Taking trips and traveling is a wonderful thing that I encourage everyone to do. The distance of travel, the destination of choice, the length of the trip and amount of trips taken in a lifetime can vary of course but the important thing is that we take trips throughout our life. Why, you ask?
Because traveling is an expansive thing for us to do; it helps us grow, transform and develop which are all key things to living. So, without further ado I present to you the 5 reasons to take a trip (I'm sure there are many more reasons, however these are the main ones that are currently speaking to me) -
1. Perspective changes
After just returning from a trip to Mexico this is fresh on my brain. I FEEL different after my trip. Feelings are based on our perception of our environment so what traveling does is it helps us to shift our perspective and in turn helps change the way we feel.
When we travel we go into other people’s environments and out of our own. By doing this, we get to see and experience other ways of living. Seeing the way other people live helps us to realize that the ways we have currently been living are not the only way. It makes our world bigger. By noticing this it can shift our perspective enough to come home feeling that we do in fact have the power to change our lives. While we have had this power all along, traveling can help us regain it if it had been lost. It's a powerful tool to notice the way others live, work, feel, and interact. It makes the world bigger than just the small portion we have been living in. It takes pressure off of ourselves because we really are NOT the center of the universe; in fact we are a teeny tiny piece. It's a beautiful and sweet relief from the burden some of carry – as though the weight of the world is on our shoulders.
Being in a different environment and seeing how the world reacts to us helps us to step back and become the observer of ourselves. Noticing how others react and interact with us can be a clear reflection of what we are projecting into the world. It is a more pure version than in our daily lives, because the people we meet while travelling do not know us and therefore do not have a preconceived idea of who we are and what we stand for and how to best interact with us to get desired results. So, we begin to understand what we are projecting into the world based on how others are treating us and reacting to us and from here we can decide if this is the way we want to continue to be. Do we like what is being reflected back to us? Are we projecting our best selves into the universe? This is an important thing to step back and think about. Know that you have the power to change EVERY SINGLE DAY. We get to wake up with a fresh start and be whoever we want to be, it’s a brand new day and a fresh start. The depth of our daily growth can be as expansive and explosive as we want it to be. The power is within each and every one of us.
With these changes in perspective we can continue on our journey to our most magnificent self with a bit more awareness and freshness.
2. Gets us out of our comfort zone
Being outside of our normal routine and our normal environment in a place that we have not yet discovered takes us outside of our comfort zone. Even for someone that travels often and has a humongous comfort zone, each trip has the ability to get us to step a little farther, and learn a little more about ourselves. The beauty of stepping outside our comfort zone is that by doing so we end up expanding our zone. The importance of this is that the bigger our comfort zone is, the more likely we are to feel centered in more places and different circumstances.
While traveling we are going places we have never been, seeing things we have not seen before, and meeting new people along the way. Sometimes this can feel scary or overwhelming or like it takes too much energy to do this, but by being outside our comfort zone we are learning about ourselves. We are learning to be okay in different situations. We are learning to work through different things. We are learning, growing, and expanding from the inside out. And guess what? Learning is not always fun and exciting as it is happening, but learning is what keeps us alive. If we aren't learning we aren't growing, and if we aren't growing, we are dying.
So as we journey on, remember there are no mistakes....only takes. Traveling helps take you out of your comfort zone, increasing your zone size, and giving you a chance to have some different types of “takes.”
3. Increases trust in humanity
While on the road there are times when we need to rely on other people in ways we may not inour everyday life. There are taxi drivers, waiters, reviews & ratings, pilots, boat drivers, tour guides, etc. We are placing trust in these people with our lives, our safety, our health, our well-being. This can be nerve-wracking BUT the way it works is that if you trust in them and show them kindness their abilities and gentle humanity will come through. Being authentic is the key to this. If others read fear on us, genuine fear, they will most likely do all they can to calm us and reassure us, because in the end, we all have love and compassion within us and want to try to help others feel safe and reassured.
Take a trip, try this out, and see how it goes for you. This has been my experience time and time again. There have been many ways that I had to trust someone else - like asking for directions while in Japan since I couldn't read the signs, or in India trusting the taxi driver to get me from Delhi to Rishikesh when I could not understand a word they were saying, or drinking water in Mexico and asking if they were using filtered water and trusting they had (which in fact they did).
It also helps us build trust in humanity because we see how hard others work in their daily life. When we are not the one’s hustling, it’s easier for us to notice others and there are a lot of people out there working really hard, trying really hard, and doing their best each day.
4. Inspiring
One of the magical things of traveling is that we become surrounded by people that are DIFFERENT than the people we come across in our daily lives. We get the chance to meet other people that have interesting life stories. By making an effort and taking the time to talk to others and get to know what makes them feel alive, why they do the career they do, and what they consider to be the most important things in their life a whole new world opens up to us. We get to live vicariously through their stories and learn from their mistakes and triumphs without actually going through the experiences ourselves. It's a time saving technique too! ;)
The people we meet may be the locals and we get introduced to their customs and cultures and ways of living. Depending on where we are traveling, this can help us appreciate all you have been given in our life and inspire us to change our ways to better the planet and help others. Or we meet other travelers that have seen places of the world we have not yet, or done things we have always wanted to do. By encountering these other people we become INSPIRED to take action in our own life. We see all the action they have taken, the joys they have experienced, the journey they are on and we come away wanting some of that for yourselves.
I believe that the people we encounter and things we experience while traveling are meant to happen and meant to move us in some way. Whether we are inspired to be kinder, softer, and more conscious about our consumption and ways of living or we are inspired to take an action we've been dreaming about, traveling can most definitely leave one feeling inspired in many ways. A tip to hold onto this inspiration is to write it down. Write why you feel inspired and what you want to do with that inspiration and if it fades go back and read it to feel refreshed again.
5. Increase energy (& mindfulness)
Changing pace can be a good thing, a very very good thing. It helps us get out of ruts or propels us even further forward. Changing our environment and changing our pace keeps us humble and it keeps us present. When we are not in our routine we must think about what we are doing rather than being on autopilot. By being conscious we are waking ourselves up on the cellular level.
While traveling we are trying out new restaurants, new grocery stores, new hotels/campsites, taking taxis or driving rental cars we've never driven before. By doing all these things we are bring ourselves into conscious living. All the cells in our body become activated and alive because now we are thinking and more mindful of what we are doing for both our survival and our enjoyment. This feeling is amazing! It brings life back into the body by waking up all of the cells. Some people claim the opposite and come back from a trip feeling exhausted and the reason for this is because their nervous system is firing in a new and exciting way and their cells are activated differently. They are using more brain power to make actual decisions throughout the day and they have to think about where they are going and what they are doing. They are finally living rather than going through the motion and this takes more energy than being on autopilot. If this has happened to you before be sure to plan extra rest time for your next trip as well as notice in your daily living ways that you can activate your brain more. (Ideas could be taking a different route home each day, cooking different foods, taking a new class, switching up your outfits, etc).
Bottom line, we want to be as awake and alive as possible in our lives. We want to feel free and energized and happy. Traveling can be a boost in all of these areas and can teach us ways to come home and live in the present, enjoy what we have, and make changes for our future.
If these things speak to you, I encourage you to begin to plan your next trip. Perhaps it's a weekend getaway to place you've been wanting to check out? Maybe you want to travel to a new country and learn their language and culture? Are you ready for a life changing experience and want to take a yoga retreat with me where I plan out the trip and you get to come and enjoy the experience of travel and growth? If so, click HERE to be added to our list and I will notify you once the next retreat is ready for you to register for!
