The more you hang around with me, the more you’ll see how much I absolutely love to travel. I love meeting new people, I love learning new languages, and I love eating really delicious food. I like traveling to cities in the US and I love traveling to new cities around the world.
Although I love taking photos with people I meet and maintaining relationships once I leave, travel has given me more in the way of personal development and growth than I ever could have imagined.
Growth
Travel makes me grow. As I’m writing to you, I’m sitting in my Airbnb in Lisbon by myself. I challenged myself to travel alone this summer to see what I am made of. There have been moments of discomfort where I had a choice to feel it, accept it, and use it, or let it color my day in a negative way. I consciously chose the former to make myself grow.
I have also forced myself to get out and explore alone. That was the purpose of the trip and while I said I was ready, when it came down to it, there were many times I would have been just as content sitting in my room writing, working, or reading. But guess what, growth occurs just outside of your comfort zone, not inside the 4 walls of your safe space. As a result, I now have new friends in Estonia, Kenya, Zanzibar, Cape Verde, and Portugal.
I’ve grown in patience, I’ve grown in experiences, and I’ve grown richer as a person.
Empathy
When I travel I see myself, my friends, and my family in just about everyone I meet. Although hotels can be comfortable, meeting with, staying with, and talking to local folks are the way to go. I gain insight and understanding into their lives, their loves, and their struggles. I see our commonalities and I see that we are humanity.
At the end of the day, my love and respect grows for the world because after all, I am them and they are me.
Perspective
Lastly, there’s nothing like a little perspective to shed some light into your own situation. It’s so easy to complain about our own challenges or conversely to think that other people have it better than us. Well, guess what! No situation is all good or all bad. Sometimes you just need to step back and see something from a different viewpoint in order to decide how much weight to give it.
Every time I come back from traveling I am changed for the better. My capacity to grow and love expands and I feel more connected to the world.
What does traveling do for you?
Peace + Blessings
Asha
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