‘It is better to travel ten thousand miles than to read ten thousand books’ goes a Chinese saying. And we can’t seem to agree more. Of course the years spent learning algebra, ancient civilizations and human psychology have not gone waste, but one trip, either with friends or solo and you come back with stories, learnings, and pieces of information that you didn’t know existed.

There could be a huge list, but some lessons are definitely worth writing about.

1. Adapting to a new environment swiftly

Nothing teaches you more than travel - to get out, face the changes, adapt yourself and that too without getting as much of a warning most often.

2. Be your own emotional anchor

Miles away from home, stuck in an unknown land amidst people you don’t know, there will always be one person you could always look up to – yourself. Travel teaches you maturity to deal with testing times, prepares you for any kind of emergencies and gradually changing you as a person you were always meant to be.

3. Striking conversations with random strangers

Image Source: Flickr @Ilya

You can easily toss away all the well-preserved introvert nature and inhibitions of public speaking when you travel. Opening up to strangers and making friends is one of your best takeaways from traveling.

4. Micro management and life skills

How much and what all to pack, where to stay on a budget, hacking cheap air fares, weighing costs between offseason and tourist season and much more. Travelling demands some micro management of things and you get to learn some cool life hacks in return.

5. Don’t give up on people

You may get mugged on the way, may get over-charged and duped by the cabbie in a foreign land but there will always be people whose little acts of kindness would take you by surprise. If there is one very critical thing that travel teaches you then it is to stop being cynical and don’t give up on people.

6. Being accommodating of vast cultural diversity the world has to offer

On the road, you will bump in to a vegetarian, a vegan, a carnivore, a multi-linguist, an atheist or a conformist, a traditionalist or basically anyone who is 180 degrees opposite you. You might hit it off instantly or not, but you will get to know the diversity that makes up this world and the more you travel, the more you will become considerate of the beauty this diversity provides.

7. Appreciative of nature, history and all things you read in text books

Step out and you will walk in the history, art, flora, fauna, and architecture all at once. Everything that you read in all your schooling years, those books suddenly start coming to action in a visual avatar when you travel.

8. Read the maps and explore unchartered territories

This one is really cool. All the years and labor put in to making sense of world map comes down to this. When you are in a new city with a map in your hands, figuring out the places to see and how to reach there, you realize this is how you practically stepped out of your geography class with a map.

9. Real life lessons in virtues of life

A family offering you retreat during a snowstorm or a cabbie coming back to return you the wallet you forgot in the cab, travelling brings you closer to the humane side of the world. Honesty and kindness don’t just remain the virtues you read in the moral science books.

Some of life’s best lessons are not written in text books and are not taught in the four walls of a classroom. The things that you would learn on the road and the lessons only globetrotting will teach you have so far not been written in any text book in the world. Step out and explore.

While travelling, what have been your learnings? What has been your best lesson from a holiday?

Naina Madan

From CA to advertising to writing, life has been a true roller-coaster ride. Not that I mind it. When not figuring out how to earn money to finance the travel, coffee and books, I am day-dreaming the travel, the coffee smell and virtually sniffing through new released books.

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