Traveling is much more than hopping on a plane to explore the fanciest destinations on your vision board - it’s the people you meet while walking down the street, the sites you see that make you curiously wild, and the strengthening you feel that repairs the pieces of you that were once broken.
If you haven’t traveled in the last six months, your mind may be fetching for the next moment of tranquility that will take your breath away.
But if you’ve been working over 60 hours a week, you may not even have the time or mental space to think about planning a trip (at least that’s not as bad as planning your performance review meeting with your emotionally detached boss. But still, we know it’s work). That’s why using sites like TourMega provides you with a large inventory of travel tours that make planning your next excursion convenient, efficient, and cost-effective.
Start drafting your six-month action plan and book your next work vacation (those bags under your eyes won’t get any smaller if you keep staring at your computer.) Traveling will give you the clarity and confidence you need to return to work with creative inspiration. And we all know that added employee value leads to increased chances of promotions and financial rewards.
Here is why traveling the world should be the next personal and professional development activity that you consider:
1. Traveling Will Change Your Focus
If you are focused on the hardship you experience on your job, you may go to work tomorrow with your boss pounding on your desk asking for the latest financial results (and you haven’t even had the chance to sip your money coffee!). But if you are on an exotic island surrounded by beautiful pink sand beaches, brightly colored marine life, and scents of blossoming frangipani trees, do you think you will even care what’s going on at work? You won’t and you shouldn’t. When you change your focus, you have the opportunity to boost your creative juices that were once held back by day-to-day stress you experience on the job. And when you unleash the chains of your creativity, you may be inspired to create the next million-dollar idea that can change your life and the lives of those around you.
2. Traveling Will Replenish Your Energy
You don’t want to attend your next work meeting with negative energy. Chances are, the meeting will be a waste of time because you aren’t internalizing the information you are receiving (please don’t email your boss asking him/her to repeat what they explained in the meeting). You need to build yourself up with positive energy and traveling is the perfect remedy to rebuild a tainted soul. Traveling will introduce you to new ways of living, giving you something exciting to look forward to every morning. TourMega’s large search engine of over 50K tours will give you the chance to explore the Hidden Athens tour in Greece, enjoy a Skydance Helicopter Tour over Bangkok, or indulge in wine tastings at different locations around the world. The opportunities to meet different people, taste foreign foods, and explore new sites will keep you on your toes and allow you to see life in a different way. This is the energy that you will need to get back into the job market or start your new path of entrepreneurship.
3. Traveling Will Elevate Your Career Confidence
Let’s face it—most people are stuck in dead-end jobs or are overworked and underpaid because they don’t have the confidence to leave. But, if you are trying to get a promotion or start your own business, even more confidence is needed to convey your value and competence without stumbling over your words.
When you are confident in what you can do in your career, you will never settle for second best. Traveling exposes you to different ways of living and boosts your confidence faster than reading a book about the topic. If you can climb steep mountains, eat foreign foods, and immerse yourself in an environment where you can’t speak the language, what can’t you do? These unfamiliar situations can all leave you with unflappable confidence, which will make you unstoppable and more comfortable when you return home. This may be the time to ask how you can add more value at the firm or call your connections to learn about other companies that would be a better fit.
4. Traveling Will Globalize Your Professional Tribe
How many people in your network speak a different language or are from different countries? Stop whatever you are doing to take a mental inventory of your network, as this is crucial to your future success.
Why? Renowned business leader Jim Rohn once said, “You’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” The people around you provide you with a glimpse of your professional future.
Start networking around the world—now. Your education may get you in the door, but your network will give you the extra clout that you need to soar. The best networking opportunities come when you travel. Traveling can give you access to a universe of professionals that you would have never met if you had stayed in your home country.