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Whether you are an adventurous traveler who scales mountains andhikes through jungles or you are a lover of creature comfortswho lives for five star hotels, travel will teach you some oflife's great lessons. It does not matter if you were born abeach bum or are an art enthusiast travel will enrich your life.
Whether you prefer traveling in groups or going it alone, ifyou are a planner or spontaneous your life will benefit bytraveling away from what you know. You don't have to go far, youmay or may not cross oceans, take a plane, train or car theimportant thing is that you explore the world outside of yourcommunity.
What will you discover?
Look at the familiar through new eyes: Travel to a placeyou know well with someone who has never been there before. On atrip to Pittsburgh, where I grew up, my niece and her boyfriendshowed me a city full of unique and charming old neighborhoods,museums dedicated to things such as ketchup, Andy Warhol and thebirth of the labor movement. I also saw that the view of thethree rivers from Mount Washington is as beautiful as any largecity vista.
We are small: Walk through the redwood forests inCalifornia or hike through Rocky Mountain National Park and youwill discover just how small we are.
There are more similarities than differences: Stand onthe shore in Nova Scotia, Canada and then the coast of Brittanyin France you will notice the similarities in the landscape andthe people even though these two places are separated by anocean.
You can be someone else: I have had people think I wasDutch in Lucca, Italy and Quito Ecuador, French in Venice andGerman in Rome. In fact the only place people absolutely knowthat I am American is in Canada. It is fun to play along and seewhere it takes you.
Food can be part of your adventure: You will find thatpretty food is not always good and ugly food is not always bad.It is not the wine that is important it is the new and oldfriends that you share it with that is important.
You can be happier if you strike out on your own: If youare traveling with a group you do not need to do everything yourcompanions do. Some people have an amazing capacity for artmuseums, others prefer churches and still others can walk formiles without a break. After spending a week in France lookingat buildings designed by the architect Corbusier, I finallyrented a car and went to San Tropez. Everyone was happier afterthat.
Rain is beautiful too: The sun does not have to shine tomake a place beautiful; standing in the rain in a rain forest isas beautiful as sitting in the sun in Portofino.
Beauty is all around you, just look and see: Treatyourself to the colors in the landscape in New Mexico and thelack of contrast between the water, ice and landscape on acloudy day in Newfoundland.
New York City is not the US, Paris is not France: Youlearn not to judge a country by one city - New York City is notrepresentative of the United States and Paris is notrepresentative of France.
Old is a state of mind: In some countries old ismeasured in thousands of years in other countries it is measuredin hundreds of years. In people, old is a state of mind, if youare young look around you at older travelers who are walking thesame paths as you only with canes and walking sticks often witha smile on their face.
When disaster strikes: Traveling makes you feel empathywhen disaster strikes. How many people cried after HurricaneKatrina remembering the people they had met in New Orleans orBiloxi? The tourist trade helped revive the economy of SoutheastAsia after the tsunami hit in 2004.
Imagine: Take a break and imagine what daily life islike in the place you are visiting, and then think of what itwas like a hundred years ago or a thousand years ago.
If someone asks you to sing then sing!: Step outsideyour comfort zone, try to speak the language, if people aresinging join in.
Smiles translate: If in doubt smile, they mean the samething in every language. Chances are you will be rewarded with asmile in return.
No amount of reading books, watching TV or listening to musiccan replace the experience of getting up off your couch andgoing to see it all for yourself. You will never look at theworld in the same way again.
About the author:
Jackie Willey enjoys sharing tips and advice on traveling.Subscribe to her mailing list at Amore Travel Guides and DiscoverWalking for more free information.
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