10 things travel has taught me

Actually it was more than 10 but I preferred to control my enthusiasm and not try to compete with the Bible in a number of pages.

I wouldn’t say that anyone who buys a plane ticket and goes on a trip returns a better person. It is not how it works. Maybe in the movies but not in real life.

The lessons come mostly from our openness while we travel. With leaving our comfort zone, opening our minds and letting ourselves be consumed by the reality and culture of the place where we are. The lessons come when we allow ourselves to live life. When we allow ourselves to trust. When we allow ourselves to accept that at the end of the day we know nothing and we are eternal learners.

Travel has taught me that there is no magic formula that will make us stop feeling doubts or be able to live a fulfillment life. However, every time that we exceed our limits, that we leave our comfort zone and that we overcome ourselves, we evolve as a person.

Traveling is one of the best ways to make that happen!

1 | SMILE IS THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE

No matter where you are on the planet anyone in the world gets identified with a smile. This simple movement that you can make with your lips (which is free by the way) moves mountains. The smile connects us no matter the language.

Whoever smiles doesn´t want war with anyone and that is an energy that shines to the outside.

2 | TRAVEL HAS TAUGHT ME TO BE MORE PATIENT

Nowadays we live in a society ruled by the notion of comfort. Where life runs fast and everything is for now. We don’t know how to wait. We are the last to arrive but we want to be the first to be served.

Travel has taught me the art of patience. While dealing with transports delayed for hours or trying to explain my point of view in a language that is not mine. There are several situations while traveling that make us a more patient person. We learn to respect the time of others and the time of things.

3 | THERE IS MORE GOOD THAN EVIL IN THE WORLD

Every day we watch the news and our hope for a better world is wiped out within an hour.

One of the questions I hear the most about traveling alone is if I am not afraid of doing it. And in those moments I would like to be able to explain in words the genuine kindness I saw in the world. Before you leave your home the unknown can be a scary place but believe when I say to you that you will find lots of love over there. As they say in Brazil “kindness leads to kindness”. Respect and you will be respected.

4 | WE DON´T NEED MUCH TO BE HAPPY

Everything we own in a certain way owns us. We live in this illusion of instant happiness through the consumption of things and the purest happiness isn´t in any of that.

There was a time when my house was a camping tent, my mattress emptied a little bit every night, the animals ate the food stored in the kitchen and I woke up every day with a smile in my heart.

“The essential is invisible to the eyes.” – The little prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

5 | DON´T BELIEVE IN EVERYTHING YOU HEAR

How much information do we consume is really true and is not somehow adulterated?

Several times I arrived in a country to realize that things aren´t quite as I listen in the news or like someone told me they were. Give it a shot, go and see things by yourself and make your own conclusions.

Travel has taught me that there are no absolute truths, not even ours. Everything is a perspective and often for one to be right the other doesn´t necessarily have to be wrong. And here I speak about culture, about religion, about ideas. About everything.

6 | THE BEST PLAN IS NOT TO HAVE A PLAN

I “stole” this quote from Letícia Mello, a writer I love, because it defines learning.

I was once that person who needed to have everything planned in detail and once with the plan I followed it to the letter. Travel has taught me that following a structured plan is the same as to say goodbye to half the surprises and adventures that we could live.

The magic happens in the unexpected, in the out of the blue. It is good to have a general idea of what we want for our life, but it is equally important to leave space for life to happen, for life to surprise us. Especially because I suspect that life is better making plans than we are.

7 | HUMAN CONNECTION IS THE BIG SECRET

Traveling made me passionate about people. The people I came across have often turned out themselves more important than my trip.

The human being has an extraordinary capacity for connection but it seems that in our daily lives we forget that. However, traveling awakens us to this reality again and we make friends for life in just a few days with the same simplicity as when we were children. Or even the nice lady who sells you the fruit and tells you a story. These are the people who will make you laugh louder, dream bigger and make everything unforgettable. On a trip and in life!

8 | EVERYTHING WE HAVE IS NOW

Travel has taught me to be more present and that the only thing that is real is now. The moment lived in the exact moment it is lived.

In my life there were many places and many people. Those moments will never be repeated. I can even go to the same place but those people will not be there. I can even go to the same place, but I will not be the same person.

Living in the imminence of the end of something, makes us live more intensely, makes us present. And the truth is that EVERYTHING in life is in constant eminence to end. However, we always forget that and live in the illusion of the eternal, of leaving things for tomorrow . And sometimes comes that regret that we could have lived something more intensely, but the this time does not go back.

9 | WHEN YOU ARE FEELING GOOD WITH YOURSELF YOU ARE FEELING GOOD WITH THE WHOLE WORLD

This is one of those quotes that we hear over and over, but that we only really understand the strength it has when we experience it.

Therefore, I believe that it is essential to listen, to feel, to forgive ourselves. To get rid of the expectations of others and to live what is real for us, in the way that makes sense to us, not to others.

I learned that making myself a priority is not a selfish act, actually it is quite the opposite. Only feeling the good inside me I can share the good to others. Your inner world will always reflect your outside world.

10 | WE MUST BE CAREFUL BUT NOT EXTREMELY CAREFUL

It is very important to be careful, especially when traveling alone. However, there are many good people out there who genuinely want to help you.

Travel taught me to not to be suspicious all the time and make me realize that, for example, if I meet a local and he invites me to lunch, the probability of he wants a cultural exchange is much greater than that he wants to kill or steal me . That if a person offers me help he doesn’t necessarily want something in return. That jumping off that cliff will not necessarily take me to the hospital.

Sometimes we are so controlled by fear that we stop living.

Of course we have to be careful and be aware and smart. As there are many good people in the world there are also many who will want to outwit you. Like everything in life we have to find a balance between being careful, relax a little bit and trust.

J.K.Rolling has a quote that says: “It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiosly that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default.”

THE GREATEST LEARNINGS ARE NEVER ACQUIRED BY WORDS, MUST BE EXPERIENCED

This is probably one of the biggest lessons I learned. The important things can´t be learned from books or courses. We can even get an idea of ​​what it is but we will only fully understand it when we feel it in us, when we do it ourselves, including this list that you just finished read.

Experience will be the best teacher you will find in life. So take the risk and adventure yourself out!

And about you? What did you learn when you left your comfort zone? Share your experience and leave your tips and comments.