Traveling

Travel is much more than just a leisure activity. Ultimately, travel can have a great number of benefits upon the individual besides merely helping them to fill a photo album with interesting and exotic pictures and places. All too often, the definition and understanding of travel has been categorized as a process by which an individual is able to unwind and merely spend a few hours of leisure time. As a means of better defining the way in which travel can be beneficial, helpful, and educational to the individual, this brief analysis will help to explain three particular ways in which this benefit can be realized. In this way, these benefits will be defined as the following: the means by which travel helps the individual to experience the world, the means by which travel allows for an interaction of new ideas/languages/people, and the means by which travel helps the individual traveler to bring back many of the ideas and understandings that they gain to their home.
Firstly, although it is obvious that travel allows the individual to experience the world, this experience is ultimately extraordinarily useful due to the fact that it is almost always different than what the person might see within their own geographic region. The differential and experience that exists within travel allows the individual to not only have a relaxing and leisure time, it also allows them to spend some time considering why and how their particular experience is different from the one that they would have had if they stayed at home.
Oftentimes, the differences in places and locations allows the traveler to interact with new ideas, new people, new cultures, and sometimes new languages. By interacting with all of these aspects, the traveler becomes more educated, more aware, and more cosmopolitan (Ahn 44). This level of worldliness helps the traveler to return to his or her original city or town and realize that key differences, sometimes good sometimes bad, exists.
Finally, through an understanding of these differences that has been described in the preceding section the traveler can oftentimes bring back home many of the ideas that they were exposed to during their travels (Börjesson 674). Due to the fact that no particular culture or nation is completely right or has found the best way to live life, many of these cultural and sociological interpretations of personal interaction, culture, religion, politics, and philosophy can be useful in helping to define the world in which the traveler interacts with at his/her home (Metz 322).
In such a way, the analysis that has been presented shows some of the ways in which travel can be beneficial. Although there are a number of many different ways, the ways which it been presented are with relation to the way in which travel cannot only be a benefit to the individual traveler but also to the society that they bring these good ideas back to (Crompton et al 47). In such a way, it is the advice of this author and of this paper, that all individuals should seek out travel experiences that push the limits of their comfort zone and introduce them to new and exciting ideas and cultures.
Outline:
Introduction: Discussion of 3 main benefits of travel and the difficulty of only picking three.
I: Travel Presents the Traveler with Differences
A. Geographic, religious, cultural
B. Helps to broaden an understanding of the world
II: Travel Presents the Traveler with a Choice of What to do with these Differences
A. Challenges understandings and norms of society
B. Helps the traveler to question whether their own approach is the best
III: Travel Helps the Person to Bring Back Good Ideas from Diverse Places
A. No society has the answer to each and every question of life
B. A combination approach from many cultures and societies helps to explain life best
Conclusion: Travel is important not only for leisure but to help the individual better understand the world and make a positive impact upon their own circles.
Works Cited
Ahn, Young-joo, and Megan C. Janke. ” Motivations And Benefits Of The Travel Experiences Of Older Adults.” Educational Gerontology 37. 8 (2011): 653-673. Academic Search Complete. Web. 28 Apr. 2013.
Börjesson, Maria, and Jonas Eliasson. ” The Value Of Time And External Benefits In Bicycle Appraisal.” Transportation Research Part A: Policy & Practice 46. 4 (2012): 673-683. Business Source Premier. Web. 28 Apr. 2013.
Crompton, Susan, and Leslie-Anne Keown. ” Going On Vacation: Benefits Sought From Pleasure Travel.” Canadian Social Trends 87 (2009): 44-53. Academic Search Complete. Web. 28 Apr. 2013.
Metz, David. ” The Myth Of Travel Time Saving.” Transport Reviews 28. 3 (2008): 321-336. Academic Search Complete. Web. 28 Apr. 2013.