Are you about to embark on a trip and wondering “what knowledge do you gain from traveling”? Or are you simply researching personal development, cultural knowledge, and professional skills you can gain from traveling? Then you’re not alone. As an experienced professional in the travel industry, I have been on several trips and witnessed first-hand, the knowledge and skills developed through traveling, which I apply to my personal and professional life to date.
If you don’t have a clear understanding of the knowledge and skills you can gain from traveling, you will not fully appreciate the value that traveling gives you and as a result, you may see it as necessary. As a travel enthusiast, researcher, or someone about to embark on your first trip, having a clear understanding of the knowledge and skills derived from traveling is necessary to fully leverage your travel experience.
This is what I am here for. By the end of this blog post, you will have a full picture of 6 essential skills you gain from traveling. From communication skills to research & planning, you will better understand what you stand to benefit from that trip. Are you set? Let’s go!
What Knowledge do you Gain from Traveling?
1. Financial Management and Budgeting
Traveling helps you become better at budgeting and managing money. When planning travel, some of the necessary factors to consider are transportation, accommodation, feeding, fun activities you’ll engage in at your destination, and miscellaneous, among others. Travel teaches you that it’s necessary to allocate some money to everything, so you have a good idea of your potential expenses from the get-go. This way, you’re able to manage your finances properly. For instance, if you arrive at your destination and the cost of food is above budget at fancy restaurants, you simply compromise and eat at a local restaurant instead because you’re working with a budget.
How does this impact your professional life? Financial management and budgeting skills portray you as someone resourceful and financially responsible in the workplace. This is a necessary skill, especially if your goal is to become a top-level management staff, and it will increase your value to any employer.
2. Problem Solving Skills
Traveling rarely ever goes according to plan. It comes with a lot of unexpected situations such as flight cancelation, lost luggage, a hotel allocating your reservation to someone else, a language barrier, and a missed connection, among others. These situations force you to think on your feet and come up with timely solutions to the situation.
A real-life scenario was when a good friend of mine, Sarah, encountered a transportation strike in southeast Asia that meant she was stranded in a remote village with no solution, as no buses or taxes were operating at the time. She was forced to talk to a local shop owner who spoke a different language, leveraging a smartphone app to help out with translation. With his help, a ride was gotten to convey Sarah as well as other stranded tourists to their destination while splitting the bill for the ride.
Through this, one gains knowledge in adapting to any situation that may come up and tackle problems efficiently. Having a solution to problems portrays you as a problem solver, making you that go-to person at your workplace and in your personal life.
3. Cultural Awareness
Travel exposes you to different cultures and traditions, making you appreciate diversity, adapt to new environments, and respect other people’s ways of doing things. It’s a requirement that you learn about the culture of your destination before embarking on that travel. For instance, in Japan, you need to take off your shoes before entering someone’s house. This is also the case in some public places like temples. While certain people will be more understanding if you make the mistake of not respecting the culture, others may not.
Cultural awareness helps foster respect for diversity in our workplaces and in our personal lives. At many organizations, colleagues are from different backgrounds and in some cases, different races. Having built cultural awareness, you’ll be open to different perspectives, enhancing collaboration and effective communication across cultural boundaries. This fosters inclusiveness and teamwork, which will help any organization thrive.
4. Time Management
When you travel, you are forced to hone your time management skills as you will be required to follow a strict schedule. For instance, meeting up with a plane, train, hotel reservation, or ride, will require you to plan properly and be on time. If not, you will be forced to use alternatives which will cost you time. Imagine you were invited to another country to speak at an event and missed your ride because you weren’t on time. Ohh that’s not good.
This skill of time management translates to your personal and professional life. As someone who has learned time management skills from traveling, you will be time-conscious and complete tasks before deadlines, increasing your efficiency and productivity. If you’re known as that person who always meets up with deadlines at work, you will earn the respect of your colleagues, and this will give you a good reputation.
5. Communication and Networking Skills
Whether you’re introverted or extroverted, travel enhances your communication skills because one way or the other, chances are you will need to interact with a stranger to get information. This could involve asking a local for directions, talking to a chef at a restaurant for cuisine recommendations, or asking a stranger at the airport to help with excess luggage. Whatever it is, these interactions enhance your ability to communicate effectively and build networks. In some cases, you may meet the love of your life lol.
Professionally, communication and networking while traveling can lead to job opportunities or collaborations which can change your career. Effective communication portrays you as confident and competent on the job. You’re able to communicate ideas clearly to colleagues and clients, leading to productive outcomes.
6. Research and Planning
Travel involves researching all aspects, including attractions at your destination, airline options, documents you need to present at the airport, accommodation, restaurant options, and other requirements. After getting information on all that you need, you proceed to plan an itinerary, ensuring a memorable travel experience. Additionally, you will be required to consider travel restrictions, budget, and the culture of the people at your destination. These activities build your research and planning skills, which are valuable in your personal and professional life.
Professionally, research and planning skills are critical for project management, strategic planning, and overall productivity. With research, you can obtain relevant information on any subject matter and you can anticipate and overcome challenges that you may encounter while embarking on projects.
What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Travel?
As much as there are advantages of traveling which have been discussed in this blog, traveling also has its bad sides. Here are some of the advantages and disadvantages of travel:
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
| Traveling can help you learn a new language | Language barriers inhibit the smooth flow of communication, you may need an interpreter |
| Creating memories and building new relationships | Time away from your usual routine may be a hassle for some people |
| Travel can give you exciting experiences. You get to do things you’ve never done like skydiving, snorkeling underwater | Travel fatigue may come up, which can be detected by physical and mental exhaustion |
| Personal and professional skill acquisition | Travel can sometimes be cost-intensive |
| Traveling exposes you to different cultures and traditions, making you appreciate diversity | Travel can expose you to health risks as your body is not accustomed to the environment |
Is Traveling a Good Habit?
In my opinion, yes, travel is a good habit. Scientists have shown that traveling is good for your body as well as your mind. A study by Chun-chu Chen showed that people who travel are happy with their lives compared to people who don’t. Sometimes, all you need to be at your best creatively is to put out that work you have dedicated so much time to, and go on a trip. 9 times out of 10, you’ll come back feeling refreshed, and energized, and your creative juices will flow effortlessly.
This blog shows you some skills that can be learned by traveling, and some skills weren’t discussed. Traveling is not all about having fun and relaxation, it’s an all-in-one package. As you have fun, you see the world, learn new skills, build life-long connections, and make beautiful memories. So, is traveling a good habit? Yes. Do it as often as you can but be aware of your limit because travel exhaustion is a thing.
What Educational Skills Can I Learn from Traveling?
Traveling doesn’t only have professional and personal skill acquisition opportunities, young chaps in school can also learn valuable skills. Traveling allows young people to discover themselves, which sometimes gives them clarity on their career paths. Research has also shown that travel improves the academic performance of students. Picture this. A student learning a different language using a book vis-a-vis the student going to the country where the language is spoken and interacting with locals. Which of these scenarios is more effective in building the student’s language skills? In addition, the student also experiences the culture and tradition of the people, enhancing cultural understanding.
Traveling provides the opportunity for experiential learning, cultural understanding, curiosity, and problem-solving skills, which are all beneficial in the educational sphere.
To sum it all up, traveling is an all-in-one package that allows you to do so many things all at once. You have fun, you learn, you create memories, build connections, and you enjoy a great travel experience. It’s a good habit to develop. I encourage you to check out other blog content to help you make the best travel decisions. Also, if you have any contributions or questions, leave them in the comment section below. Safe travels!
