Why Travel is Important
It is a nice, sunny day and you are walking through a meadow of long grass with all various kind of colorful flowers grabbing your attention. You look up, tilt your head back, and you breathe in the fresh, clean air and smile. You look around you again and see the vivid color of nature and your smile slowly turns into a full grin. You’re once again surprised and cannot come to believe you are experiencing such beauty. I mean you have never been to a place with such naturalistic views, it absolutely blows your mind! It almost feels like you are in a painting made by a very skillful, world-known artist. But fortunately, this is your reality and you could not be any more grateful to be experiencing the wonderful country of Sweden. A different world, a different fresh of breath than you’re unused to.
Travelling is a fresh breath of air. It can almost be described as a nice, brisk air that you never knew you needed until you took it in. Just like air, it is an essential and a necessity to survive life. We live in a world where there are 7 continents, 193 countries, and over 6,000 languages spoken. Travelling allows you to step out of your own world and understand the world around by you by experiencing something new, something different.
Luckily, we live in a technologically advanced and interconnected world, so travelling is made possible, easy and efficient. Imagine yourself hoping on a 6-hour flight from the Northern part of America to a country called Colombia located in South America, which is known for its extensive history, delicious cuisine, wonderful language and friendly citizens who are happy to welcome you to their beautiful country. So cool, right! And all you had to do was take a 6-hour flight to experience a new reality from that of your daily life in North America.
Traveling is important because it grows you, it pushes you and allow you to take step out of your comfort-ability which for many individuals, can to result to self-awareness and a deeper sense of understanding of the world around them. For example, this could happen when you find yourself in the vast country of Russia in which you are forced to learn a new language because you cannot seem to understand a single sentence spoken without scrunching up your face. Perhaps, it allows you to understand what kind of foods you would never try again when you are offered to eat fried snails in a tiny restaurant located in the southern part of Nigeria. All of these are experienced when one is forced to step out of their comfort zone and participate in the new environment that they are immersed in.
Travelling allows an individual to create long-lasting, unforgettable, cherished memories. Imagine looking down at a picture of you and your family smiling in front of the Eiffel Tower. Instantly, nostalgia hits you and you remember the events of the day. One of your favorite memory being the wonderful afternoon you spent sitting at a lavish café drinking hot, creamy coffee and eating delicious French pastries with your family. Your mouth begins to water, craving those one-of-a-kind croissants that had just the right amount of flakiness yet softness to
each bite. Although, it’s been 2 years since you took that trip to Europe with your family, you can still remember those memories from just a single glance at the picture.
That’s what is fun about travelling…
It is YOUR own experiences. YOUR own adventure-filled memories. YOUR own crazy yet funny stories. No one is able to take away these encounters from you, because after all, we all understand the world in our own specialized lens.
Travelling is an essential part of life. It’s needed to navigate through life because of the endless exposure it allows one to experience. The pros of travelling far outweighs the cost of not travelling.
Every individual should embark on a journey. The journey to encounter the wonderful, exquisite, shocking yet pleasuring life experiences this wonderful world has to offer.
~ Written by Dasola Olufosoye, 4th Year Public Health Student
Winning piece for Owner Direct Vacation Rentals 2019 Study Away Scholarship essay contest.
For some, travel is an expense, but, not knowing the many reasons why travel is important. People should not look with the money they will spend, but, they should look how travel helps a lot in many ways. For me, travel is therapeutic, when I see the ocean, mountains and hear the waves and chirping birds, it makes me so relax, find peace and can think clearly. Travelling alone or with family is really amazing, the fun, adventures and the memories, just like what you’ve said 🙂 .