Spring break is coming up followed by summer break. Many people choose this time to travel, take vacations, and make memories with their loved ones. Something I have aways truly cherished and have been blessed with the opportunity to do is traveling. I find it to be good for the soul. Traveling helps you begin to find yourself in a world filled with so many. I believe that investing in experiences rather than material items makes for a more wholesome life. I have a place I go to every few months that is very familiar to me and I also love traveling to new places for new experiences. Here are my top five things to know about traveling.
1. Save Money
Yeah, it's cool to have the latest shoes and bags, but as a young adult sometimes you can actually take that money and save it to spend on a trip to a new place you have never gone. I promise you in a few years you are going to remember that trip you took to a place you have never gone to more than you will remember what bag you bought that season.
2. Cultural Sensitivity
I have found that traveling so much has taught me not only how to act in new environments but also how to act in different areas with new cultures. Sometimes I find that people go to new places and do not know how to act accordingly because they have not yet been out of their comfort zone. I find meeting people from all new areas is much more beneficial than just simply staying in your hometown around the same people you have known all your life.
3. Take In Everything
Pictures last a lifetime, or so they say. It is a much more rewarding feeling to remember that beautiful sunset next to a loved one or that warm sun beating down on you as you walked through ruins than it is looking back at those memories through your camera roll. Put the camera down and take time to truly take it all in.
4. Bring Back A Souvenir
This does not have to be a key chain or a t-shirt, but always bring something back from every trip that means something to you. Something that helps you remember the memories you made on your trip. Before you know it you will have a collection of very diverse items you acquired on your different stops throughout the world.
5. Eat And Shop Locally
This is probably my favorite point. Eating brings people together in common ground. Make sure that wherever you are, you are not just eating at restaurants you typically go to while you are at home. Set time aside to go to a local favorite spot. Also, make sure you are going to stores that you do not have back at home. After all who doesn't like getting items from places that no one has heard about before.
