Top Reasons Why Everyone Should Travel the World

Seeing the world allows for personal growth and cultural exposure. It can spark creativity if you’re feeling uninspired.

Travel won’t change you unless you let it, though. It won’t make you cooler or kinder. It won’t make you more well-liked in society and your circle of friends.

If you let it change you, it could broaden your perspectives. It could foster new levels of empathy for different cultures or give you an extra dose of self-confidence. It could certainly help you prioritize what’s important to you.

As far as my own reasons for a constant desire to travel, I seem to be just wired that way. I’m not sure I have just one reason for why I travel.

While I try to work that out, let’s explore reasons why everyone should travel, whether that’s going abroad or visiting destinations closer to home.

Travel brings you closer to your travel partner.

I don’t think you really know someone until you’ve traveled with them, and that goes for both romantic and platonic relationships.

There are all kinds of things that can go wrong when you’re traveling, so it could be a test of whether this friend or romantic interest is a good travel buddy.

There are also all kinds of things that can go wrong on a trip, like flight cancellations, delayed luggage, weird accommodations, or a pandemic.

Hiccups in travel bring people together in a way that few other experiences can. You may even realize that you’re better off spending time with this individual more locally, and that’s OK, too.

It exposes you to new cultures, new foods, and new outlooks.

Travel brings you out of your comfort zone and exposes you to new places, new faces, and new outlooks on life.

You can lead quite a sheltered existence if you never explore outside the places you’re comfortable with.

Some places are more conservative than yours. Others are more open-minded. Some may seem strange to you, but remember that your customs may seem strange to others. 

Those others that you consider different people may become new friends, so you better watch yourself.

You may interact with foods you’ve never seen before.

READ MORE: Food tours are my favorite way to explore a new place, but you have to like eating, obviously. Read my guide for more tips!

That doesn’t make these places weird. Different is good, and experiencing different cultures is good. Ideally, travel expands world views rather than reinforces short-sightedness when it comes to where your own country fits in the world.

You can love where you’re from and still appreciate where others come from, too.

It’s one of the biggest benefits of world travel.

We could all use a little bit of that once in a while.

Traveling helps you relax and escape the daily grind.

The way vacation is treated in the United States is baffling.

It’s something so many workers feel guilty about taking. Even when they’re on that holiday, they feel the need to check in to make sure their employers haven’t forgotten about them back home.

I’m not a lay-around-on-the-beach kind of traveler, but if that’s your deal, get after it.

Here’s some advice: Check the email once in the morning if you have to, ideally with an umbrella drink in hand. Then shut that laptop down and get some of that vitamin D you paid for. 

Travel helps you find yourself, ala Eat, Pray, Love.

You’ve overcome a big hurdle in life or survived something harrowing.

Maybe it’s a mid-life crisis.

Travel is often on the list for people who all of a sudden subscribe to the YOLO of it all. I can get on board with that.

Note: Travel is healthier than housing tubes of Pringles on the daily, buying a new sports car, or getting an obvious set of hair plugs.

I’m not entirely religious, but despite how cheesy that whole movement was, a little eating, praying, and loving doesn’t seem harmful to the fabric of the universe.

Have at it.

Travel meets your need for speed.

I’ve had my fair share of adventure-type moments as part of my travels.

Chasing an adrenaline high is not what drives me on most vacations, though. That’s unless we’re talking about the feelings that come over me when I know a cheese plate is coming my way.

Some people, though, plan their vacations around these heart-pumping activities, and that’s cool.

Risk-takers, just please pay attention to posted signage, liability waivers, etc.

We need your kind in the world, so navigate all of those adventures as safely — and as legally — as possible.

READ MORE: Visiting national parks on your trip? Check out this guide for the most common rules you should follow.

It can help you get over a broken heart.

A relationship ending can be traumatic and send people on a personal journey. Travel then becomes a way for people to heal, whether you were the one who left or the one left behind.

Finding new love in a new place isn’t weird.

It’s exciting.

I don’t mean shagging the first hot foreigner you encounter. I’m talking about putting yourself back together by experiencing a new place wholeheartedly and coming out of it loving yourself in the process.

I’m not crying. You’re crying.

Travel can be challenging, and that’s a good thing.

Travel teaches you so much about yourself.

There are many people out there who are uncomfortable with change or leaving the comfort of their bubble.

There are many others who do so anyway, despite that discomfort.

Travel doesn’t come naturally to everyone and challenges some. Testing yourself and your limitations can also be so rewarding.

If you’re on the fence, I dare you to try it.

Just maybe ease into it first by going somewhere where the locals speak your language, for example, or somewhere that feels familiar.

Easing into travel may make you feel like you can handle something a bit more adventurous the next round, too.

Travel is celebratory.

I love it when people who love traveling celebrate someone or something big happening in their lives with a trip somewhere.

Whether it’s a landmark birthday or babymoon, travel is a great way to remind you and everyone along for the ride how lucky you are to do these things in the first place.

Despite some people’s negative opinions, I’m all about a destination wedding, too.

Extend that thing so it’s not only about the special day of your nearest and dearest, and make a trip out of it. It’s an excuse to break out of your rut and go somewhere.

Traveling is a big deal on bucket lists.

I take offense when people say that bucket lists are lame and that you should live in the moment.

Please.

I’m already planning the next thing while I’m still on the first. 

Still, I’ve moved away from ticking off countries like they’re on some grand to-do list, as long as I keep traveling the world.

Thinking about how big the world is is overwhelming and my bucket list grows by the day as a result.

If you want to keep a list of dream spots that feel important to you, do so. Maybe it’ll keep you accountable to go out and do those things!

You’re making memories.

I’m not talking about the importance of doing things for Instagram here.

I’m talking about the kinds of memories that are just for you or for you to share with a loved one.

It’s about that photo album you look through well after a bucket list trip, reminiscing about the time you snowmobiled across that glacier or went cliff diving for the first time.

Fun fact: I’ve never done the second thing as my legs turn to jelly whenever I’m faced with jumping off a cliff, but you likely get what I mean.

It’s also about making memories that won’t translate to a photograph.

They’re THAT good.

They’re the stories you tell, over and over and over. 

Travel ups the ante on your life experiences tremendously. It impacts how you move through the world, and how you take advantage of the time you have.

There’s a mind-body connection.

Apart from the obvious benefits your body will feel after a multi-day hiking trip or the 20,000 steps you’re tackling daily on that European cobblestone, travel feels good.

Even when you come back home exhausted or dreading another day at the office, travel has restorative powers.

It reminds you that there’s more to life than that office and that it’s worth a few days of jet lag for the pleasure of experiencing a new place. 

It feels good to travel, but it also feels good to have something to look forward to when you’re not actively traveling. 

It’s one of the myriad reasons why travel is good for you.

Traveling keeps your priorities in order.

Travel is certainly a privilege, but it isn’t impossible when you keep things in perspective. It can be as simple as driving across town to hike up to that viewpoint you’ve been meaning to check out.

Prioritizing travel can mean making time for those kinds of experiences, rather than just making room in the budget for it.

Note: Now, if you want to do something big, you certainly need to make some sacrifices. Not everyone can do that, no matter what your fave budget traveler tells you. Start small, and do what you can to experience the world. It’s a big one.

Exploring your immediate surroundings is free. Learn new ways to experience where you are.

When you travel, it also helps you prioritize what’s important in your own life.

You’re able to look beyond yourself and see the great beyond. 

I’m not talking about the afterlife here, but what’s just beyond your comfort zone. You can learn quite a bit about yourself when you prioritize travel and when you prioritize experiencing new things.

Traveling is fun.

This one is simple.

I love to travel the world because it’s a good time.

When done right, travel is SO much fun. By right I don’t mean anything other than what’s right for you, by the way, as I don’t believe there’s a right or wrong way to travel, generally.

You get to experience things you likely wouldn’t back at home, potentially meeting new people who will fulfill you in ways you didn’t expect. It’s good for my mental health.

Those who fly by the seat of their pants may even enjoy the uncertainty of it all, setting the planning aside and going about their days abroad like some pirate explorer.

That’s not me, but you do you. 

Learn about what puts that smile on your face and go do it abroad in a new place.

Now we’re rhyming.

The point is to learn how to travel for you.

You need something to look forward to.

No matter how far away that trip is, you know you have a countdown going for when you’re hitting the road or boarding that airplane.

Planning travel alone gives me a thrill, even if it’ll be years before I can make a particular bucket list trip happen.

Fun fact: If you need some inspiration on that bucket list, France may have sparkling water fountains, but Ortona, Italy, has a free wine fountain. You’re welcome.

Certainly, the act of travel itself is better and vastly different than the planning bit, but just knowing that you’ll be going somewhere sometime soon is quite the thrill.

Some people look forward to Super Bowl Sunday. That’s fine, but what if you had something more transformative planned?

Travel can be that thing.

You’ll have exciting stories.

It’s always more fun to talk about your travel than to listen to stories about someone else’s, right? It might make us uncomfortable to think about but sit with that for a second.

That said, travel can make you an interesting human, as long as you’re not being self-important about it.

Don’t be annoying when you come back and have to interact with your family and friends and you should be good. Be extra mindful around loved ones who can’t travel for whatever reason.

Be extra annoying around those who say travel is overrated, though.

At a certain point, it’ll be too late.

I hate to get morbid on you, but you can’t bring your stuff with you when you go. You can’t bring that new TV or that new (or used) car or the crap you got when shopping for antiques.

There will come a point in your life when you feel like that life has just zipped right past you. It’s that time hospice nurses tell us about.

They warn us that the regrets they hear about most often are about bucket lists and missed experiences, not the stuff you didn’t buy when you were young and healthy.

You should probably also repair any relationships that need repairing while you’re at it. That’s another big one.

The world is a big place and you just want to see it all.

This one rings so true to me.

Every time I come back from somewhere, my mom says, “You’ve pretty much been everywhere now, huh?”

Not even close. There are so many more adventures worth having out there, some of which I haven’t even heard of just yet.

Travel to other countries is important to me because it gives me perspective. It reduces blind spots you may have about people from places that are much different than yours.

Travel changes you, no matter how often you get yourself out there. It’s almost impossible to get jaded by travel, even if you return to places more than once for a deeper dive.

I knew I could go to France a dozen times, for example, and never get bored. That’s why we moved there, but that’s a story for another time.

Travel can be about the journey AND the destination.

The why starts to matter less when you’re taking action toward your bliss.

In the era of social media, it’s hard not to feel like you’re not doing enough, you’re not living enough, you’re not hip enough, or thin enough, or just enough. 

You ARE enough, though. So get out there, already, and start planning!

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