5 WAYS THAT TRAVEL ENRICHES YOUR LIFE

Every time I think about travel, I immediately want to bring those really cheesy - but totally true - quotes out to play, you know the ones, travel sets my heart on fire, it's the only thing you buy that makes you richer etc. etc. but the thing is, as much as I feel like a budget Dan Humphrey - let's face it, old lonely boy is pretty budget anyway - or wannabe poet, it's kinda just true.

Because whilst I mentioned in my previous post that as much as I love travel, I'll always love home... I just really bloody love seeing as much of the world as possible. And then Instagram'ing, snapchatting, tweeting, vlogging the life out of it until the point of even wanting to punch myself in the face/being a little bit jealous of my own life.

As you're reading this - if you're a keen bean/general lovely human being - when I first post it, then I'll be in the South of France with one of my favourite skincare brands Avene, and I genuinely had to pinch myself - and then curse myself for rubbing off some fake tan - to make sure that I'm actually here. But I am, I'm ridiculously grateful and having all of those really soppy "this is so life enriching and that's it I'm gonna travel constantly because yolo and oh shit... I'm not a Kardashian, probs not so possible" feels. So I wanted to write a post about how travel can enrich your life, because I probably get at least 5 comments on every post saying that they wish they could travel and be away somewhere, and I guess this is just me convincing you that you should. You really should just do whatever you can to see as much of the world whilst you can.

And maybe try to justify to myself that it's totally OK to book a holiday to New York next month because err hello, life enriching and all that...

You see the world and discover new cultures

Numero uno reason why travelling enriches your life is (pretty basic AF) the obvious; you get to see the world. There is so, so much out there that the world has to offer and so many of us barely venture out of the little towns we were born in. Seeing the world, discovering different cultures and an entirely new way of life really teaches you things that money can't buy and schools can never teach.

It forces you to adapt

Being thrown into a different culture and way of life really forces you to adapt - like, oh hey now I'm in Italy, I'll have real gelato instead of an almond magnum - but seriously, having to respect other cultures and abide by different rules whilst all the while enjoying an amazing experience is such a life lesson in itself. Plus, every time I travel, I am always totally pushed out of my comfort zone. Whether it's travelling with a brand and not knowing anybody, or travelling to a different part of the world and having no idea how everything works... it takes you out of your little happy, easy comfort zone and I am all about that. As some clever gal pal said on Pinterest somewhere - if it's both terrifying and amazing then you should definitely pursue it.

It gives you life experience that no money can buy

I kind of touched upon this earlier but seeing the world really does give you life experiences that are completely priceless. You know, I'm not sitting here all like Hey you there with the mortgage or little baby struggling to get by, up and leave and see the world, I do totally understand that travelling can be very expensive and sometimes it's just not feasible. But if you have the tiniest window of opportunity that it might be (and you actually want to see the world because I'm aware that some people really aren't bothered) then do it, book the flights/transport and worry about it later. Because one thing I've learned from my recent travels is actually how little I knew about the world and how it really is possible to learn something new (and perhaps a little life changing) every day.

It makes you love in a different way

Maybe some of you are now questioning when I turned into a major hippie but I realised after my second visit to New York that it's 100% possible to fall in love with a place. I actually have the most ridiculously humiliating blog post in my drafts from when I returned home from NYC, couldn't sleep, and wrote it at 2am absolutely balling my eyes out with a jar of peanut butter and spoon because it really had such an effect on me and I missed it so much. I loved Ibiza, Marbella, Paris etc. but I am in love with New York, to the point of just thinking about it makes me so blissfully, unapologetically happy... and it made me realise that there's more than just one conventional type of love. And that feeling of discovering your happy place is really special.

BRB just grabbing a sick bucket because that entire paragraph definitely bordered on nauseating!

It makes you appreciate home

Finally, as much as I adore travel and don't plan to stop any time soon - although I 100% need at least 3/4 weeks to catch up on blog collabs/get my shit together to avoid any breakdowns - home is where the heart is (lols, still ain't given up on being a tree hugger) and my heart is in my South east London home, with my family, most likely watching Grey's Anatomy with a hot chocolate and electric blanket on.

So that brings me to the end of my long and rambly and omg travel is life post. I am completely aware that not all of you will be that interested in travel and not all of you will feel like you're in a position to do so, but maybe this has given you a bit of motivation to try and make it happen. Or maybe it hasn't and you're like "defo's just wasted 5 minutes of my life reading that sh*t" but I really hope it's the former. The only thing better than going away to these amazing places with my blog is being able to take you along with me so thank you for reading and I genuinely do hope you enjoyed it.

If you fancy keeping up with my South of France trip/general travels, I'll be on snapchat - theellenextdoor - and Instagram constantly. See you in London lovers, you're the absolute best!

xx

SHARE: