For many of us travel is a way to escape, to get away from the mundane, to explore and broaden the mind. For others, travel is about recuperation and recharging the batteries. Although many of us dream about going too far away destinations the reality is often just a 2 week holiday every year to one place aka “The package holiday.”

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Do this sound like you? If so Passport and Piano can assist. How?

Heres 8 reasons to begin with.

1. Guidance to give you the confidence and knowledge to travel more
2. Help on how to plan and book your own holiday
3. Inspirational travel destinations
4. Fun days out and tours
5. Free activity ideas
6. What to pack
7. How to make the most of a business travel
8. Ultimately, how to travel as much as you can

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 Why should you travel as much as you can?

Did you know…There is much evidence to suggest that travelling makes us healthier and therefore it’s something we should do more often. This does not necessarily mean going to faraway exotic places, there’s more than you think on your own doorstep. It does, however, require some effort, motivation and planning.

I love to travel and through Passport and Piano, I hope to inspire more people to travel as much as you can.

Advantages of travelling as much as you can

Our lives can often be stressful and the daily grind can easily take its toll on our emotions. It’s often a repetitive routine in which we can’t wait till the weekend when we don’t have to work. Yet when the weekend comes we often don’t accomplish much as we’re too busy worrying about what has to be done next week. Travel allows us to take a break, switch off and unwind. It brings with it excitement and the change from your daily routine is a great way to reduce stress. Whether you chose to trek the globe or stay closer to home you’ll reap the rewards. It takes a little effort but by travelling you’ll improve your mood and productivity when you return.

In our daily lives, we tend to be too busy to take the time to meet new people. We’re always on a schedule, whether it’s our lunch break, running children from a to b or dashing around the supermarket etc. However, when you travel, there’s more time to both talk and listen. Talking to people is a great way to enhance your communication skills and develop confidence. Sharing your own countries cultures is both rewarding and enjoyable.

Not everyone you meet has to become your new best friend but if you meet people you share a common interest with, it’s now easier than ever to stay in touch.

Whether its nature, history or a landscape there is so many amazing things to see in this world. Unesco heritage sites, National trust and heritage Uk, wildlife reserves, and National parks throughout the world have so much to offer. It’s often hard to imagine how such things ever came to be. By visiting historical places we learn so much and as a result, our present life becomes more meaningful. Exploring new places encourages us to become more adventurous. You may try activities that you wouldn’t normally do or make more of an effort to see things.

Click on the images for a full-size view.

Feel inspired visit these posts to learn more about the awesome things you can see in the world.

Whale Watching, Whitsundays and Whitehaven Beach, Great Barrier Reef.

• Travelling teaches you to be patient.

We’ve all been frustrated at an airport check-in desk, or in a motorway jam. Queuing is invariably a part of any travel experience. Unfortunately, planes and trains can be delayed or worse cancelled, which means you have to adapt and make alternative arrangements.

At the time these things can seem stressful, but the more you travel the more you are able to equip yourself with the necessary skills to cope. These skills are then transferrable into many other aspects of life.

• Travel forces you to consider your attachment to things.

Have you ever stood at the luggage carousel and felt that anxiety creeps in as your suitcase doesn’t seem to be there. It’s likely to happen at some point and there’s not a lot you can do about it. Somehow you manage to survive. Maybe you have to purchase a couple of things but you soon realise that actually, you don’t need half the things you put in there to enjoy yourself.

By travelling more you gain a greater appreciation of what you’ve left back home and what things in your life are really of value.

• Learn more about yourself

You learn so much more about yourself by taking a break from routine. The day seems much longer and fuller as you experience new pleasures and savour more moments. Most people don’t have the chance to think when they’re in the grinds of daily life. You wake up, go to work, eat the same food etc, but when your away there are frequent decisions to be made. What shall we do today? Where should we eat? How do we get there? The list goes on.

Being in a new environment with people we don’t know forces us to adapt outside of our comfort zone. You learn to toughen up both mentally and physically and adapt to situations far more effectively and quickly. When things don’t go according to plan on holiday we tend to be more optimistic. By challenging our negative thoughts we are able to improve our mood and identify what we can and can’t control.

Through travel, you will become more resilient by gaining awareness of your thoughts, emotions and behaviours. This means you will be more equipped to deal with them.

There is no better way to learn about yourself than to experience a new culture. At first, you feel scared, vulnerable and possibly lonely. The unfamiliarity of the language, the food and the surroundings make us feel this way but its amazing how quickly we adapt. Your survival mechanisms kick in and you learn to trust your gut instincts. It’s incredible how you can pick up bits of a foreign language and how much you can achieve by sign language. You learn to make decisions quickly and invariably improve your orientation and map reading skills. Suddenly you appreciate and value the things that you have in your life more or on the contrary you may wish that your culture embraced something you experience.

Most of all you learn that the people, regardless of colour, race or religion are kind and generous and happy to help you discover their culture.

When we take the time to travel we invariably also take the time to exercise without knowing it. At home, we rely heavily on cars as a mode of transport but on holiday we resort to walking much more. Its amazing how many steps you can achieve when exploring new places on foot. Climbing monuments or hiking up hills to get the best viewpoints are all things that most of us only do when we travel. Swimming in the pool, or playing on the beach are also great forms of exercise.

A brief moments rest to admire the view as we cycled from Moray to the village of Maras in Peru.

It has been proven by scientists that after 3 days away you’ll be better rested, in a happier mood and less stressed. As such people who travel more have a longer life expectancy.

Much of our lives is spent thinking about what we need to do. Trivial things like doing the washing answering an email or text fill up our mind for most of the day. When you travel you live in the moment. Seeing beautiful landscapes, magnificent wildlife, historical buildings etc, opens our eyes. We stand and gaze, look in awe and show appreciation all within a few seconds. These are precious moments when the mind simply focuses on the now. The more we do this the more we learn to unplug and explore ourselves.

Living in the moment is probably one of the most valuable life skills any of us can learn.

Creativity comes from new and exciting life experiences. When we’re existing in a mundane daily routine your creativity gets blocked. However, travelling is a way of unleashing your creative abilities. When we travel we experience different sights, smells, languages, tastes which all help to improve our cognitive flexibility. If you can’t afford to travel abroad take yourself to an unfamiliar area nearer home.

Research suggests that a fresh cultural scene is all that’s needed for a creative boost. By travelling outside of our comfort zone we have to adapt to new situations quickly, which keeps our minds sharp.

When we return from travelling we are both refreshed and rejuvenated which allows us to function better in our daily lives. These effects, however, can often be short lived which is another reason why we should all endeavour to travel as much as possible. Often it’s not the length of travel that’s important its the happy memories we retain.

Are you ready to Travel as often as you can?

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