After 12 years of public education, you'd think I'd be prepared to take on all of the wonderful challenges of life. Wrong. My public education taught me everything I didn't need to know about life. After high school, everyone follows his/her own path. Of course, the most common path is to enroll in a four-year college or university, and that's probably the most sickening aspect of it all. Our society brainwashes us into thinking that college is the only route to achieving success in life. Well, after dropping out of college over a year ago and pursuing my passion for travel, I learned far more about life and myself than I ever did sitting in a classroom for eight hours a day. I guess what I'm getting at is that some life skills can't be taught in the classroom. And although I ended up going back to school, I don't regret walking away from the beaten path, because I ended up learning the most about life this way. There are just too many valuable lessons in life that I've found are better learned by traveling the world than sitting in a lecture hall.
1. Social Skills.
If there's one thing travel has taught me, it's how to communicate in a highly diverse world. Everyone is different, and travel has taught me the importance of understanding and learning from people with different perspectives. If the world was designed to promote only one perspective, it would be a very boring place to live. Travel has opened my eyes to the benefits of striking up a conversation with complete strangers. If I hadn't taken the chance to explore the world, then I would've never had the opportunity to meet all of the beautiful souls that have enriched my life in so many unique ways. School taught me to remain within social bubbles while travel taught me to avoid them altogether.
2. Individuality.
Ever since I started traveling, I've noticed significant differences in my personality and outlook on life. In high school, I never really felt like myself. It was difficult for me to express myself around others because I was always worried about pleasing others and making other people happy instead of myself. One of the most important things that travel has taught me is that there's no one else like you on the planet. You're always going to come across people who will never like you no matter how hard you try to please them. But, you know what, they're not worth your time. There are seven billion people on this planet, so stop wasting your time pleasing the un-pleasable and start surrounding yourself with people who will accept you for who you are.
3. Curiosity.
Unlike school, travel has taught me the importance of having a mind of my own. Curiosity is a beautiful thing to waste, but travel helps us develop a craving for knowledge. I always lacked the motivation to learn in school as the topics discussed in class didn't always appeal to me. And when I finally graduated, it didn't surprise me how much of my curiosity for the world had vanished. But as soon as I opened myself up to the world, my mind suddenly became flooded with curiosity and a desire to learn. And once I began learning more about the world around me and the space that I occupy in it, I noticed a dramatic difference in how I looked at life. I started becoming more optimistic and less critical of others around me. Most importantly, I learned that I'll never find my way in life if my curiosity is lost. To find one's passion in life, one must always remain curious about the prospects of the future. The world is an incredibly beautiful place and curiosity is the key to unlocking its hidden treasures.
4. To be less judgmental.
People are what make my journeys so memorable, and the idea of forging a friendship thousands of miles from home is one of my favorite parts of travel. No one benefits from judgment, and I've learned, by opening myself up to others, that first impressions can be deceiving. If I would've written off some of the people I've met during my travels then I wouldn't have been able to get to know all of their incredibly unique personalities. People will always have their quirks (which I love), but until you take the time to get to know a person, you should never be quick to draw judgments. Some people's personalities are hard to crack, but it's the best feeling in the world when you finally reach the heart of someone's personality. I'll admit to being judgmental in the past, but I've come to realize that you gain so much more by listening and trying to gain an understanding of someone's journey as opposed to judging it.
5. Confidence.
They say confidence goes a long way, and travel has definitely shown me the importance of being proud of who you are. Negativity gets to even the best of us, but negativity should never deter you from giving life everything you've got. In high school, I would always let my negative thoughts discourage me from pursuing opportunities that I believed would make me happy. Sounds dumb, right? Well, it happened, and it's not something I'm proud of. Travel has motivated me to go after the things I want in life and to live life boldly. The idea of growing old scares me, but what scares me even more, is looking back on my life and regretting not doing all of the things I was too scared to try. Confidence has fueled the fire in my soul and has helped me achieve goals my once negative self would've prevented me from doing. Even now, when I look back at my old self, I wonder where I'd be today if I hadn't gained confidence.
