When it comes to allocating money for the necessities of life, most people understand the top essential categories. Day to day survival needs, such as food, shelter, transportation and clothing top the list. For savvy money managers, the need to save for future major purchases, a car, a house and a decent stash for retirement savings usually fall close behind.
Travel Experiences as Investments
Oftentimes, people are happy enough if they can accomplish some level of success in each of those categories. After that, whatever is left can be spent more casually on the little perks in life that give you pleasure like a new camera or a hammock. Still, there is one more valuable investment of your income that can sometimes be overlooked as frivolous. That investment would be a memorable and inspired travel experience. This goes beyond the weekend bachelor/bachelorette trip or a business trip that gets extended into a long weekend to see few sites.
Maybe you can't indulge in a true travel experience every year, but you owe it to yourself to invest in the memories of seeing some part of the world that extends beyond the limitations of your daily environment. We believe there are many excellent reasons why you deserve to travel this year.
1) Travel helps avoid repetition of obligations
Your everyday life, as intense and energizing as it may be, can become an unending repetition of obligations. You can lose your edge when your world becomes too predictable. Travel can provide rest, relaxation, new stimulations and a chance to recharge your drained mental and physical batteries.
2) Expand your mind through foreign travel
The world is a huge, interactive marketplace of personalities, cultures and world dynamics. Don't close yourself off to the experiences of foreign travel. Open your world. Expanding your experiences will expand your mind to new and different ideas.
3) Your future self will thank you
Travel will open your eyes to new and expanded possibilities for your life and your future. Your own small universe will never be the same again once you've caught a glimpse of life in the rest of the world. As a matter of fact, Grand Trunk was started by two complete strangers who met 3000 miles away from home.
4) Gain a greater appreciation for your current life
A view of how the rest of the world lives, even just a brief view, may give you a greater understanding and appreciation of your current life. Conversely, that same view of how the rest of the world lives may inspire you in new directions for improving your own life or the lives around you.
5) Travel equates to a greater level of happiness
Perhaps not surprisingly, travel equates to a greater level of happiness and satisfaction with life. The reasons why are many, but it's safe to say that being able to walk away from everyday life, even briefly, can change your perspective and open your mind.
This year, don't think of travel as an expense - go enjoy the life ahead of you
Travel provides the ideal opportunity for a change of venue and a fresh mindset. It’s also a great reward for the wonderful job you do of managing your life throughout the year.
As you can tell, we’re pretty passionate about travel, it’s in our DNA, Grand Trunk exists to equip travelers and adventurers at heart with goods that inspire those to get out there and live. So it's time to stop thinking of travel as a frivolous use of valuable resources and realize that you can’t just live to exist, you need to feed your soul, enhance your life to make you better equipped to live and enjoy the life ahead of you.
