4 Reasons International Travel is Essential for Young People

I have been thinking about the benefits of international travel lately, especially the importance of international travel for young people.  It is not the cheapest of hobbies, and heaven knows how much I hate flying economy class on trans-Atlantic flights.  Sometimes traveling internationally is exhausting and my feet feel totally abused after a day in the Louvre or the British Museum.  But despite these complaints, I am a firm believer that international travel is one of the greatest things you can do.  It is worth the investment of time, money, and energy.  And here’s why:

1.     International travel helps develop empathy.

I love to travel because it helps me see how connected I am with other people around the world.  We tend to focus on the things that divide us, but what traveling teaches me is that we are more similar than we realize.  I find things in common with everyone I meet, and this helps me make connections.  This is especially important for young people, because they haven’t yet solidified stereotypes.  Traveling internationally always breaks down barriers, and helps you share and empathize with people who live far away from your community.

2.     International travel broadens your horizons, and helps you become a global citizen.

Along the same lines as developing empathy, international travel broadens your horizons.  If you have never been outside your state, you really don’t know how differently people live their lives.  I live in the Intermountain West, where I cannot imagine living without a car.  But when I go to Amsterdam, I can better understand how one would function with only a bicycle for transportation (and it works amazingly well!).  International travel breaks down barriers and helps you make connections with people around the world.  It inhibits the construction of stereotypes, and helps us feel more connected as a global community. 

3.     International travel makes history come alive.

Granted, I’m a history teacher, with bachelors and master’s degrees in history, so I might be a little biased, but I love history, and I love to experience the places and cultures that I study in my classroom.  Understanding Absolutist Monarchies is one thing, but hiking through the vast grounds of Versailles give you a completely different level of understanding about how good it was to be the King in Absolutist France.  Talking about the Iron Curtain in the classroom is one thing, but experiencing the divisions in the city of Berlin make the fear and oppression of the Communist Bloc much more real.  And when I get to walk on the exact same stones that were laid by Roman emperors nearly 2,000 years ago, I can better understand the brilliance of Roman engineering.  International travel is the best classroom in the world.

4.     It gets you out of your comfort zone and builds confidence.

Finally, traveling internationally gets you out of your comfort zone and builds confidence.  This is an especially important skill as teenagers transition out of high school and head to college.  I went to Europe for the first time the summer after graduating from high school, and I was nervous about how things would be.  I developed the confidence to meet new people, attempt to communicate in new languages, and to open myself up to the serendipity of travel. 

Developing these skills is essential for the 21^st century, and I am committed to providing these opportunities for teenagers and adults alike.  Taking educational tours to Europe is something I am passionate about because I want travelers to understand the history and background of the places we visit, and I want to make sure they are safe as they develop these skills of navigating a new city, meeting new people, and experiencing a different culture. 

What are your reasons for traveling internationally?  Share in the comments below.

Ciao!