It has often been said that “travel broadens the mind” and rightly so, only through travel can our mind actually experience a sense of freedom which is otherwise not palpable within the stigmatic restrictions of one’s domicile.
Sarah Bennett an independent travel expert has opined that:
“Travel provides a learning experience like no other. It inspires people to seek out new places, keeping their pool of knowledge constantly topped up. It’s a great way to not only learn new things and immerse yourself in a new culture “ but it also provides a constant urge to continue learning.”
Relatedly, one of my most cited quotes on travel is:
“We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us” ” Anonymous
And there exist an ample amount of reasons which can be advocated in favour of engaging in travel to broaden one’s perspective thereby helping to clarify the subjective lens through which our mind sees the world around us.
According to Dan Brennan, MD who has reviewed the article on WebMD entitled: “How Travel Affects Mental Health”, the following benefits can be assimilated from travel:
Benefits of Travel
Traveling improves mental health by:
Relieving the tension and stress of work life lets the mind relax and heal. Being under pressure at work not only stresses the mind and body, but also hurts physical health.
Allowing for regular resets:
Making time for regular travel can have a better impact on mental health. Going to different places regularly can improve the benefits from vacations.
Some people can feel the positive impacts of their vacation for up to five weeks after their return.
Improving mental power:
Chronic stress can negatively affect memory and goal-setting abilities. Taking time to go somewhere and get away from work helps in feel more productive and focused when returning back. This is because the brain needs time to rest.
Increases creativity:
Getting out and exploring the world can boost one’s creativity. People who travel more can come up with diverse ideas. Exposure to new cultures, making international friends, studying new languages, and taking in different types of food and music have been linked to better problem-solving skills.
Traveling to enhance Well-Being:
Having new experiences is beneficial for improving brain function and boosting mental health. Travel has been linked to stress reduction and can alleviate symptoms of anxiety and depression. Whether going to another country or escaping for a long weekend in a nearby town, traveling can have a strong beneficial impact on mental health.
But the next big thing in the sphere of therapeutic travel, is the developmental impact which travel casts upon Emotional Intelligence (EI):
Daniel Goleman, an expert on Emotional Intelligence in his book: “Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ (2005)”, has identified five components of EI:
Self-awareness:
The ability to recognize and understand personal moods, emotions, and drives, as well as their effect on others.
Self-regulation:
The ability to control or redirect disruptive impulses and moods, and the propensity to suspend judgment and to think before acting.
Internal motivation:
The passion to work for internal reasons that go beyond external reward
Empathy:
The ability to understand the emotional makeup of other people.
Social skills:
The ability to manage relationships and build networks, as well as the ability to find common ground and build rapport.
How does Emotional Intelligence feature in travel plans one may ask?
In an article on LinkedIn, Cindy Dam an IT Communications Partner at Novartis has neatly drawn a correlation between the two concepts:
In the section on “How Travel Can Cultivate Your EQ” (2015), Cindy highlights:
Self-awareness:
Often during your travels, we begin to discover things about ourselves that we might have not known. As we experience new environments, we encounter new beliefs and values that either align or contradict our own, causing us to engage in some self-examination. We thus become more aware of our emotions, feelings and behaviors, and how they play out in unfamiliar places.
Self-regulation
Traveling to new places and exposing oneself to new cultures brings not only positive but also negative emotions. Messiness and rubber-band timing replace efficiency and punctuality, or vice versa. Silence and space turn into noise and crowdedness. The change can bring discomfort, stress, or even fear. But at each step, as one learns to embrace these changes, one also learns to regulate their emotions and accept them.
Social skills
This point should be entirely obvious. When visiting an unfamiliar place where one does not know the customs and does not know anyone, we would be obliged to become more social. Think about it, what does it mean to have social skills, if not the skills required to be social, and to act within a social situation?
Empathy
Coming across people from different cultures which may sometimes be strikingly different from our own, we cannot force them to adapt to our familiar ways of thinking. Since we are in their territory, we would need to become more responsive to the differences and more accepting of the way they are. Even our mind resists, we inevitably become aware of something new happening and gain new perspectives. Understanding others’ points of view and their perception of the world. Perhaps, even walking a mile in their shoes.
There are of course Limits of Travel as a Mood Booster:
We may look back on our travels with fond feelings, but the reduced stress and increased feelings of happiness after a vacation typically last less than one month.
Taking vacations and traveling to new places multiple times a year will result in more mental health benefits. Travel provides a healthier, more satisfying life. But it doesn’t guarantee it.
