The purpose of travelling is not just seeing tourist attractions and meeting new people. A growing body of research is placing well-being and travel at the centre of an integrated approach to mental health. Experiencing new things and getting out of your safe place affects your mental health positively in the long run.

I had the privilege of witnessing the most transformational periods in many people’s lives. Steaming from an increase desire to grow and realise one’s full potential, I have seen friends explore and ignite a new personal sense of self and identity. First hand experience of travelling can be eye-opening and life changing in many ways. With the ever-growing focus on experiential travel, it has opened a powerful and exciting avenue for personal development.

Starting Young

Even at many educational institutions around the world, the benefits of travelling has been realised early. CAS Trips in the US is redefining educational travel that keep in its nucleus sustainability and engagement of students in personality development and a chance to form empathy and a sense of heightened understanding of cultures. In the long run, this is what will become integral within the fibre of the society and make the future generation more compassionate and considerate towards diversity.

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“Lets make travel your textbook to life.”

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Benefits of travelling on mental health:

Good mental health and well-being are the cornerstones to happiness and personal development. Good physical and mental health are inextricably linked. Research studies also prove the positive effects of travelling on mental health. According to De Bloom J., Geurts S.A., Kompier M.A. who studies the effects of short vacation on an employee’s health and well being. They suggested that “Simple being away and changing of scene can also facilitate recovery process”, basically escaping from daily routine is perceived as effective stress reliever.

Let us find out how travelling enhances our well-being and mental health:

Widens our horizons

Exposure that one gets by travelling to unknown places widens their outlook towards religions, cultures and people. Face to face interaction destroys our preconceived bias towards ‘others’. Direct communication leads to removal of mistrust between groups and even discovering of admirable traits in others. We also tend to focus on individual identities of people which weakens prejudices.

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Strengthen relationships

Having a supportive social circle enhances your well-being. When an individual has meaningful and valuable encounters, it helps them in dealing with problems. When emotional and social support is there, one can sail through any difficulty easily. Always remember that’s support has to be mutually beneficial, don’t turn a blind eye towards people who has helped you before.

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Makes us stress free

The whole process of zeroing down on a location, carefully planning the itinerary, searching for experiential things to do and finally taking the journey has positive impact on our lives. Travel reduces our cortisol levels as we feel relaxed and calm. As per a study done by The Global Commission on Aging and Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, after travelling for only a day or two, 89% of respondents in the study saw significant drops in stress levels.

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Fuels creativity

Fresh air and exercise boost endorphins, calms the mind and stimulates us into better creative thinking. Travelling unblocks one’s adherence to traditions, expectations and cultural restrictions. When you travel to new places, meet new people, exchange ideas, it enhances your innovative thinking.

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Prioritising positive self-esteem

Travelling improves our self confidence, gives us a sense of achievement that comes from being part of a group. For example, when you trek and conquer the peak, the sense of gratification is immense. Self-esteem means your value judgement about your own abilities and travelling enhances that by putting you in all kinds of situations that you overcome while travelling.

Makes you resilient

Things will not go as per your plans, flights will be delayed, luggage will be lost, you will forget an address to your hotel, will be cheated by the cab driver or miscommunicate due to language barriers. Something will always go wrong, but it tests our limits and makes us more resilient. Only in these situations, you can find out whether you are able to bounce back easily or crib about the problems. Some people enjoy challenges and for them these problems are like adventures. According to Dr. Michel Nawfal, Clinical Psychologist says that travelling enhances your coping abilities by preparing you for the potential challenges. Being optimistic during unavoidable circumstances is very beneficial psychologically.

Helps in self-discovery

Travelling makes you aware of your own emotions and feelings. It gives you an insight into ‘how’ and ‘why’ you feel something as you get to spend more time with yourself. One also gets to know their areas of improvement and strengths. In my nine years of traveling, I learnt that I am adaptable and patient but hate to travel in a group, I also do not enjoy the company of talkative people.

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Promotes Independence

Repetitive experiences makes life boring, we constantly need to grow and learn. There is something so wonderful about venturing out of one’s comfort zone. When you travel solo/group, you end up experiencing things that you have never done before and that makes you more independent and confident.

Cognitive Restructuring

Travelling helps you in seeing the events differently and visualise the other side of the coin. It is important that we don’t become self-obsessed and get a false sense of always being right. Travelling open doors for you to explore the other side of everything. It makes you more empathetic and kind.

Enhances emotional quotient

It encourages cooperative behaviour and reduces anti-social activities. Travellers are found to have more sensitive feelings and emotions for others. They learn to read body language, voice, tone and facial expressions which helps them in relating to thoughts of others in a social situation. The overall mental health and well-being is strengthen when one travels and being emotionally intelligent is a big win for anyone. If you look at it from job perspective, having good interpersonal skills will always come in handy.

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How travelling affected my mental health?

Travelling has made my life more meaningful and fulfilling. The time I have spent disconnecting from my routine life and reconnecting with my self has given me a sense of satisfaction and mental peace. I started travelling out of boredom and was going through a rough patch in life. At that time, I felt neglected and rejected. I didn’t feel like meeting old friends, there was no energy to make new ones, my faith in life was shattered and I didn’t have anything to look forward to. Then one day, I decided to give time to myself and love the person I was inside outside without any guilt.

I travelled solo to Ladakh and that experience changed my life. There was no looking back from that day, it infused vigour in my life. I started looking forward to my travel plans, the time I was not travelling I was busy making itineraries in my head. Gradually, travel become an inseparable part of my being.

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Today, I am proud of what I have become and the experiences I have had. It has motivated me to become a better human being. Many people ask me that travelling can be stressful, all the apprehensions about a new place and being on a continuous movement can be straining on the body and the mind. For me, the chaos and discomfort allow me to feel at peace with myself because it in on these escapades I learn who I am and who I could be!

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The Speaking Tree

I asked friends and acquintences about their take on how travelling has affected their mental health. I am overwhelmed with the responses I have got, sharing some insights from people who has been positively benefitted by travelling.

Dealing with grief

Meha Chakrabarti shares her experience of how travelling helped her cope with grief. “I started travelling in 2011 after I lost my father in 2010. Two reasons – one, in a very selfish way, now I had more freedom and did not need my father’s approval (he had been very protective all throughout our childhood) and second, my friends wanted to just cheer me up. At first, it was my way of dealing with grief, find answers to questions I had, time to introspect and a way to feel more in control and confident of what I want to do and feel.”

She elaborates on how she dealt with issues in life with the help of travelling “In next 1-2 years, with the financial freedom of a stable job, it became a passion, sometimes also an escape route to situations which I did not want to face. Overall, all through these years, it has helped me to overcome fear of the unknown, develop ability to ask for help, meet people with an open mind. It also gives me a sense of calmness whenever I get too restless or need to sort out things or need to see things from a different perspective.

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Life Changing Lessons

Smita Singh was going through a very bad time in life and seeked refuge in travel. She emphasis on the fact that travel will change you for good. “You’ll never hear a solo traveller tell you anything but how wonderful, life-changing and liberating it is to travel alone. It’s all true, you’ll learn your biggest lessons in love, life and the beautiful planet we share. You’ll change as a person and your very core will be strengthened. You’ll never depend on another, you will be the true master of your own destiny. Meeting new people will become a daily occurrence and that will quickly teach you never to settle for less. You will establish your tribe, a mixture of old friends and new. Initially you’ll let all kinds of weird and wonderful people into your life but you’ll quickly learn to be discerning about who sticks around.”

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Travel is therapeutic!

Manish narrates his harrowing experience of a psychological breakdown and how travel helped him overcome in physical as well as psychological problems. “Sweat dripped from my forehead to the bridge of my nose and splashed on the synthetic turf. My concerned badminton mates rushed towards me to check my well being but I gestured them not to touch me. The chronic pain was excruciating and I became increasingly aware that it emanated from my lower back. I had to drag myself to the net pole and somehow managed to stand up. In my mid-forties, I was reminded by the doctor that my body had succumbed to the rigours of fast paced movements of Badminton and dehydration. I was diagnosed with disc dessication plus nerve pinching and was advised strict bed rest for next 3 weeks. 100% recovery and full fitness was not assured”.

For living, the work that I do is of national importance and we were in the middle of a mission. Once the pain got manageable, contrary to doctor’s advice, I proceeded to my work place in deep sea. Unfortunately, our team faced one of the most dejecting failure of our careers.  I never felt more miserable in life both mentally and physically. 

Such was the state when I decided to travel to Bastar for Freedom trek in August 2019 and enrolled as a participant along with a dear friend Kenny, a 64 yr old jawaan, and my 10 yr old kid , Laqsh. Our first trek was to the Dholkal peak and the very thought of it made me nervous. Prodded by my friends Kenny and Jeet of Unexplored Bastar along with my enthusiastic kid, I decided to overcome my disablity and fear. The last 250 mts is a steep rocky climb and once again I found myself on all fours but this time inching towards the magnificent summit with a newly found resolve. On the top, the sense of accomplishment , the joy of being blessed by Lord Ganesha is difficult to describe. It dawned upon me that trekking, travelling and company of like-minded friends is therapeutic.

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Near to the majestic Chitrakoot waterfalls is another beautiful but lesser known unnamed waterfall where you can actually go behind the water curtain. Later during the Bastar Dussera Tour in October 2019, I was accompanied by my wife, Sonali and kid, Laqsh and we made it to behind the curtain exhilarating waterfall. No marks for guessing how I managed to manoeuvre through flowing water bed to reach there. Yes, on all fours! Traveling to Incredible Bastar was the magic balm that soothed my soul and I am yearning for more. Reminds me of famous quote uttered by Albert Einstein ‘I love to travel, but hate to arrive’. 

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Taking control of life

Life at times spins your entire being and gets you off-guard. Shilpa Munagavalasa fought with depression and came out a winner. She narrates her story here, “Depression struck my life when stroke took my husband’s life. With an infant by my side I decided to take my decisions and make my life on my own terms. When my son turned 3, I wanted to move to an unknown land where everything was new for both of us. French Riviera was the lucky charm for me. My work supported my decision and I made my family support me. Then, I made it very clear in my mind that let anything come into my life, I am going to spend these few years (1.5years) forgetting my pains, enjoying every moment. The best thing to do when I really was low, was to book a trip around my place within the available time. Cheers to this thought I covered 11 out of 26 Schengen countries”.

She counts her blessings and is thankful to her son for helping her deal with depression. “Thanks to my little travel buddy who was my companion in bringing me out of depression I was living in. Today traveling is part of my life however as a single earning member I am bit constrained with the expenses. Yet travel is very much medicine that heal me”.

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For the love of life

Someone I know, who prefers to stay anonymous describes her tough times and how travel made her realise that there is love beyond romantic love. “This one time I met a guy on a dating app with whom I was investing lot of time and feelings for with the hope that they are mutual. Since I have already came across married men on dating app and when I asked if he was single and he affirmed the same. Later he felt that my feelings were really true and intense, he declared the real status (He was married and had to file for divorce)”.

“Not only the truth shattered me but also the fact that I might be third wheel for a sacred bond of marriage. I wanted to erase the memories, my existence from the planet but I decided to go on a  solo trip (which was surprisingly around my birthday too). I opted to stay with local Gurjar family at a homestay in Chamba in Himachal Pradesh. It was my first birthday away from family and friends and needless to say it was an overwhelming experience”.

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“I allowed myself the luxury of crying alone without anyone watching me but little did I know that my host family was aware of my state. There were couple of kids who danced to cheer up my mood. The warm hugs I got from the ladies of the house and I was pampered with flowers plucked just to ensure my smile is always on. I thought I lost love of life but rather I found it in other ways. This experience healed me to the extent that I felt complete even when I am travelling solo, I am never alone and love isn’t just about one person in your life. I learnt to let strangers/friends be there to support me when I needed the help. I regained the lost confidence I had and I keep finding myself in better state of mind whenever I travel”.

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Travel is Liberating!

Jayanti Pandey who runs a travel company which arose from her desire to make offbeat India accessible to Indians states that, “I was consumed by this wish to showcase my own country to its citizens. Travel brings me in contact with the pulse of India; and with a diversity of people. Finding them and forging connections helps me to find myself and connect with my ‘self’. There are sides to me which I discover while travelling”!

“Travelling solo, which I do often, brings with it a sense of anonymity which is liberating. Away from the everyday mundane, I find the strength to question myself and often come back more resolved and peaceful. It calms me down and I build what is termed ठहराव।”

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So, lets go!

So what’s holding you back? There is no need to work overtime, be over stressed and over tired. Things will happen even when you take a day off. If you are Type A personality then, getting an off can be stressful for you but also remember everyone needs a holiday, even the workaholics. Travel will make your life exponentially richer, more spirited and more satisfying.

I initially planned to include the importance of therapy as a treatment for psychological problems. Depending on travel alone to resolve your deep-seated issues is simply ignorance and stupid. Due to the length of this post, I will be writing a separate post on ‘Travel can’t replace therapy’ to solve your problems. Jumping on a plane or taking the next bus to the mountains won’t remedy all your difficulties. What travel does is complement your personal growth, enhances overall well-being and positive mental health. Travel is preventive and not a solution.