Traveling can create lasting memories for individuals, couples, and families. It allows people to experience new foods, scenery, and traditions. You do not have to travel far to enjoy new territory. All it requires is setting aside time. If you are a planner, you can map the entire trip. If you enjoy flying by the seat of your pants, then maybe just getting a ticket and having a packed bag is all you need or want. No matter what style of traveler you are or how often you get to go to new places there are some benefits to traveling, but traveling cannot fix or repair all areas of our lives. Travel magazines, television commercials, and advertisements make it appear that traveling is a magic wand that once waved over our head will make everything better. You should know what it can and cannot do. There are many ways adventures change people. Here we will break down six issues that can and cannot be altered by traveling.
What Travel CAN Help With
1. Breaking Shyness – Traveling naturally forces you to engage with other people, but it can be far less stressful than in everyday situations because asking questions becomes necessary. You need to know what time the train leaves or where the bathroom is. It eases you into conversation and confidence. The relax effort may also be because you know you will probably never see these people again, so you have nothing to lose by asking a simple question. Psychology Today recommends to overcome shyness be interested in others. Take the focus off yourself. Doing this could begin some great conversations while traveling.
2. Enhance Creativity – Every time you allow yourself to be exposed to new foods, sights, or cultures you have a unique experience to draw from. Traveling brings about all sorts of temporary changes that the mind, body, and spirit can safely investigate. Long after the adventure has ended, the thoughts stay with you, and you can use them for creative problem solving, making new conversation, or establishing new models or frameworks for projects and ideas.
3. Lose Weight – What? I bet you never thought you would see that as a side effect from traveling, but it can be. Spa facilities that focus on exercise and nutrition are trendy, and these all-inclusive resorts are located around the world. If you have a family and need lots of activities, cruises offer fun fitness classes. There are caloric-burning dance classes, and you can continue to dance the night away on the ship. Shore excursions can involve paddling a kayak, riding a mountain bike, or learning to scuba dive.
What Travel CANNOT Help With
1. Depression – Many people are falsely led to believe that a trip will make depression “go away”. As documented by HealthLine that is not the case. Some symptoms are enhanced before, during, and after the trip. Planning is a necessary part of travel, and it can be daunting. The stress of trying to find hotels and flights, budget money, and set up the household to run while your away can create anxiety and move depression further. Returning home can add to the pain. After what seems to be a successful vacation, arriving back to reality can hit a depressed person’s system harder. It seems to amplify the negative feelings that were already there before, but now they feel even more prominent. There might be better alternatives to seek before choosing traveling to help ease depression.
2. Heartache – A broken heart can be caused by a breakup, the loss of a loved one, and divorce. The ache that comes with such devastation is deep. A person can feel more alone when traveling. A study posted by the Chicago Tribune found that the act of journaling helped mend heartache. It might be a better way to deal with the pain, and save your time and money for travel at another time.
3. Learning a Language – You were probably always taught the best way to learn a new language was to go to visit that country. Fluent In Three Months states learning is not a passive activity. If you are in a foreign country, you will be doing all you can to find food and shelter. It is not the time to learn verb conjugations. A better approach would be to study at home first. Learn some basic phrases you can use there then go on your trip. Use some of your new phrases to make friends, order a meal, and have a good time.
Hopefully, these tips shed some new light on what to expect out of vacations. Travel can be a great adventure and create lifelong dreams, but sometimes traveling is not the answer.