and INSEAD Business School found that students who study abroad are more likely than their peers who stay stateside to be able to solve a difficult creative problem. William Maddux, lead author of the study and an assistant professor of organizational behavior at INSEAD and a former visiting assistant professor and post-doctoral fellow at the Kellogg School, discovered that diverse experiences can boost creativity because they help us to look at problems from multiple points of view.
“Knowing that experiences abroad are critical for creative output makes study abroad programs and job assignments in other countries that much more important,” says Maddox. “Especially for people and companies that put a premium on creativity and innovation to stay competitive.”
Traveling Makes You Smarter
In Germany, researchers used mice to demonstrate the benefits of experiencing travel and exploration. They group of mice who were allowed more freedom to roam and explore, developed a greater amount of hippocampal neurogenesis, or more activity in the part of the brain responsible for learning, than their mouse peers who were not allowed as much room to explore.
Dr. Gerd Kempermann, neurologist and one of the study’s authors, told German news magazine Der Spiegel that “those who move around a lot have many more experiences. The brains of active individuals produce additional neurons in anticipation of more experiences to come and to deal with them effectively.”
Traveling Will Help You Understand History
There’s a big difference between reading about history and experiencing it firsthand. Whether you are already a history buff or were unimpressed in your history classes in school, it’s hard not to be inspired when you see famed pieces of art, like the Mona Lisa, architecture, like Rome’s Pantheon, and landmarks, like the Great Sphinx in Egypt.
When you go beyond the page and actually experience these ancient and majestic places around the world, it’s hard not to feel as though you are part of something bigger than your own story; you are part of history as well.
Go Have An Adventure
I think it’s fair to say that it’s been scientifically proven that travel can enrich your life. So what are you waiting for?
Thanks so much, Wayne! Hope you’ll keep reading 🙂