Nora Younis

Ever wondered why some people cannot get enough of traveling?

People have different hobbies. Some people like to play musical instruments on the side, while others prefer to play video games. Some people enjoy visiting online casinos, seeking Stargames bonuses online, or they prefer to take walks as a way of relaxing. And then, some people love to travel.

We all have those friends, or acquaintances, who always seem to be on the road. Planning trips and vacations months ahead, or sometimes even taking off with nothing more than a moment’s notice. You may call them free spirits, or wonder why they are willing to handle the hassle of traveling, especially since traveling is unpredictable and can be difficult. There are flight delays, hotel reservation problems, strange encounters with odd people, and yet, some people seem to enjoy it so much that traveling is paramount for them. A way of life, even.

While it might seem odd, and even unbelievable, traveling is beneficial for anyone. Below, you will find the benefits of traveling, and perhaps, they would help you see traveling in a different light, and embark on incredible adventures more often.

1. Expands the mind

When you spend the days cluttered in your life, focusing on your personal problems, you often forget that there are other people out there. You miss out on many things in life by working too hard, too fast, and focusing only on the next project, the next day, and all the work that needs to be done. It is an approach to life that forces you to close your mind to new opportunities, makes you keep to your comfort zone as if it is a prison – and it does become a prison of your own design as a result.

Traveling, on the other hand, expands your mind, broadens your views through nothing more than just enabling you to see new sights, discover new places, and meet other people. You will start to see the world in a different way, but more than that, you will recharge, refresh, and renew your soul in the process, enabling you to see life itself in a positive manner.

2. Makes you flexible

Traveling is unpredictable. In fact, this is one of the reasons why people prefer to stay at home or visit the nearby beach if they can and call it a vacation. While you can book your vacation with a travel agency and have someone else plan everything for you, you still need to leave space for delayed flights, transportation issues, and other problems so that you would be able to adjust quickly.

Thus, you will become more flexible during your travels, and the best thing is that you will be made more flexible in your daily life as well. Moreover, travel issues need patience, and when you return, you will be more patient with your everyday problems as well.

3. Evokes happiness

When you plan a trip or vacation months ahead, you will have something to anticipate. Imagine biking around countryside on a sunny day. There are usually affordable road bikes in the heart of the city you travel to.

It will make your overall mood genial, and improve your overall mental health as well. It is not surprising that even the act of planning a vacation can make you feel happy. From that point on, you would approach your daily life with the knowledge that eight, ten or twelve weeks ahead, you will be enjoying the sun on your face as you lie on a tropical beach, or explore the mountains in an exotic region.

The destination is not even that important – it is simply the knowledge that something is waiting for you, a new adventure on the horizon, and that can keep you positive and upbeat, and even help battle depression and improve upon lingering stress effects.

4. Opportunity to immerse in a new culture

When you travel to a foreign country, you should stop and discover the culture, the language, and meet the people. When you are immersing yourself in a new culture, you are learning a lot of new things, which will keep your mind open and sharp. You will become better and faster at completing tasks and processing new information, and, together with flexibility and patience, you will be more efficient in your working environment.

In other words, traveling enables you to flex your learning muscles, and, as a result, you will finish your projects faster, you will not stress over them as much as before. In turn, being more active and productive will help you reduce work-induced stress, which will improve your overall health tremendously.

5. Making friends and connections

Never underestimate the power and happiness that making new friends and connections can bring you. Even if you do not make new friends, if you are traveling in a group, you are together against every possible travel issue. You will help each other out, even if you are going with colleagues on a business trip. Thus, whenever you return from a trip, you will have either strengthened your current friendships and relationships or made new ones.

In fact, some people prefer to travel solo or with their significant other just for the opportunity to make friends with the locals. You would be surprised at how many friendships can spring up during a vacation and last a lifetime. Moreover, you will always have people to return to see when you are planning your next vacation.

6. Teaches you to be mindful

sunset-midfulness

Traveling to foreign, distant, exotic countries can teach you to be present. Traveling can teach you to live in the moment, be aware of your surroundings, and immerse into whatever is happening to you, around you, and create strong memories. When you are in a strange place, you can learn to be aware of everything. If previously, you were apt to get lost in unfamiliar streets of your hometown, once you are in a foreign country, you might discover that it’s hard to get lost.

But, there are benefits of mindfulness. Mindfulness is also about enjoying the moment, enjoying the time you are spending at the beach, and not thinking about problems at work, or how much work would be waiting for you when you get back.

You will become more open minded if you learn to enjoy everything that is being offered without comparing it to your life back home. Thus, each issue becomes a funny anecdote you will later relay to friends with laughter, and each delayed flight becomes an opportunity to explore even more. Traveling can teach you to take a different approach to life, where catastrophes are easily solvable problems and not devastations, and that approach will enable you to live better, wherever you are.

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I just flew from Seattle to Cairo, and man was I starving. The first thing I did when I landed at the airport was looking for restaurants near me. After hanging around here for just a day, it feels like a week. Certainly, I swung by the pyramids, got a few pictures with the Sphinx, and rode a camel. The genuine fun has been really feeling the pulse of post-revolutionary Egypt in the disorderly roads of old Egypt, absolutely nothing regarding life makes it through. No palaces– only burial places. Experiencing and also checking out today’s Egypt is all about life: struggling, operating, making it through, as well as welcoming. If you fall in love with Egypt after this article, you can also throw an eye at my friend’s blog. Janet over at Koket is running an outstanding egypt travel blog.

sphinx-cairo

The large information this years: an individuals’ transformation to replace the 30-year dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak with the only alternative efficient adequate to win an election, the Muslim Brotherhood … and the resulting anxiety concerning what the existing federal government’s true vision for the people is.

The revolution in Egypt is clearly regarding liberty. With my overview, Hammad, I take a welcome-to-Cairo walk under once-elegant French facades that seem battered to a pulp as well as caked in soot. Viewing a vehicle draw a U-turn right into approaching web traffic, Hammad points out the great line in between liberty and also disorder: A four-lane road is now a two-lane road with apparel sales racks swinging under commercial neon, constricting web traffic. Ladies in headscarves check out displays of daring gowns, disregarding the turmoil filling the walkways.

streets-of-cairo

A salesman told me, “People can chat freely concerning our federal government now. Before the change, attack your tongue. Our transformation is only just beginning. We have much left to do.” While the country has actually diverted in the direction of fundamentalism as well as spiritual rule, individuals are most dissatisfied not with the new spiritual eagerness … yet with simple inexperience. There’s a rather clear consensus on the streets: People believe the guys in power just have no idea how to rule. They’ve handled to install racks of free publications concerning Islam whatsoever of the visitor destinations, but have yet to figure out ways to arrange the streets … and even collect the trash.

Tourism is vital for the Egyptian economy. Oil-rich countries can manage their crazy leaders: Ahmadinejad, Chávez, Gaddafi– Iran, Venezuela, as well as Libya all had oil to fund their insane as well as corrupt methods of governing. However Egypt has little oil, and its economic situation is in dilemma. Egypt requires tourism. The vacationer industry below straight utilizes four million people, and indirectly supports numerous, a lot more. I say, “The airport was peaceful today.” Hammad claims, “That’s not the word. It is dead.” He indicates a towering Sofitel Hotel and also claims, “Only 2 floors are open from 20. This is eliminating us.”

I saw a couple of German cruise teams at the pyramids, yet I really did not see an American traveler throughout the day. And yet, while vacationers are limited, there are masses of locals everywhere. The city is definitely teeming. Working my means with disorderly traffic back to the haven of my hotel, I assumed, “Egypt is also extreme for several, yet I’m truly thankful I’m here.”

The Bazaars and the food here is absolutely lovely. I ended up getting myself a travel ball with custom basketball uniform sets.

cairo-bazaar

I often call Europe “the wading pool of globe exploration.” The only thing I was missing around here was the fastfood I’m always exposed to in New York. A city like Cairo isn’t the wading swimming pool. It’s the deep end– and also somebody switched on the jets. If you can swim, the water’s great. If you’re not fairly all set to dive in, follow me below on my blog site for some armchair Egyptian experiences.