The many benefits of taking a trip — whether to visit family members in another city, stay closer to home at far less cost or hike with a few friends in the woods — ‘travel’ is what you make of it. Consider the benefits of a new awareness: At the Grand Canyon in Arizona, for example, the site alone plus photographs of its stunning natural expanse can transport you and any like-minded travel companions, beyond the restless impulse to just “get away.” Even following a local nature trail through a leafy haven of trees, can open your mind as well as your senses without affecting your budget.
Call it a mental-health break to leave behind same-old responsibilities for as much time as you can manage — especially if you’re fully aware of costs. Search for budget-wise getaways and how to avoid getting overwhelmed by an unrealistic range of choices. One thing is certain, the health benefits of a thoughtfully planned getaway with someone you love or like a lot can create other new possibilities, from learning about other cultures to meeting and making new friends.
Like many people working and raising children, I personally had only “gotten away” on family-style trips and “vacationed” in the extended-family cottage, including visitors who kept me as busy as I was at home. But in later years, when the kids were working at summer jobs, I finally tasted what travel was all about with my husband who, after high school, had travelled the world on his own for five years. Even though I’d been away on work assignments, travel for the self-enhancing reasons of learning about other cultures, opened my mind, awareness and my appetite to very different manners, foods, dress and ideas.
When an opportunity arose for our finding an affordable introduction to the exotic getaway of rural Bali — someone we knew who’d spent a year working with a non-profit organization there — we grabbed the chance. For me, the breakthrough in my appreciation of meeting and conversing with local people whose languages I barely understood came through the women and their children. One example: The closest restaurant to our very modestly priced single bedroom was a short walk away in the tropical night.
The delicious meal’s total cost was the equivalent of $1.50 (U.S.
) at that time. And the man, a school principal who owned our “guest bedroom,” charged nothing at all for taking us on a private tour of Bali’s local artists and craftsmen. We easily bought two beautiful and inexpensive carved-wood sculptures and a painting for our home, where they remain.
Here’s a travel hint from another culture well-known in Canada: Since we had several friends whose families had emigrated to Toronto from India, we were told their parents would create a travel itinerary for us, with the most important sites we mustn’t miss. Thanks to them, we visited many Hindu temples and other important sites, became more appreciative of heathy vegetarian foods and had a close, but never dangerous, encounter with elephants. A surprise bonus in our travels through a southern part of India: parents of the Toronto friends also helped us hire a driver (again, at a modest cost), and the young man was always kind and helpful.
He spoke warmly about his wife and children and was interested to learn about our Canadian family. One night, when my husband suddenly spiked a fever, the driver immediately rushed out to buy medicine for him. Perhaps the most lasting impact of travel, is that it not only opens new doors but it also opens your mind, and gives you more true information about your surroundings and its people.
That’s especially so when you consider the positive impact of comparing different cultures while appreciating the best of those which you’ve learned more about. And it helps you to highlight the best of what you already experience in your own culture. Consider this positive view about travel and its benefits: Children, and especially teenagers, always curious and willing to try out other people’s “funny” mannerisms, are often the front-line bearers of their own very different ways, including their group-based choices of new clothing styles.
The best possible outcome of travel is making new friends around the globe. My daughter recently met a woman from Australia, who happened to know a friend of hers (my daughter’s) whom she had met years ago on a school-based trip to a different locale. The beauty of travel is seeing, learning, tasting and doing all new things and expanding your inner horizons as a result.
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