Your college years are the perfect time to put yourself to the test and set yourself challenges by trying new things and perhaps overcoming old fears. One of the best ways to really see what you’re capable of is to travel on your own! Solo travel is a great way to see the places that you’ve always wanted to see whilst being able to simply spend some quality time with yourself, relax, and forget about worrying about anybody else. We’ve listed some of the best solo travel tips for students. Continue Reading
Backpacking is one of the most exciting experiences that a person of any age can undertake. The freedom to travel from country to country, unhindered by possessions and property, making friends from every background imaginable and collecting memories that will be with you for a lifetime – these are the things that attract people to the backpacking lifestyle. Continue Reading
By: Maria Climent Huguet
Maria Climent is a 26-year-old Catalan lady. After studying translation, she decided her life was odd enough to became a humor scriptwriter and by default, a blogger. This is how she’s now a mother of no one and a better person. She also likes to cook!
Let’s see how good travelling is for your mental (and also physical) health. In these difficult times when life seems to put us to the test, here are some extra reasons for you to decide to start an adventure.
1. You leave trouble behind: You don’t engage in your travel when you are on the plane, or preparing you luggage the night before, you start it as soon as you decide to go on that trip. Your head is already travelling. You are already imagining what it will be like, who you will meet; creating expectations. And letting go of everyday worries is good for your health, and so it is having a dream – motivation.
2. You achieve a new insight: As you get away from your normal environment you are leaving your every day routine behind. Moreover, changing habits and sceneries helps to open your mind, to have new insight and, therefore, new abilities to face trouble or maybe you may stop seeing something as trouble after an intense experience.
3. You live the moment: When travelling, there are so many stimuli from the exterior that you have to inevitably live the moment. You won’t be in the middle of a safari with a lion in front of you and a hippopotamus behind and be thinking about the fact that your parents want to ask for a credit to buy one of the apartments in Venice, for example. And this “living-in-the-present” is what is called the Zen state.
4. Learn from others and teach other people: New people play a great role in you travel experience. They give you different points of views, different perspectives, they can teach you new things and also, you can teach them things from your culture. Which makes you more tolerant, open minded and critical about yourself.
5. You gain self esteem: When you go travelling you achieve something – what you’ve been planning for so long, and hey, not everybody who thinks about it, does it in the end. You know by doing it, that you are braver than most people and you should be proud of yourself. Also, you are able to adapt to new environments, at least try to speak in other languages, learn new dishes to cook and different customs.
6. Travelling will heal you: Whether you suffer from physical or emotional pain, what is true is that pain and illness is directly related to your brain. Changing habits, good mood, achieving challenges, meeting new people… all these things will help you forget any pain or trouble you may have, whether it is that your girlfriend has left you, your parents cannot pay for the credit of their Venice apartments or your musculature is atrophied. Direct contact with nature and a good dose of fun will help you.
By: Maria Climent Huguet
Maria Climent is a 26-year-old Catalan lady. After studying translation, she decided her life was odd enough to became a humor scriptwriter and by default, a blogger. This is how she’s now a mother of no one and a better person. She also likes to cook!
Freaked out by loneliness or freaked out by people?
Sometimes we would love to go on a trip but often, no one can come with us and, thus, we don’t go. Many may find this normal and others may find it crazy not to go on holidays just because of not wanting to travel alone. Everything has its pros and cons, the important thing is being able to recognize them. Don’t condition your trip by pre-established ideas or insecurities.
These pros and cons can depend on the personality of each traveler; there are people who are more social than others. From the very distant extremes between the hikikomoris who spend years inside their bedrooms without even wanting to see another human being, to the ones who are unable to spend an hour by themselves and when they do, they’re talking on their mobile the entire time. One might consider themselves “normal”, I mean, without any social pathology but still feels uncomfortable travelling alone or one the contrary: one may be very social but sometimes, when travelling, might think their companions are annoying.
However, it doesn’t only depend on everyone’s character but also on the concrete moment of our lives and what our needs are. I mean, if it’s trip for graduation, and your classmates have rented apartments in Seville, of course you should go with them, don’t even think of going on your own.
It’s a good time to travel alone if:
- You want to get to know yourself better.`
- You want to test yourself, see where your limits are regarding social life, adventure, fears…
- You need to reflect; being alone gives you a lot of time to think.
- You just want to do whatever you feel like doing at any time, even waking up at three in the morning to go for a walk without giving an explanation to anyone.
It’s a good time to travel with people if:
- You’ve recently gone through a bad experience; whether it is a sentimental breakdown, being fired from your job, a death of someone who was close to you… being with friends is proven to help you get over difficult moments.
- You want to reconnect with someone; there’s no best way to prove friendship or love than travelling together.
- You get along very well with the person(s) you’re travelling with and you are independent, which assures you that you will not really be tied up, you can agree on meeting at the Seville accommodation you’ve rented, for example, at a certain time so that you can do whatever you feel like to during the day.
You just want to have a good time with the people you’re travelling with and that’s it, no better excuse than that.
