Travel is treated as a break from education when it is closer to a form of it. The seven arguments here come down to one: being somewhere unfamiliar forces independence, adaptability and problem-solving that no classroom can simulate. For students it also gives perspective on where they live and study, which is why a well-planned trip is not lost time.

What is this about?

‍

Firstly, let me send my sincere apologies for not writing articles recently. One of the reasons for the delay is my travels. I write this article from an apartment complex in Manhattan, New York, to remind myself the positive impact travelling can have on an individual’s life. I understand many parents and students do not see travelling as an essential part of developing life skills and enriching their experiences.

‍

Firstly, let me send my sincere apologies for not writing articles recently. One of the reasons for the delay is my travels. I write this article from an apartment complex in Manhattan, New York, to remind myself the positive impact travelling can have on an individual’s life. I understand many parents and students do not see travelling as an essential part of developing life skills and enriching their experiences.

‍

Below are 7 points, to hopefully convince my readers why we should all consider travel as an essential part of our growth and development.

‍

1. Leisure time:

‍

Travelling allows you leisure breaks from everyday life. This is probably the main reason why most of us travel. We all can do with recharging our batteries.

‍

2. Book reading time/reflection time:

‍

Alongside having leisure time we can also spend time on personal development or catching up on that book you always wanted to read. I have been sitting in a cafe on 6th Avenue this week traversing through the pages of “The Great Gatsby” while taking a break from the hustle and bustle of all things touristy.

‍

3. Learning the language of sentiments:

‍

In the past I have tried learning foreign languages to various degrees of success. One language we can all learn is that of human emotions. I used this almost full time while I was an intern in Shanghai, China. I communicated by gesticulating bizarrely and with the aid of nearby objects.

This soft skill allowed me to befriend a native Chinese from my time there despite not knowing more than a few lines of Mandarin. I spent a whole month with the native, spending time going to eat, visiting landmarks during my time off work amongst other things.

‍

4. Meeting new people:

‍

Of course you don’t always need to visit a country with a foreign language you cannot speak. Meeting new people is more than easily possible in your hometown! My inspiration for this newsletter however comes from someone I met this week - Bob. Bob is an 82-year-old senior citizen of New York, who had more vigour than I see in some of my students!

He described to me how he experienced the monumental day 9/11 as an American and how he fortuitously had a day off from work on 9/11. This got my wife and myself into deliberations on the nature of work itself and the fragile reality of our mortal lives. You may already have deep and profound conversations like this, but it is always easier when you are shown a different perspective from others.

‍

5. Life changing experiences:

‍

During my cricket tour to Barbados in late 2000’s, I narrowly avoided an untimely death as a teenager. I can still remember the moments almost ten years on, when I thought ‘this is my last breath – I am going to die’; only for one of my teammates to pull me out in an epic last gasp action. While I love to say this has changed my life forever- it hasn’t but it did provide an impetus to my life at the time and has added a valuable experience to my armoury.

‍

6. Inspiration from travelling:

‍

A friend from my corporate days went cycling around Europe. He broke a world record for cycling. He fell in love with cycling.

He quit his corporate life – started a cycling tour company. The end.

‍

7. Travelling is cheaper than ever:

‍

You can get tickets for less than £10 to travel to other countries sometimes. Yes, that is a fraction of what some of us spend on an evening out. Many people have the shared belief that travelling is expensive. It isn’t – or at least it doesn’t need to be.

‍

That brings this article to a close. If you would like to hear more about travel I have plenty of other stories to share. I think the emphasis I am trying to get across here is there is a lot to be earned out there by travelling and you don’t necessarily need money to do it.

You just need a mind-set change. Make use of the time you have available, to see the vast expanse of the earth.

What else is worth reading?

What are the honest limits of this piece?

This is an opinion piece rather than research: it argues from experience and from the sources it cites, and reasonable people disagree with it. Where it makes a factual claim, the sources below are the place to check it.

There is a free, government-run service for exactly this:

“We provide careers information, advice and guidance. We can help you make decisions at all stages in your career.” — National Careers Service

Where can you check this at source?

The claims here about work, money and how people rate their lives are measured nationally: