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Why travel broadens the mind

• April 27, 2018

You may have heard and are familiar with the saying that travel broadens the mind, but is it actually true? In fact, traveling not only benefits your mind and helps you to create lasting memories, but it can also fill your soul thanks to all those experiences and lessons that you learn along the way. If you are feeling stuck in a rut, or perhaps that you are no longer as creative as you would like to be, then this could be a sign that you too should book a trip and get ready to use your brain to its full capacity. Do not be afraid to explore new countries and expand your mind.

Stress less

If you currently feel stressed and are permanently cranky, then this could be a sign that you need to take a break or even a shorter vacation to help with your stress levels. Travel is great to allow your mind a break and provide your entire body with the opportunity to unwind and rejuvenate. Plus, if you are exploring new surroundings, then you have no reason at all to feel stressed. As each and every day is different while you are out and about on the road, then you have no reason to get worked up about the usual things that would usually cause you to see red. So, if you are looking for a way to get happy and feel like your mental health has seriously improved, then get your passport ready and open your suitcase – as a trip should be on the top of your priority list.

Cope under pressure

If you usually find it difficult to cope under pressure, or struggle to make decisions, then believe it or not, travel can help you to learn to act and deal with your emotions better. When you are planning a trip, you will need to learn to cope under pressure before you have even left home, from getting planning and preparing for any adventures that you want to experience along the way, to dealing with delayed flights and travel arrangements that don’t follow suit.

If you find it difficult to act on the spur of the moment, then this too is a skill that you can learn while you are away from home. You will no longer feel overwhelmed, in fact, you may even relish having no deadlines or pressures to help you make important decisions. So, if you feel that you are no longer decisive, or have increasingly growing stress levels, then it is high time that you considered travel as the ideal way to become a calmer and more grounded individual.

If you are keen to learn new skills and get out of your comfort zone, then planning and undertaking a trip is the ideal opportunity to do so. From trying out a new sport, to basics such as getting organized and packing light, there is no better way to learn something new if you are living in paradise or against a backdrop of glaciers and mountains. Now you are traveling and have lots of new, free time, you will be able to spend moments honing your current interests, such as writing and photography or even painting, to pursuing different areas that have always interested you – but perhaps you have never had time to explore. Travel is the perfect chance to get fit, grow culturally and make the most of your free time to the maximum so you that you arrive home with a new talent under your belt.

Broaden your thought process

If you are usually very set in your ways and find it hard to break away from your daily routine, then travel could be the ideal way to broaden your mind and shape up how you view the world. From spending time volunteering to interacting with other cultures or indigenous groups, you should approach your new trip as a blank slate against which you can get ready to expand and explore your horizons. Plus, you may even feel inspired and decide that you want to make a change to your home life after a trip too, you may even decide to quit your current job or even relocate to follow your dreams. So if you are keen to see the world in a new light, and feel that you want to broaden your horizons, then a trip is the ideal way to rethink how you currently approach your daily routine and make several changes for the better – that will benefit you in the future.

Have the trip of a lifetime

If you are looking to create memories that will last you a lifetime, then consider planning a trip. If you’re unsure on how to plan your trip, companies such as Aurora Expeditions specialize in unique destinations. While destinations such as the Sahara, Niagara Falls and even Everest are all reachable, if you start planning and saving you’ll be able to see as much of the world as possible. Planning the trip of a lifetime will put all of your aptitudes to the test, from budgeting and route planning to ensuring that everything is ready before you leave home.

If you feel that you are stuck in a rut and want to make a change to your life for the better, but are unsure how, then why not consider planning a trip? Travel broadens the mind, as it teaches you to cope better under pressure and manage your stress levels while being several thousand miles away from home. Not to mention, travel is the ideal opportunity to learn new skills and practice your current interests. So, if you want to feed both your mind and soul while making memories and gaining experiences that will last you a lifetime or more, then consider planning a trip you won’t regret.

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How Travel Can Help Us Process Grief, Trauma, and Anxiety

Whether we are healing from pandemic trauma, personal tragedy, or other mental or physical health challenges, travel has an ability to play a critical role in the recovery journey, research shows..

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For one traveler, the beauty of the Oregon coast has offered a way to navigate grief.

Photo by Katie Musial/Unsplash

In February 2022, Adam Sawyer lost his whole world. A catastrophic fire burned down his house near Mount Rainier and claimed his partner’s life. In the year since, Sawyer has frequently set out into nature, often retracing the trails he walked—and journeys he took—with his late partner.

“I was purposefully going to places that she and I had traveled to together before. It seems like a means of self-flagellation, but it was also a way to really lean into the grieving process,” says Sawyer, who writes about travel and the outdoors . “I would go somewhere on a trail as far as I could go, and I would cry for as long as I needed to. In going to these places, it was a way of acknowledging the pain and acknowledging what I was going through and also bridging the gap sooner to get to where those memories were hopeful and pleasant.”

For Sawyer, traveling to places that were meaningful to him and his late partner, in addition to other “road trips to nowhere” or treks into nature (he’s been spending a lot of time driving up and down the Oregon coast, for instance, appreciating “the scenery and that zen of driving through pretty country”), has been an integral part of the healing voyage.

“Traveling to these places and trying to process those memories—when I do that, when I have those crying sessions, when I deal with the guilt in those places, it’s akin to getting it over with, like vomiting. I cried it out and I processed that and I understand what that memory means to me now and why I came here and I actually feel better,” says Sawyer.

Sawyer isn’t alone in having found some sense of hope or relief when traveling in the aftermath of trauma or tragedy. In July 2022, Hara Maderich was widowed after being married for 40 years “to the love of my life,” she says.

“Staring months ahead at a lonely Christmas and bereft New Year, I decided to go back to my solace, the ocean,” says Maderich, an AFAR reader who lives in Costa Rica. She booked herself and her best friend on a southern Caribbean Celebrity Equinox cruise over the holidays.

“New Year’s Eve was both spectacular and heart wrenching at the same time,” says Maderich. But, she adds, “realizing I was on a ship in the middle of the ocean, hearing live music, drinking champagne, and watching lasers and fireworks with tears streaming down was so much better than sitting home and crying alone.”

Maderich started 2023 with, quite literally, a new outlook—a breakfast view of a rainbow over Martinique “and a glimmer of hope that life going forward alone could be a new adventure with ports as yet unexplored.”

For many people, including Sawyer and Maderich, travel—escaping either to new or familiar places—can and does play a critical role in how they manage grief, loss, tragedy, trauma, mental health challenges, or physical health setbacks.

Waking up to a beautiful view of a new place can bring a fresh perspective on life.

Photo by Daniel Oberg/Unsplash

We’ve all been through a lot—travel can help

During the pandemic, at a time when many were experiencing the collective trauma and isolation of living through a deadly, global public health crisis, travel was one of the tools in the traditional coping toolbox that was made temporarily unavailable to us.

“Research has shown that there is a link between social isolation and loneliness to poor mental and physical health, which was then further exacerbated by the pandemic,” says Terry Randolph, a licensed professional counselor and chief program officer at Pyx Health , a female- and LGBTQ+-led telehealth service dedicated to helping those suffering from loneliness and isolation. “The pandemic rescinded the ability for [people] to physically escape their daily routines and responsibilities, leaving people feeling trapped and isolated. This ultimately impacted their mental health.”

For some, they were able to get an emotional boost just by thinking about the ways in which they might get away in the future. In August 2020, a survey of 263 U.S.-based adults commissioned by a coalition of travel companies revealed that 97 percent of people felt happier simply planning future travel .

And a small but growing body of research indicates that there are some very real mental and physical health benefits of travel that we can finally fully access again. A 2018 study conducted by a team of researchers in Austria who analyzed a group of 40 “middle managers” found that stress decreased and overall well-being improved for a period of 15 to 45 days after a vacation or getaway. One year later, a study published in the journal Psychology & Health concluded that higher vacation frequency reduced the odds of metabolic syndrome, a group of conditions that can increase your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and stroke.

“Traveling contributes to a happier and more fulfilled life, and it does more for our minds than simply giving us a break,” says Randolph.

The health benefits of travel

According to Randolph, there are “numerous lasting benefits travel can have on your mental state.” They include:

• Lowered stress and anxiety: Travel provides a mental reset, which reduces your overall stress and anxiety levels.
• Better relationships and connectedness: If you are lonely, traveling is a great way to form closer connections and stronger bonds with both your travel companions and new people you meet along your journey.
• More creativity: Experiencing new cultures, food, and arts can broaden your perspective and open your mind to fresh ideas and ways of thinking, which can be applied to your work and home life.
• Improved physical health: Often people are outdoors more when they travel and walk around new places to explore, which can improve their overall physical well-being.

In fact, the gains are so pronounced that in January 2022, Canada’s national parks service Parks Canada developed a program called PaRx that allows doctors to actually prescribe travel by way of a free annual pass to Canada’s national parks for patients who could benefit from time spent in nature.

The program “is a breakthrough for how we treat mental and physical health challenges,” Steven Guilbeault, Canada’s Environment and Climate Change Minister who oversees Parks Canada, stated in a press release about the nature prescription program. “Medical research now clearly shows the positive health benefits of connecting with nature.”

Last year, Canadian doctors began prescribing time in national parks.

Photo by Jacky Huang/Unsplash

Learning from new people and new surroundings

As Randolph mentioned, it’s not just the beautiful places we visit on our travels that can calm and inspire the mind and body, but also the meaningful connections we make on our journeys that contribute to our overall well-being. Michael Brein, a social psychologist who specializes in travel, has interviewed thousands of people about their travels and the effects travel has had on them. He’s observed several significant takeaways in terms of the social connections we make when we travel.

When you travel “you extricate yourself from an environment that is pathological or [where] you’re totally immersed in your problems,” says Brein, who adds, “Let’s face it, when we’re at home in our everyday workaday lives . . . it’s not that fulfilling nor does it provide us with new ideas.”

According to Brein, one of the key benefits of travel is that it offers invaluable learning opportunities. When you travel “you are more curious and more open to new experiences … you learn to relate to people better because you have a need to interact with new people. And therefore you have an influx of new ways of looking at things.”

A January 2023 study published in the Journal of Transport & Health confirmed the important role travel plays in accessing “social participation” and the connections between that social participation and our overall health. The study found that when people didn’t have access to opportunities to travel beyond 15 miles from their home, they were more likely to self-report poorer personal health than those who did.

For Sawyer in Oregon, he acknowledges that while he often sets out on solo missions, travel also provides him with a crucial outlet for meeting and interacting with new people who can offer a distraction from his grief or a new perspective on life.

There are some times when “I also absolutely need other people. I will just go to some local dive bar wherever I’m at and just hang out and chat with the locals and just lose myself in them and their stories and what they have going on. And it makes for a wonderful diversion,” says Sawyer. He adds, “I felt some guilt over this early on, but it’s OK to compartmentalize a little bit to get through and have a normal day where you’re laughing with people, you’re enjoying dinner. You’re traveling for fun. And that’s also been a great relief, too. It’s OK for me to take a time out and go actually enjoy a place with other people.”

An escapist mindset

Finding a much-needed break from reality in southern Utah

Photo by John Fowler/Unsplash

This past fall, when a dear friend of mine was going through the stress and trauma of losing her mother to rapid onset dementia, we decided to escape to southern Utah for a few days. We enjoyed a canyonland-filled hiking trip that offered her a small but meaningful break from the daily worries that had consumed her life. But even as we were able to find joy, awe, relief, and laughter among the stunning desert landscapes, we also knew this retreat was temporary and that whatever problems she faced would be waiting for her back at home.

While some might view travel as simply a means of running away from one’s problems, experts believe there is a notable difference between escapism and embracing a healthy attitude toward any escape.

“Escapism is defined as ‘a desire or behavior to ignore or avoid reality.’ During traumatic experiences, many people will ‘escape’ the situation mentally to avoid further stress,” explains Pyx Health’s Randolph.

Travel in and of itself is not the solution to our problems, and for many people travel can also be laced with additional stresses, fears, and anxieties . But depending on how we apply the knowledge and experiences we gain when we travel into our healing journeys, there is evidence to suggest that it can have a more lasting effect. And there are also ways in which we can integrate an escape-like mindset into our day-to-day lives—for instance, we can take staycations to parks and cultural landmarks close to home, or take mental breaks from our work lives by seeking new activities and experiences similar to how we would when we’re traveling (learn how to play tennis or join a local hiking group, for example)—to help re-create those benefits even if and when we cannot or do not want to travel.

“To transition travel from just a temporary fix to a more impactful one, you have to really be willing to incorporate lifestyle changes that promote less stress and anxiety,” says Randolph. “The daily use of activities that replicate the escapism effects of travel can help create lasting improvements to mental and physical health.”

Does Travel Broaden The Mind?

First off, let us start by saying yes, here comes another pretentious article about the age old question, does travel broaden the mind. If you have never traveled and have had to sit and listen to your friends spout all their stories, you should probably stop reading now.

However, if your friends stories of catching malaria on a mountain in Nepal, or how they rode an Elephant through the jungles of Thailand has not destroyed your respect for travelers, then carry on reading. So let us find the answer to: Does travel broaden the mind?

Pro’s of Traveling the world

Travel for a long period of time and you will feel yourself becoming more open to new experiences. You will soak up everything you possibly can from the cultures which you come into contact with. Most people who explore the world end up becoming less prejudiced and also begin to grow as a person.

One of the things you will quickly learn about travel, is that it is not where you are but the people who you are with. When you set off on your adventure, you will have no idea how many amazing people who you are going to meet. It is this, meeting people from all walks of life truly makes a travelers mind blossom.

So scientifically, does travel broaden the mind? . Recent studies   show that travel helps to keep the brain sharp. Living new and challenging experiences every single day can create new brain connections which can keep a brain both active and healthy.

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” Mark Twain

Why does travel broaden the mind?

The reasons for this are countless, but here we will describe some of the benefits that which traveling can bring to your life and ultimately make it a happier and healthier place.

Travel Gets You Out Of Your Comfort Zone

Your comfort zone is one of the most dangerous places in life where you can dwell. Your life can whiz by in a flash if you are comfortable and dare we say, board. Travel is a launchpad into the unknown, one which can propel you into a different world entirely.

This is because when you travel, you are encountering the new and the unexpected. A traveler learns new perspectives on life and is constantly confronted by new and exciting challenges. Getting out of your comfort zone will show you just how much potential you have to grow. Once you have stepped foot on the road, your life will change forever.

Learn From Different Cultures

There are lots of things which you can learn when encountering different cultures. From learning a new language to tasting foods from around the world . When you travel, you are open to experiment, you open yourself to new sensations and emotions which were once hidden.

You will also learn to be more tolerant, once you see how people from different cultures live, you will truly grow to appreciate your own life. Skills from the east such as Meditation, Breathing techniques & Yoga can really help to grow your mind.

Travel Makes You More Sociable

Traveling another country will force even the most anti-social n to making friendships. Encountering fellow travelers you will see yourself, those that throw off the shackles of life are all struck from a similar mold.

Also, asking for help or recommendations from other travelers and locals, will give you better skills help you interact with people far easier. Furthermore, you will create lifelong friendships with people who share the same interests as yours.

Travel Will MakeYou More Creative

Diving head first into a new environment and not only being a tourist, will give you a creative boost at both work or in your studies. This is because you will see how peoples live and deal with problems, giving you new perspectives and gaining creativity along on the way.

You Will Gain More Confidence And Independence

When you are abroad, you have to manage your own finances and plan a budget to live with limited resources. This allows you to gain independence and a sense of responsibility. All those who travel actually come home and create better lives for themselves.

Without any doubt, confidence and independence make your brain open and stronger and help you in all walks of life.

So, Does Travel Broadens The Mind?

Let us know your comments below! Did you grow as a person or do you think that all this “travel broadens the mind” stuff is all a load of nonsense? Let us know in the comments below.

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Hi Dave and Silvana, I’m one of those who thinks that travel certainly does broaden the mind, but only if you let it. It might be necessary to slow down, take time to stand (or sit) around and absorb all the amazing things happening around you which I suppose most dedicated travellers will automatically do. Experiencing cultures totally different to your own or witnessing extreme poverty (or wealth even) is bound to effect your inner self. That’s how it worked for me, nowadays I wonder if there’s too much pressure to document everything and move so quickly that there’s little time to take things in.

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The Transformative Effects of Travel on the Brain: How Travel Boosts Creativity, Improves Cognitive Function, Reduces Stress, Increases Empathy, and Enhances Social Connections

Travel is an incredible way to explore new cultures, meet new people, and experience new things. But did you know that travel can also have a profound effect on your brain? Recent research has shown that travel can have a variety of positive effects on the brain, including boosting creativity, improving cognitive function, and reducing stress.

In this article, we’ll explore how travel changes your brain and how you can make the most of your travels to reap these benefits.

• Boosts Creativity

One of the most notable ways that travel changes your brain is by boosting creativity. Travel exposes you to new sights, sounds, and experiences, which can inspire and stimulate your brain in new ways. A study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that people who lived abroad scored higher on creativity tests than those who had never lived abroad.

Travel can also help you break out of your usual routine and thought patterns, which can further stimulate creativity. When you travel, you’re forced to navigate unfamiliar environments and solve new problems, which can help your brain create new neural pathways and associations.

• Improves Cognitive Function

Travel has also been shown to improve cognitive function, including memory, attention, and decision-making. A study published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology found that spending time in nature, such as on a hiking or camping trip, can improve cognitive function and increase creativity.

Travel can also challenge your brain in new ways, such as by learning a new language or navigating a new city. These activities can help improve memory and attention and may even help delay the onset of age-related cognitive decline.

• Reduces Stress

Travel can also have a powerful effect on reducing stress levels. Stress is a major contributor to many health problems, including anxiety, depression, and heart disease. A study published in the Journal of Travel Medicine found that people who went on vacation reported lower stress levels and better overall health than those who stayed at home.

Travel can help reduce stress by giving you a break from your daily routine and responsibilities. When you travel, you can focus on experiencing new things and enjoying your surroundings, which can help take your mind off of stressors at home.

• Increases Empathy

Travel can also increase empathy, or the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. When you travel, you’re exposed to new cultures and ways of life, which can broaden your perspective and help you see things from different points of view.

A study published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science found that people who had lived abroad were more likely to score higher on empathy tests than those who had never lived abroad. Travel can help you develop a deeper understanding of different cultures and may even help you become a more compassionate and understanding person.

• Enhances Social Connections

Travel is also a great way to enhance social connections and build new relationships. When you travel, you have the opportunity to meet new people from all over the world, including locals and other travelers. These connections can be a great source of support and friendship, and can even lead to lifelong relationships.

Travel can also help you build social skills and improve your communication and interpersonal skills. When you’re in a new environment, you have to navigate unfamiliar social norms and customs, which can help you become more adaptable and comfortable in new social situations.

In conclusion, travel can have a powerful effect on the brain, including boosting creativity, improving cognitive function, reducing stress, increasing empathy, and enhancing social connections. To make the most of your travels, try to engage in activities that challenge your brain and expose you to new experiences and cultures. Take time to reflect on your experiences and appreciate the ways in which travel is changing your brain and your life.

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Travel broadens the mind, but can it alter the brain?

Studies suggest that taking a gap year or studying abroad can positively influence your brain to make you more outgoing and open to new ideas

T here are lots of opportunities for students to travel: be it to postpone your degree and travel the world after taking your A-levels; to take a placement abroad; or to spend your summer months volunteering. Reports show that over 20,000 UK students spend time abroad for a period of over three months each year .

It’s hardly suprising so many students decide to spend time away from the UK: the benefits of travelling are well documented. You can make new friends, broaden your outlook and gain stories to tell. But that’s not all: you may also improve your brainpower and become more outgoing.

Blue-sky thinking

According to a study by Adam Galinsky , a professor at Columbia Business School, those who have lived abroad are more creative. His research found that the more countries people had lived in, the more creative their work tended to be. However Galinsky says that just being a tourist isn’t enough to see any benefit. “Someone who lives abroad and doesn’t engage with the local culture will likely get less of a creative boost than someone who travels abroad and really engages in the local environment,” he says.

Gain confidence and independence

Travelling and living abroad can also affect the way we interact with people. Research by Dr Julia Zimmermann and Dr Franz Neyer compared the personality development of a large sample of German university students who had studied abroad for at least one semester with a non-travelling group.

The results showed that those who studied abroad were generally higher in extraversion than those who chose not to travel during their studies: the travellers were likely to enjoy being around other people more than being alone. When they returned home after travelling, the participants also tended to show an increase in openness to new experiences, agreeableness and emotional stability.

Tom Champion, 26, a PhD student from the University of Sheffield who is studying in Singapore for 18 months, says he has become more accepting and compassionate since living abroad. “Seeing the world through a foreigner’s eyes has led me to realise my previously invisible cultural habits and hone my sense of empathy and my ability to understand others,” he says.

Moving abroad also allows young adults to gain a new sense of responsibility and independence, and to manage their own finances. Nikitha Aithal moved to the UK from India when she was 10 years old, and later worked in Spain for a year as part of her undergraduate language degree at the University of Leeds. She says: “Living and working in Spain made me appreciate the struggle my parents went through when moving to the UK – simple things such as setting up a bank account or paying the water bills.”

Sharpening your mind is a no-brainer

The new and unusual situations we encounter while travelling – whether trying to figure out how to navigate the local metro system, or just to order a meal in an unfamiliar language – help to keep our mind sharp, according to a study commissioned by the U.S. Travel Association.

It found that challenging new experiences can boost cognitive health, as when your brain is exposed to an environment that is novel and complex, it reacts by forming new connections as it tries to categorise the new and unusual stimuli. This grows the brain and keeps it active in a similar way as taking up a new hobby or learning a language.

So if you’re in the fortunate position of being able to chose whether or not to travel, why not take the plunge and explore the world – your brain will thank you for it.

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How Traveling Can Broaden Your Perspective

• You can indulge your sense of wanderlust.
• You experience different cultures.
• Your taste buds get to experience unique foods.
• You meet all different kinds of people.

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New places; new cultures; new experiences: why travel broadens the mind

Independent travel expert Sarah Bennett gives us her take on why students should enjoy the mind-expanding benefits of traveling.  

As a student, you should feel empowered to seek out knowledge and discover new things. Teachers should have the independence to take their education beyond the confines of the classroom, giving you the chance to gain new skills.  

The wonderful bit about all this is that you can do it on your own. And perhaps the best way is through travel. Going to a different country is a perfect way to find inspiration , with many students feeling enlightened enough to arm themselves with more knowledge about all the things they discover on these trips.

The joys of travel

Travel provides a learning experience like no other. It inspires people to seek out new places, keeping their pool of knowledge constantly topped up. It’s a great way to not only learn new things and immerse yourself in a new culture – but it also provides a constant urge to continue learning .

Many students who go on educational trips say they learn a lot from even the smallest of gestures. Often, the difference between their current destination and their home country can be so stark that absorbing new knowledge is the only way to keep up.  

For me, some of the major benefits of travel include:

• Improving your confidence; enabling you to deal with the challenges of higher education
• Lots of exciting activities and trips
• The chance to network with future professionals
• The opportunity to immerse yourself in a new culture

When you travel abroad, you get to prove just how capable you are. There is a lot of excitement and enthusiasm among students as they try new things, like speaking and expressing themselves in a new language. When these endeavors are successful, it breeds the kind of confidence that will hold you in good stead for a long time to come.

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Traveling Opens Your Mind: Here's How

Raised in the small suburb of Schaumburg, Adriana Perez knew there was more to life than a white ...

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Mark Twain said it, your travel advisor said it, even you've told it to yourself—traveling opens your mind. But what exactly does that mean? What does that look like in your day-to-day life abroad? 

Panoramic view over the city of Barcelona seen from Parque Guell

Photo credit to Natalia Sleszynska

Yes, travel CAN broaden the mind, but it's up to the traveler to tune in, pay attention, and simultaneously practice humility and self-reflection. Here's our take on how travel broadens the mind.

What is relativism?

It is a fancy way of saying to keep an open mind and be aware that how you see the world is not how everyone else sees the world. Priorities, morals, values, every possible social aspect of a culture are unique and open to interpretation depending on who is experiencing it.

The opposite of relativism is ethnocentrism. While the word has a negative, racist connotation, it just means being unaware of the other cultures around you and not accepting the differences in how other people may see the world. Sometimes ethnocentrism is intentional, but more often than not is purely ignorance, which can be easily fixed with knowledge. 

How is this different than culture shock?

Culture shock affects some people more than others, but no matter how tolerant or learned someone is, that initial contact with a new culture is always eye opening. It is one thing to read about a culture, how it is different, and to keep an open mind. It is another thing entirely to experience firsthand a conflict of cultural norms. Many assume that the greater the difference, the greater the culture shock. This is not always the case, though, and sometimes having only subtle differences can be just as disarming because they are so subtle that they no longer appear as cultural differences; rather they come off as potential personality traits or character flaws. 

A few examples of how traveling opens your mind

In Barcelona, it is very common for a waiter to be taking your order and if he sees that you are slow in saying what you want, or hesitant and uncertain at the last minute, to walk away from you and begin to take care of another table. This is a subtle difference in cultures that happens frequently, and is very normal, but to an American traveler may come off as rude or impatient. These feelings are ethnocentric, but feel valid because the cultural difference is so subtle that it is not as obviously a cultural difference. It is important to understand and be ready for these subtle differences in culture, because someone may interpret an experience like this negatively, and let it negatively impact the rest of their day and ruin what should have been a nice evening. 

Another example of this is riding on public transportation. In many cultures it is considered rude to stare, but in Barcelona it is not taken quite as offensively. Because of this, many people commuting will be faced with looks or intense stares. Some can interpret this offensively and let it bother them the rest of the day, perhaps cause them to think there is something on their face or they had been doing something wrong, but that is not the case. It is a common occurrence, and should you be stared at, shake it off and do not take it personally. Perhaps join in on the cultural habit and stare at others as well, gauging how they respond to it. 

On top of a mountain in Cape Town, South Africa

Photo credit to Hillary Federico

It is a lot harder to experience events like this and think, “I am in a new culture, it is different from mine, and they see the world through a different lens than I do” than if the difference was more obvious. 

But just like a photographer packs many lenses for his or her camera, it is just as important for a traveler to pack some cultural lenses, and prepare themselves for seeing the world in a different way than they are used to doing.

Travel broadens the mind if you are open to it

Life and the encounters experienced are all based off of how they are interpreted and perceived. Someone walking down the street that gets pushed can either interpret it as an act of hostility or as an accident. These interpretations are what create experiences, and experiences vary internally from person to person, even if the actions that occur are the same externally. 

Traveling is a unique experience, and it is over before you know it, so it is crucial to take advantage of every moment and make everyday a positive one. Feeling upset or irritated are normal human emotions, and it’s impossible to not feel down every once in awhile, but it is good to minimize feeling these negative sensations when they can be controlled. Including a relativistic view of the world and the cultures within it can help in reducing these negative sensations, using knowledge and an open mind as a shield from potential emotional threats. 

Any experience can be a positive one if you have the right mindset. Whether you are heading to the other end of the world, or to Barcelona, it is important to note the cultural differences and be prepared for what is to come. Everyone always warns you about the big cultural differences, but the subtle cultural differences can be just as important to take note of. Some you can read about and be prepared for, but no matter what there will always be those that catch you by surprise. Remember to pack a relativistic mindset, and every experience abroad should be a learning experience for you, opening your mind in ways that you never imagined were possible.

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Travelers may find it difficult to empathize with locals, according to experts. Here, tourists in 2016 buy fruit juice at a market stall in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Travel is said to increase cultural understanding. Does it?

While researchers say travel does affect the brain’s neural pathways, true empathy remains an elusive destination.

Empathy is commonly defined as “putting yourself in another person’s shoes” or “feeling the emotional states of others.” It’s a critical social tool that creates social bridges by promoting shared experiences and producing compassionate behavior. But can empathy be learned? And can travel help facilitate this learning? The answer is complicated. “Research has shown that empathy is not simply inborn, but can actually be taught,” writes psychotherapist F. Diane Barth in Psychology Today . While past research has indicated that empathy is an unteachable trait, newer research—including a 2017 Harvard study —suggests that the “neurobiologically based competency” of empathy is mutable and can be taught under the right circumstances. Whether seeing the world actually opens travelers’ minds—that it makes travelers more empathetic—is up for debate. In a 2018 Harris Poll of 1,300 business travelers, 87 percent said that business trips helped them to be more empathetic to others, reports Quartz . And in a 2010 study , Columbia Business School professor Adam Galinsky found that travel “increases awareness of underlying connections and associations” with other cultures. While self-defined empathy and awareness are unreliable measurements, it stands to reason that cross-cultural exposure through travel would at least create conditions for checking conscious and unconscious biases. “If we are to move in the direction of a more empathic society and a more compassionate world, it is clear that working to enhance our native capacities to empathize is critical to strengthening individual, community, national, and international bonds,” writes Helen Riess, associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and author of the 2017 report.

But the coronavirus pandemic and, more recently, the global Black Lives Matter protests have forced an uncomfortable reckoning—that all the travel in the world might not be enough to engender the deep cross-cultural awareness people need now.

“There’s this false adage that travel opens minds, but that’s not [a built-in] fact about what travel does,” says Travis Levius, a Black travel journalist and hospitality consultant based in London and Atlanta. “Travel does not automatically make you a better person,” nor does it clue you into “what’s going on in terms of race relations.”

Black Travel Alliance founder Martina Jones-Johnson agrees, noting that tourism boards have made it “overwhelmingly clear that travel doesn’t necessarily build empathy.”

The lack of diversity within the travel industry itself suggests that there’s much work to be done to make the industry as inclusive as the world of travel consumers. According to a 2019 annual report by the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, workers in the leisure and hospitality industry were overwhelmingly white. Consumers, meanwhile, say they want to spend their money on travel companies whose employees reflect the world they work in, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council .

Additionally, companies that embrace inclusivity may have a better chance of avoiding tone-deaf messages , such as using “free at last”—the line is from Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Dream” speech—to caption a billboard depicting white children jumping into the Florida Keys. The advertisement, which has since been taken down, launched in the wake of the killing of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis that sparked worldwide protests against police brutality.

(Related: Learn why it’s important to have diverse perspectives in travel.)

Karfa Diallo leads a tour of sites related to the trans-Atlantic slave trade in Bordeaux, France, in June 2020. Participating in activities that amplify marginalized voices and experiences can go a long way toward developing empathy, say experts.

A road paved with good intentions

Interestingly, modern tourism has fairly empathic origins. In the 1850s, Thomas Cook used new railway systems to develop short-haul leisure travel as respites for hard-working British laborers, according to Freya Higgins-Desbiolles, a senior lecturer on tourism management at the University of South Australia.

A hundred years later the United Nations declared reasonable working hours, paid holidays, and “rest and leisure” as human rights . By the 1960s, spurred by related movements to increase holiday time, the leisure sector had coalesced into a full-fledged professional industry.

Since then, the World Tourism Organization and international aid groups have championed tourism as both “a vital force for world peace [that] can provide the moral and intellectual basis for international understanding and interdependence,” as well as an economic development strategy for poorer nations.

But not everyone agrees that the travel industry has lived up to these lofty goals. In recent decades, it has been accused of doing just the opposite. As Stephen Wearing wrote nearly 20 years ago : “tourism perpetuates inequality” because multinational corporations from capitalist countries hold all the economic and resource power over developing nations.

(Related: This is how national parks are fighting racism.)

These days, inequality is baked into the very process of traveling, says veteran Time magazine foreign correspondent and Roads & Kingdoms co-founder Nathan Thornburgh. “Your frequent flier status, the stupid little cordon separating the boarding lines, the way you take an Uber or cab from the airport after you land, not a bus or colectivo or matatu —those all reinforce divisions, not empathy,” he writes in an email. “And that’s just getting to a place.”

Empathy’s downsides

Experts say developing empathy isn’t easy and comes with a host of problems. Joseph M. Cheer, a professor at Wakayama University’s Center for Tourism Research in Japan, notes that empathy inherently “others” another person.

In his 2019 study of westerners on a bike tour in Cambodia, Cheer found that despite the prosocial aspects of the experience—visiting local non-governmental organizations, interacting with local Cambodians—post-tour interviews revealed that the tourists didn’t understand the cultural context of the outing. The visitors leaned into problematic tropes like “happy,” “lovely,” and “generous” when describing locals or simply saw Cambodians as service providers.

This “othering” bias, Cheer says, becomes more noticeable the greater the distance between tourists and locals, and especially so in strictly transactional encounters, such as in hotels.

A worker at a resort in Bali. Researchers say visitors should make a commitment to understand local cultures by moving past transactional interactions.

Our individual travel experiences oppose our best intentions, says travel writer Bani Amor, who has written extensively on race, place, and power.

“The stated [positive] intentions are completely contradictive to what happens in the tourism industry and how oppressive it is to BIPOC [Black, indigenous, and people of color] around the world, how tourism laborers are being treated, and how they’re being dispossessed, not having a right to their own land and to enjoy our own places,” says Amor, who has worked in the tourism industry in their ancestral home of Ecuador.

“You can only really know your own experience,” adds Anu Taranath, a racial equity professor at the University of Washington Seattle and a second-generation immigrant.

“I think we can develop empathetic feelings and sort of crack open our sense of self to include other people’s experiences in it. We can only deepen our own understanding of who we are in an unequal world and how that makes us feel and how that motivates us to shift our life in some way or another.”

I think in its purest form, empathy is basically impossible. I can weep for you, but I can’t weep as you. Nathan Thornburgh , founder, Roads & Kingdoms

Or as Thornburgh puts it: “I think in its purest form, empathy is basically impossible. I can weep for you, but I can’t weep as you.”

Traveling deeper

While experts conclude that travel may not inspire enough empathy to turn tourists into social justice activists, the alternative—not traveling at all—may actually be worse.

“[B]ecause travel produces encounters between strangers, it is likely to prompt empathetic-type imaginings, which simply wouldn’t be there without the proximity created by travel,” says Hazel Tucker in a 2016 study published in the Annals of Tourism. It’s also one reason why it’s important to expose children to travel at an early age.

Yet truly transformational experiences require more than just showing up with a suitcase. It requires energy, effort, and commitment on the part of tourists, as well as specific conditions, says Higgins-Desbiolles. “Visitors need to be prepped for the interaction so that they are ready to engage with the people on an equal level,” she notes.

Taranath’s book Beyond Guilt Trips: Mindful Travel in an Unequal World may provide some starting points. “It’s an invitation to think more carefully about our good intentions and where they really need to be challenged,” Taranath explains. “How do you think about identity and difference in an unequal world? What does it actually look like?”

Additionally, Tucker suggests embracing what she calls “unsettled empathy”: learning about the cultures you’re planning to visit and sitting with uncomfortable legacies of colonialism, slavery, genocide, and displacement from which no destinations are exempt.

Barbara Manigault, a Gullah sweet grass basket weaver, practices her craft in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. American tourists with limited travel opportunities can find many places in the U.S. to learn more about other cultures.

That background can be the basis for meaningful conversations, which Cheer found are “the key element that prompted empathy.” Thornburgh adds that travelers should seek out places where there is “an equal and humanistic exchange, or something approaching it, between the visitors and the visited.”

(Related: The E.U. has banned American travelers. So where can they go? )

Toward that end, experts generally ruled out cruises. Instead, immersive experiences like Black Heritage Tours that amplify historically marginalized voices provide better opportunities for meaningful connections.

Fortunately for would-be travelers, those opportunities can be found even in these pandemic times, when many countries are restricting international travel, especially for Americans.

“We are so lucky in this country that the whole world has come here to build their lives, in big cities and small, and that we have Black and [Native American] communities throughout,” says Thornburgh. “Go to their restaurants, lend your talents to their schools, help them raise money for their playgrounds.

“You want travel? You want to experience different cultures? Start at home. Start now.”

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How Travel Can Broaden the Mind

Travel has the power to broaden the mind in countless ways, from expanding our cultural understanding and knowledge of the world to helping us to develop new skills and perspectives. Whether it’s exploring new destinations, trying new foods, or simply stepping outside of our comfort zone, travel can have a profound impact on our minds and how we view the world. Here are a few ways in which travel can broaden the mind.

One of the most obvious ways that travel can broaden the mind is by exposing us to new cultures, customs, and ways of life. When we travel to different countries or regions, we have the opportunity to learn about the history, traditions, and values of those places, and to gain a deeper understanding of the diversity of the world. This can help us to develop a more open and accepting attitude, and to see things from a different point of view.

Another way that travel can broaden the mind is by challenging our preconceptions and assumptions. When we encounter unfamiliar situations or people, we are forced to think outside of our usual frame of reference and to adapt to new circumstances. This can help us to be more open-minded and flexible in our thinking, and to develop problem-solving and communication skills.

Travel can also have a positive impact on our personal growth and development. By stepping outside of our daily routine and breaking out of our usual patterns and habits, we can gain a fresh perspective and a renewed appreciation for the world around us. This can help us to develop a growth mindset and to become more resilient and adaptable.

Finally, travel has the power to expand our social connections and to increase our empathy and understanding of others. When we encounter people from different cultures and backgrounds, we have the opportunity to learn about their experiences and to gain a deeper understanding of their perspectives. This can help us to develop more meaningful relationships and to become more compassionate and understanding of others.

In summary, travel has the power to broaden the mind in a variety of ways, including exposing us to new cultures, challenging our preconceptions, promoting personal growth and development, and expanding our social connections and empathy. By embracing the opportunities that travel offers, we can enrich our lives and transform the way we think, feel, and experience the world.

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How Travel Broadens the Mind

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It’s true: travel does broaden the mind and enrich our lives with new experiences. Whether you’re a college student abroad or a tourist on holiday, you can reap the educational benefits of travel, according to a study forthcoming in the Journal of Travel Research :

Empirical evidence about the educational outcomes of travel is scattered across many fields of study. This paper reviews the literature on the educational benefits of travel, beginning with the literature on study abroad. Learning outcomes have been found from the travel portion of the study experience, and some research has found that out-of-class experiences were the most impactful portion of study abroad. Personal growth, increase in life skills, and knowledge also result from independent international travel, as well as “objectiveless” travel. A few studies have focused on adults and s eniors, but the research primarily has focused on young adults and college students. After a review of the literature, numerous suggestions for future study are provided, including a focus on the educational outcomes of domestic travel, youth travel, and determining which travel experiences result in the most learning benefits.

The paper, “ The Educational Benefits of Travel Experiences: A Literature Review ” by Matthew J. Stone and James F. Petrick of Texas A&M University, is now available online in the Journal of Travel Research . Sign up for e-alerts to be notified about new articles and issues of JTR .

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How Traveling Can Broaden Your Horizons

If you’ve never traveled then the world out there can seem incredibly intimidating. You hear these stories about people getting kidnapped, crime waves hitting foreign regions and natural disasters to boot and think ‘not for me, thanks’. And really, that’s an understandable response. All the same, if that’s how you’re looking at this, then boy are you missing out!

The truth is, it’s not half as dangerous out there as you might think it is. The main reason why there is such a big difference between how it is and how you perceive it as being is down to the modern news cycle. There are a bunch of channels competing for viewing numbers 24 hours a day. And disaster attracts more viewers than happy stories do. That’s just the way it is.

A much better way to know where to go is to look at how countries rank . Doing so will show you that the UK is at 74 and the US is at 84 th place, with there being a host of other countries which are far safer.

Even better, if you do go you’ll find that you will learn invaluable skills which will help you throughout your life – including helping you manage dangerous and difficult situations. Here are some of the most noteworthy advantages.

Travel Boosts Your Emotional Intelligence

You’ve probably heard of IQ. Just as important for our success, however, is your EQ or emotional intelligence quotient . That defines how well you understand your own emotions and those of others. And that’s a big deal, as your emotions decide how you’ll react, while knowing the emotions of others will make it easier to react appropriately to them.

The reason that travel is such a great tool for growing your emotional intelligence is because it lets you realize why people feel the way they do. You see, people everywhere are driven by the same forces and drives. Sure, these things might have different names, wear different clothes and speak different languages, but deep down they are still the same.

The more you travel, the more obvious this becomes and the better you become at understanding where somebody is coming from – whether you speak their language or not. This, in term, makes you better at responding appropriately to what these people are doing. You know what people are really after, how they mean to get there and whether that will help or harm you.

Travel Will Make You More Creative

There’s no getting around it. Travel sparks creativity. This is mainly down to the way that travel makes you see things in a different light and from different angels. Why? Because culture is a box in which you reside. Even worse, when you don’t travel you don’t even realize the dimensions of that box and how it funnels your thinking. You end up thinking are black and white when in fact there’s a whole range of other colors they can be.

Travel breaks you out of that box. It allows you to realize how people think different, act different and have different values. This, in turn, allows you to understand the world’s many different colors that much better.

Even better, learn some different languages while you’re there. The shopping list of mental benefits that doing so has is just tremendous. As an extra bonus, a whole lot of employment options open up when you can translate to multiple languages.  

It Makes You More Open Minded

In fact, travel affects a lot of the big five personality traits in a positive way. It makes you more open-minded, less neurotic and even boosts how agreeable you are. These are often incredibly useful traits, whether you’re trying to start a business or just get along with your friends and family.

What is just as true is that the people you meet on the road are also stronger in these attributes. And so, you’ll often in that even if they’re from the same area as you are, they’re more open minded and friendlier than the people you meet at home. This is because travelers self-select. Those who like it are more easy going, while those who don’t often aren’t.

It Makes You Understand What You Have

And finally there’s how it changed how you view home. This is not to be underestimated. You might think that you fully understand what you’ve got. The thing is, you probably don’t. Most us don’t appreciate what we’ve got until it’s gone. The great thing about traveling is that you can get something to go away for a little while and then return to it. That means you get the best of both worlds. You get to both experience the world without these things and then return to them when you realize how much you miss them.

From my own experience I can tell you that when you get them back – be it the love of a sibling or the enjoyment of a hot shower – these things are better than they’ve been in forever. And that, in fact, make it worth the time you spent away.

Author Bio:

Margaret Reid is a self-driven specialist who is currently working in the company  The Word Point  and trying to improve herself in the blogging career at  Writersquad.co.uk . She is always seeking to discover new ways for personal and professional growth and is convinced that it’s always important to broaden horizons. That`s why Margaret develops and improves her skills throughout the writing process to help and inspire people.

How Travel Broadens Perspectives and Sparks New Ideas

• November 27, 2023
• Office of Outreach and Relationships

International travel has the power to transform our worldviews, offering unparalleled cultural experiences that foster global citizenship and an expanded understanding of the world. Each journey we embark on opens doors to new perspectives, igniting our minds with innovative ideas.

From tasting unique cuisines to connecting with diverse individuals and uncovering our life’s purpose, international travel is a catalyst for personal growth and self-discovery. It pushes us beyond our comfort zones, allowing us to gain a deeper understanding of ourselves and the world around us.

Moreover, traveling cultivates gratitude and awareness, enabling us to appreciate the blessings we have while witnessing the stark contrasts in different cultures and lifestyles. This exposure sparks kindness, goodness, and a desire to support communities in need.

One of the profound benefits of travel is the expansion of our minds and perspectives. It encourages intellectual enlightenment, challenges existing beliefs, and fuels our curiosity for knowledge. It fosters open-mindedness and a lifelong pursuit of education and personal development.

So pack your bags and embark on a new adventure, for international travel has the power to shape your worldview and enrich your life. Let it spark your creativity, ignite new ideas, and cultivate a sense of global citizenship. Together, let’s explore the world and connect with a diverse global community.

Key Takeaways:

• International travel broadens perspectives and sparks new ideas.
• Traveling facilitates personal growth and self-discovery.
• Experiencing different cultures cultivates gratitude and awareness.
• Travel expands the mind and encourages intellectual enlightenment.
• Embrace international travel to shape your worldview and foster global citizenship.

The Benefits of Traveling for Personal Growth

Traveling is not just about visiting new places and ticking off bucket list destinations. It is a transformative experience that has the power to enrich our lives and contribute to personal growth. Through travel, we can embark on a journey of self-discovery, expand our horizons, and gain valuable insights into ourselves and the world.

One of the key benefits of traveling is its impact on mental health. Stepping out of our everyday routines and immersing ourselves in new environments can offer a fresh perspective on life. It allows us to break free from our comfort zones, challenge ourselves, and build resilience. Navigating unfamiliar situations promotes problem-solving skills and adaptability, qualities that are essential for personal growth.

Moreover, traveling can also lead to spiritual enlightenment. Experiencing different cultures and witnessing their customs and beliefs can foster a sense of interconnectedness and wonder. It encourages us to reflect on our own values and beliefs, leading to a deeper understanding of ourselves and our place in the world. Through travel, we come face to face with the vastness and diversity of the human experience, prompting introspection and self-discovery.

Ultimately, travel offers us the opportunity to engage in new experiences that can shape our personal growth journey. It pushes us to step outside our comfort zones, challenge our preconceived notions, and embrace the unknown. By immersing ourselves in different cultures, we gain a broader perspective on life and develop a greater appreciation for the richness and complexity of the world we live in.

Cultivating Gratitude and Awareness Through Travel

Traveling to different destinations offers a unique opportunity to cultivate gratitude and awareness in our lives. When we step out of our familiar surroundings and immerse ourselves in new cultures, we gain a deeper appreciation for the blessings and privileges we have been given. Witnessing the contrasts in standards of living and experiencing the diversity of lifestyles can be eye-opening and humbling.

As we encounter different communities and societies, we become more aware of the challenges and struggles faced by others. This exposure can spark a sense of gratitude and a desire to support those in need. It reminds us of our interconnectedness and the responsibility we have to contribute positively to the world. By engaging with local communities and learning about their customs and way of life, we begin to understand the importance of kindness and goodness in our interactions with others.

Fostering Connection and Understanding

Traveling also fosters connection and understanding between people from diverse backgrounds. It allows us to break down preconceived notions and stereotypes, replacing them with genuine interactions and empathy. Through shared experiences and conversations, we discover commonalities that transcend cultural differences. This connection with others helps us cultivate a sense of compassion and appreciation for the richness of human diversity.

“Traveling is not just about seeing new places; it’s about opening our hearts and minds to new perspectives and expanding our understanding of the world.”

Embracing the Power of Gratitude

Practicing gratitude is a powerful tool for personal growth and well-being, and travel provides the perfect opportunity to exercise this mindset. Whether we are marveling at the natural wonders of the world, savoring the flavors of local cuisine, or simply engaging in meaningful conversations with fellow travelers, there are countless moments to be grateful for during our journeys. Embracing gratitude not only enhances our travel experiences but also has a lasting impact on our overall perspective and happiness.

So, let us embark on our travel adventures with open hearts and minds, ready to cultivate gratitude, spread kindness, and foster awareness. Through our journeys, we can create a ripple effect of positive change in ourselves and the world around us.

Expanding Your Mind and Perspectives

When it comes to travel, one of the most powerful benefits is the intellectual enlightenment it provides. Exploring new destinations and immersing oneself in different cultures opens the mind to new perspectives and ways of thinking. It encourages open-mindedness and allows individuals to challenge their own beliefs and assumptions.

Curiosity is also sparked through travel, as individuals are exposed to unfamiliar languages, customs, and traditions. This curiosity fuels a desire to learn and grow intellectually, leading to a lifelong pursuit of knowledge. Whether it’s visiting historical landmarks, engaging in thought-provoking conversations with locals, or simply observing the world with fresh eyes, travel ignites a sense of wonder and intellectual growth.

Another key aspect of expanding one’s mind and perspectives through travel is the opportunity to break free from routine and comfort zones. By stepping into the unknown, individuals are forced to adapt and navigate unfamiliar situations. This not only promotes personal growth but also fosters resilience and resourcefulness.

Embracing the Unknown: A Catalyst for Growth

Traveling to new places challenges individuals to embrace the unknown and venture outside their comfort zones. It is in this space of uncertainty that personal growth thrives. By pushing boundaries and facing new experiences head-on, individuals discover hidden strengths and capabilities they may have never known they possessed.

Opening oneself up to new cultures and ideas also nurtures a sense of empathy and understanding. It allows individuals to see the world through a different lens and gain a deeper appreciation for diversity. Travel fosters a global mindset and cultivates a greater awareness of the interconnectedness of our world.

“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.” – Saint Augustine

In the words of Saint Augustine, the world is a book waiting to be explored. By traveling and expanding our minds, we gain a broader perspective on life and develop a thirst for knowledge. We become more open-minded, curious, and adaptable, ready to embrace the endless possibilities that lay before us. So, embark on your next adventure and let travel guide you on a journey of intellectual enlightenment and growth.

International travel has the power to inform worldviews by broadening perspectives, fostering personal growth, cultivating gratitude and awareness, expanding minds, and connecting individuals to a global community. It is a transformative experience that sparks creativity, ignites new ideas, and cultivates a sense of global citizenship.

By stepping out of one’s comfort zone and embracing the unknown, individuals can enrich their lives and gain a deeper understanding of themselves and the world around them. Travel offers a unique opportunity to break free from routine and explore new cultures, traditions, and ways of life. It encourages individuals to challenge their preconceived notions, question their beliefs, and approach the world with an open mind.

Through travel, individuals also cultivate gratitude and awareness for the blessings they have been given. Witnessing different standards of living and experiencing different cultures serves as a humbling reminder of the privileges one may have. It fosters a desire to support communities in need and to contribute to positive change.

So pack your bags, embark on a new adventure, and let travel shape your worldview. Whether it’s a solo backpacking trip, a family vacation, or a volunteering experience abroad, international travel offers a wealth of opportunities for personal growth, intellectual enlightenment, and cultural connection. Embrace the transformative power of travel and unlock the world of possibilities that await.

How does international travel broaden perspectives and spark new ideas?

Traveling to new places and experiencing different cultures exposes individuals to diverse perspectives and ways of life. This exposure challenges preconceived notions and encourages open-mindedness and curiosity. By encountering new ideas and beliefs, individuals are inspired to think outside the box and generate innovative ideas.

How does traveling contribute to personal growth?

Traveling provides new experiences and pushes individuals out of their comfort zones. Navigating unfamiliar situations and adapting to different environments helps individuals discover parts of themselves they never knew existed. It encourages self-reflection, promotes problem-solving skills, and can lead to a deeper understanding of one’s purpose in life.

How does travel cultivate gratitude and awareness?

Traveling to different destinations allows individuals to witness different standards of living and lifestyles. This exposure can spark gratitude for the blessings and privileges one has been given. Additionally, interacting with people from diverse backgrounds fosters a sense of kindness and goodness in humanity, breaking down preconceived notions and building connections based on understanding.

How does travel expand minds and perspectives?

Travel exposes individuals to new ideas, cultures, and beliefs. This exposure challenges individuals to question their own beliefs and perspectives , fostering intellectual growth. It encourages open-mindedness and a hunger for knowledge, leading to a lifelong pursuit of education and personal development.

Source Links

• https://lesroches.edu/blog/how-travel-broadens-mind/
• https://chopra.com/articles/how-traveling-can-broaden-your-perspective
• https://www.vogue.com/article/can-travel-make-you-more-creative

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Travel Doesn’t Broaden the Mind

Oliver Pearson

Numerous studies have demonstrated that the marketplace of things is slowly being replaced by the marketplace of experiences. Research by the Berlin Youth Hall in 2018, for example, revealed that more and more young people (those between 18-35) are privileging experiential tourism over material purchases.

In short, millennials don’t want fancy sports cars and designer suits, they want to immerse themselves in new cultures.

This emerging trend plays directly into the perceived wisdom that ‘travel broadens the mind’. 

Like all perceived wisdom, though, this cliché deserves to be challenged. 

Rather than operating on the assumption that with new soil comes new knowledge, we should be questioning if personal development really hinges on how many destinations have been ticked off our bucket lists.

Another reason we should be confronting this oft repeated cliché is that it’s belittling to those who are unable to travel as well as those who simply don’t want to. Indeed, by suggesting that travel is fundamental to improving our understanding of the world, we subsequently suggest that anyone who remains in one place is doomed to live with an impoverished headspace.

Besides being a tad insulting, it’s also short-sighted to assume that travel is necessary to improving our knowledge of a country or opening our minds.

To make this point a little clearer, let’s imagine that one person goes travelling to Asia and another person stays at home in Britain to read up about the continent.

The traveller arrives in Beijing and heads straight to an English-speaking hotel. Slightly peckish, he heads out for a quick bite to eat at the nearby McDonalds before retiring to bed. Unable to sleep, he settles in with the latest American Netflix drama to tire himself out.

During the week he spends in the capital, the traveller avoids trying new food, shops in the same shops he could back in London and fails to learn even the most basic Chinese greetings.   

The homebody, on the other hand, spends his week off reading up on ancient Chinese history. He watches its great works of cinema and devotes an entire afternoon to learning about their cultural customs.  

Whilst this is a wildly exaggerated illustration, it hopefully demonstrates that it’s possible to learn about countries and cultures without having to be immersed in them.

Obviously, it would be of enormous benefit for the homebody to visit China and apply his knowledge, but the point is that it isn’t strictly necessary. By simply reading and studying up about China, he would be able to expand his mental horizons.   

It’s also worth pointing out that the greatest share of visitor activity amongst young travellers has nothing to do with cultural immersion.

Indeed, the WYSE Travel Confederation reported back in 2017 that the most popular visitor activity amongst youth visitors was ‘sitting in cafes’. Whilst there’s every chance that young travellers might have found themselves sitting next to a Jean Paul Sartre type in a café, expanding their minds through intense philosophical discourse, it’s fair to assume they probably just sat talking amongst themselves.

Yes, there’s a fair argument to be made about interacting with locals whose life experiences are drastically different to our own. It’s not a fair argument to presume these people will be found sitting alone in a trendy café just waiting for a conversation with a tourist.      

It’s just as likely that a more traditional holiday could lead to a greater understanding of the world. It’s not impossible, for example, that you could meet someone during a coach holiday or cruise that lends you some valuable insight that changes your outlook on life.

With all of this in mind, it seems slightly more accurate to suggest that travel helps to broaden the mind. Whilst this may seem like a pedantic amendment, it does a far better job of explaining how travel can broaden our understanding of the world.

Expand Your Mind at the Best Weed Museums in the U.S.

With the Cannfessional, the museum encourages participants to record themselves telling stories of cannabis use, prompting dialog with questions like “How does cannabis help you?” and, “Describe your first cannabis experience” (you can also bear witness online from home ). Responses illustrate the range of those who partake—from recreational to medical cannabis use and everything in between—and they are collected for future showcases in a bid to destigmatize the plant. When you’re done “confessing,” pop in your email address, and receive a copy of your video in your inbox.

And yet, only in recent history has the drug created so much controversy. When hemp was first introduced to the US in 1619, a law was passed requiring it to be grown on farms in Virginia. Later, THC was used in medicines and sold openly in pharmacies. Even presidents got in on the action. James Monroe was an avowed smoker, and both Thomas Jefferson and George Washington cultivated the plant on their land (though the powers that be at Mount Vernon are adamant that for Washington, it was just for the fibers ).It wasn’t until Mexican immigrants began using cannabis recreationally around 1910 that fear of the drug reared its head, heavily propelled by xenophobia. Propagandists called it the “Marijuana Menace,” and by 1931, 29 states had outlawed it. In 1937, federal law outright banned its sale and use in the US. Fast-forward to 1986—after the debut of the film Reefer Madness , a rise in countercultural use, the creation of the DEA, and the establishment of High Times magazine—and President Ronald Reagan signed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, instituting mandatory sentences for drug-related crimes, a move that was reinforced by President Bush’s infamous War on Drugs.

But the tides started to turn back in THC’s favor in 1996, when California legalized the drug for medical use. There’s still a way to go, of course, to get back to… the 1800s. The museums on this list are lending a new, energized voice to the larger conversation by creating dedicated spaces for discussion and engagement. And, in at least a couple of them, you can also buy weed.

Here are the best, most engaging, and just plain coolest cannabis museums in America.

Core Social Justice Cannabis Museum

Boston, Massachusetts

Portland, Maine

The location of Boston’s Core Social Justice Museum is important. Jamaica Plain is a neighborhood of immigrants, a population that usually finds itself a target of drug enforcement officials and one who rightfully looked askance at the initial idea of being associated with a museum centered on cannabis. But the founders of Core persisted, and with leadership spanning 72% women, 82% local investors, 81% minority investors, and a collective 10 years of drug-related incarceration—plus curators including Ivy League professors and bestselling authors—the free museum opened in 2021 in conjunction with the SEED dispensary . A second location of the museum opened a year later in Portland, Maine.

Through personal perspectives, the exhibits examine how drug policies have disproportionately affected low-income and minority populations while making a ton of money for those at the top. There’s also a wheel of paraphernalia (look for the Cookie Monster pipe), a replica of an illicit basement grow room, mugshots of the noteworthy people who’ve been arrested for drug possession, and a breakdown of the different effects of terpenes—all the better to inform your choices when hitting the attached dispensary.

THC NYC: The House of Cannabis

Opened on April 20, 2023 in a landmarked building in SoHo, the 1910 facade of THC NYC belies the multisensory, futuristic exhibits within. Here, covering 30,000 square feet and four floors, there is some serious education, like an installation of interviews with those negatively affected by drug laws designed in collaboration with the Drug Policy Alliance . And 20% of the employees are formerly incarcerated people, hired through A Second U Foundation . But the point of THC NYC is to celebrate, enthrall, and maybe even make you a little lightheaded, with an interactive—and psychedelic—art funhouse, creatively directed by a former experiential marketer for Disney, no less.

Though no THC is sold on premises, there’s plenty to get you to a higher state. The  Culture floor looks at cannabis through the lens of popularity, setting the scene with a distorted mirror installation called Disorientation, before a video time-warps through 600 years of cannabis history. A hazy room with a massive spinning LP serving as seating combines music, light, and movement, followed by a rotating art-meets-cannabis exhibit.

A floor below, The Agriculture  houses the first urban grow farm, an interactive olfactory exhibit on terpenes, trippy macrophotography by Chris Romaine of Kandid Kush, and an immersive video poem by Curren$y called Seed to Soul . Then there’s the  Hypnodrome , an audiovisual “guided levitation” by Australian artist Benjamin Gordon. Set to a soundtrack, images undulate and grow like a moving Rorschach test in an attempt to answer the question: Is it possible to feel high without being high? You’ll have to try it to find out.

Tickets are $40 a pop and there is an option to get weed delivered through a partnership with Union Square Travel Agency: A Cannabis Store. You can also hang on the first floor for free, grab some coffee from Jamaican roaster Sangster’s, and shop cannabis-related accoutrement—including items from Seth Rogen’s brand, Houseplant—watch glass bong-blowing demos, and take photos at a high-minded step and repeat backed by photos by cinematographer Ryan Postas for a series called The Art of Smoke . It’s enough to probably—okay, definitely—leave you wondering where the time went.

Creswell Mansion

Home to members-only cannabis club Tetra Lounge , the trippy International Church of Cannabis , and the very trippy Meow Wolf: Convergence Station , Denver already makes a strong case for a stoner’s paradise. And now there’s also the Creswell Mansion, formerly the Marijuana Mansion . Opened in 2021 in a landmarked, probably haunted Victorian estate, it’s part event space, part immersive experience with elaborate photo-ops, and part history lesson. This was the headquarters of the Marijuana Policy Project as well as the birthplace of Amendment 64, which in 2012 made Colorado one of the first states to legalize recreational cannabis. It was later the offices of cannabis law firm Vicente Sederberg , which has played an influential role in the legalization movement.

The DEA Museum

Should the DEA museum be on this list? Sure, because if you’re looking at our nation’s criminalization history, this is where you’ll find the hard evidence. Renovated in January of 2022, the exhibit traces the founding of the Drug Enforcement Administration in 1973 as well as the science behind drug addiction. Displays include Taking Down El Chapo, complete with the Mexican cartel leader’s prison uniform, original courtroom drawings, and intense gold-plated weaponry , and Disrupt, Dismantle, and Destroy, which shows off a shiny red Harley Davidson as an example of the kind of asset forfeiture involved in toppling kingpins.

A wall of honor remembers those who’ve died in service, while online exhibits cover everything from the coca, cannabis, and poppy plants used to manufacture drugs to the history of drug use, images of artifacts like the (highly addictive) morphine syrettes given to soldiers in World War II, and a life mask of Pablo Escobar, made when he was behind bars. For a fun prank on your friends, stop by the gift shop and pick yourself up some branded apparel.

Dockside Cannabis Museum

You’re probably well aware of Colorado’s pioneering 2012 marijuana legalization legislation. But there was another state that legalized the recreational use and sale of marijuana that year: chill, unassuming Washington. In fact, it was the first state in the US to do so, a full three hours before the Centennial State.

And so it makes sense that Seattle is also the home to a museum dedicated to the stuff. The Dockside Cannabis Museum celebrates cannabis’s short-lived golden age before its prohibition in 1937, with the Wirtshafter Collection of pre-prohibition era cannabis items (named after curator and collector Don E. Wirtshafter of The Cannabis Museum ). See the glass apothecary bottles that housed tinctures used to treat everything from migraines to anxiety to Parkinson’s (plus our favorite, melancholia). When you’re ready to find some medication of your own, just track down an onsite budtender: The museum shares a space with the SODO location of Dockside Cannabis Recreational Dispensary .

Cannabis Museum

Among the 10,000 items or so in the Cannabis Museum are many, many bottles. They call them Apothecary Glass Vessels, and they date to the 1830s when cannabis-infused medicine was sold over the counter freely in pharmacies. Scanning the range of these glass bottles, you get a sense of the drug’s hidden mainstream history before its federal ban in 1937. Add in the rest of the collection—prescriptions, medical records, books, magazines, photographs, posters, and hemp processing tools, among others—and the timeline, not to mention context, becomes nothing short of visceral. The research museum is open by appointment only, but there’s also an informative blog and Instagram for those who want to dabble. Keep an eye on the website, as they’ll occasionally advertise art shows and events.

Cannabition Cannabis Museum

The massive Planet 13 weed superstore in Las Vegas is the site of the upcoming 12,000 square foot Cannabition, an immersive cannabis museum that fills in any gaps in knowledge Sin City may have when it comes to the more serious side of cannabis consumption. But this is Vegas, so not only will it be educational, it promises to be an instagrammable, immersive doozy. At the helm is creative director David Korins, whose credits include Hamilton , Beetlejuice , and Immersive Van Gogh. Currently open for private events, chatter on the streets says the space will open to the public May 2024. There's also talk of a 14-foot bong. Want more Thrillist? Follow us on  Instagram ,  TikTok ,  Twitter ,  Facebook ,  Pinterest , and  YouTube .

Vanita Salisbury is Thrillist's Senior Travel Writer. She has been hypnotized by the Hypnodrome. 

These recommendations are provided for informational purposes only. The legality of cannabis varies by state and is subject to change (and remains illegal under federal law as of the writing of this article). Readers are encouraged to check their local laws before purchasing and using any substances referenced herein and should consult a medical professional before starting any course of medical treatment.