There are myriad benefits to travel. From improvements to your health to the broadening of your horizons, travel can serve to reinvigorate and re-inspire. Of course, traveling costs money, but that expenditure is best viewed as an investment – in yourself and your future – and if you plan carefully and take advantage of offers and deals, it doesn’t have to cost that much.
The health benefits of travel are well researched. Travel can lower stress levels and reduce anxiety, even once you’re back home. It can decrease your risk of heart disease and promote emotional stability. Packing your vacation days with activities also means that travel can help keep you fit. The combined benefit of all this – and the many other physical health benefits that travel provides – is that those who travel frequently can even look forward to a longer life expectancy.
Just as travel can be viewed as an investment in your body, it can also be an investment in your mental health. The modern world can be hard to take. Technology means that switching off is much harder to do these days – downtime is becoming a thing of the past. Swapping your normal working life for a few days of lazing on a beach in the seemingly endless sunshine can work wonders in terms of boosting your happiness. In fact, researchers at the University of Surrey have found that even the anticipation of a holiday can enhance happiness levels.
Clearly, traveling does cost money, but some investments have returns that outweigh the benefits – which is why things like the Irish Lottery have proven so popular over the course of time, despite changing political, cultural and economic factors, as this summary from Lottoland demonstrates. The history of the Irish Lottery is itself also intrinsically linked with travel, with tickets for “the Sweeps” (the Irish Hospital Sweepstakes) being popular on the black market in the US after their launch back in the 1930s.
Buying a lottery ticket is an expense, but it can also be seen as an investment in your future due to its potential to do good. Travel is very similar – booking a trip will lighten your wallet, sure, but the benefits that it will bring are an investment that impacts many areas of your life. If you’re less stressed, you can enjoy family life more and feel more motivated at work. If you’re more physically fit, you’re less likely to succumb to illness. If you’re more emotionally stable, the pressures of life are less likely to leave you feeling anxious and depressed. The list goes on.
Of course, if you can link travel with your business activities then you have an even better case for viewing it as an investment. From researching potential markets to finding new products to seeking fresh inspiration for creative projects, the cost of travel can be offset against its benefits to your working life. It’s a win-win situation: you benefit, your working life benefits and the lives of all those around you enjoy a positive impact as well. Time to book your next adventure!