22 Nov 2016

Travelling is about more than just seeing remarkable sights, downing beers in cool bars and getting groovy on the dance floor with a bunch of sexy Italians. It’s more than just tasty food, obscure beverages and the buddies you make.

What you don’t often realise before you leave the tarmac is just how much you will learn on your journey – exactly how much you will grow and change and develop as a human being. Yes, you’ll see and do great things, but they’re just vehicles to deliver deeper learnings and new perspectives.

1. You

You will learn the situations that make you uncomfortable, how to stay sane and level-headed in an unfamiliar environment and how to make new friends at a rapid pace.

You will learn how strong you can be when you’re hit with the ‘travel slump’ or homesickness. You will learn how capable you are when you’re overcoming your fears–whether they’re skydiving or travelling alone or eating that weird food that you are positive looks like dog?

You will not only become vividly aware of your strengths and weaknesses, but you will learn how to manage them too.

2. The world

You will learn how different cultures operate, and how respectful you should be despite the differences in tone and sentence structure and tradition.

Through your many visits to museums and churches and art galleries, you will learn more about invasions and famines and wars than school ever cared to mention. You’ll discover the names of those who went and did a great life-changing thing that affects who you are today. You will be more appreciative of those sacrifices now that you’ve seen the effects of them on the lands in which they were made.

3. Your place in the world

You will come to understand that you are but a tiny piece in the giant and complex puzzle that is life. The most comforting realisation is that you fit there, regardless of your shape.

You will learn that you are a person capable of great things. You will meet hundreds of others making positive changes in the world and you will discover that you have the power to do so too.

You’ll learn how blessed you are to grow up in a country like Australia – with the government system we have, with the HECS arrangements and a good healthcare system and superannuation. Your place in the context of this world is incredible and one of the most humbling thing to recognise.

You will learn how to fit all your learnings into conversation with others, whether you’re working in the travel industry or talking to friends and sharing stories ’round a beer. Travel will change your life, and your experiences may help to inspire others to change theirs too.