Everyone has at least one or two travel destinations on their bucket list. These places could have sentimental value or may have earned their spot simply because of luxurious views or adventures that may be around every corner.
Traveling is not only a luxurious pastime, but it also may have physical and mental benefits. In fact, when prioritizing self care vacation ideas, you are actually taking steps to improve your overall well-being. The next time you find yourself struggling to justify booking a flight out of town, remember these wellness benefits of travel that don’t get talked about enough.
Stronger Work Life Balance
Work burnout is no joke. How can you be expected to do your job well if you never have a chance to take a break every once in a while? By traveling and taking a step back from your normal routine, you are actually allowing your brain to step off the proverbial hamster wheel so that it can re-evaluate its processes.
Seize a vacation opportunity as a chance to explore your own interests. In doing so, you further develop the skills you bring to daily life and your career. When you travel with the intention of prioritizing wellness, you can return feeling truly rejuvenated. It can often serve as the pep in your step you may not have known you needed!
Traveling for wellness even has its benefits for your employer. In fact, it may very well be what retains employees company wide. Being able to take PTO without being guilted or pressured to return to work early can ensure long term success for an individual career. Employee productivity levels rise because employees return from travel well rested and refreshed. We live in a time where WFH (Work From Home) means you never have to leave your apartment, so it makes traveling as an act of self care feel so crucial to finding harmony between work and life space.
Enhanced Creativity
It’s true: traveling expands the mind’s creative potential with each trip you take. Just by being in a new environment, you expose your brain to fresh experiences you wouldn’t otherwise have. You get to try unique activities and explore how they make you feel. Whether your travels take you to a unique museum or a meditative coastal escape, you are taking in new sights and smells and everything in between. You are allowing yourself to learn new things about yourself and explore different creative paths that boost your mental wellbeing overall.
Many great authors, chefs, and successful entrepreneurs move through the world so gracefully because their travels have reinforced their mental wellness, as well as improved their craft. Traveling offers moments of inspiration at any given moment. Immersing yourself in a foreign culture forces you to view life in new ways, which gets your creative juices flowing. When you use travel to explore new creative outlets, you do so at your own pace. You can find creativity and peace of mind.
May Lower Risks of Depression
Travel not only boosts creativity, but it also may reduce a person’s risk for depression. Research has shown that participants who had traveled within the last year were less likely to develop depression than those who had not traveled. This evidence is further proof of how finding yourself in a new environment even temporarily has many mental health benefits.
When you travel somewhere as an act of self care, you are actively reducing stress. Not only do we know that vacation positively boosts mental and physical wellness, but there is also a scientifically-proven positive correlation between traveling and its effects on the human psyche.
Oftentimes, it just takes a short reset to offer a new perspective and provide relief from symptoms of anxiety and depression. Note that traveling as a means to combat depression is not a one-time fix, in fact, it is not a cure to depression at all. However, making a conscious effort to take trips regularly can elongate the positive and optimistic feelings associated with returning to work after having just traveled somewhere special. Once you catch the travel bug, it can be tough to stay in one place.
More Physical Activity
One of the more well-known benefits of travel is its impact on physical wellbeing. Just by getting out of the house and moving your body, you are likely exerting a healthy amount of energy. There has been research conducted on how vacations reduce the risk of coronary heart disease and the results show that people who travel regularly tend to run a lower risk of cardiovascular complications.
It’s not just the sheer act of traveling that has wellness benefits, but rather all the possibilities that come along with it as well. Making time for activities and excursions or meditation can reduce bodily stress. It is the perfect excuse for focusing on your physical health in a way that is unique to your interests.
Ideas for Physical Exercise While Traveling
- Hiking popular trails
- Planning a day of walking
- Forest yoga
- Meditation
- Ride a city bike
- Unique workout class
- Swimming
Expanded Intelligence
Knowledge is power. And by making a conscious effort to travel to new places, you gain intelligence at a faster yet more approachable rate. Being fully immersed outside of your comfort zone is a great opportunity to learn more about different cultures. Exercising the mind also enriches it. It is a break from routine that betters your wellbeing. If being out of your comfort zone makes you nervous, lean into it. You may even surprise yourself.
Book Your Trip Today
There is something so inspiring about indulging in wanderlust. Whether it is to release bodily tension or escape office burnout or to exercise self-trust and learn more about yourself in a foreign place, traveling provides many benefits that can truly be life changing. It is time we start talking about traveling as a form of self care. Just one trip is all it takes to see just how powerful the improvements to your physical and mental wellbeing can be. Happy travels!
You may want to read more,
