The Growing Room

As you read this I am currently finishing up the last day of my 5 month journey across Europe… Yup, 5 long months in which I stationed myself in the United Kingdom to study Biology.

I spent about 2 and a half months traveling Europe in which I experienced the full spectrum of good and the bad that traveling can bring!

It is my DUTY to let as many people as possible know that traveling the world is one of the BEST things you can do with your time, money, and energy. There is no doubt about it, traveling will force you to mature and grow, changing your mindsets for the better about your life and the world around you.

This post is an introduction to a VAST number of posts that will go DEEP within all aspects of traveling to help you enjoy a smooth and fun journey away from home.

The posts will be created over time as this blog evolves into one of the most INFORMATIVE and KNOWLEDGEABLE blogs on the internet.

Quick video of me spinning around with my camera in a few countries in Europe!

The places I traveled to include…

1. London, Nottingham, Leeds, Reading and Newquay United Kingdom

2. Belfast Ireland

3. Valencia and Barcelona Spain

4. Amsterdam

5. Paris, Nice, and Cannes France

6. Rome, Sorrento, Ischia, Almafi, Maori, Florence, Venice, and Milan Italy

7. Prague Czech Republic

5 Reasons Why You Should Travel The World
From the perspective of a 20 year old

1. To Grow ::::
Pushing yourself to leave your comfort zone is not easy, yet once you have made the step outside of your norms, the world is yours to create and live; it hands over its most precious fruits. Your home town, and location you have spent the most time in is like a little bubble that keeps you under SOCIAL CONDITIONING and stuck within firmly rooted habits. Not only do you become at ONE with the same old routines, but the longer time you spend without seeing other places the more you create permanence in your comfortable location. Sure you can grow and evolve by staying close to home, but traveling is a catalyst that will speed up the process. You will be forced to talk to random people, handle finances, find shelter and food, deal with language barriers, live with UNCERTAINTY, and overall open doors you never knew existed. Chances are you will love being caught up in the moment of a new experience and you wont look back in the direction of your usual routine and old ways. You will arrive back home at a later time on an HIGHER level then most individuals with an enlightened vision of life.

2. To Experience Culture Unlike Your Own ::::
Where you live is surely different from life in ITALY, or life in CHINA. Mainly due to environmental settings and history, different parts of the world are distinct niches each with their own unique qualities that shine for miles. Because of this, cultures formed a interdependent relationship with land and sea, neighbors and distant peoples. Cultures spring up with their own social values, ways of seeing life, languages, beliefs, customs, and interpretations of the world around them. THIS IS PRIMARY SOURCE LEARNING AND GROWING! Instead of making students take a course on GLOBAL AND CROSS CULTURE STUDIES (like they do in my university), they should send students off to a different country for a month! Reading out of a textbook about the working class in China and Japan DOES NOT CUT IT. I must note that I have found profound differences between life living in New York and life in places like the United Kingdom, Czech Republic, etc. Yet at the same time all people share lots in common and can relate to a foreigner on many levels. At the heart of the situation learning about cultures all across the world and what their fundamental values are, what they do for fun, how they are successful, how they think, how they view past and future, and what they think of YOU, will truly enlighten you about life outside of your bubble. You will grow to be a more accepting, loving, and wise individual because you interact with human beings of a culture UNLIKE your own.

3. The Earth Is BEAUTIFUL ::::
I have seen, touched, smelled, listened to, and tasted only a FRACTION of the beauty that comes out of this earth. One look at the luscious green mountains and clear blue waters of Italy’s Almalfi Coast is enough to make life worth living. Feeling the perfectly carved marble of Barcelona’s Segrada Familia Cathedral is enough to send me into a different reality. Smelling the sea water on the coast of Belfast Ireland during St. Patrick’s day is just what I need to know that the earth is elegant, beautiful and abundant. Hearing a folk band play harmonious tunes on The Charles Bridge in Prague fits exactly my definition of talented diverse people. Tasting a fresh piece of French bread and oysters while washing it down with cool French wine at “La Couple” in Paris is proof that there is such EXQUISITE food does exist and can give you spiritual freakin’ orgasms… Whats my point?? - Your home town probably has its specialty; maybe its cheese or a chocolate factory - but the world outside your home town is marvelous beyond what words can explain. The letters of the alphabet and the sounds your vocal cords make cannot come close to matching the feeling you get when you feel the warm hot springs of an Island in Italy or seeing Paris’s Eifile Tower from a narrow street filled with beautiful flowers. The world is absolutly beautiful and not witnessing all of its beauty will end up in regret later on in your life. Beautiful parts of the earth are uncovered everyday each with its own unique breathtaking qualities. Life can be enjoyed so much more when you see the earths geological perfections or stunning man made architecture. Get out there and soak up the earths beauty!

4. The People- (Wow, I will Miss The people)::::
There is one thing I have come to realize in my travels - One of the best things in life, besides traveling, besides meditation, working out, peace in the home, a brand new car, millions of dollars… besides anything you can imagine; one of the best things in life is interacting with a COOL and value offering person. You will meet people in your travels and create short term relationships and long term relationships with them. Regardless of the length of the relationship, this person will be of a unique background unlike your own and they will apreciate you so much for everything you bring to the table. On the contrary you will apreciate and enjoy them so much for all the value, intelligence and laughs they bring to the table. It could be a 10 second interaction with a French cab driver who says the funniest thing you have ever heard and will remember for life, or a beautiful girl you met in a bar who speaks no English but who looks at you in the eyes like she is one with you, while you sit there for hours enjoying each others presence. Or it could be a cool guy from the UK who is always smiling, loving life and bringing the fun, a guy who you will always remain in touch with and visit no matter how far away you are. In my travels I have met Brazilians, Spanish, Malaysian, Irish, English, American, French, Italian, and so many other people of different backgrounds which are now FREINDS who I will FOREVER keep in touch with. I never thought it possible to meet such brilliant individuals who’s presence alone my traveling worth while. Instead of sitting in your home town with the same old people at the same old bar, GET OUT, GET AWAY and meet the billions of cool people out there who are dieing to meet you! I always said to my friend, “imagine if all of the cool people in the world were thrown into ONE huge room and you got to meet all of them!” - What an experience that would be… I see it as the Earth is one BIG OPEN room and I am lucky enough to go and meet infinite amounts of people an enjoy life with them!

5. Rare & Quality Learning Experiences ::::
Sorry to break it to you, but there is a limit to how much you can learn sitting behind your computer or locked away in your small local town. Humans learn best by actually experiencing a situation “in the field” so to speak, NOT sitting home reading a book or browsing through blogs on the internet! Instead, take that book and go travel to Argentina or Thailand, read it on the way and while sitting on the trains but save the real learning for the social interactions with foreign people, the museum tour guides, the missed trains because you bought the wrong tickets, the views of foreign individuals about your country and its people, and overall traveling will teach you about YOURSELF because the world outside your home acts as a MIRROR that reflects everything from your core being to your external appearance. I really cannot stress enough this point: when you are traveling, ALL RESPONSIBILITY is on you. You must be at the top of your game, always alert and on point, always taking in the good and the bad that the world throws at you, and by doing this you really calibrate and improve your knowledge and your values. Traveling makes you well rounded and more open to the views of other people. I think that to be understood you must FIRST understand others and the world, and by traveling you can really get some top of the line learning experiences that will catalyze your personal growth. By traveling you get face to face, up close and personal experiences directly with a new culture and the people who live it. The specifics are infinite yet will ALL be internalized, learned and expressed by YOU because you decided to travel the world instead of sitting home and twiddling your thumbs!

First let me note, that this is only Part 1 of the “Reasons To Travel The World” epic saga of glory. A week from now you will be gifted with another 5 influential and awakening reasons to get off your butt and see the abundance and beauty of the world.

What I have spoke in the last thousand words or so comes from a deep place within my heart. Anyone who has taken a journey across the world knows that WORDS CANNOT EXPLAIN or come close to painting a picture of what your eye opening experience was like.

I have a piece of my heart reserved for traveling this beautiful earth. Nothing will ever fill that portion of my mind, body and soul. Traveling has got to be the best way to growth and evolve the core of your identity. Traveling brings out the authenticity in every man and women. It brings you away from the social conditioning of the world and throws you face to face with the essence of life itself.

Thanks for reading my post, and please SIGN UP VIA. RSS, so that you can come back and check out PART 2 of this post.

-Matty