What Traveling Has Taught Me About Happiness

First ask yourself, what is happiness for you? What makes you love life? Are you living a life you love, every day?

While traveling I’ve met a lot of people who say, “ah I don’t want to go back to my ‘real life.’” Just because you’re traveling doesn’t mean you’re in some sixth dimension guys. This is still real life. No matter where in the world you are, this is still “real life.” The things we learn while traveling are meant to be incorporated when we return home, wherever we end up next, the next day even.

This is part of the first thing I learned about happiness- live in the moment. As cliché as it may sound, it is a cliché for a reason, it’s true. Every moment that you’re alive is worth something. You can’t always be waiting for what’s to come in the future or dreading the past. Breathe in this moment, find the breeze, and I promise you will find something beautiful, if not something you can learn from.

Accept yourself for who you are. Let go of parts you’ve held onto but no longer benefit you, and grow. Allow yourself to become the purest form of YOU. You are so beautiful, but I think everyone in some degree may not feel like they can be themselves or express themselves fully.

Allow yourself to feel free. After letting go of things that may have been suffocating you emotionally, it will feel like a breath of fresh air. Coming into this state of self makes you feel more comfortable and less anxious. Freedom is one of the most important factors of happiness.

Do you feel like you’re suffocating? Most of the time we might feel this way due to outside forces such as pressure from your parents, school, work, etc… Now think back to the question from earlier, “Are you living a life you love, every day?” If not you need to free yourself from the things holding you back from happiness. A lot of people might answer this with what if I can’t? In this situation they may be referring to a job they need in order to support themselves. Holding onto the idea that you need that job (even though you might hate it) is part of the feeling of suffocation. I promise you whatever obstacle it is that you feel is holding you back, it is movable. You just have to make the choice to let go of it and choose what really makes you happy, even if it isn’t easy.

Surround yourself with people who have a positive influence on your life. I used to hang out with people who did absolutely nothing for me intellectually or spiritually. Now, I can’t believe I used to hang out with them. If you want to grow as a person, you need to surround yourself with people who support that. It makes a huge difference.

Go out of your comfort zone! Do it! Just do it! Staying nice and cozy in a corner out of fear will take you nowhere in life. If you have a goal, sprint towards it. If you want to go somewhere new, don’t read every bad article online about that place just to justify not going. If you want to try new food even, do it! I’m so proud of you! Trying new things and meeting new people is growth! How can you grow if you’re constantly trying to remain the same?

Life is a relationship. All of the above things are incorporated with your relationship with life; experiencing each moment, becoming your true self, embracing freedom, and surrounding yourself with people who love you. What you feed into your life is what will come back to you. Being positive and TRUSTING that things will work out is an important part of this relationship. So let go, surround yourself with loving people, and follow your dreams. Be happy.