The 6 Cs of Travel

Travelling should be vastly underestimated by anyone who hasn’t properly done it. No? My bet is then that you didn’t go far enough, that you went too far or maybe you were unlucky, had a bad experience and decided never to give it another go. Or perhaps, just perhaps travelling just isn’t your cup of tea.

There are people who don’t like sex too.

By Gunnar Garfors, author of “198: How I Ran Out of Countries” – Like his author page on Facebook.

I have travelled a bit, and I manically love it. Yeah, I am truly, utterly, totally addicted, yet I would never seek any cure. Why not? It can all be blamed on the 6 Cs of travel.

Challenges

Travelling provides plenty of challenges to your mind and your understanding of the world through new experiences, new acquaintances and friends, new knowledge, new tastes and new realities. Things are not like home, and home – it turns out – is not the center of the universe. Truly eye-opening to many. If travelling doesn’t humble you I don’t know what will. Perhaps you should stay home, with your superficial arrogance, after all.

Creativity

Travelling boosts creativity like nothing else. You will have to perform old familiar tasks, but in new environments, as well as a lot of new things you never even had to think about back home. New and unfamiliar situations will force you to solve major and minor operations, often thinking outside the box. You may soon enough get your Master’s Degree in travel, but you will never complete the best education in life.

Curiosity

Travelling stimulates curiosity. Learning new things, seeing new places, meeting new people and tasting new foods will only want you crave for more. If something this beautiful exists so near to home, what may then appear past the horizon or on the next continent? The more you you travel, the more you will want to see. There is no cure.

Connections

Nokia might have connected people in the past, but never in such a way or to such an extent as travelling have or will. The people you will encounter on the road will have backgrounds and knowledge you could never dream of, and they will help open your eyes to new cultures, believes and understandings of the world. Their homes, their villages, towns, islands and cities are as important to the world as your own. Just take time to listen to them, they might not have travelled as much as you, but they will have perspectives and knowledge of the world that may blow you away. Just remember that all important real smile when you approach people. It will get you further than any amount of cash.

Compromises

You think compromise is a bad thing? Compromises done right mean that you get the best knowledge from two worlds, that you get a feeling of working or doing something together and that both or all parties feel proud about the result and have ownership to whatever you have agreed upon. Travelling will help you see things from new angles, with new understandings in the light of new cultures and traditions. Look forward to your own “ah, but I didn’t think of it that way” responses.

Costs

Yeah, travelling costs money. Not necessarily a lot, but you will in most cases have to sacrifice something else. Determination and self control is needed not to fall at the temptation of picking up those beautiful new arrival sneakers or that designer top instead of booking that trip. But whereas those items will be out of fashion next Thursday, your memories from your travels will last forever. So will the friends you meet. And the impressions you leave on your family and friends back home when telling the stories from your adventures. They might even be inspired.

Inspired? Feel free to check out my top travel tips. Or you might even join The Country Challenge or find inspiration in by book “198: How I Ran Out of Countries” with one chapter for every country.