My advice to anyone reading this post today: Travel. Especially if you’re still trying to figure things out in your life (aren’t we all?). Traveling the world will help you create and/or expand your worldview, by going forth and discovering what’s out there. We can’t do that from the comfort of our homes.

There will come a time when traveling won’t be as possible for you, your responsibilities will grow exponentially, and your life, in general, will take over.

When you’re young, the world is open to you, you’re still trying to figure things out and you’re like a sponge, ready to soak up everything you see, hear, and feel. You’re not committed to anything yet, and you shouldn’t be, not before you’ve traveled.

Soak up the world! See things, do things, be one with nature, visit the largest and oldest cities, visit the smallest town out in the Boondocks, and get to know someone on a personal level who doesn’t speak your language.

“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.” – Saint Augustine

Forget about the virtual world in your computer for a moment, perhaps put off college for a year, wait to get to work making a living, because, if you really want to make a living, it’s out there and not in some cubicle somewhere. There will be plenty of time for working later.

Besides, your worldview will change after you see things and experienced things you’ve never experienced before! When you come home a few times from distant lands you will have a different view on what you want to do the rest of your life and it might not be what you always thought you it would be.

I know, but…

I know you can list a thousand reasons why traveling isn’t possible for you. Money, responsibilities, and a host of other things I have no clue about. I get it. Hell, we are in a pandemic right now, but it won’t last forever and it gives you time to research and pick places to go.

Let me just say, you’ll only be young once. The time you have now will never return.

So often I meet people on my travels who have never left where they live. Many are happy, but most I realize have a very confined worldview. This isn’t meant to be derogatory. It’s the truth. When you stay put and you don’t ever travel, you also don’t gain perspective of how round, different, and full of richness the world is elsewhere.

Not everyone is like you. And not everyone is like me. Unless you’re in Italy, the Italian food you eat in a local restaurant doesn’t look, much less taste, anything like the Italian food you would be served in a traditional restaurant in Italy.

The Alps are so much larger in real life than, ‘as seen on TV.’

And, Denmark in the summertime is far more beautiful than you can ever imagine from afar.

Unless you’ve been to a place, you don’t know it.

I’ve lived 5 hours from Paris most of my life, but I first visited it when I was in my 30’s. When I finally stood on the top of the Arc De Triomphe with my wife, Joan, and I saw Paris from up there for the first time, my entire worldview changed in an instant! I had never seen anything so wonderful in a city in my entire life.

Paris didn’t just take my breath away, it took away any preconceived notions I had of how I thought it would be, or what I thought it should be. It was more. In every sense of the word, it was more.

Paris wasn’t just about the sites, although they’re something to behold, it’s about culture, it’s about life being lived in the moment, you actually do see artists painting masterpieces along the famous river Seine. I didn’t have to merely imagine it anymore, I witnessed it! Now, as I write this, I remember it! I miss it.

And, I changed.

You will, too.

It doesn’t matter how old you are right now, even if you’ve left your 20’s far behind, you should still find a way to travel, to see and experience places around the world.

Have you ever eaten a chocolate crepe from the crepe stand across the street from the Eifel Tower? I swear, they make the best chocolate crepes I have ever tasted in my life. Or, have you ever had delicious small dutch pancakes called, poffertjes, at the carousel pancakes-house in Amsterdam? Oh… My… God! 

When You Get There: Pay Attention

When I was walking up the narrow, spiraling staircase to the top of the Arc De Triomphe, I felt something tap me on the shoulder.

I ignored the tap at first but soon I felt the tap again, and it distracted me from my cell phone, which I had been intently reading as I was walking up, so much so, that I was forced to start paying attention to where I was and what I was doing at that moment.

Joan said she didn’t tap me on the shoulder or try to get my attention, she was too focused on making it up the stairs safely and seeing what was all around her. That’s what I should have been doing instead of staring at my phone!

I don’t know if something paranormal tapped me on the shoulder, but I am grateful because once that happened, I put my phone away and paid better attention to where we were, what we were doing, and what was around us. It made my experience in Paris so much richer.

I even took a photo (above) of the spiral staircase a few moments after being tapped. I had already walked half of the way up staring at my phone–what a waste!

So, my friend, don’t just travel, pay attention.

5 Reasons to Travel When You Are Young

Put your phone away, put your books back into your backpack, and see where you are, hear where you are, and feel where you are.

Be in the moment wherever you are.

Connect.

1. Learn and experience new cultures

It can’t be exaggerated the value of learning new cultures and experiencing them firsthand. It’s something you’ll have forever, and it will change you, traveling, and experiencing life beyond your purview. It will make you a richer, deeper, and, more interesting person. You’ll also feel more worldly and have fascinating stories to share for the rest of your life.

2. Make new friends

Life is often about meeting people and developing lasting friendships. When you travel you can’t help but meet new, interesting people who are different than you and who will help you develop other points of view, which will be of service to you for as long as you live.

Speaking of your point of view…

3. Enhance and expand your worldview

I can’t iterate this enough. If you want to enrich your life and expand your worldview, traveling is the way to do it. Although this post is about traveling when you are young, remember, age is relative, and your mind and your heart will always be able to absorb new ideas. Treat yourself regularly with travel, whenever you can.

Use any excuse to travel, such as you enjoy new sites and sounds, because you want to learn about new people and cultures, or you want to discover the metaphysical in strange and unique places. Whatever interests and excites you enough to get you to set a course and travel the world, use it.

Hey, maybe even do a little ghost hunting in the 2000-year-old Roman-made caves in Valkenburg, Holland.

4. You will discover the unexpected

When you go somewhere new, no matter how many travel books and brochures you read, you won’t be prepared for everything you discover and experience. Nothing can be compared to physically traveling somewhere. I’ve been to so many castles and ancient ruins across Europe and it almost never fails that I find something totally unexpected, sometimes it’s merely interesting, sometimes it’s awe-inspiring, and sometimes, yes, sometimes, it can be ominous and scary, too.

You’ll find all of those qualities and more in the stories I share on this blog. I hope I inspire you to visit some of the places I write about. The spiral staircase in the Arc de Triomphe, of all the things in Paris, was one of the most unexpected and interesting places I’ve ever been. There’s something especially haunting about it. If you ever get the opportunity to visit Paris, do me a favor and make sure to put it on your list of things to do.

5. Find yourself

You are not who you think you are until you’ve seen and experienced the world. At least, I wasn’t.

When Steve Jobs was young, he traveled to India on a mission to meet a guru who had influenced his thinking. However, Steve discovered when he arrived in the part of the desert where he expected to find the guru, that, Neem Karoli Baba — the guru, had died.

Steve’s expectations of his trip to India were shattered, but the overall trip still influenced his life going forward and helped him make Apple what it is today. Despite his setbacks in India, Steve discovered a new appreciation for another person, Mahatma Gandhi. If you go back and watch Apple’s “Think Different” advertisement, you’ll discover it also featured Mahatma Gandhi. That’s not merely by chance or coincidence.

It’s said that Steve Jobs found himself in India. Who knows where you might find yourself?

Travel, seek, and you shall find.

Let this be your tap on the shoulder, get out there, travel, and see the world!

*Of course, at the moment traveling isn’t possible for everyone due to the current crises, but hopefully, we can get back on board and start traveling again soon. **All photos are by me and Joan.

If you would like to comment or discuss this post, let’s do that on Facebook, here.