Why Should You Travel?

Traveling is not just going from one place to another. (Well, not if you do it right.) Traveling is about experiencing new places and cultures and learning things about life and yourself that you otherwise wouldn't be able to do. While salted peanuts on a plane are nice, that's not the reason we would be willing to fly 16 hours to go to China. Travel is important not only to learn about others, but also to learn about yourself.

• The Knowledge
• The Food
• The People
• The Experience

What can you learn about while traveling? Well that entirely depends on where you go. The oldest library in the world is in Egypt, the largest is in Washington D.C. While traveling there are so many unique opportunities to learn about things. Curious about the Hindu religion, take a trip to India, and see what its like, talk to the people about it. Love learning about historic things, hop on a plain to China to see the Great Wall. Art enthusiast? There are tons of amazing museums. There is the Smithsonian, again here in DC, but going foreign, there is the Louvre, which some say is over-rated and crowded, so check out the Acropolis Museum in Greece. Long story short no matter what you are interested in, there is something in the world for you to see and learn more about. There is never a time in your life to stop learning. No matter age, education, or any other number of factors one should always continue to learn new things.

Ok, I cannot talk about travel and world culture without at least mentioning how amazing it would be to try food from all around the world, and see if what we Americans call Chinese is anything like what I find in China. And I'm going to be honest, I am what most people would consider picky when it comes to food, but I would try everything (as long as I don't know what it is until after) at least once. If for nothing else to simply say that when I was in that place I had the unique opportunity to try food native from that region. One of the biggest things to do when in a country that isn't your own is to try the food. The food is a part of their culture, a part of who they are. Everyone can understand food no matter what language you speak.

One of the great reasons to travel is to find out more about cultures and people. Some countries have westernized cities because of all the travel that goes on in those countries. For instance, Hong Kong is very modern and quite tourist friendly, but you can still learn a lot about the people and the culture if you look in the right places. Some of the most interesting people are the ones you find by accident, by going to the market, or bartering with a street vendor. Meeting people from all over the world also can really help to put things into perspective and make you realize the trials that you have are also experienced by other people. There are far more things that are similar about people than things that are different. Each person on this entire planet is unique and individualistic. Make the most of that and try and meet and learn about as many as possible.

Most of us have heard the quote "Not all those who wander are lost." Like a million times. While obviously that was a little bit of a hyperbolic statement, you know what I mean. While J.R.R. Tolkien's novels are marvelous and who doesn't love a little bit of adventure right? So he must a thing or two about travel. But who hasn't ever gotten lost while traveling?? (If you haven't props to you but its not normal I swear) So my thought on this (which Tolkien feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) is not that we are physically lost when we wander because half the time we don't even have a destination in mind, but that while we may have no idea where we are headed, that's not the part that matters. While traveling you can find yourself. I think that many more people have lost themselves mentally, either through being tied down at work or just going through the motions of life, And what is the point of having a 9-5 if you don't live a little. Having a solid source of income and providing for your family is important but if all your needs are met, experience things. Go on an adventure. You would be amazed at all of the things you find out about yourself when you aren't even looking.

Basically, I really want to travel all over the world and these are just a few reasons why I'm trying to convince other people that they should want to to. The world is a huge place, there is so much to find, don't stay in one place forever. Expand your horizons, both figuratively and literally!