Why Travel?
Travel inspires creativity and changes you
There’s something magical about having a trip a planned. Not only do you have something tangible to look forward to, but you get to rekindle your imagination as you daydream of your destination.
But more than the planning of a trip, actually going on a trip and coming back renews your sense of wonder and reignites your soul.
At home, you may commute to work, work in the same small office space every day, then go home to your spouse, family, or roommates. The days vary slightly with the work you do, the weather, and the occasional date night. The weeks can be dotted with adventures, but mostly they are similar too.
On your way to work you daydream about your upcoming trip and you imagine all of the things you will see and do — maybe you think of the photos you have seen online of your destination. As the trip nears, your enthusiasm is palpable and you work with even greater fervor so you can truly disconnect when you do go on your much-needed vacation.
Finally, the day arrives and you are packed, you make it to your flight on-time, and you land safely at your destination. The fact you are on a vacation is your first boon because you can relax and you have plenty of free time. The second is that with even this single trip, you are changing yourself forever.
Inspiration from the world around you
You can’t go back to your job the same when now you’ve seen the earth erupt and liquid rock pour with angry explosions into the sea. How can your marketing job not be improved by the insights you gained while seeing advertisements and marketing materials in a new place? How could your design career not be influenced by the red, orange, yellow, purple, and pink hues you saw on your Sahara Desert camel trek?
Seeing the creativity of artists in other countries can help you see things in a different light too. Artists create beautiful animals sculpted by cutting and forming pieces of old sandals together in South Africa while other artists create paper mache that eventually becomes delicately detailed gold-gilded masks.
You are inspired by the creative games the children play and you are inspired by the group tai-chi class being held for hundreds in a local park in China. You are in awe of the world’s largest land animal that makes even you feel tiny — at 6 feet tall, I didn’t even reach the top of the elephant’s mighty leg.
You are amazed how life finds a way to adapt and survive in even the harshest climates. Ferns spring from old lava flows, eagles nest in the harsh Alaskan frontier, corals grow wildly off sunken ships, and somehow alpacas live above 15,000 feet in elevation.
On a map, the distance between Hawaii and Japan doesn’t seem that great, but on a fast ship where the crossing still takes 9 long days at sea, suddenly you realize how the large the ocean really is. Or maybe, you just realize how small you are — and that changes your entire world view.
At home, you might not be able to imagine how to survive without air conditioning or in a climate with very little water, vegetation, or animals. In the Australian outback, you are blown away by the ingenuity and adaptability of the Aboriginal people — they have survived harsh conditions gathering water from plants, eating tiny amounts of native scrub, and living in caves and building homes underground. They have even found the full bellies of honey ants make delicious sweet treats.
In New Zealand where steam vents open up from the earth, mud boils and splutters, mineral pools breathe, and the rocks can literally combust, survival is unique. Traditional Maori cuisine, called hangi, is cooked by placing a basket of food into a steam vent or directly into a boiling mineral pool.
How can you not come home inspired?
The rainbows of tropical Hawaiian flowers color your imagination; your awe for the ragged peaks of the Swiss Alps stretches your perspective; the grandeur of Versailles dances at the edge of your creativity; and the deafening sound of ‘silence’ in the heart of the Ghanaian jungle calms your mind when the world is too loud. These incredible moments of inspiration can make you feel more connected to the world around you — even from the confines of your work desk. The sense of awe you bring back connects you to the broader world and to something greater than yourself.
Being exposed to those awe-inspiring moments abroad, you notice more awe-inspiring moments at home. You’ve opened your eyes and awakened your sense to find the beauty in the mundane. You are changed by your experiences and any experience outside of your comfort zone challenges you to grow.
So, challenge yourself to grow and challenge yourself to find inspiration and awe in the world around you.
Leana’s an avid world traveler who has been to over 40 countries and will be venturing to her 7th continent in 2022. She believes in ubuntu and that adventures make life worth living. To follow her journey as a plus-sized woman with unquenchable wanderlust as she continues to seek out all that the world has to offer, you can check out The Overweight Adventurer.
