Education is such a powerful tool and an important aspect of a person’s life. Formal education is important, but there are other kinds of education equally important in a person’s life. A truly full education doesn’t just entail classrooms and grades, I’m speaking of education in the broader sense of everything an individual learns throughout their life. While classroom learning is important and valuable, it is not the only kind of learning that is so.
Every person should strive to learn more about the world they live in not just by reading about it or seeing pictures of it, but by actually going out and seeing and experiencing it. Traveling offers the kind of education that just can’t be found in the classroom. It broadens a person’s horizons and perspectives on the world in which we live, and for that reason it also fosters lifelong learning.
Travel Life
In high school, I participated in an exchange program with another school in Germany, and this was a very impactful experience. It made me truly realize and understand that there is much more to the world outside of the United States, and fostered in me a desire to keep learning about the world and to just keep learning in general, in all aspects of my life. I also went on a backpacking trip last winter in Europe that furthered my desire to see other, more foreign parts of the world. I can truly say it broadened my horizons. I ate foods I never have before, experienced a whole different culture and language, and talked to all kinds of different people wherever I went. It was very interesting to get different perspectives in a different country, on everything from politics, to history, to food. It made me rethink my own culture and my own views. The whole experience really made me reflect on myself and my home country. This in turn has made me want to learn more not just in school but in all aspects of my life. And all of this happened because I was exposed to a new environment.
When people are exposed to new environments, they are naturally forced to think a little differently. There is always a learning curve that comes with traveling abroad. Things don’t always go as planned. It might take some time to get acquainted with how the public transport in a given country works. Maybe a boarding pass gets lost, or something important like a cell phone or bag gets left somewhere. There are likely language barriers that will need to be overcome, depending on where the person is traveling. For a myriad of reasons, traveling abroad sometimes forces a person to improvise a little. This turns out to be a good confidence booster. People also get exposed to new ideas. They get exposed to new experiences. They make new connections with people they would not have had before, and these connections can sometimes even prove useful over a lifetime. I now have friends in Germany, and that is something truly valuable to me. Anyone could benefit from having a few more friends in a completely new place.
Traveling Opportunity
Traveling also offers the opportunity to learn history in a way that’s better than just being told about it. The way most people are familiar with learning history is so detached. We read or hear about it and it’s hard to fully comprehend the weight of the information without being given anything tangible. But when traveling abroad, history can be physically seen in major historical landmarks, and sometimes even felt in local culture. When history is learned in this way, people learn to appreciate it more. Many who don’t see the full value in history could learn how to actually appreciate it by seeing it first hand through traveling.
Another educational benefit of traveling is exposure to new languages. The lifelong benefits of knowing another language are obvious, and the best way to learn another language is by real exposure to it. Even if someone doesn’t have previous knowledge of any foreign language, the exposure to it could simply just spark a desire to learn that language, which is what happened to me when I visited Germany.
The break in the normal day to day environment when traveling is very conducive to personal growth. People learn more about themselves when they travel. Being exposed to a new culture and a new place invokes time for self-reflection by giving the individual an entirely new perspective. And all of this personal growth aids in lifelong learning.
Education or Luggage: Which is Important?
The kind of education that a person gets when they travel is not something that can be condensed and put into a classroom. It is an extremely valuable exercise in experiential learning. Traveling also fosters lifelong learning by broadening a person’s horizons. When people become well-travelled, they understand the world they live in much better and as a result become better world citizens. When someone experiences other cultures and the way people live in other parts of the world, barriers are broken. But in order to travel, one needs the right tools. They need to be educated about the areas they travel to. People also should have the right luggage, especially if they’re going on a backpacking trip. The right luggage will make travel so much easier and stress free, because you won’t have to deal with annoying inconveniences like a cheap bag breaking or not being able to store everything you need. This Luggage piece can be expensive, but investment in the right kind of luggage will prove useful for a very long time and help provide many travel experiences. On my backpacking trip through Germany, I didn’t use the right kind of bag. It was cheap and not very spacious, so I had no room for any souvenirs. But it taught me to be more prepared next time and to use the right luggage. It may seem like a minor detail, but it is actually something very important, since a way to carry some of your things is vital to travel, and travel is vital to becoming more educated about the world in which we live and, in turn, better world citizens. Besides, when there’s such a big world out there, who in their right mind wouldn’t want to go see it?
No comments
We love hearing from you! Thanks for leaving us some comment love! If you're a new follower, please leave your link, so we can follow you back!