Everyone likes to travel. There are so many amazing things in this world that we have yet to see. There are amazing things to see and memories that can be made that will last a lifetime. But traveling could benefit you more than you think. It could make you healthier. Now healthier does not mean you will physically be healthier but it will improve many things in your mental health that are essential to living a good life.

You can be more open minded about meeting new people

As you travel, you can meet a lot of people, whether that’s accidentally bumping into them and saying “sorry” or actually introducing yourself and having a conversation with them. You are constantly meeting new people that you never knew existed. That’s kind of cool if you think about it. Traveling is all about stepping outside of your comfort zone and you can meet new people in the process. For example, you’re lost. It’s a new place and you don’t know your way around. You ask someone to help you. Or maybe you are going to a big city and you need to get a taxi in order to get to where you need to go. You are constantly meeting new people when you are traveling. This can make you more outgoing and willing to make friends with people or improve your social skills. These new people you meet could know a thing or two about the history of the place you are visiting too.

Can make you more willing to try new things

A major new thing that comes with traveling is the different foods. A lot of the time when you travel you are going out of the country. You experience new cultures and ethnic foods. This can expand your interests in foods that you wouldn’t have tried prior to traveling. For instance, I would have never tried fried okra if I had never visited Texas. Even if you are staying inside your country there are many different cultures and the food they eat. Although food is a major one there are other new things to try. Traveling would be pretty boring if you only stuck to what was comfortable. You’re almost forced to try new things when you travel or there would be no point. Breaking out of your comfort zone and being willing to try new things can expand your mind and will improve your mental health.

It Can Be A Great Stress Relief

Traveling to a new place can be a really good stress reliever in many ways. Although the trip to where you’re going can be a bit stressful, the destination is worth it. The new experiences and amazing sights to see can really make stress go away. It makes it go away by taking your mind off of everything that is stressing you out in your home life. You can escape for a while and have a brain detox of you will. This can help your mental health by getting rid of all the stress that is built up in your head and calm your mind. It will help you to be less stressed and may even make it easier to deal with when you do come back home. When you are traveling you are focused on the place you are at and experiencing different things. It’s almost impossible to worry about things back at home when you travel to a new place. This can help with your stress at work as well. An article from CNN states that “A 2010 study found that 35% of Americans feel better about their job and are more productive after a vacation.” This study proves that traveling is important to maintain a low stress level in work.

“It decreases depressive symptoms by removing yourself from everyday stressors” -Student

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You May Pick Up A Few Skills Here And There

I believe everyone has a skill. Whether that’s a major skill or a small one. Sometimes we don’t know what we’re good at or the skills we have if we don’t branch out. For example, maybe you are really good at surfing but like me, you live in Minnesota where surfing is pretty much not possible. Minnesota only has lakes and no oceans. If you were to stay in Minnesota and never travel you would never get the chance to find out that you have this amazing skill. Another way you could get a new skill is by trying new things and getting good at them in the process. For example, you could learn a new language if you travel to another country. Or learn a new dance from people in those countries. An inevitable skill you do however learn is the ability to be self sufficient and more tolerant. When you travel you have to learn how to take care of yourself. Whether that’s making sure you catch your flight or figuring out how you’re going to get around. It’s not good enough to just say you are catching a flight, you have to make sure you schedule your flight and you have to know what time and airport, what gate how much luggage you can take, how to get through security and finally check into your flight and find what seat you sit in. You can see that traveling forces you to become more self sufficient by planning all the details involved in your trip.

To Sum It All Up…

Traveling is always a fun thing to do but it also helps your mental health greatly. From making you more open minded to new things to relieving everyday stressors. All in all, I would recommend packing your bags and heading to a place you’ve always wanted to go because it will only help you and make your life so much better.

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