Why traveling is important

Traveling to different places is a much needed ritual all of us need to maintain.

There are several reasons for this, some of them are physical, some are genetic and some psychological.

On the physical side, when we travel, we expend more energy than usual. This could be because we want to explore new places or this could be because we have spent a sizeable amount of money getting to where we have gone, and so may not like to idle away our time like we do at home. Whatever the reason is we usually return home with more calories burnt and fitter. (Of course, I am assuming that on your traveling trip you are going to be walking or hiking a lot more rather than playing blackjack at a casino on a cruise.)

On the genetic side, we would be quenching our nomadic thirst. While you, as an individual, may have stayed at the same place for many years, humans, on a much larger time scale, have only settled down in cities, towns and villages for a relatively shorter period of their existence. Moving is in our genes. We suffocate when we stagnate.

More importantly, when you travel, you are automatically lifted out of your so called comfort zone. As most of the psychologists tell you, it’s a good thing.

By moving out of your comfort zone you are challenging yourself to new opportunities, new obstacles and treading on an unfamiliar path. You wake up in a new place and in a new bed (hopefully beside the same partner though).

The things you are accustomed to doing (when you wake up at home in familiar surroundings), all need to be recalculated and recalibrated. Your brain will be forced to forge new neurological paths, and to form new synapses.

As an example, I visited a friend and his wife in a different town. One of the basic things I assume I will get in the morning is a cup of coffee. It may be different from the coffee I have at home, but nevertheless some version of coffee would be available would be my expectation.

At this friend’s house though, they had a supply of neither coffee powder, nor milk, nor anything that resembled a coffee machine, because they never really consumed coffee and were also lactose intolerant. I had to go to the nearest coffee shop to get my caffeine fix.

This is a trivial example, but the point here is, when you are traveling, you cease to run on autopilot. You are more mindful, living more in the present and living a different version of your life. That, while it can be unsettling, is also rewarding.

So, when you get back home, you are refreshed, rejuvenated and resurrected. And you appreciate those familiar surroundings a tad more. 😃