It’s no secret that in order to live life to its fullest potential, you need to have a strong sense of self. With daily factors such as the media, life stresses, and even relationships, self-esteem is something that almost everyone struggles with at some point in their life. While there are many ways to get that boost of self-confidence, one of the best (and arguably the most underrated) ways to do so is through travel. Traveling will teach you lessons that can allow you to be more confident throughout the rest of your life.
Say Goodbye to Social Anxiety
Social anxiety sucks and unfortunately, many people struggle with it. Talking to people, especially those you don’t know can be scary sometimes. Luckily, travel can help with that internal fear of feeling judged. You don’t have to feel judged when visiting a new place because you may not ever see those people again! If you travel solo, you’ll get to talk to other tourists as well as locals. If you choose group travel, you’ll learn to bond with your travel group and guides. Either way, you’ll have to face the healthy challenge of learning to strike up a conversation. You’ll be able to gain confidence and take this skill with you for the rest of your life.
Leave Your Comfort Zone
Traveling will force you to try new things. Whether it’s eating a new food, jumping off a cliff, or kayaking down a river, you’ll be able to go home and tell yourself “I f*cking did that!” You’ll leave the trip being more open to other adventures in life. Instead of saying that you “can’t do it”, you’ll be asking “when can I start”.
Improve Decision Making Skills
When it comes to being indecisive, the struggle is real. Traveling will force you to make decisions. You put a lot of time, money, and effort into your trip and if you don’t make decisions, you’ll spend your vacation aimlessly walking around streets trying to figure out where and what to eat. No matter where you choose to go or what you decide to do while there, you’ll be trying something new and will ultimately be glad that you did it. You’ll learn how to make a choice and stick with it. Making judgments and decisions quickly will improve overall self-esteem because more time will be spent taking action and less time will be spent on questioning or regretting.
Feel Like You’re Doing Something With Your Life
Sometimes low self-esteem stems from comparing your life to the life of others. Traveling allows you to have fun, de-stress, see new places, and learn new things. You’ll be able to gain a stronger sense of self and purpose in life. On top of that, it provides the opportunity to become more in tune with yourself, allowing you to not compare yourself to others as much.
Find New Strengths and Skills
Many people often tend to focus on their weaknesses. While that’s (sadly) a completely normal behavior, it often means that people don’t spend as much time focusing on their strengths. If you’re guilty of this, then you likely aren’t fully utilizing all of your skills to their fullest potential. Don’t worry though, heading off to a new destination can help with this! While traveling, you can hike up a mountain, help people in need, or even take a shot at photography. You’ll have the chance to discover new things that you never even knew you were good at or had a passion for. These newfound strengths and skills will last long after your trip as you’ll be able to spend more time focusing on what you’re good at. You’ll learn what you’re really capable of!
Go with the Flow
Last but certainly not least, you’ll learn to go with the flow. A lot of times, low self-esteem includes freaking out when things don’t go exactly as planned. When traveling, there are many factors that can cause changes to your itinerary including weather, traffic, and flight delays. These inconveniences can actually be a blessing in disguise. Why? They teach you how to adapt. You’ll learn how to navigate from one place or activity to another and learn how to make the most of your day when things don’t go exactly how you originally planned them. Traveling can teach you that you can still succeed and have fun. When you come back from your trip, you’ll be ready to handle any sudden challenges that life throws at you because you’ll know how to go with the flow.
Ready to boost your self-esteem? Sign up for a Have Fun Do Good experience today.
