Is it nonsense to travel in the age of the Internet? But a journey sometimes changes your life.
Since ancient times, traveling has dramatically changed human history and destiny.
Marco Polo and James Cook in Europe, Ibn Battuta and Zheng He in Asia, and many other great travelers have opened up the future of globalization by bringing new knowledge back to their own homeland.
As in the real world, in addition, a lot of characters in novels and epic poems travel to a foreign land.
Homer’s “Odyssey”, the Middle Eastern tale “The Sailor Sindbad”, and in present age, J. R. R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” are masterpieces of travel fiction.
In these stories, heroic characters face many difficulties through the journey and overcome them at last. When they returned home, they look like other human beings.
The times have changed. Now we can get any information around the globe via the Internet instantly. Some may think it is meaningless to travel spending much money and time. Moreover, every travel involves risks to some extent.
However, once we start our journey, it will bring us new connections with places as well as people who we have never imagined. These are valuable enough to change our lives.
Find out the beauty of the earth
After leaving the hometown, get on an airplane or train, you see fresh landscapes that are different from the familiar places coming one after another.
Soaring mountains, lush forests, a wide expanse of the sea, and ships sailing there. The lives of unknown people and environment surrounding them are vivid and beautiful.
You will find the beauty of the world when looking at these impressive sights.
Realize your own smallness
During the journey, you are free from trouble-making everyday life. Away from your workplace, which is not always comfortable, worry things and frustrations will fade out from your heart.
In this vast world, your existence is extremely small. Your problems, too. This understanding makes you at ease.
See the true face of the world
The Internet and social media provide fresh information every single moment.
When you go out with your own feet to see things with your own eyes, however, you will look at the world from another point of view. It is different from the reality cut off by smartphone display.
Traveling unknown places drives away your stereotypes and prejudices because everything you encounter on your journey is unfamiliar. Every traveler is a beginner.
“Friend” becomes “best friend”
If you are traveling accompanied by your friend, you will deepen the bonds by sharing a long time through the trip.
Though you may separate from the friends due to relocation many years later, someday when all the members will gather again, you and your friends can enjoy talking the memories.
Travel is not just leisure. Young nobles from 18th to 19th century Britain traveled the European continent after they have graduated school. This “Grand Tour” is not just pastime but also the opportunity to acquire the knowledge from overseas.
The journey enriches your life by encountering things you never knew before.