Do It For The Character Development

BY EMILY BEYER

Whether you’ve been fortunate enough to experience international travel or not, let it be known that spending time abroad will change you. You will never be the same after a travel experience. Fear not, this change is simply a matter of personal growth better known as character development.

Although character development is an inevitable result of traveling, it is not often thought of as a cause for travel. However, I think this should be considered one, if not the most important, reason to travel. I would even argue that we have an obligation to ourselves to travel so we may develop our character. You might ask, why must we travel in order to better ourselves? Can’t we do that from the comfort of our homes? This may be true, but I think that you can only get so “good” at life in one particular place, lifestyle and culture. Once you reach this point, the only way to improve is by broadening your horizons (literally and metaphorically).

Not only does staying in one place provide a finite landscape for improvement, but being surrounded by the same culture and living the same lifestyle can be blinding. Without experiencing other ways of life, cultures, and alternative outlooks, you will never know what you could be better at or what you should think differently about. We most commonly come to question our personal outlooks by comparing them with others. How would you arrive at such a comparison if you’ve spent your life surrounded by people that live and breathe the same reality as you do? You might think that your outlook and lifestyle is the best– but unless you can support that claim with experiential evidence, it doesn’t have much weight. How might you gather this evidence? By traveling.

You must strip away the comfortable crutches of your known way of life in order to see your full potential. It is only by doing this that you may achieve the best version of yourself. In other words, you often don’t know what you don’t know about yourself until you accidentally discover it– just as a fish in the ocean doesn’t understand what the ocean is until it is out of the water.

One way travel develops character is by testing you in novel situations. When straying outside the bounds of your own cultural normalcy, you must acclimate beyond your comfort zone. You must compromise and spontaneously adapt in ways you would not (and could not) expect and cannot proactively prevent. Undoubtedly, you’ll find yourself in situations where you will make a fool of yourself.Despite some embarrassment, these are the memories that will make for the best stories. More importantly, these moments will prepare you for similar future situations, and they will forge your humility– a trait that is extraordinary for character development.

EMILY BEYER, NEW ZEALAND

Though you may travel with others, you will constantly make independent decisions that will change your experience. You (usually) have total control over where you go and what you do. As liberating as this may be, it means you are responsible for your decisions. You may feel vulnerable at times, but you will learn to overcome, conquer–and sometimes even enjoy–this feeling as it can be quite exhilarating. Learning to cope with your vulnerability will foster a new sense of independence unlike anything you’ve felt in your home country and will certainly facilitate character development. Eventually you’ll feel confident in your ability to survive, and even thrive, in a new place, granting you the power to tackle any challenge you encounter (travel-related or not).

“IF YOU DIDN’T ALREADY HAVE A JUSTIFICATION FOR TRAVELING ABROAD, HERE IS YOUR REASON— NAY, OBLIGATION—TO DO SO.”

Traveling abroad provides invaluable opportunities to cultivate personal growth. The lessons you learn on your adventures cannot be replicated. If you didn’t already have a justification for traveling abroad, here is your reason– nay, obligation– to do so. If traveling for the sake of your personal growth is not a sufficient reason, think beyond yourself. Surely, a new and improved you would benefit the lives of your friends and loved ones as well.

Traveling may also inspire you to bring the wisdom and ways of life from other cultures to your local community, making an even larger positive impact. So go on, do it for the character development– you owe it to yourself and to others.

EMILY BEYER, AUSTRALIA