ARE YOU A RICH TRAVELLER?
Many people define being rich as having a lot of money or assets. From the financial aspect, travel is usually a big expense and causes a reduction of your assets, but it really gives you many invaluable things that make you richer in many aspects like experience, knowledge, friendship, etc.
True travel is all about the mindset, not about the money. It’s a way of finding adventure in your normal life at home as well as on the road. It starts with the decision to embrace life’s curiosities, learn about yourself, and to see, feel, and experience things that are foreign to you. True travel places you completely out of your comfort zone to learn about yourself in ways you’ve never imagined.
In fact, even if you have hoards of money, it will actually make your travels less rewarding unless you already have the mind of a vagabond – a privately meaningful manner of travel that emphasises creativity, adventure, awareness, simplicity, discovery, independence, realism, self-reliance, and the growth of the spirit. Staying in lavish 5-star hotels and pampering yourself at every corner is not true travel.
This is just an offspring of tourism wrapped in a pretty package and sold off like jewellery. Sure it can be fun sometimes but true travel and the real experience that travel brings comes from exploring the unknown. It comes from mixing in with locals and learning about the culture. It comes from challenging your fears and pushing your boundaries. It comes from not knowing where the road will take you but committing yourself to whatever adventures it brings. That’s travel!
More Reasons to Travel, you may ask?
What about the cost associated?
It’s almost never as expensive as you think it will be, especially if you’re truly looking for an adventure in developing countries and hostels. Use your work time as a learning experience to fuel your desires for the place you’re going to visit. Learn the tools and tricks to help make the trip cheaper. You can fly to countries for next-to-nothing by using points from credit cards. You can stay for free in unfamiliar territory by couch-surfing or working part-time for hostels. If you want to travel long-term, you could always work while traveling as well, especially these days when many people are becoming location independent. Either way, you’ll be surprised by the hospitality of like-minded souls as you traverse the planet.
Am I rich?
No, absolutely not. I'm no richer than anyone I know. I have in fact stayed in cheapest of places, travelled by the cheapest mode of transportation and have had food at cheap(but amazingly good food) restaurants or road side places in the past, but when it comes to living life to the fullest, I have never compromised. It's all about how I utilised my money, my time and my energy. If you siphoned all these 3 elements correctly toward what you are aspired to do, you will soon find yourself in the middle of it.
This is all about embracing curiosity and pushing your boundaries.
Grow your spirit, feed your soul, and have fun!