Beyond Vacation: The Value of Travel
If vacation is an escape from real life, then we propose that the real value of travel is about much more than taking vacation.
To us, intentional travel has changed our lives. (When we first became digital nomads, we essentially gave up vacations. This is because we can work and travel at the same time. It’s also because our every day lives don’t require an “escape” to stay sane.)
How is Travel Transformational?
Travel can be transformational in various ways, impacting individuals on personal, cultural, and even spiritual levels. Here are some ways in which travel has been transformational for us:
- Travel has truly helped us better understand ourselves and our world.
- It has made us more compassionate, empathetic, and less afraid of differences.
- Travel has given us a wealth of life lessons that we could never learn from a book or in a classroom.
Travel can be truly transformational contributing to a more enriched and open-minded life.
The Value of Travel by Rick Steves
Below is a thought-provoking TED Talk by the well-known travel skills guru, Rick Steves.
You may or may not agree with everything Rick Steves says in this talk, and that’s ok. If you at least agree that travel has value beyond vacation, then we’ve got something in common.
We were personally drawn to the following statements (some of which came from the Rick Steves website):
“Fear is, to me, for people who don’t get out very much.”
“Travel helps us celebrate differences and overcome misunderstandings — big and little — between people.”
“Travel has sharpened both my love of what America stands for and my connection with our world. And lessons I’ve learned far from home combined with passion for America have heightened my drive to challenge my countrymen to higher ideals.”
“I’m concerned about a disconnect between us [Americans] and the rest of the world.”
Vacationing isn’t necessarily bad. Rest and rejuvenation are important. We all need to take breaks from time to time, and often a change of scenery is just what we need.
When we travel merely to consume and indulge ourselves, the benefits stop when the trip ends. And we’re the only ones getting something out of it – again, only momentarily.
But the real magic of travel comes when we go into the world, not escape from it.
Travel helps us witness reality outside our bubble. Good or bad, foreign or familiar, these experiences challenge us to learn, grow, and see the world in a new way.
Intentional, transformational travel not only has a much longer impact on us as travelers. It also reaches others in beneficial ways:
- We should leave the communities we travel to and the people we encounter better off
- We should continue to ripple out benefits back home as we grow and live out what we’ve learned from travel
You might also like these posts:
How Being Intentional Led Us To A Life of Travel
Simple Rules For Intentional Travel
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Travel absolutely is a wonderful thing, for an escape if you need that, but for me it’s about learning about other cultures and peoples; about enjoying life in different places doing different things every day. I have to come back to Rick Steve’s video tomorrow when I have more time, I love his shows on PBS.
Hi Angeline. Thanks for your comment! Cross-cultural exchange is definitely a big one for us, too. And doing different things every day, as you said. It really keeps life interesting!