Traveling is something everyone has on their bucket list. I mean, who doesn’t want to be a cultured nomad, roaming the earth and having only the best experiences? Unfortunately, life tends to get in the way. Traveling means planning, money, packing, reservations, and time off from work. It’s easy to get sucked into your nine to five, daydreaming of the day you’re finally given the opportunity to pursue your heart’s wildest dreams.

Did you know that traveling can actually be really cheap? Don’t have time to take off from work? Weekend getaways can be really fun and just as fulfilling. Plus, traveling offers physical and physiological health benefits!

Here are some benefits of traveling you should get prepared to experience!

• It improves your health.

That’s right. Traveling can help cut down on stress and lower your chances of developing heart disease. Going out of your comfort zone can make a huge impact on your mental health, and the physical exercise that usually accompanies sightseeing will help improve your physical health.

For some, traveling may even be a way to help improve depression and anxiety symptoms! As always, make sure to contact your physician when going abroad to make sure you’re up-to-date on your physical.

• It helps you disconnect.

Traveling is a great way to take a step back from your day to day life and focus on something new. With traveling, you’re able to get out of your routine and remove yourself from the stressors in your life.

When you’re traveling, you can shift your focus and put down the phone. So go ahead, book that flight and set up your “away from the office” email and R E L A X.

• It makes you smarter.

Whether it’s book smart or street smart, traveling seems to have an impact on both. When you travel to other countries, you’ll most likely learn small phrases or words to help you communicate with the locals. Just learning bits and pieces of other languages helps your brain function, according to the Huffington Post.

As is the rule of life, where something can go wrong, it often will. Traveling will help improve your problem solving skills and critical thinking, which can be easily applied to other aspects of your life.

• It improves your understanding of other cultures.

The world is filled with rich culture, so why not learn about it? Traveling to experience other cultures first hand is so much more filling than reading about it or watching it on TV. You’re able to see what they see, eat what they eat, smell what they smell.

Understanding other cultures will help enrich your life and develop empathy towards those different from you.

• It helps you develop lifelong memories.

You loved hearing your grandparents and parents traveling stories, so why not create a few stories of your own? You never know the kind of experiences you’ll have when you travel abroad. Maybe you’ll see some amazing views or try food you’ve never tried before. Maybe you’ll make lifelong friends, or learn something about yourself.

Regardless, when you travel you’re bound to create lifelong memories you’ll be able to tell your own children and grandchildren.

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