Life Lessons Travel Has Taught Me Vocabulary and Expressionshustle and bustle

Life Lessons Travel Has Taught Me
   Over the years, I’ve found I do some of my best thinking when I’m traveling. Away from the hustle and bustle of life back home, between checking my phone for texts and being pushed to "succeed" , I find that I can relax and philosophize in journey. While traveling, it’s common to have long train rides, plane journeys or bus commutes that leave me just enough time to just sit back, stare out the window, and reflect. Being in a beautiful place or experiencing something "once in a lifetime" is also a great catalyst for some deep thinking.
   I really think that travelling abroad over the years has helped me become a better person. Those lessons I’ve learned abroad wouldn’t have taken hold in me if I hadn’t experienced them overseas. So when I am doubtful, sad or trying to tell people that I don’t just throw my money out the window and get drunk while traveling, that it actually has MEANING to me, that I actually grow and improve from my experiences abroad, I remind myself of these lessons I’ve learned hopping around the world. I truly believe that world travel is the best education you can get.
   Traveling around the world taught me to reevaluate my priorities in life, and I learned to value experiences more than clothes and make-up. After traveling so much, I know how much something like a 2 week trip to South America will cost, or how much you’ll spend to move to Spain for a year and work. Learning to prioritize travel expenditures has made all the differences over the years. Personally, I would much rather have those experiences and memories than a new car, a nice apartment, or let’s say a Louis Vuitton bag — which, if you know me at all, I would do some desperate, depraved thing to be able to own one.
   Traveling around the world and seeing people in all sorts of circumstances makes me appreciate my freedom more and more. I don’t think people can truly appreciate what they have until you travel somewhere and are faced with abject poverty, or to a place where people don’t have the same freedoms we are blessed with back home. That is where I consider myself lucky, and I don’t think I would have ever come to that realization without traveling far and wide.
   Travel has also taught me how to pack a bag for a trip in less than an hour. When you are always rushing for something (plane, bus, boat, or train)being able to pack light and fast is key. I think if you can prioritize and pack a suitcase quickly and efficiently, this will carry over into your real life and can only help you make decisions and decide what’s important. When you have to carry your life on your back like a turtle, you quickly learn the difference between what would be nice to have and what you can’t live without. Prioritizing is a great life lesson to learn, and one I can fully thank from travel.
   Life’s short, for your sake, do what makes you happy. If traveling is what makes you happy, do it now. Do it while you can. This is the last lesson I learned from my world travel. I count myself incredibly lucky that I haven’t suffered any major accidents, setbacks, or losses that have kept me from following my dreams. Plenty of people around the world aren’t so lucky. Sometimes it takes a major event or tragedy to make you realize how short and precious life is. You have to make the most of it. Excuse me for even bringing up this painful, overdone, almost laughable cliche, but I think it’s something we are trained to ignore completely. We are so driven down a certain path, we are so focused on the one strong desire to succeed, that we forget that life is a journey, it moves fast, and if you don’t stop and look around, you might miss it.