As you probably already know, I love to talk about money. I am “all about” saving and setting yourself up to have a successful financial future. However, there is one area in particular where I find it so important to invest some of your hard-earned money. That is, in the area of travel.
I have been fortunate enough to travel more than the average twenty year old. When I was thirteen, my grandmother took my cousin Laura and I to explore Holland for the first time. She wanted us to get the chance to see where she came from and meet our Dutch family. It was at that time I fell in love with the country and the people. Ever since I was young, the importance of travel was ingrained in me.
Six years ago, I had a “once in a lifetime” opportunity to travel abroad to The Netherlands, to live and work for my family’s company. At the time I was not happy in my current job and wanted any excuse to get up and leave. I emailed my cousins over in Europe, asking if I could come over to learn about the ‘ins and outs’ of their company and to my surprise, they said yes!
I lived in the Netherlands for nine months in total and during that time I was able to explore so much of the beautiful world we live in. On weekends and time off from work, I would visit as many new cities as I possibly could. A lot of the places we explored by bike, as Holland is famous for cycling, which made sightseeing so much more fun and enjoyable. Luckily, I had met some wonderful people there who were more than happy to drive me around and explore their own country with me.
Travel can be such an eye-opening experience. It gives you the opportunity to view the world around you through a different lens and a wider scope. When you travel, you have the opportunity to build memories, and memories are moments you will remember for the rest of your life. The younger you start, the more stories you will have to tell later on about all of your adventures!
It’s important to set money aside for these sort of things. You don’t need to have $2,500 to be able to tour Europe right away, but you can start locally. For example, grab your girlfriend and take a weekend trip to Niagara Falls (if you’re an East Coast girl like me!) Now…that’s what I call a $500 well spent.When I spend money on traveling, I know that I am putting my money to good use. You are paying for an experience and you will remember that experience forever.
When Landon gets older, I will encourage him to travel, to take any opportunity to study abroad, visit friends in different states and tour this beautiful country of ours. There is so much to see and only so much time to do so.
Traveling has many benefits, but here are the biggest ones, no matter how far, or how close, you travel.
- 1. You’ll find a new purpose.
- 2. You’ll appreciate your home more.
- 3. You’ll realize that your home is more than just where you grew up.
- 4. You’ll realize how little you actually knew about the world.
- 5. You’ll see that we all share similar needs.
- 6. You’ll realize that it’s extremely easy to make friends.
- 7. You’ll experience how interconnected humanity is.
Where is your favorite place you have traveled? Leave me a comment below!
This post was written by Jess, but first seen on Society Letters here.
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