Why Travel?

There are a ton of reasons to travel.

Skip down past my epistle...

I never really sat down and came up with a reason for why I should travel. I never tried to justify why I should or would go anywhere. I never made up the old pros and cons list of whether or not I would travel.

It is just in me. It just happened. I want to see the world.

When I see a picture of a scene in a far off land, like the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal, a windswept tree on an African plain, a gathering of people with cultures so different from my own, perhaps adorned with tribal face paint and nature's jewellery, I feel like it is not something that is done justice with even the most stunning of photographs. I feel like it is there for me to experience, to witness with my own eyes. I feel drawn to it. I want to feel the temperatures, taste the foods, touch the skin of the people and hear their music, smell the scents of the nature and otherwise. I want to meet the people and share something with them.

I got off to a lucky start. Growing up, my family travelled to Europe and the Caribbean quite a bit. My extended family is in England. The stage was set.

My first out of country travel experience without my family was to Europe. I planned a 3-month budget backpacking trip around Europe with my university room mate. To me, it was really the obvious thing to do. We planned. We saved. And in the last weeks before departure, I was SURE I was going to die. I was confident I would go to Europe and die and never come back. Even having been there before and survived fine and well, I was terrified. I was going without Mom and Dad to a strange, strange place. Somehow though, I was compelled to go anyway. Plus Dad refused to turn the car around on the way to the airport.

Well, I didn't die. I got hooked. But travelling was still an unknown. And it remains that way and always will, but it has become something that over time, I have learned to approach and do so excitedly.

Three years later, I applied to a university run program to send me on a work exchange. I ranked my preferred jobs and locations and ended up with a 6-month assignment in Denmark. In the spirit of youthful European backpacking, I looked for someone to travel around Scandinavia with me for a few weeks before my internship began. I couldn't find anyone to commit. I was disappointed and stressed out. For a little while. Then I made the decision to go alone. I could do it. I had done it before.

I bought the latest guidebook and studied Scandinavia. I read about the amazing scenery in northern Norway, the puffins, the whales, the drying cod, the tiny islands and the midnight sun, all above the Arctic Circle up in the North Sea. I chalked those ideas up to dreams, and then turned my attention to figuring out where I actually could go visit. Only after a few days did it dawn on me that it was possible for me to go see the puffins, the whales, the drying cod, the tiny islands and the midnight sun of the far, far north. And I did it. Alone. And again, I lived.

I met lots of fellow ex-pats while living in Denmark. We all talked about our travels and travel aspirations. I met a guy named Andrew. He had been to Croatia. He told me that in going to Croatia, he had realized that he could go anywhere. He believed that anyone could go anywhere. You just get on a plane and go. You just go.

In a bout of innocence and naïve trust, I believed him. I tried it out in the ensuing years, venturing to Eastern Europe, South America, Southeast and Central Asia. I knew he was right when one sunny but hazy July day I sat in a small metal hulled power boat cruising up the quick flowing, milky brown, swirling Amazon river in the depths of the Peruvian rain forest. Prevailing thought for the best part of the day, inside and outside of my head: "I CAN'T believe I am on the Amazon".

I am not done travelling the world, and hope I never will be. There are endless possibilities of types of travel and destinations. Now I really do believe I can go anywhere. I believe you can too. Anyone can. Anyone can go anywhere.

So why bother? And it occasionally CAN be a bother, but the most rewarding bother I know.

Reasons to Tell Your Parents and Other Loan Providers

Exposure to World and Cultural Issues...
Seeing the world first hand, with the naked eye, brings whole new perspectives. Witnessing the vastness or the destruction of the world's resources makes the stories we read in the newspapers real. Meeting people of other races and religions can melt ignorant prejudices and foster a critical eye on stereotypes. Being immersed in communities of people of a different culture leads to an understanding of the differences and similarities between people the world over. It creates compassion and unique, firsthand opinion. Having a conversation with a person from the other side of the world can bring new understanding and opinions of the world's religious clashes and holy wars. Being a minority for the first time humbles, and allows a person to take a walk in the other side's shoes. Witnessing the extremes of our world's population, poverty and riches, sickness and health, abundance and want, hunger and indulgence, crowds and isolation, friendliness and loneliness; one becomes in better touch with their own blessings and shortcomings, and those of their own inherent culture and country. The traveller's mind is open to the real issues of the world, on both a personal and macro level.

Independence, Self-Reliance, Confidence...
Travelling as defined way above is all about exposure to the real world. It's about existing in an unfamiliar place surrounded by unfamiliar people, unfamiliar smells and unfamiliar noises. Routine is lost. Dependence on others is lost. The so-called comfort zone is challenged. Although a culture's people may be defined in the guidebook as 'friendly' or 'hospitable', the traveller is essentially on his or her own. Decisions on how to find the train station, which town to visit next, how to stretch the dollar, how to provide yourself with the next meal and bed, are all your own. You have to take care of yourself. Manage your money and time. Catch the bus. Stand up for yourself. Reap consequences or rewards of your actions. Create your fun, your lifestyle, your support system. Results are fun, experience and confidence in yourself.

Problem Solving and Creativity...
No, not like math class. Real life problem solving. What do you do when you step off the train into a deserted station in a new-to-you European country at 11 o'clock at night and find that you have no currency, the banks are closed and the ATM is broken? How do you communicate to the peanut vendor who speaks only Nepalese that you are looking for a public toilet? What do you conclude when the Indonesian inn keeper warns you of the helicopters flying around in your room? Where do you go when you have missed the last connection to Bangkok and the only hotel in the village is closed down 'for repairs'? What do you do to entertain when surrounded in a Peruvian slum by a barrage of 8 year olds who have just abandoned their friends birthday party to gawk at you? I'll tell you what you do. You solve problems. You get creative. And then you nod with satisfaction at your solutions.

Broadened Horizons, Matured Perspectives...
Not only do you learn about the places you visit, and about the people who inhabit them, but you learn about the other travellers that cross your path, and the parts of the world they hail from. You realize that your little corner of the world is not the only corner in the world. You learn that your ways of doing things may be way different from someone else's approach. You find out that people who have different opinions than yours are justified in them, and have very valid points to back them up. You may even change your own opinions. You find that people are driven by very different factors to choose the lifestyles they choose and make the decisions they make. You become aware of zillions of new ideas, and billions of new opportunities. Your fire is fuelled. You get a taste for the complexity of the world. You get a taste for the simplicity of the world.

Reasons to Tell Yourself and Your Friends

It's Different, It's Fun, It's Cool...
There's no denying these. Of course it's different. Same can get boring. Life in the town you live most likely doesn't offer the day-to-day challenges and excitements of learning new languages, hearing new music, meeting new people from different cultures, tasting new foods, seeing new sights and pounding the pavement (or grass, or gravel, or sand, or soil) in search of new adventure and experience. Being in far-off places make you feel worldly, unique and important. Or it may do exactly the opposite and humble you completely. Either way, you feel different then how you feel in your same daily life at home. Most people find the challenge of new stimuli fun. And cool. Oh, and one more thing: Bragging Rights.

Make New Friends and Contacts...
By actually going to different places, you meet face-to-face with people, you strike up conversations and forge friendships. You network. You collect e-mail addresses or snail mail addresses. It's an excellent way to perpetuate the travel bug inside you and a great tool to later revive that adventurous spirit within. When back at work or study in your hometown two weeks, months or years down the road, you can take a break from your intense thought and drop a line to your buddy in Moscow to tell them about the camping trip you went on last weekend, to get that recipe for Barbequed Lamb a la Boris, to reminisce about your bungee jump over Victoria Falls together, or to simply let him know what day you will be arriving on his doorstep when on your next adventure.

Selfish Time; Finding Yourself...
'Finding Yourself' is like the cliché buzzword of youthful travel. Everybody wants to go 'find themselves' and assumes that a ticket to a foreign continent is also a ticket to eternal self-understanding and depth of thought. It is an odd idea to think that by physically 'losing yourself' in a foreign land, you can 'find yourself' metaphysically. Well, travelling can certainly open your eyes to what you want out of life, how you fit in in the global picture, how you react in certain situations and what you like and dislike. But does anyone really know what it means to 'find yourself'? My own personal thought on the subject - and brace yourself, because this is deep - is that a person can never 'find themselves' because they are always changing. It is tough to nail down a moving target. Having said that however, travelling can certainly allow opportunity for self-reflection and resolution. You can gain a better understanding of what your own personal level of independence is, where you define your safety circle and what your own personal requirements are for physical and emotional comfort. You can even use the foreign arena as a forum to try out different things, like activities and personalities, without the risk of judgement by people who already have a concept of who you are. And finally, whether you view this as a positive or a negative, travelling is your opportunity to be as selfish as you choose, especially when you are flying solo. You alone make the decision on where you want to spend your afternoon, what time you want to eat your meal, where you want to sleep that night and when you want to call home. Travelling is all about what you want and choose to do. Of course it is also a time to be as giving as you want, by helping out those around you. Essentially though, it is your choice. Travelling is all about you.

New Activities, New Adventures...
Travelling is not just travelling. It is the opportunity to try new activities. Perhaps you can't go canyoning in your local area, or bouldering in your backyard. There may not be a sea for you to kayak in, a forest trail for you to traverse on two wheels, a mountain with a vertical large enough to allow for anything more than a 7 minute descent on your snowboard. Maybe there are no tropical fish in your backyard pool to hover over while wearing a snorkel, and maybe the desert is just too far away to try out a sandboarding day trip. It's possible your local eatery just doesn't serve cactus fajitas and you can't find those darn ingredients at the supermarket. Perhaps there is just no volcano to climb, rainforest to trek or ancient ruin to explore. Maybe all the museums in your town were visited by you on fieldtrips back in elementary school, and that circa 1963 church just doesn't make you marvel at its history. Maybe the elephant at the local zoo doesn't give rides. Or maybe the snow on the road in front of your home prohibits you from pulling out you in-line skates for a quick sprint around the neighbourhood, or perhaps chilling out with a good book on the beach isn't going to happen because the beaches where you live have been deemed polluted by the city. Whatever it is you can't do at home, you are certain to find the opportunity somewhere in the world. You'll even discover opportunities you never dreamed of.

The Great Escape...
You can get away from whatever ails you... your boss, your in-laws, your significant other, your cable guy, your watch, your teacher, the rat-race, the snow, the law.

Save Money!
The fact that you may have no income aside, if you travel for long enough to make the price of your air plane ticket negligible, you can actually live and eat for less money in many foreign lands! Ok, that is a stretch, but souvenir shopping while travelling certainly allows for cheap home decorating.

If you still need convincing, revisit Reasons to Tell Your Parents and Other Loan Providers.

But...

Travelling has its challenges too, and it is up to the individual to decide what is right for them. Travelling can be stressful at times - language barriers, the lack of familiar faces, various scams and even train schedules can be formidable challenges and trying on the travel-weary spirit. You must remember to pack patience and lots of it. Sleeping in hammocks, using squat toilets, habitually digging dirt out from under your fingernails and watching cockroaches crawl out of your sink may not be for everyone. Choose your destinations and durations of travel based on who you are and what you can realistically handle. If you want to travel adventurously or on a budget but are unsure of how you may react, make sure you give yourself an out at any time - even the hardiest of travellers who rough it in the worst conditions have been known to check into a posh hotel for a couple of nights, or duck into McDonalds for that familiar burger and fries. Consider carefully your budget and the comforts in which you want to indulge in while away. Consider also the opportunity cost - lack of income during the travel period and perhaps for a while afterwards while you look for a new job, or pay off loans. There is that mysterious but much-documented factor of culture shock for the longer-duration traveller to consider too - while travelling and after returning home.

Are you up for the challenge?

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