Do you have a passport? If so, you are in the minority. According to the most recent statistics sited by the US Department of State, Passports and International Travel, only 46% of Americans can legally travel to another country.
This year perhaps the most inspired thing you can do is give yourself permission to get a passport. If you already have one, then use it! Travel expands your perspective and inspires enthusiasm. You return home different. The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences.
Travel itself is an adventure, because there are typically more unknown factors than we face in our normal, daily life. It is this ability to take a leap into the unknown with mindfulness and grace that we bring back home with us. The ability to think big about who you are, how you live, and what you can do in the world, whether it’s climbing volcanoes in South America, living in the rainforest in Hawaii, learning to surf in Bali, or trying new foods in a nearby city. Ask yourself, When was the last time you tried something new? Have you been putting off taking an adventure?
Do you know how many countries there are in the world? I have been fortunate to be globally aware because my parents felt that travel was an important part of my formal education. To celebrate my first birthday, we flew across the ocean and visited three countries. I celebrated my 5th birthday in Italy spending time in Spain and France so by the age of five years old I had been to 6 countries. By the age of 10, I was up to 10 and the number has grown to more than 20. My intention is to visit at least 100 countries in my lifetime, of the 193 total United Nations (UN) member states, and to honor my world citizenship by owning three passports: American, Italian, and Ecuadorian. While this may not be your path, I encourage you to get curious and see more of the world.
Here are the top 10 reasons we should travel
1. Provides learning and education
2. Connects us to other cultures and people
3. Slows us down: Gives us a break from our fast-paced lives
4. Expands our awareness and introduces us to greater diversity
5. Helps us break habits: mentally, physically, and emotionally
6. Gives us time to heal, reduces stress and helps us regain enthusiasm for life
7. Awakens the inner child by offering us new, “first-time” experiences
8. Promotes patience by releasing heavy expectations and allowing life to flow more organically
9. Invites the opportunity to get lost and face one’s fears of the unknown
10. Helps you get to know yourself better: the true you is rediscovered
Travel is important because it fundamentally transforms us. Today, update your bucket list. Go somewhere new, try something adventurous this year and become united with the world through travel.
Love yourself, love your day, love your life, Silvia Mordini
About the author
Enthusiasm to love your life is contagious around Silvia Mordini. Her expert passion connects people to their own joyful potential. Silvia lives her happiness in such a big way that you can’t help but leave her classes, workshops, trainings and retreats spiritually uplifted! She is a long-time love anthropologist who enjoys meeting interesting people, spiritual seekers, soul surfers and most anyone who makes her laugh. With over 11,000 hours of yoga teaching experience she has been practicing yoga since being run over by a car and using it to recover physically and emotionally. This year she is running retreats in Bali, Costa Rica, Italy and Mexico.
