When people think about travel, different things come to mind. Some might think of sipping margaritas on the beach and reading books while others think of adventure as they explore new places.
While these things are certainly true, we have also found that travel is an incredible tool for healing.
The connection between travel and healing is one that is as old as time, but it is often overlooked in modern society.
For example, in almost every religion, devout followers take part in pilgrimages to holy sites to gain clarity and insight. Others would seek isolation in nature to ground themselves and seek understanding.
Even modern culture is saturated with the idea from best selling books like Eat, Pray, Love.
We’ve even noticed this ourselves.
Throughout our travels, we found that countless people were on the road experiencing a new way of life after experiencing incredible loss, social unrest, personal tragedies, divorces, and so on.
Even in our own lives we have found that the road has brought about healing. Travel has opened up doors to mend relationships with loved ones, provided us the solitude needed to reflect on past traumas, insecurities, and fears, and has forced us into new and uncomfortable situations that have forced us to grow.
Travel has also increased our confidence, improved our sense of self, and has pushed us to appreciate who we are as individuals (Coddy spoke about how travel brought about healing in his personal life on a podcast he was featured in, which you can listen to here!).
How Does Travel Promote Healing
The link between travel and healing is a conversation we have returned to countless times over the past year, and though we are not medical professionals, we believe that we have been able to identify a few links.
1. Travel Forces us to Unplug
Many times in our day-to-day lives we get so busy that we never take the time to stop and smell the roses. We spend our days running from task to task, wearing our exhaustion like a badge of honor. When the day is over, we collapse on our beds only to begrudgingly repeat the same routine the next day. During our free time, if we have any, we are glued to our devices where we are assaulted with a constant barrage of bad news.
When we travel though, this narrative gets flipped on its head. The routine goes away and we get the opportunity to unplug.
Taking the time to unplug creates space for us to be present, to appreciate where we are and what we are doing, and to reflect.
All of these are key to the healing process.
2. Travel Forces Introspection
In the same way art creates introspection, so does travel. When we come face to face with natural beauty, or man made marvels, it causes a deep appreciation to form within us. Oftentimes, this causes us to reflect on who we are, what we want, and who we want to be. This also opens us up to the possibility of processing events that have brought us to where we are.
3. Travel Challenges our Perceptions
Travel takes us away from the familiar. It removes us from our day-to-day lives and pushes us outside of our routines This change of pace acts as a jumpstart to our systems, breathing new life into the mundane.
Suddenly, everything is new and fresh and because of this, we start to see things in entirely new perspectives.
When we travel, we will see things and meet people that we never thought we would. We will experience things that we never expected.
Because of this, we will begin to re-examine aspects of our lives back home. This openness, in many ways, can be a catalyst to healing. It allows us to look at past experiences in a new light, creating space for healing.
