In honour of International Day of Happiness we thought we’d share how travel makes you happier and more awesome!
Our favourite travel quote by St Augustine “ The world is a book and those who do not travel, read only one page.” really explains how travel opens our eyes to new opportunities and adventure.
Travel makes us happy, because it offers us the opportunity to step outside our well-worn, self-constructed, daily routine and provides a platform to explore and practice our ideal visions for ourselves.
Let us explore the ten ways travel makes you happier:
More social – if you’re a solo traveller, you learn to make friends out of strangers and become more comfortable talking to new people or you’ll be crying each night into your hotel pillow alone. When travelling with friends or family you still relax and talk with locals so you have a deeper understanding of the destination and learn the hidden gems not written in guidebooks.
Better at conversation – travelling with my brother recently he picked up on how much I engage in conversation with strangers. I think travel not only makes you more comfortable talking with strangers, it makes you better at it. So while you might initially just ask if they’ll take a photo for you, soon you have their life story, what part of Greece their family is from and voila, you have a little more than small talk and a smile on your face for having met someone new!
Confident – the better you get at conversing with strangers, the more confident you’ll become. When you travel, explore and be more adventurous that feeling of confidence and your ability to achieve anything will create great satisfaction that will last much longer than your holiday.
Adventurous – when you become more confident in your ability to do anything, you’ll do well almost anything! So if your dream is to climb Mt Everest, why not climb Mount Kosciuszko first, build your confidence and you’ll be more adventurous in no time.
Adaptable – while in your daily work life, delays, missed deadlines and traffic might be infuriating, you need to deal with so many new experiences beyond your control while travelling such as missed flights, getting lost, transport delays, bad street food and so much more you could get angry but hey, you’re on holidays, relax and adapt to the changing situation and see it all as one delicious adventure.
Easy-going – so you’ve become adaptable at dealing with the curveballs and changes travel has thrown at you and you’ve arrived at your destination. You go with the flow and don’t care and are more easy going as travel has taught you everything will work out in the end. Everyone admires the new, easy-going you.
Sexier – stress causes aging, so be carefree, relaxed, easy-going & happy and see how much more confident, radiant and sexier you are!
Smarter – unless you spend your holiday at the bar downing Tequila shots, travel will teach you more about the world. You’ll learn about culture, history, people, places and facts you can’t absorb just from a book. Your worldliness will result in being smarter.
Less materialistic – while we might be all about luxury, an alluxia holiday is more about finding the unique and special places that create a memorable experience. Book a holiday house and in no time you’re spending quality time with your loved ones, that doesn’t need to break the bank. Travel light with carry on luggage, be minimalist and you’ll soon learn you don’t need much to create happiness.
Generous – by making sustainable, eco-friendly choices, making donations to local charities or simply supporting a small town or community with your travel dollars you’re helping to satisfy philanthropic urges and create a sense of do-goodness. Well done you!
There you go, travel simply teaches us how to be happier. By being more relaxed, more confident, adaptable and adventurous you’re on your way to seeing the world as a brighter place. How can you not be happy about life after all that? So, push your boundaries, try new things, become more open, outgoing and see how awesome life can be.
Don’t just sit at home wishing you were somewhere exotic, start planning a romantic getaway, family holiday or rural retreat where you engage with the locals or fellow travellers and explore the destination so you’ll be more awesome and be happier.
