The key to our survival as a human being is the ability to travel, communicate, and understand with others without prejudging them. A bold statement, but simply true. One more person who travels and meets and talks to other people will lead to greater peace. It follows as if by magic, the calm after the storm.
As someone who has done a lot of traveling and who owns a house in Atlanta, I am comfortable naming some of my favorite life lessons.
1. Life is Full Of Lessons
The only way to surpass yourself in life is to embrace the unknown and get out of your comfort zone. If you always stay in your familiar routine, you are not likely to seek out new experiences. In traveling, you leave the comfortable behind and take on an entirely new experience. As you travel you learn new cultures, meet new friends, eat new food, pick up new languages, and gain new lessons. It’s enlightening and relaxing, never boring, and one of the most rewarding things you’ll ever do.
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2. No One Is Ever Alone
When you learn by traveling, you open yourself up to a world of opportunities for human interaction. Whether you’re sharing your travels with other travellers or sharing stories with locals, there are plenty of people who enjoy chatting. Don’t be afraid to strike up a conversation.
3. People Make You Feel Like You’re a Part Of Something Special
Several years ago, I purchased a small apt in Atlanta. It has been magical.
The friendship I found with the owner of the grocery store was one of my most precious relationships . Nunzia is her name, and we became fast friends from the moment we met.
Our language barrier still exists but the kisses still fall and spontaneous hugs emerge whenever I arrive. I have been drawn into the heart of that city with her acceptance and love.
In the mornings, I go to her shop for a cup of coffee and spend the time watching the town people come in to buy, sell and share information about the village and the surrounding area. And every day Nunzia saves the freshest eggs for me behind the counter.
Who would have thought I would find an awesome lady like her tending a small store in a town in Atlanta?
4.New Things Need to Be Tried
It’s exciting to hit the road even if you’re not sure what to order on a menu, or get on a bus in the hopes that it gets you somewhere familiar. Doing new things is what makes the difference. It’s all about making yourself uncomfortable and making them into amazing experiences.
5. You Cannot “Mistake” Anything
One or two. Don’t eat anything you’d not walk on barefoot (one of my life’s rules) and do not drink water that’s not potable (nothing raw is to be eaten when the water isn’t clean and fresh).
Go and enjoy yourself as well. Read up on the cultural background before you travel and when things go awry, turn ’em into exhilarating experiences.
Don’t forget your emergency packet of tissues, you never know what’s going to happen in the bathroom at the train station!
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6. Being Lost Is Valuable
The great thing about getting lost while wandering through a city is that there are taxis everywhere and you can always take a cab when tired.
Rome has many impressive sculptures all over the city, and Brussels has lots of bistros and bakeries, so it’s impossible not to be lost there.
Guide books do not cover everything. Go off the path and get lost!
7. You Get Out of Your Environment
Traveling gives me a new perspective on my life and helps me discover solutions or changes that I wouldn’t have seen if I hadn’t left.
As we live our lives, we get distracted with business and don’t look up from the problems at hand. When we travel, we get out of them and are able to approach them differently.
Since we are IN our own problems, it is hard to find solutions for something you are inside of. That is why we always seem to have solutions for other people’s problems while having difficulty solving our own.
8. You Forget About Your Plans
Make your trip elastic. See what you want to see, but give yourself time to drift — a rigid schedule will eventually exhaust your energy.
You can stop at the church you just happened to come across, on your way to the Vatican, or you can just go out and bob in the sea until dinner time.
My favorite way to spend time in Atlanta is to get my little air mattress and bob in the sea. It’s perfect if you are a type A personality. The monuments will be there next time. Don’t deny yourself the luxury of enjoying the sky, watching the kids play in the water, or contemplating dinner… never mind! Don’t you dare deny yourself this luxury!
9. Communication Skills Are Developed Through Conversations With Others
You can’t help but look at people as they are when you are struggling with another language. There’s a lot of laughter and grammar errors during the course of a date. It’s a great opportunity to fall in love. I’ve done that a lot.
10. History Absorbs You
“How could we be laughing at something so old?” they ask. “Well, 200 years ago, that was yesterday!””
Do centuries-old houses look the same? How were villages laid out? There’s so much history in even the smallest of villages that you end up absorbing it. Keeping in mind current trends while looking at the past, art, music, and all the cultural aspects, we discover the current period is indeed a rich tapestry in itself.
11. You Learn New Cuisines
I try out the food I eat in foreign restaurants as soon as I get home. Sometimes I even get the recipe from the waiter. A trip to an Atlanta store involves not only getting the ingredients you need, but also getting detailed instructions on how to make the dish.
I returned last December and learned how to make an amazing pasta dish made with pink beans that can only be found there. The fish van that visits my town at dawn also taught me how to steam a perfect Filetto, which I believe was sea bass.
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12. You Experience Life From a Different Perspective
During dinner, I asked my friend Nunzia how it feels to grow up in a town. She explained to me that the people who live in the town are her family. Births and deaths affect the entire community just as much as they affect the individual.
Every member of the town gave the impression that they were admired and loved. Faults were neglected and everyone pulled together.
13. It’s Not so Hard to Change Your Ways
Any traveler learns to be adaptable since anything can happen and they may find themselves in a bizarre situation. Traveling brings with it many unknowns, you have to know how to solve problems quickly.
14. I Believe That Nature Should Not Be Taken for Granted
Exploring the natural beauty of the world is one of the highlights of traveling. On the other side, you’ll see how fragile our planet is. If you go to places with polluted drinking water or where a huge natural disaster occurs, clean drinking water may be a luxury. The world is changing so rapidly that forests are disappearing, coral reefs are dying, and glaciers are melting. When you travel, you appreciate everything the earth has to offer, and every sip of clean water, every bite of healthy food.
15. Learning From Travelling Is Incredibly Valuable
Being able to travel in a manner that is convenient to one’s needs is a skill. After carting around a big suitcase and stuffing it through tiny train doors in Europe for an extended stay, one finds out that some things are more important than others. Train schedules can be deciphered. You can follow what to do if you get on the wrong bus and end up somewhere unknown. You learn all these skills to make life at home easier.
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