Does Travelling Teach Us Anything ?

" Does travelling teach us anything ? "

Traveling teaches us many things. St. Augustine once said : " The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page ". Traveling changes us in many ways, as we are challenged by different life experiences that we have to face when we are abroad.

Firstly, traveling teaches you to always set new goals in life. Overcoming your own obstacles encourages you to improve yourself. Graham Hughes is the author of the interesting article that once appeared in The Daily Telegraph: "How I visited every country in the world - without a single flight". Graham is a man who visited every country in the world without using airplanes. He did it because he wanted to prove that it was possible. At the same time, he wanted to set a Guinness World Record and raise money for some charity. These were additional, but still important and demanding goals. The experience Graham gained due to his travel showed him that if there is an urge to go somewhere, there is a way to get there.

Secondly, traveling affects on our spiritual and social values as Melanie McGrath claims in her article "On the road again"(The Guardian). When you visit foreign countries you have an opportunity to get to know other cultures and languages. Every separate culture has its own values, and if you have contact with these values, probably your way of thinking will change. The level of your tolerance grows up as you widen your horizons by learning a new language. Your perception of the world changes a lot. Travelling also includes meeting new people on your way. For example, you can meet a person who will change your life forever, who knows, maybe even a future wife ? All the stories and memories that you have with people while you are traveling have some influence on your personality.

Last but not least, Graham Hughes in his previously mentioned article finds out that traveling shows that " the world isn't the terrible scary place so often portrayed in the media". A lot of people are still afraid of other societies just because they don't know them. The media always shows the world as a place full of misery, but in fact it depends on the side of life you look on. Graham Hughes found out that people around the world are not that different. We all have one purpose: " We all just want a fair deal ".

To sum up, from a traveler's perspective, every journey is a chance to learn something about himself and the world that surrounds him. In the article entitled "On the road again"(The Guardian) the author Melanie McGrath says "Journeying has always served as a metaphor for the passage from one life state to another ". Traveling does teach us a lot, I can even say that it always changes the state of mind.