In his famous essay, Francis Bacon once said: “Travel, in the younger sort, is a part of education; in the elder, a part of experience.” Indeed, the value of travel cannot be more stressed upon. It is even more important for a student. Not only does it give them a break from their daily routine lives, it also enriches their lives in ways just a classroom education cannot. There are plenty of reasons why travelling should be given a high priority in our lives.
Travelling offers firsthand experience
Whether you are trying to learn a new language or understand the culture and history of a place, no textbook can help you offer a more wholesome experience than travel can. It helps you get an insight like nothing else can, which makes travel the best learning experience. Often education varies in different parts of the world and even in different parts of a country. Therefore, travelling to a new place also offers excellent exposure into the education system and helps in an expansion of knowledge
Travelling helps one have an open mind
Travel helps break through the boundaries of geography, thus offering one an excellent insight into the world beyond their own culture. An exposure to new cultures, languages and people helps one develop an open mind and eases away the judgmental tendencies. As one learns of how people of different parts of the world live, eat and function, traits like cultural superiority or narrow mindedness melt away, making one a better and more accepting and creative person.
Travelling improves social skills
People who travel are seen to have better social skills than those who are rooted to one place for life. As you travel, you are bound to interact with tons of people. Even if you are extremely shy, you still cannot escape from encounters with people when it comes to purchasing tickets or asking directions. This helps one get over social anxiety and shyness and helps them become more outgoing. Moreover, if one is travelling to a foreign country, often to overcome the language barrier one has to be even more vocal and communicative. This helps develop better social skills and body language.
Travelling makes one compassionate
Travel does an excellent job of breaking the shackles of a narrow mind, helping it expand its boundaries to include life in its beautifully raw form. As a person travels to new places, he or she is exposed to various kinds of culture, the majesty of nature and how people beat the toughest conditions to survive. This makes one a much more humble and compassionate person. Nothing can be a more enriching experience for a person than travel.
Travelling imbibes responsibility
Travelling is especially important for students as it teaches them a sense of responsibility. They learn to take care of their own health, finances, belongings and act to responsibly so as not to endanger their lives. They come out of the sheltered cocoon, lovingly created by their close ones and familiar surroundings and learn to handle life much more responsibly. It helps them develop into responsible and mature adults.
There are various ways in which you can travel. Take a year off and go backpacking or apply abroad in universities like NYU etch which are rich in diversity or opt for a university like Northeastern University 东北大学 which boasts of excellent student exchange programmes. You can even choose to Volunteer with organisations like Red Cross or take an internship which helps you go new places. There are plenty of ways to travel as long as you want to!
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