What Travelling Has Really Taught Me

Travelling is fun but sometime things don't go according to plan. Travelling teaches us a lot of things as we go beyond our comfort zone. And below are some of the things what travelling has taught me so far. 

When travelling . . .

It teaches me to be sensitive. Every time I travel, I always remember that when in Rome do what the Romans do. I do research on the customs and culture for me not to be rude to other people. Travelling teaches me to become culturally sensitive, as you will be more conscious on your words and on your actions. Also remember that not everyone knows English, and stop being rude you know English very well, so try to learn their language every time you go different places.  I knew conversational Korean so when I was in Korea, I always get to bargain things very low and sometime get more than I expected. When you talk with their second language, you talk with their mind; but when you talk with their mother language, you talk with their heart.

It teaches me to go off limits. Travelling makes me more adventurous as I go beyond my comfort zone and sometimes go beyond the law. Underage drinking, beating the curfew and jaywalking are some of the common things I do. And when I get caught, I just play dumb. I, myself, am fond of drinking so I make sure to try local beers or to try night pubs in each places. Take risk and just have fun, if it goes well, then good; if goes the other way, then charged to experience. 

It teaches me to make new friends. I took your picture, you took mine. Everyone, for sure, wants to have their own picture taken at a certain place, but it's problematic sometime when you're travelling alone. Travelling teaches me how to speak up. (Read more about this here.)

It teaches me to be good at math. Oh yeah, shopping is one thing everyone do when travelling. Travelling teaches us to be an instant mathematician. We tend to convert everything in our own currency mentally (unless you are super rich and does not care about money). When I was in Korea, I tend to multiply per 10,000원 by P300, in Singapore I just multiply by P35, and in Japan, the easiest, I just divide the price by two. I also tend to travel on budget so I make sure all my stuffs are well accounted and well recorded. (Yeah, my accounting courses work for me). 

It teaches me to be a better person. Travelling has taught me to conquer my fears and to break the box, from my DMZ escapade to Onsen and Jjimjilbang(public bath) experience. All has helped me to be more open to try new things and to learn different culture. And every time I got home, I am one experience richer.Hence, I have more stories and more lesson to share to my family and friends which makes me one step closer to be a global citizen.