Do you have a plan to travel in 2024? If you have, there is a high chance that your happiness levels will increase since traveling is one of the secrets of how to be happy in life. Going to new places helps you improve your mental well-being by experiencing new places, people and cultures and breaking your routine.
A recent Washington State University study found out that people who traveled several times a year-even for just 75 miles from home- were 7% happier than those who did not travel. So, next time you feel sad, instead of going for binge shopping, invest your money in a cool trip!
Before planning your dream trip, make sure to purchase the best travel insurance and have a safe trip!
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How to be happy through travel
Everyone wants a happy life, but only a few people consider traveling as a source of happiness in life. There are several reasons why travel makes people happy. Keep reading and find them out!
More self-confidence
Nothing builds self-confidence than stepping out of your comfort zone and facing what you fear. During travel, there are times that you face the unexpected like a car breakdown, bad weather, flight cancellations and many more. Travel insurance can be the solutions to some of the issues, but some you will be required to solve by yourself. Any success when dealing with such situations boosts your confidence. Being around new people and perfectly fitting in a new environment and culture can also help you believe in your adaptation skills and the confidence to visit different places no matter the hardships.
You make new friends
If you live in a busy city where everyone is in a rush, you may have noticed how hard it is to interact with others. For this reason, a majority of people have social circles made of workmates, neighbours and family. However, this is not the case for people who travel more frequently as they can easily make new friends with the people they meet with while on travel.
Unlike at home, where you are mostly with family and workmates, traveling helps you meet new people who may be interested in having a conversation with you. Locals will be curious to know about where you come from, and you can also learn more about their country from the conversation. You will also be meeting and interacting with other tourists from other parts of the world in your hotel and the popular sites. Interactions make us happier, and talking with people from different cultures and environments makes it interesting. You will also learn a lot from the conversations.
Disconnect you from social media
Nowadays, most people spend more hours on their phones than the time they spend interacting with others. Spending a lot of time scrolling through your phone denies you the opportunity to talk to the person sited next to you on public transport and many more things that would increase your happiness levels.
If you are such type of person, traveling can help you take a break from social media and anything else that keeps you glued to your phone. Since you will be interested in learning more about your destination and enjoying the beautiful sceneries, you can avoid the habit of constantly checking your emails and scrolling through social media. Some destinations are also remote, meaning you will not have an internet connection for the entire travel period. Staying away from the phone allows more interactions and a better analysis of your surroundings, which will make you feel fuller and happier!
New beautiful memories to share
Everyone has childhood memories of that kid who had tons of friends because they would go on holidays and come back with interesting stories about the places they visited. Such kids would have the whole class attending their birthday parties and would make most decisions when with other kids. The same applies to grownups. People who frequently go on holidays are more interesting to hang with because they always come back with a lot of stories to share with their friends. So, you can enjoy a huge following for just being the person who visits different places for fun. More friends will add happiness to your life.
Travel is learning
Traveling is the most interesting type of learning. Whether it is learning how to fish in a remote fishing village or learning how to cook Chinese food, travel presents numerous opportunities to further your knowledge. Apart from learning about different cultures, languages and food, traveling will also help you learn more about yourself and how to be happy. Since there are numerous things to do when traveling, trying them will help you identify what makes you happy, and you will be doing it more frequently to have similar happy moments.
Since learning when on travel is more enjoyable than getting the knowledge from a book, it increases our happiness level by making the brain more active. The new experience when on travel also rewires your brain, making us more creative and willing to accept new ideas. If fact, there is a Chinese saying that one is wiser for traveling 10000 miles than studying 10000 scrolls.
Makes you a better person
Most travelers come back better than before, thanks to the new experience. Through traveling, you experience the world’s diversity in all aspects from cultures, languages and ways of living. You learn how to live and interact with people from different cultures and respect them even if their beliefs are different from yours. You will learn how to be happy with the little you have when you see some people living a happy life despite being poor. Additionally, being away from your friends and family helps you value the things you take for granted.
Additionally, if you were facing some hardships, getting away provides the distances and peace needed to reason and solve the problem. Exploring the world will expose you to other realities that can make you change your priorities and start doing things that make you happy. For example, some people learn the joy of giving through charitable works outside their countries.
More time for yourself
Sometimes, traveling is the only way you can escape your daily schedules. Having a break from your everyday activities allows you some quiet time that helps you reconnect with your inner self without interruptions. You can take advantage of the peace to release your stress and tension and relax like never before. Traveling time is also the perfect time to do what you like but never had time for them because no one in your social circles shares the same interests as you.
Traveling also gives couples the serenity that they may not enjoy at home. If you are traveling with your partner, it is the best time to focus on your relationship and enjoy each other’s company, free from the day-to-day hustles and stress.
Conclusion
Since most countries have lifted their coronavirus lockdowns, you can now enjoy visiting different destinations as you did before. If you have not yet embraced the traveling culture, the above reasons should be an inspiration to travel in 2024 and make new friends. Investing in travel can give you more happiness than purchasing material possessions because experiences are never forgotten. There are many more reasons why travel makes people happy, and by traveling, you will find even more of them!
Make sure to buy the best travel insurance available and start your trip. Heymondo has great options and offers a free travel assistance App to call customer service and manage incidents with just a few clicks!
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