The Benefits of Real Traveling, and Why you should do it now.

An adventurer sharing his experiences of traveling for the last 13 years and the benefits he yielded.

Condor's Peak, Summer 2018.

Everybody has their own idea of what traveling is, what it does to you, how it should be done, how it affects you, and so forth. But what if I told you, that all of that is subjective to that individual and "real" traveling, in general, should be done by everyone. However not the kind of traveling you're thinking of.

To begin with, real traveling in some essence has to bring you out of your comfort zone, into that spot you're kind of uncomfortable but still eager to jump into the unknown. For example, I am a Tex-Mex, at a young age, we had the privilege to move to Asia. I was excited over the new cuisine specifically, my mother not so much. She disliked nearly everything, until that one faithful night we had Hotpot (it's a constant boiling soup you share with others) with cow brain. It brought her out of her comfort zone enough to make her eager to try more, after that, the sky was the limit. She went on to learn how to cook Chinese, Korean, and Japanese cuisine and integrate some different methods into Mexican or American cooking. When they moved back to the US, they befriended a Japanese family living next to them, now they enjoy their Taco Tuesdays and Sushi Sundays. That is but a mere drop of a cascade of examples I can provide of first-hand accounts and the large benefits you'll yield in the future. The benefits of traveling are beyond description because you don't realize they left an impression on you until after the experience, even years after at times.

That being stated you probably ask, "Hey Andres, but I want to travel to relax and enjoy myself by a beach or a spa with my wife, girlfriend or mistress or perhaps stay at a 5-star hotel with a penthouse view"(just kidding). Well, what I meant at the start is that real traveling isn't always so straightforward, it is always subjective to the individual what they believe relaxing and enjoying yourself comes down to. When it comes to relaxing in my perspective, is to do something that gets me in my attentive zone and active, such as sky diving, dirt biking, scuba diving, and so forth is what relaxes me or helps me unwind. Although that being stated, the point is to highlight the diversity in our world, how torn up we are, and what traveling can do as a teacher for you. Both indirectly and directly, it'll mold you into someone different. In which case I took the liberty to list at least the top 10 benefits of what traveling will do for you.

The Benefits

1. Having fun

2. Active Lifestyle

3. Organizer Mindset

4. Self Understanding

5. Observational Abilities

6. Creativity Enhancement

7. Intercultural Proficiency

8. Exposure to new activities

9. Acquire life long friendships

10. Mental and Emotional Recalibration

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Machu Picchu, Summer 2018.

Having fun

This part is pretty self explanatory, having fun in my point of view is important do to based on a few reasons. First of all it releases dopamine, its a hormone which is connected to the "reward system"of the brain thus it makes you feel good. In addition traveling for all, is a kind of escape, if you're going to escape your 9-5, annoying coworkers, or just for your benefit might as well have fun.

Active Lifestyle

Having an active lifestyle is essential to maintaining a healthy mental and emotional balance, as well as a physical balance. In addition you release endorphins which not only helps battle certain mental illnesses, but also has ability to reduce the perception of pain. As well as making the body feel good, its almost like our own morphine that we produce when we become active.

Organizer Mindset

A trip, whether it is to another city, state, country, or continent takes a lot of organizing. Through time you pick up your own system of how you organize yourself before a trip, a checklist for musts, souvenirs, or trinkets to get when you are at your destination, and so forth. Eventually, this will transcend into your everyday lifestyle, it'll make you efficient, primed, and focused.

For example, I have Evernote which acts as my daily organizer. I have a default checklist for my essentials, passports, cash, credit cards, etc. When I first began using it, I went on to overlook it at times. However, when you're stressing over a flight or a bus ride, you tend to check times and tickets. Which I keep in a digital notebook in my Evernote app. It became a part of my life, for freelancing, work, or just personal usage such as journaling.

Self Understanding

Traveling, especially somewhere completely unknown to you is always an experiment. This brings certain characteristics into the light you weren't too familiar with, it allows you to understand yourself better. Everyone, even I, thinks they understand themselves with certainty, however as much as it pains me to state this, we are all wrong. Don't get me wrong, we do understand ourselves, just not to our full capability. It'll allow you to view how different cultures interact with each other and how you will try to integrate to a certain level into them, your mannerisms, values, ethical dilemmas, and morale.

Merida's Coast, Summer 2018.

For example, I didn't spend much time in Mexico growing up and I was eager to visit again after nearly 4 years of not visiting. Thus I planned a trip, and before I embarked on my trip my father stated something that burnt into my brain, "Mijo, don't take too seriously what the locals say to you, joking is a big thing where we come from". My father is a joker, never failing to make people laugh, and I consider myself funny too. However, when I began my trip what I needed to understand was that I myself aren't as funny as I thought I was and that I am a person who takes certain things in life a bit too seriously. The locals I interacted with had a certain "It is what it is"mentality when it came to things I would otherwise be stressing out over, situations out of your control.

Hence self-understanding, I began comprehending what characteristics I needed to change to live a better life. Especially at the time an overly stressed out 19 year old who thought he should already have his entire life figured out. It gave me the gift of giving myself a break, stopping taking everything too seriously, and focusing on the goal. If certain things didn't go as planned, there will always be a Plan B.

Observational Abilities

Dyrhólaeyjarviti, Winter 2018.

One of my favorite parts about traveling is the new world you emerge yourself in. The colors smell, and sounds all around you at times can be foreign and enlightening. Through time you began picking up small details in the architecture, cultural lifestyles, and so forth.

As a photographer, I had to be vigilant for the ideal shot, whether it was an individual, a piece of known landmark, or a landscape. Being able to spot the right objects to capture with your lens became six senses to me. Obviously, it took trial and error, understanding the moving parts around me to accurately predict what would be the final outcome.

Nonetheless, I cultivated the ability to observe with efficiency, slowly integrating into my everyday life. Whether it was while coding, journaling, working out, or skateboarding.

Creativity Enhancement

Christiania Copenhagen, Fall 2018.

Perhaps one of my favorite activities to do is a photograph, through my travels I began experimenting with different styles of photography. Using a variety of new methods I wasn't accustomed to. The results were growth in my creative identity, I began viewing my day-to-day filled with potential for creative applications. In my subway commute, I would look at the geometry of the positioning of the chairs, my walk over the bridge I'd look at the angles the cables make, and so forth.

Traveling has the effect to be curious and visualizing. To trigger your imagination to look at certain things in life with a new set of eyes, whether it is an object, a situation, or an event. Creativity is one of the key factors that makes us different than other organisms in the world. Why not polish it to reach higher heights of fulfillment? And find out what you can truly accomplish.

Intercultural Proficiency

When it comes to interacting with different cultures, understanding their methods and forms of communication is crucial. Around the world, different cultures and people mixed or not, interact in a variety of forms, whether it is directly or indirectly. Take Chinese business where Guanxi is a form of dealing with business, or in Afghanistan when at someone's home you disagree to an offering whether it is food, water, or aid 3 times before accepting as a form of humbleness, and so forth.

Understanding how a culture functions, allows you to view the details that make a difference, such as Mexican culture, when the woman of the house asks you if you're hungry, you are hungry, regardless if you're not, it is a sign of respect. However you don't need to finish your dish, it is just an over-dramatization, nonetheless, my portrayal is to emphasize the large cultural difference between an enlarges interconnected world. All cultures are different, doesn't matter "how similar we are"in the end, we are still far apart.

Thus traveling provides the education of the understanding of different cultures and their fundamentals to an extent. To be able to comprehend how to interact with individuals of such in the future, not only regarding their country but their culture.

Exposure to new activities

Rotterdam, Summer 2019. *Ring Making Course

When you're in a routine, you tend not to break it and experiment/try new things. Thus when it comes to traveling you become curious, and you plunge yourself into the unknown. One of the things that I learned is that traveling can hand you the opportunity to find a hobby you can enjoy and also cross off one that you won't.

Nevertheless, always try something new, you never know what you can stumble upon. Above I showcase a photo with a colleague of mine, he tried making his own rings and now he runs a small business for himself making what he enjoys. Obviously, it took him time but mastering everything, it takes time.

Acquire life long friendships

Youseum, Fall 2020.

Friendships are easy to make but hard to upkeep considering the global crisis. Although traveling whether it is to another city or continent, can be beneficial to meet strangers in the same profession, or hobbies you're interested in. Before Covid it would've been easier in a hostel, party, or beach scene, it still is, though people are rather weary now. Don't let that discourage you, life has a funny way of bringing people together.

On my last visit to Hong Kong, I managed to get an appointment with the tattoo artist I wanted. 4 hours in the chair, 2 bottles of Baijiu, and one dramatical off-tune hour of karaoke later befriended 2 other internationals at the tattoo shop. Fast forward 5 years and a half later, in Amsterdam a warm summer night, we met up to catch up and get dinner. Speaking of how our lives have completely changed compared to that late night in a Cantonese restaurant. Now we are meeting up again once I return to the United States.

This is just an example, of what can happen through time and upkeep. In some form, you look for it, and in another, it seeks out for you. Friendships come and go, however, the ones that last longer at times are the ones made in the most foreign of places.

Mental and Emotional Recalibration

Diemen Amsterdam, Summer 2020.

Taking care of yourself is critical to living a healthy lifestyle. Especially when your work or general life takes a toll on your mental and emotional health. Considering everything that has occurred in the last 2 years, It is essential to look after yourself in any means necessary for yourself and those around you.

Mental tolls take time to develop and are subtle in nature to spot. As opposed to emotional tolls, they pile up and burst like a balloon once they become too straining on you. Obviously, this is not the same for everyone, it varies from person to person. However, traveling has the ability to enhance the ability to cope with the emotional and mental strain, relax, and reset yourself in all forms.

Considering everything that has happened the last 2 years, whether you travel 30 minutes, 2 hours, or 10 hours away. Leaving your routine behind when you travel can be liberating, allowing you to flow with the world around you. Treating yourself with a new drink, food, or activity, allows you to feel loved.

Traveling alone might seem scary, although it gives you the freedom to do what you like, what you please, and experiment with new outlets. Whether it is to the desert to photograph at night, the forest to camp, or another city to try a restaurant/food you haven't tried, traveling alone will give you time for yourself and recharge.

What to take from this

I am not an expert on traveling, nor am I a savant in understanding how this whole world functions. However, I was raised abroad for nearly my entire life, coming from a mixed household. I've dealt with some situations that I found to be so absurd and baffling I couldn't bear but laugh. Although that also made me realize, in a world so connected by the internet, we really do not know the reality of other cultures and the world they live in. Through time I urged those closest to me to get out more to integrate into other cultures and understand a bit of their world, the fundamentals that shape them for who they are.

Whether it is to go to another city, that has a larger community of a certain culture to experience or to go to another country to integrate into the melting pot of their lifestyle. Traveling will always be a great educator. It essentially changes your personality and allows you to grow, find a deeper significance for your life. (Not saying you already don't)

To conclude the message I want to leave here is that with everything going on, with us having been stuck inside for nearly 2 years. Life has to move on and so do we, we've built up a dislike towards the foreign and this has to change. The best way is through travel and the experience it can offer.