I travel to stay sane.

I need to be out of my home country on a regular basis, just to stay sane. It’s difficult to say why exactly travelling is important for me, but I guess these are the most important reasons:

• Once I set foot in another country, I become more social, more open to human interaction. I think it’s just because travelling forces me out of my comfort zone. I’m forced to start talking to strangers and make new friends. Getting to know people and their perspectives on things (especially people from a different culture than yours) is essential to enhance my own perspective.
• Focus on what really matters, if I’m in my daily routine, I tend to worry about small stuff, stuff that’s actually not important. Getting away from it all, helps me to forget about the small stuff and focus on the things that really matter.
• Stop being connected all the time. Thank God for the steep roaming fees, it helps me disconnect and stops me from being distracted every few minutes because of an e-mail, Facebook message or Twitter mention.
• Read. For some strange reason, I can’t seem to find the time in my home country to pickup a book and start reading, strange because I love reading. While travelling I seem to be able to catch up for lost time, I read the one book after the other.
• What do you really want out of life? The mix of beautiful weather, stunning nature and different culture have a philosophical effect on me. I start thinking what I really want out of life, not what I want to get out of your career or what I want to reach financially, but things you I deeply care about: freedom to do what I want, having friends and family I care about.
• Come back with new plans. I tend to come back with new small plans, mostly of them or simple things like planning to go out for lunch every week with my brothers. It does make a difference for me.

Pack your bags and go.