Way to Enjoy The Life: Traveling as a Hobby

Firstly, traveling is one of those few activities that have a kind of reset button in our lives. You go away for a few days or weeks and come back fresh and ready to take on the challenges of life head-on. Traveling to many people is a matter of convenience, rather than a recreational activity. They only travel when they have an issue to attend to. And, traveling is also not for escapists, as many people tend to believe. I used the word ‘escapists’ not in the literary sense of the word, but rather to mean people who run away from their problems. Traveling is a hobby like any other.

In addition, most people do not understand how moving from one place to another can be categorized together with fun activities like watching movies, swimming, dancing or drawing. While it has more challenges than other hobbies, it is more adventurous and brings the same level of satisfaction or more for those who love it.

Next, traveling has always been part of our family tradition. My parents taught us from an early age the value of taking vacations at least once a year. Though they wished we could go for many trips annually, we were not well off financially and my parents had to work creatively with the little they had, sometimes saving the whole year for a single trip. We could have used credit cards, but that would have only plunged us into more financial woes. My father was very strict when it came to finances and he cautioned us against using debt to purchase luxuries. If we wanted something, then it was up to us

From those trips, we learned more about life than the years we spent at home. What I have just stated may seem farfetched to a person who does not travel much, considering the brevity of vacations, but the reality is vacations never go as planned. Vacations are far from the normal life routines of waking up in the morning, going to work/school, and coming back home in the evening. In vacations, there are many risks involved. Moreover, you are in a foreign land with new people and cultures. You have to work with the little funds you have to make the trip as entertaining as possible, but with some level of constraint so that your family is not stranded.

I occasionally go on vacations for the sole reason of learning about different cultures and interacting with different people to get ideas for my literary work. Furthermore, being away from home really makes you appreciate it even more. The feeling you get after a vacation when you settle down on your couch and just relax is priceless. Finally, traveling makes you appreciate people, their cultures and above all, it makes you appreciate your life and the little you have.