Schools offer great opportunities for traveling and studying abroad. Still, many students have so much going on, that they simply put off traveling for later, not understanding or paying attention to the opportunities presented to them.
Even though traveling is essentially a fun experience, it can teach people things that they simply cannot learn from books and schools. Therefore, the earlier one starts travelling, the sooner they will experience the eternal knowledge that comes from it.
Chances are, after you finish high school or college, you will start having obligations you did not have until that point. When time comes for building a career and a family, travelling becomes a luxury, which is yet another reason why students need to take advantage of their freedom.
If you were wondering how you can benefit from travelling, this article should show you what it can do for students.
Travelling Allows for Growth and Independence
Being away from home on your own makes you become more responsible and independent. This is a great opportunity to see your abilities and accomplish something without the assistance of others.
As Danny Kaye once said: ”To travel is to take a journey into yourself”. Without taking the chance of knowing yourself, you will never learn your best skills and abilities and even if you are amazing at something, chances are you will never go for it.
Travelling Makes You More Appreciative
Young people establish a comfort zone in their home, school and even home city. Once they finish school and become adults, they start struggling with even the smallest changes. However, once you get out of your comfort zone for even a couple of days, you get to be more appreciative of everything.
Being in a new place is challenging and comes with the task of having to respond and act in an unfamiliar situation. New place and new people will be completely different from what you know from your life so far, which will allow you to become more competent as an individual.
Try to embrace the discomfort that comes from being in a new place. Once you let yourself connect with others and navigate in different environments, you will find this experience to be unforgettable and extremely valuable.
Travelling Makes You Culture-Aware
Being aware of other cultures is something everyone must learn at some point in life. Generalization of nations and countries has reached a dangerous level of discrimination, which can only be beaten by inserting oneself and getting to know other cultures.
Once you visit a different culture, you may experience a culture shock. Travelling abroad will show you that not everyone lives your life, eats your food or acts like people that surround you at home. Learning the values of others will make you culturally sensitive and prepare you for the globalizing world. This is at the same time fascinating and incredibly complex since it teaches students on how to be more acceptive and widens their knowledge.
Travelling Builds Your Confidence
Once you blend in the new environment and conquer the obstacles of having to act on your own, you will experience a boost in confidence that you have never felt so far. Adapting in different situations will allow you to accept changes you never thought you could accept. You simply learn that you can do things you did not know you could.
Travelling Allows for Learning a Foreign Language
When abroad, you often have to communicate with people who speak a different language. Learning foreign languages in this rapidly globalizing world is crucial since communication is key in building relationships with people. Even if you have not learned the language prior to visiting a country where it is spoken, you will immediately be immersed into it and learn at least a bit before you go home.
Many say that a foreign language is best learned in a country where it is spoken. This is quite understandable since when abroad, the need of communicating with people in a different language is much stronger than at your home, where you speak to people whose native language is same as yours. The more you try to understand and speak a foreign language, the easier you will remember and learn to use it.
Travelling Provides You with Infinite Opportunities to Network
Whether you are working, studying or simply visiting a foreign country, travelling provides you with infinite opportunities to meet people and make friends. Cultural immersion breaks down the barrier presented by language, which allows you to get close to people that live in a completely different culture than yours.
Friends you will meet abroad are relationships that you will not have acquired otherwise. This opens a completely new chapter of opportunities. Finally, an amazing friendship you have made on your travel is something that will forever remain in your memory. As Tim Cahill says: ‘ A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles’.
Every travel takes a part in people’s memory, but that is not the only thing people take home when they get back from a foreign country. By travelling, students enjoy the opportunity of gaining knowledge that will stay with them eternally. Travel is an amazing experience and at the same time, a highly educational one.
