I uphold the belief that travel is the best education a person can get. I am not dismissing the importance of our formal educations at schools, colleges and universities, I am not saying that we don’t learn just as much from our elders and our peers.

What I am saying is that there are things in life that need to be learned through experiences.

Travel Teaches Happiness

Everyone loves a good holiday and there is no doubt that you are happier when travelling. Simply being able to wake up in a different environment can stimulate our senses and create happiness, however it’s the happiness that will stay with us after the trip that is more important. Travel can teach you happiness in many forms. At home, we take a lot of things for granted, and often get caught up in little issues that have very little or no meaning to the basis of life.

Travel can teach us that many of our little upsets are insignificant and to appreciate what we have rather than what we don’t have, hence making us generally happier.

Travel Teaches Respect and Tolerance

People are social animals. We like being around our friends and family, and enjoy meeting like minded people at social events. However society is a funny thing, it likes to keep people of the same background, situation and status in their isolated groups that sometimes make us unaware of what is really out there and forget that life doesn’t evolve around us.

This unfortunately causes all the -isms in the world. Racism and sexism are common throughout and to add to the troubles we now add politics and religion to the mix and headlines of hatred and terrorism haunt our days. Let me just ask you one thing – how many wars did ‘true’ travellers start? Not many, if not none.

Travel can teach us to respect our differences while we learn each others’ cultures, cuisine, religion and way of life. By meeting people of other cultures, by learning that we all share the same dreams, worry about the same bills and have the same aspirations, we learn to respect one another, and respect each other’s lifestyle choices, even if it means living side by side with that choice.

Travel makes us more curious, and hence, more tolerant of these differences.

Travel Teaches Value

One man’s rubbish is another man’s treasure. I am not about to talk about recycling, but in a way, this saying is relevant to travel too. When we travel, we learn more about how others live their lives, and learn different perceptions on life. Travel teaches us about value, and changes the way we see things.

Travel makes rubbish into treasure.

You know what they say about food? That “Yummy things are never good for you?”

Well, travel is one of those things in life that the more you do, the better it is for you. Happy travels.