If you have time, the funds and an
opportunity, traveling isn’t something you should pass up. Here are some reasons why you should make time to travel in your 20s.
To get out of your comfort zone. Get out of your hometown or state and experience something new, whether it’s a different part of the U.S. or another country. It’s an opportunity to make new friends and find out what places are known for.
Experience a new culture. Breakaway from your routine and discover how other people do theirs. In some cultures, being on time isn’t as important and meal times may last hours longer. Find out what behaviors makes a place unique.
Dissolve your judgments and stereotypes. Break your misconceptions about people from certain places, before it’s too late. Your 20s is a perfect time to experience other cultures and people and form your own opinions, instead of letting society do it for you.
New Food! Obviously one of the best aspects about traveling is experiencing new cuisines. Your 20s is the right time to do this because you are in the transition period of learning how to cook. You don’t know if you like escargot unless you try it.
To learn how to navigate. Figuring out how to use public transportation in a big city or another country is a good skill-set to have if you weren’t born and raised in the city. In your 20s, you should try to learn how to do this on your own. Knowing how to easily navigate yourself in another place, especially in another language, will make you feel prepared if you decide to take a job in another city.
A chance to use the language. Parlez-vous Francais? Many of us have studied French, Spanish, German and several other languages for years. Traveling while you are still in college, or just recently graduated, is a way for you to use the language while it’s fresh in your head.
An opportunity to disconnect. Social media and my iPhone are good things, but
sometimes we are so focused on our “cyber reality” that we forget to turn it off and pay attention to what is right in front of us. Traveling out of the country forces us to turn off our phones and engage in what is right before our eyes. Attempt to minimally use your phone, enjoy the present and share all your stories when you get back.
The possibility of a new home. Many people are born, grow up in the same location, and stay there for the rest of their lives. There’s nothing wrong with that, however, traveling when you are young opens the doors to the possibility of a new place to live in the future. Get out there, experience cultures, and discover people and places first-hand. You might belong somewhere you haven’t even discovered yet.
An Insightful post. Never thought of it that way. Thumbs up !