Right before I came to college, I had the great opportunity to travel to Rio de Janerio, Brazil. This was an amazing experience, and it changed me as a person. I experienced new cultures, developed new views, met remarkable people, learned a new language, and broadened my views on what I believed in, what I expected out of life, and who I was. I learned a lot from this experience, and often times I find myself encouraging people to go out and have the same experience that I had.
In a college student’s career, they are exposed to many different things. For many, it is the beginning of adulthood, which means growing up and discovering your true self. There are fewer ways to truly do this than traveling. Traveling will expand your horizons, take you out of your comfort zone, and help you discover what your true beliefs are. It forces you to open your eyes to a new side of the world. Although it may seem scary, you will be forced to leave your daily routine behind, and explore things that have never been an option before. This may include trying new foods, speaking a different language, or even possibly network for your future.
Engaging in these different actions will help improve your confidence. When I went to Brazil, I traveled alone. I didn’t have any family or friends with me, I didn’t know anyone. Before I went, I was scared to talk to strangers—I couldn’t even hold eyes with someone without having a mini anxiety attack. The moment I landed in Brazil, I knew that wasn’t going to work. I found myself speaking broken Portuguese-English conversations on the streets, trying to find my way around. It was scary, but now I can actually hold a conversation without panicking.
One common excuse students use for not traveling is that they “don’t have the time.” I believe that college is the ideal time in one’s life to travel out of the country. While you may be paying bills right now, they probably are not anything close to the ones we will be paying in the future, after we graduate. There is also ample time to travel on holidays—Spring break, winter break, and summer break. The main idea is that if you want to travel in college, you’re going to have to make time. College is the time you will be most free—there are minor familial obligations, no legitimate career to request off, and the ridiculous loans have not yet compiled. Offtoseetheworld.net explains it as this—“College is a tool that prepares you for life—not a social Costco where you stock up on every activity to get your money’s worth. Take your first year or two to soak up college life and save money, then use the third and fourth years to take advantage of travel opportunities.”
On to the biggest elephant in the room—money. Travel isn’t cheap, but it doesn’t have to be break-the-bank expensive. I know that we are all broke college students, living off top ramen, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get out and experience the world.
Many scholarships and internships are available for traveling students. By simply googling “scholarships for traveling abroad”, I found over a dozen results, all offering at least twenty different scholarships for traveling as a college student. These scholarship offers ranged from 100-30,000 dollars. Along with applying for scholarships, you can begin saving money by limiting unnecessary purchases and opening up a savings account just for travel.
I was lucky enough to travel to a different country, and it changed my life. I learned who I was and grew as a person. I hope that in the past few minutes, I have encouraged and inspired you all to do the same, and that I have proved that it is possible to travel as a college student.
