I am a university student and It's been a start of a new semester this week. In one of the courses teacher asked us to introduce ourselves. I can't think of a person who wouldn't mention travelling as his crucial hobby.
What the hell there is with constantly moving from one place to another! Every wanderlust becomes so addicted once they start to wander around globe. Despite travel is such a simple word there is a lot included.
I will specify some of the personal traits that has changed over periods of time I went for some longer journeys. Also, I will tell you why they are essential.
Being tolerant. Not meaning I haven't been tolerant before. I always...eh...tried to. It will often happen that someone pisses you off. It can be due to the nature of a person or we can consider the cultural differences. Or both. Imagine someone farts next to you just because it's absolutely obvious for them. You can think they are disgusting but they might think the same about some of your habits. You learn how to accept inequalities and your inner survival is consequently eliminated.
Being less materialistic. Who doesn't love quality stuff that lasts for good, looks perfect and is from your favourite designer. I've loved expensive and branded stuff. I still surely do though. Hence when people recently asked me what I brought from my travels, I said nothing. Meaning nothing for me, I only brought few presents for people of some importance to me.
Before, I would surely buy pieces of clothes, accessories or some cosmetics. However, I didn't have much thoughts about buying any unnecessary gadgets when travelling recently. Is this connected with switching priorities over the time?! Well, when coming back home, I was horrified by the amount of things I had. Ended up like throwing half of them away.
Love simple things. Whether it's sunny, slightly rains or a little bit windy. Nature. Laugh, innocence, children, amazing food. When your friends tell you something nice. You learn to enjoy that beauty.
Personal finance management. You probably had learned to control your money (re)sources during lifetime. Yet, here comes the crucial part when you probably quit your day-time job and there is no more income flow to your bank account. Obviously, you learn how to manage a limited source of money you've saved. It's essential to have something like a fuck-off fund to be prepared for less sunny days. This definitely taught me how to be more modest.
Stress resistance. Sometimes it happens that you appear in more dangerous situations. When not surrounded by friends and family, it's matter of your own choice how you deal with unexpected moments.
To be clear, let's look at some examples. Majority of those happened to me...
Imagine someone steals your bag (with all the documents, all the money, keys, phone - whole life in one package). You do something illegal and police gets you. What about missing your flight, reacting when it's cancelled or booking one for a different day (in my case for a different month, twice, voilá!). You meet some dangerous species of animals. Problems with visas, not being able to enter a country. You borrow a motorbike which breaks in the middle of nowhere. You live in a house and they kick you out (even though paying the rent and other formalities - this happened like 4 times to me in different scenarios. Do I really look or act that scary?! It just might be a serious message to me from up there).
Anyway, it's all about critical thinking - reacting to obstacles, solving problems, fitting into different situations quickly.
Capable of talking about different topics. And so knowing a bit about everything. You know that...everyone knows something you don't and expertise on something different. A lot of space to suck their knowledge out with not that much pain as learning it some other, possibly more boring ways.
Learning a bit from various languages. And different language accents. Sometimes you think a person is speaking Japanese when you realise they talk in English to you. Learning how to use your body language if no other language works is effective. You expertise in dumbshow which can be handy when playing some games with friends later or if you are considering further theatre career. Everyone teaches you a bit from his native language.
Value your friends, family and background. Being aware of those who mean something for you. When far away from home, you miss your relatives. If having a hard time, they support you no matter where they are and give you some valuable advice. You appreciate when you can rely on someone when coming home.
How to find a job and make important documents in other countries. I guess that counts too, right?
Getting back on a track. This point is very important to me. I don't know how about you but I have a lot of personal habits that I like to obey because they keep my life in balance. And they all perfectly work for me. To be precise, I have kinda' system in what I eat, how often I do sports, time management routines, etc. When going abroad, we do totally different stuff. Yes, I like to learn, innovate my habits...but I usually wanna get back on that route I shortly left.
So...what was the fundamental reason why do I have infinite orgasmic needs to travel?
It's not like going to a country, ticking it on your "to go list" and go to another one. It's too about the journey which is up and downs, as the life is. You might be looking for a self-discovery or you found yourself already but you always change somehow. Every little piece of the journey, every person you meet on the way counts and change your way of thinking to some extent.
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