Many of us, perhaps, agree that the real education, which is surely useful to people in their lives, we get mostly outside the stuffy classes. No, this is not a passage in favor of a revision of the fundamental principles of the modern system of obtaining knowledge. But, in addition to the usual “school-teacher-class-control” schemes and “college-teacher-group-examinations”, there are more specific ways of knowing yourself and the world around you and getting a lot of useful skills.
In fact, travelling is the best way to learn a lot for yourself. Whether you are walking along the streets of Paris, climbing a mountain peak in the Himalayas or spending a sunny day on the Dominican beach, travelling will never fail you as a teacher.
Below you will find 10 reasons why travelling is the best form of education, no matter where you are going and what adventures are waiting for you.
Learning foreign languages
People in virtually any part of the world speak or at least understand English. Nevertheless, it is always better to know the language of the country you are going to visit. Travelling makes you learn different languages. After learning the basics with books, apps or videos, you can improve your skills by talking to a native speaker.
Learning more about other cultures
Travelling not only to other countries, but even to other parts of your own country is the best way to learn a lot of interesting things. You begin to better understand how varied the cultures of the whole world are, to notice the similarities and differences between the traditions familiar to you and get accustomed to ways of life that are completely strange to you.
Learning history through sightseeing
Yes, you have probably studied ancient civilizations and major historical events at school, but nothing compares to a personal visit to historical sights, together with the discovery of a lot of interesting facts.
You understand what the world looks like today
Travelling tells you not only about how the world was in the past, but also about what it is today. Surely, this is the best way to really appreciate the political situation, economic scenarios and the social structure of the world in which we live in today.
You get acquainted with nature
When you leave your comfort zone in the middle of the concrete jungle and begin to explore the most exotic natural phenomena of the world, you will understand the colossal power of nature. The greatness of nature is important for solving most global problems, such as climate changes and air pollution.
You discover new things for yourself
Travelling will fill you up with knowledge literally every second. Since you are opening the way to the unknown, travelling will force you to do many things that didn’t even come to your mind before. It does not matter what you will do: tame elephants in Cambodia, wander the Appalachians or dance a samba in Brazil – while travelling, you will discover many new things for yourself. You can be shy and think that it’s not so easy to communicate with people. But travelling will change this state of affairs, since it is almost impossible to have a trip without communicating with strangers. So, isn’t it a real life course on personal development?
You improve your communication skills
If you live life in opposition, constantly reacting in one way or another to the circumstances that are hanging over you, and at the same time want to change the existing order of things, but do not know how to do it, the trips will help you learn to be independent and able to control your own destiny.
Travelling teaches us to be more determined
When travelling, you learn to be independent, especially if you go alone. You will learn to make decisions on your own and take initiative.
You learn compassion
When you travel a lot, facing the multitude of cultural characteristics of people all over the world, you begin to understand that, despite all the differences, we are still very similar to each other, and your prejudices about skin color or religion will gradually disappear.
You recognize yourself
Perhaps this is the most important aspect of education, which can be obtained through travelling. Being in unknown locations, in unfamiliar circumstances and in unfamiliar cultural layers, we see ourselves differently, noticing a lot of important things in our character, behavior, habits and other components of our personality that we did not pay attention to before. You realize the real scope of your potential, you know what you enjoy doing with pleasure, and what really irritates you, and, finally, you come to an understanding of who you really are.
So, travel the world, discover something new and just enjoy your life that also exists behind your doors.