We all travel for different reasons… Some of us just want to relax and take a break from all the stress at work. Some of us enjoy meeting new friends and discovering new places. Some of us are adventure-seekers at heart and find traveling exciting and fun. While some of us use traveling as a way to overcome heartbreak or trauma…
Whatever motivates you to get on a plane and travel halfway around the world, it’s only one of the benefits that traveling can actually offer you. You may not have noticed but traveling improves your life in many areas, most significantly, your health. Wondering how? Read on to find what the most important health benefits of traveling are and how traveling can truly improve your life…
5 Amazing Benefits Of Traveling That’ll Improve Your Health…
Will these amazing health benefits of traveling motivate you to book your next flight? Let’s take a look…
1. Traveling reduces the risk of heart attack
According to studies, one of the major health benefits of traveling is it reduces your chance of suffering from heart disease or heart attack.
It said that women who vacationed only once every six years were nearly eight times more likely to develop heart disease compared to women who traveled at least twice a year! While men who do not take a vacation for several years are 30 percent more likely to have a heart attack compared to those who travel regularly.
Why? Because traveling promotes physical activity and allows you to exercise whilst having fun. How many times have you gone on vacation and walked around all day without even realising?
Travelers are more active than those who spend most of the time in their office chair. That simple airport rush, or wandering around a foreign land is already a good form of exercise. Plus, travelers are more inclined to do outdoor activities that promote physical and mental health like trekking, hiking, swimming, paddle boarding and the likes.
Studies have shown that physical movement lowers blood pressure, and moderate exercise lowers your risk of heart disease and stroke by 30% to 50%.
Not only that, traveling relieves stress, which is another major cause of heart attack. Read on to find out more…
2. Traveling relieves stress and boosts mental health
One of the most important health benefits of traveling is it reduces stress levels and helps boost mental health.
According to a 2012 Stress in America Survey, 89% of vacationers agreed that by traveling they could relax and let go of stress. They also said that the feeling of relaxation and less stress continues even 2 days after the trip…
This is because “traveling helps manage stress and negative emotions by removing us from environments and activities that make us linger on the sources of our stress”, added by the American Psychological Association.
It has been proven effective that removing yourself from your daily routine and into new surroundings resets both your mind and body and results in significant stress relief. So if you’re feeling on edge, perhaps it’s time to book a few days away.
3. Traveling lowers depression and increases our sense of happiness
Research conducted in 2002 by the University of Surrey, stated that another significant health benefit of traveling is that it lowers depression and increases our sense of happiness.
A lot of this occurs when we are excitedly anticipating our next trip because having something to look forward to relaxes our mind and make us feel giddy while waiting for the day to come.
This is supported by a 2014 study from Cornell University. They discovered that people feel more happiness from anticipating a travel experience compared to the happiness they feel when they are anticipating a possession over something.
Not only that, traveling helps to take your mind away from common every day triggers that can cause you to feel depressed. Keeping busy, surrounding yourself with people and stimulating your brain with new sights, smells and cultures can have a significantly positive impact on the way you feel emotionally.
4. Traveling keeps the mind sharp and promotes brain health
Fourth on our list of travel health benefits, is that it promotes brain health and keeps the mind sharp.
Traveling expands your mind, especially when you are introduced to new experiences and environments. Your mind is challenged to adapt to new situations and people you meet along the way when you travel. This also helps to build resilience at the cellular level which can delay the onset of degenerative disease!
Not only that, the exposure to novelty also increases cognitive simulation which has been shown to improve both our memory and concentration, most particularly for those who suffer from dementia.
5. Traveling enhances creativity
The final significant health benefit of traveling on our list is that it enhances your creative side.
As a traveler, being immersed into different cultures challenges your mind to become more adaptive and creative, according to a 2012 study published in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
The study mentioned that the more you engage and adapt to new cultures through immersion, the more it makes you creative and successful in life. This is because the brains’ neutral pathways are influenced by the experience and environment that we are exposed to while traveling. This sparks synapses in our brain and enhances our creativity as a result. The study also noted that students who travel and study abroad tend to be more open and emotionally stable.
Conclusion
Aside from its health benefits, traveling can also improve your life in many other ways, for example: the way you communicate with others…
This is because when you travel, especially to places where your native language is not widely used, you adjust and learn to communicate the way locals do to be understood. This is an important skill you learn to develop while you travel which you can then bring back into your everyday life to improve your work flow, relationships, social life and more.
So with all these travel benefits, we can conclude that traveling is indeed important, not only to have fun and take a break from all the stress of in everyday lives but also to keep our mind and body healthy against the many burdens that get in our way.
So where’s it gonna be next?