Travelling is as old as the history of humanity. People have always been travelling for the purpose of wars, commerce and discovery. As time went by and technology improved, people traveled farther and explored new lands and civilizations. New worlds were discovered and cultures interacted with one another for the first time.
In modern times, travelling has become pretty widespread. The reasons are generally the same: business, wars and discovery. However, people also travel for leisure to discover new places that they have never seen before. Nowadays it does not take months to travel to the far end of the world. Hence, travelling for pleasure is one of the top reasons individuals and families choose to travel. Most people have every means to travel around the world or at least within their own country.
“When you travel to other places and befriend the people there, you come to understand them and it becomes harder to hold stereotypes about them. In that way, travel expands your mind beyond your old views to hold new experiences and new views,” said Emily Webb, a third-year INTA major.
Travelling helps people to learn about new and unfamiliar subjects and makes them aware of the different aspects of people who have different lifestyles with them. However, travel companions matter as well and, to some degree, can define the characteristics of the trip.
“I think there is a different degree of liberation of the mind when it comes to travelling with people as opposed to by yourself,” said Leigh Nash, a fourth-year ISYE major. “For me, the liberation mostly comes after securing travel plans. Therefore, I don’t have to waste time worrying about little logistical details when arriving, but for others it comes from knowing you have the power to do whatever you want when you want during your travel plans. Either way, travelling, especially in a foreign country, encourages you to be social which allows you to meet many interesting people who offer a variety of new experiences.”
Another idea is that the effects of travelling on the mind depend on the mind itself. If the mind is not open to development and acceptance of new ideas, travelling cannot do much to help promote these ideals.
“It really depends on if the person is open-minded. A university student has the potential to be open-minded. Therefore, when you travel you will be able to see the norms you have been raised in breaking across different places and cultures, and you can liberate your mind to see the world with a different perspective. If you are not open to new cultures, all you will be seeing is different and maybe beautiful places with odd people doing things differently, and wrongly, living there,” said Dicle Agdas, an exchange student at Tech.