Everyone wants to be happy; so, why is it so difficult to find happiness? Happiness is not a possession or commodity but an emotion which cannot be purchased. However, some believe that purchasing products gives them happiness; others find happiness in food, sleep, and work/study and work out. So, what have these got to do with travelling? Well, travelling gives you unending happiness and boosts your spirit too. However, travelling gives us a higher sense of happiness which lasts for a much longer time than you buying any product would ever give you. Travelling helps us to be truly happy. So, that makes travelling so meaningful and what are the reasons behind travelling making us happy?
Here are some reasons why we travel and how travelling makes us happy:-
1- Helps improve mental health– Sometimes working under pressure can get very strenuous as you might get depressed, frustrated and fed up with the job. How about taking a break by travelling? It would work as a stress buster! For, sometimes, we just want to break free from the work and stress, so travelling is not only about seeing new places. Rather it becomes necessary to take a break from a busy schedule of working life to a more relaxed one from time to time. According to a study in 2013, called the Stress in America survey by the American Psychological Association, concluded that going on vacations can actually reduce stress and the participants did not only feel better but could also handle stress better once they returned from the vacation. For, they had a break from the sources of stress, which is work.
Additionally, travelling makes you healthier mentally as productivity and creativity improve, people get better sleep.
2- Peace-Many find peace in travelling because they feel it as a detoxification. Coming away from the monotonous life most of us have today, it helps some keep their sanity check by disconnecting from the rest of the world. The luxury of not having to rush, this allows the peace to be there in the first place. It feels like there’s no negativity in the world for that moment and by this one can live in the moment then. For example, sitting by a lake that can also give a person a sense of quietude. Now, imagine yourself sitting in front of this lake witnessing this marvelous sunset.
3- Architecture– How many of the Seven Wonders of the World have you seen yet? Many people travel to admire the beautiful architectural sights and to learn history. Travelling is a great way to learn history by looking at live examples of great emperors and kings, architects of ancient time who built outstanding monuments which many possibly can’t be rebuilt in spite of having the current technology. Some great ingenious structures/monuments of the world: the centuries old Ram Setu is the first man-made coral-reef bridge connecting India to Sri Lanka, Pyramids of Giza and The Sphinx of Giza in Egypt which has controversies and theories of being built by the help of extraterrestrial life, the Iron pillar of Delhi which is never rusts is in Delhi, India, Vijaya Vittala Temple in Hampi, Karnataka, India which has 56 musical pillars which produce musical tones when struck with a thumb, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon in Mesopotamia (Modern Iraq), and great statues such as the Buddhas of Bamiyan (standing Buddhas) carved from a mountain, Gommateshawara Bahubali monolithic 57 feet (17 metres) high located in Karnataka, India, and the Moray (Inca ruins) consisting several terraced circular depressions is still an ancient engineering mystery in Peru, South America. These tourism sights have their own mysteries hidden till now. This fascinates archaeologists and people interested in artwork research and others generally interested in the diversity of architectural beauty.
4- Travelling and education– Man has legs so that he can displace himself from one place to another either for food, shelter against the elements or for self-protection against hostile animals/predators for survival. However, his brain has another aspect that is curiosity to know the cause of daily things he sees. So, this has automatically developed in him a sense of exploration, expansion, to seek more than his familiar comfort zone/surroundings. Now, for the sake of expanding his knowledge, the sense of adaptability has quickly developed in his rapidly growing faculties. He experiences a joy of learning new skills through new activities. That is why travelling became another medium to see and learn other aspects of life which at every subsequent phase which in turn became a treasure house of his mental abilities.
Additionally, it is said “Travelling is a part of education”. For, schooling is not the only education. So, travelling is a great way of learning about life. Many ancient scholars such Hiuen Tsang/Xuanzang and Fa Hien/Faxien was a Chinese Buddhist monks who travelled from China to India to learn about Buddhist scriptures, Marco Polo was an Italian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Route, Rahul Sankrityayan is called the Father of Indian Travelogue, Travel literature, spent forty-five years of his life on travels away from his home. Travelling also teaches us to be independent, adventurous, wander, to take risks because every locale, situation, site has different scenarios and outcomes turn out to be different almost for each person, even if they encounter the same occurrence. For instance, a group of four college students go hiking in the mountains and they encounter a wild bear. One of them might know to confront the situation. However, the others would most probably panic naturally because they are frightened and don’t have any idea how to deal with the wild bear. So, the one who knows can advise the others to follow his instructions to survive. That way the next time they would make prior preparations for a hike in the mountains. Moreover, travelling teaches us culture, religion, customs, languages, and way of lives of different human races we come across and respect them wholeheartedly. Therefore, travelling gives us abundant sources to learn and this is why writers, photographers and others seek for inspiration in nature.
5- Language and culture– Since I have mentioned language and culture already, I would like to focus on them a little further. So, travelling to a new country can be problematic if you don’t speak the language. Learning a new language has multiple benefits such as it boosts happiness, improves language learning skills, helps understand the world better, improves self-discipline by dedicating yourself to learning a language, improves decision-making skills, helps get higher paying jobs and the list goes on. Also, knowing the language of the country you are travelling to would help you communicate with locals easily and they would feel amicable too. This motivates them to tell you stories, and about places where other tourists (who don’t know their language) would possibly not know and not go. It would also motivate you to navigate by practicing your newly learnt language by navigating around the city safely. Learning the language would make you feel more close and homely to the locals, city and country just by knowing their language; for, you would feel as a native by having the privilege to appreciate and admire the culture and art more intimately than a tourist. So, if you are thinking of travelling, learning a new language just how a native speaks, then I have a small gift for you! To be able to learn a language as a native Language Mingle, an online learning platform, is the best option. It not only has native speaking tutors who are professionals yet of friendly nature. Language Mingle often has free lessons, specially customized courses for each learner and it’s still very affordable! So, if you would like to learn a new language please visit: www.languagemingle.com
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6- Meeting new people– Whether you travel alone or with friends, you will most definitely meet new people. While travelling, you become more open to communication as sometimes you would need help. You might sit in a bus and a person next to you could be a little annoying at first but gradually you might like them or the stories they would share with you. You could even find travel buddies, a best friend or even a lover; you never know what surprises life has got for you! Meeting new people is fun and educational; but when travelling is even better as the chances of meeting heterogeneous people from diverse backgrounds makes your travel more fascinating.
You could even meet new people who would become new acquaintances which in turn would open up to new opportunities and experiences in life. For instance, once I met with a cyclist who traveled from country to country just on his bike and it had many things written from different languages.
Another time when I was in Tibet in a deserted place with only one tea stall, I saw a bunch of children around seven years old or younger having food. After a little while, I see a mother dog and her cute puppies looking up to the children. I assumed they were hungry so wanted food. I was about to buy some biscuits for the animals but right then, I learnt something. I saw that the little boys immediately gave away their food, each giving a portion of their food to the animals. I was touched by the act and I smiled; I had learnt to share, be not only kind but selfless, generous and helpful.
7- Adventure– Adventure is surely one of the main reasons people travel. It is a way to add spice to our life that would make a big difference in a very hectic and repetitive lifestyle. It’s not like we need to go to a forest to survive to experience the jungle, which would be a great one though. However, trying exotic cuisine from where it belongs to, going for paragliding would also be adventurous. Many travellers have rigid plans that they would not like to change. In other words, doing something which is unplanned can be adventurous and amazingly fun! People often stay inside the hotels after travelling miles from a country to another.
Whilst it’s understandable that travelling can be tiring, it becomes pointless to pay for everything and yet stay indoors. Travelling for the rest of your life, can be very challenging in reality but many who have done it and do it say that it’s totally worth it. Believe it or not, many people aim to tick off their bucket list, it is a great motivator to start travelling and experience new occurrences. Going for a hike in the Machu Picchu’s Inca trail, snorkelling in the Maldives’ water, or prank a stranger, may be even train to as a chef for a month, do something meaningful and memorable to recount to your grandchildren, let them also know how cool their grandparent was! Although, some of these activities might be scary, the adrenaline rush and their following happiness is yet worth a try.
Moreover, adventure is different to every person but there would be a point in time the person would go through a phase during an adventure when they would learn the value of life. They would also learn to be grateful for what all they have at present, and realize how much they have taken life and everything for granted. Having an adventure especially means to come out of the comfort zone which in turn would teach you to overcome fears and obstacles, and also, become a better problem solver. Getting out of the comfort zone would give you an opportunity to experience all that you have not done thinking of your fears but most importantly you would learn the importance of life in the due course of an adventure. These are some lessons you would not be taught in school but from the world outside the comfort zone.
Here’s a famous quote by Frank Herbert, “Without new experiences, something inside of us sleeps. The sleeper must awaken.”
8- “Self-exploration”– Lessons in life teach us a lot if we pay attention to them. However, travelling also teaches a lot about us, our persistence, determination, capability, limits, persistence, etc. I call that “Self-exploration”. Feeling peaceful outwardly and inwardly would make us realize that we must live in the present and not over think, worry about the things we can’t control in life. Instead, we must learn to appreciate what we have in life right now, we shall question oneself whether we are missing out on something which is more important than stressing over something insignificant. That is why travelling helps us get a fresh perspective in life. For example, if we don’t have an idea of our capacity, limits, capability, till we don’t get afraid to fall, we might never learn the value to start again. So, for that we must be brave, go for adventurous trips, take chances and experience risk to truly live and we can proceed in life with a meaning.
