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5 ways travelling makes you a better person

We work in a pretty awesome industry guys. Not only is travelling fun and full of adventure and laughs, but it can also change the world and make us all better people.

We work in a pretty awesome industry guys. Not only is travelling fun and full of adventure and laughs, but it can also change the world and make us all better people.

There’s already a ton of scientific research that proves that travelling can make us happier. But it’s also clear to me and to many of those inflicted with the travel bug that jetting off to another part of the world and travelling just makes us better people too.

Here are five specific ways that travelling can change you for the better.

 

1. You understand what it feels like to be an outsider

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For someone that’s never left Australia and has always fitted in, it can be hard to understand what it feels like for foreigners here – whether they’re just visitors or immigrants.

But when the shoe’s on the other foot – when you’re the one who doesn’t speak the language and you’re the one who fumbles through cultural conventions – then you’re more likely to act more compassionately to visitors in your own country, which is a better way to be.

 

2. You’re more compassionate

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Source: pinterest.com

Following on from the above, travelling around the world opens your eyes to the state of the world, and makes you realise just how good we have it here in Australia.

Seeing the most extreme expressions of poverty in parts of Ethiopia, for example, often changes something inside of you – permanently. Hopefully you can also bring that compassion back home with you and help locals in your own country as you help locals overseas.

 

3. It gives you time to think (about stuff)

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It’s hard to get away from the complicated stresses and commitments of ordinary life when you’re at home, but travel to some far-flung destination where they don’t speak your language and you can’t read the signs, and finally, you can have time to actually think.

A 10-hour train ride from Marrakesh to Fez (without Wi-Fi), for example, gives you time to think about where your life is heading and whether it’s on track.

 

4. It teaches you not to sweat the small stuff

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Source: rehahnphotographer.com

Getting ripped off and scammed is pretty much part of the travelling experience in most countries around the world, and although it stings for the first few days, you eventually come to understand that it comes with the territory – literally.

The key to keeping this frustration at bay is shifting your attention to everything that’s going right on your travels, because ultimately your own happiness depends on it. In other words: you mustn’t sweat the small stuff. This is a vital skill to have, and travelling – in its own way – can be your greatest teacher.

 

5. You’ll shed layers of ignorance you never knew you had

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Source: ohmyroad.com

Forget what you’ve heard through the media or been told by your mates and colleagues at work – travel to the country yourself and you’ll soon learn that much of what you’ve been told simply isn’t true. Travelling is great for shedding layers of ignorance you never knew you had, and it will teach you things about the world (and people) that you just can’t learn from a book.

This is how travelling can change the world too: the more educated and aware we are of the state of the world, the more we can educate the masses back home and hold our governments to account to ensure everyone in the world benefits from travel.

*Do you think travel has become less connected to local communities?

Has travel made you into a better person? How so? Tell us in the comments below.