The very essence of travel is healing. It takes us out of our daily routine, relieves stress, stimulates creativity and is even good for brain health. After traveling to 105 countries and working as an Acupuncturist-at-Sea in cruise ship spas, I know a thing or 2 about travel health benefits.
Even more, you don’t need to travel far and spend a lot of money for a healing adventure. A road trip, day at the beach or walk in the woods can do wonders. Here’s some synonyms to get you going, such as, journey, tour, voyage, pilgrimage, odyssey, safari, road trip or expedition. These very words are hair raising for those of us with wanderlust. Getting in the mindset for these concepts is the first step for healing and recharging.
14 Travel Health Benefits for Well-being
“Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind.” -Seneca
Travel is good for brain health. When experiencing something new, we develop new neural pathways and improve our neuroplasticity, the ability of the brain to change. Overall, this is great for brain health and can even help to lessen chances of getting dementia in later years. Through travel the brain recharges, from all the stimuli awakening fresh inspiration.
Travel teaches us to be in the moment. When you escape to a new place that captivates your attention, there is only the moment. This helps to let go of the past and future worries. Because this is a temporary visit, the mind wants to take it all in because you may not have a chance to experience this again. Ultimately, this attitude cultivates well-being and mindfulness.
“Travel brings power and love back into your lives.” – Rumi
Travel relieves stress. By unplugging and disconnecting from our daily routine and work life, it is easier to let go of stressful attitudes and conditioning. Also, depending on where you travel if you go to a natural setting that alone can release the work vibes from the urban jungle where many of us live.
Travel helps to process or heal painful emotions, such as, grief, loss, or depression. Often these emotions are linked to our habits and loved ones in our daily lives at work or home. By unplugging from this environment, plus acclimating to new settings the mind transforms. It also provides a healthy distance, so we can see things from a larger perspective and improve our outlook.
Travel teaches humility. By stepping out of your comfort zone’s domestic familiarity, you become reminded of what a big world we live in and how relatively small we are in the scheme of things. There are more than 7 billion people, 195 countries and infinite galaxies to remind us to be humble and in awe of our planet and universe. In other words, travel humbles us in a spiritual way.
“I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.” – Susan Sontag
Travel promotes independence and confidence. When you navigate a new area, especially a foreign country, you need to blaze new trails, use your map and find your own way. This initiates a self-reliant strategy, that empowers and inspires adventure. And if you go solo, amplify the empowerment a thousandfold.
Travel cultivates perspective and self-awareness. If you resist change and constantly stay in your familiar environment, then nothing will push you to dig deep and identify your strengths and weaknesses. Travel immerses us in the unknown and larger universe. Therefore, you gain deeper perspective and find who you really are in the face of change.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness.” -Mark Twain
Travel extinguishes prejudice, bigotry and judgement about other cultures and ways of life. Actually, travel makes a mockery of such unhealthy thinking. Literally, the more you experience in foreign (even different states or part of a country) environments and socialize with the people, the more tolerant, understanding and open you will be to others with different ways of life. Overall, travel celebrates both diversity and oneness.
Travel inspires you to collect memories, not things. It teaches you to travel light and be less materialistic. While in transit, you are less likely to lug around heavy baggage, and the message carries over into attitude. In other words, heavy baggage is a metaphor for your entire life. For example, I have a 4 x 4 ft storage unit, that is my possession limit for those periods when I go completely nomadic.
Travel teaches the spiritual practice of detachment. When you are in the flow of the moment and constant change, you are more likely to detach from expectations. This opens up infinite possibilities that your expectations could never dream into being. The Buddhist philosophy is that attachment is the reason for all suffering. So, why not cultivate some Buddhist enlightenment in your travels and throw expectations into the wind.
“Its better to travel well, than to arrive.” – Buddha
Wellness travel retreats are for intentional healing. These essentially offer a healing adventure through a getaway, such as, spas, wellness retreats, cabin in the woods or a beach bungalow. Beyond planned venues, spontaneous events also happen along the way. For example, when in Fiji, I discovered an open group Kava Ceremony in a hut to join for an herbal healing experience.
Meet new people to share magical moments. This obviously includes meeting the locals and learning even more about the cultures. But, also, you may cross paths with someone from your hometown or country. It’s all good when travelling, and it provides an opportunity to share incredible experiences and stories.
“Live your life by a compass, not a watch.” -Stephen Covey
Travel is a muse for creativity. The art of travel inspires and stimulates our creativity in many ways, such as, travel or poetry writing, photography, sketching, painting or videography. For me this the foundation from which I travel to be inspired and create content in the form of photography, travel writing, videos and poems.
Related: Travel Poems – Creating Art from Your Adventures
Volunteer service abroad connects you to our world. There are many ways to volunteer and make the world a better place through non-profit organizations, such as, Work Away, Peace Corp or Grassroots Volunteering. One of my most profound travelling experiences was as an Acupuncture Volunteer for 3 months in Nepal with Acupuncture Relief Project.
Overall, Travel Health Benefits
Being an avid traveler, I consider travel the ultimate spiritual practice and therefore, healing. There are reasons why the great spiritual masters from many cultures were on some kind of quest or pilgrimage. The common theme of all of these journeys is that ultimately this external quest is actually more about being internal. There is no separating these worlds and thus: “One cannot travel the path until one has become the path itself. ” -Buddha
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