You don’t travel enough (and why you should)

I’m currently sitting in the RE (German train) to Frankfurt Airport.

It’s a chilling 5 degrees Celsius outside and the sun is slowly rising while I’m writing this article.

I’m traveling the world again and today I’m moving to Australia with nothing more than a backpack and my laptop with me.

I'm leaving everything behind for a new beginning.

But why would I do that?

What’s the point of leaving home and taking this huge risk?

The monotony of life:

Imagine this:

You wake up by the disrupting sound of your alarm clock.

You hit the snooze button a few times before picking up your phone and doom scroll for 30 minutes.

After that you head down to the kitchen to grab a bowl of cereal for breakfast.

You gulp it down and then head outside to work your 9-5.

You dread going there every single time.

Just thinking about seeing your boss with his smug grin makes you wanna quit right on the spot.

The only thing keeping you there are your meager salary and the 5 minute cigarette breaks with your buddy mike.

He’s a good guy, but you don’t really like the rest of your coworkers.

If he quits you wouldn't stay there for long either.

After a gruesome 8 hours it’s finally time to return back home.

You order some takeout while planting your ass on the couch to watch some Netflix.

After a nice binge-watching session, you decide to go to bed and doom scroll for a while.

It’s 1AM again. Damn.

You set your phone to the side to sleep.

Your alarm goes off...

...and the cycle continues.

This might seem extreme.

But that’s how most live their every day lives.

It’s a sad existence that way too many are part of.

And just a few years ago, my life wasn’t much different.

I started my day how most no-drive people would by smoking the Zaza and taking a shit.

I would then arrive blazed out of my mind to my University lectures, just to chit chat in the back with Ann.

After Uni I would go back home to play video games while watching self-improvement videos, only to never follow any of the advice.

I wanted to grow.

I wanted to make something out of myself.

But I didn’t trust myself enough to take action.

I was moving far too deep inside my own comfort zone.

So my life wasn’t heading anywhere.

Sure, I was studying IT, but it didn’t feel like I was accomplishing anything at all.

One day my older brother, who is an avid traveler, returned back from India.

He said that he wanted to go to Australia again and asked me if I’m interested to go as well.

Reluctantly I said yes, but deep down I knew that was exactly what I needed.

I hopped onto this exciting opportunity and moved to Australia with him.

And my life was never the same again.

But… what exactly has changed for me?

Exiting your comfort zone.

To start off, here’s my favorite quote by Confucius:

“Where ever you go, there you are.”

It’s such a simple, yet powerful concept.

You take your mind everywhere with you and thus will only change if you decide to change.

If you believe you can’t change, then you are right.

If you believe you can change, then you are right too.

So what made me change during my travels, if you can only change by yourself?

Let me explain it this way:

Imagine your comfort zone as a circle.

The closer you move inside the middle, the safer you feel.

When you move outside your comfort zone, you will feel uncertainty and fear.

Traveling to a new location will move you outside the border.

You will have to experience things that will be uncomfortable (very very uncomfortable).

But the act of moving outside your circle, will allow it to grow bigger.

Think of it as a muscle.

By exercising your muscles you create tears in the muscle fibers.

Your body reacts with stress, inflammation and then repairs the damage done.

It also makes sure to put on an additional layer of muscle to make sure this damage doesn’t happen that easily next time.

So in turn you will get beautiful big muscles by working out hard.

Back to the circle of comfort:

Your circle will also get little tears when you exit it.

It will fill out those tears and grow your comfort zone to be bigger and stronger.

You will feel safety and deep confidence more often.

This will in turn allow you to take actions that you might have wanted to do, but where incapable of doing (asking your crush out for example).

It's like a video game:

When you level up your character and discover new areas, you will unlock new items, new content and new skills to obtain.

Real life is no different.

By leveling up your comfort zone you “unlock” new ways of thinking and will find yourself in places that you would have never imagined yourself in before.

You will start to see opportunities that were previously invisible to you, but were always blatantly hiding in plain sight.

And traveling is one of the best ways of leveling up.

What if I can’t travel?

You can definitely travel.

You might not be able to just move countries if you have a family or other obligations that require you to stay at the same place, but there is a workaround for any situation.

I’m not saying it’s going to be quick and easy.

In fact I’m saying the exact opposite.

It’s supposed to be slow and difficult.

It’s supposed to put you on the edge and make you scared.

And there's no one-size-fits-all solution here.

Figure it out.

But while you are planning your next travels, here’s a few things that you can do right now to move outside of your comfort zone.

5 activities to grow your circle:

• Cold Showers There is a lot of ways to get out of your comfort zone and it depends heavily if they feel it’s comfortable or not. Yet I have rarely met a person that loves the freezing feeling of cold water. I personally have been only using cold showers for the last few years and to this day I still hate them 90% of the time. Cold showers are great!

• Cold Approach This is a fantastic one, that will get most people to a shocking halt. Approaching a stranger in the outside world. You don’t have to be some lusty pickup artist either. Just chat up the nice looking grandma on your daily commute. Tell a gym bro that he looks impressive. Or tell the cashier that you think her hair looks gorgeous today. 95% of the time, people will respond positively and even if they don’t, at least you've made an effort.
  

• Dating Yes, dating. Why dating? Dating is the act of getting to know another person on a deeper level. It goes beyond small talk. The person also wants to get know you better. For that you will need to open up let another person into your mind and share both the good and bad sides of you. Sharing too much can be a daunting thing to do. It can definitely be a great way to pull you outside of your comfort zone. And don't worry if someone doesn't like you. That's a bullet dodged right there!
  

• Exercise Don't just exercise. Train hard. Exercise doesn't need to be fun, but you also shouldn't hate it. But when you train you should feel the pain. You should feel the lactic acid burning in your muscles. It has to be uncomfortable for it to be effective.
  

• Holding Breath I got this one from HealthyGamerGG. This process is a safe way to get uncomfortable without putting yourself in danger. It's super simple. Hold your breath for as long as you can. That's it. Do that repeatedly and improve the duration every time.
  

Now go and do your own thing.

I hope this article sparked up a fire in your heart.

If you’re reading this you most likely:

• Want to take live by the balls and decide your own destiny.
  

• Want to escape the monotony of the regular life.

And travel is the way to do just that.

Moving countries is an exiting thing to do.

You need to prepare yourself.

Learn about where you’re heading and make sure to have the right documents ready.

Once you arrive you’ll have to figure out where to go from there.

You’ll make some new friends on the way.

Before you know it, you’re doing all sorts of crazy things that you would have never thought of doing.

I wish you the best and safe travels.

Thank you for reading, my friend.