15 Ways Travel Benefits Us

Travel is set to roar back to life in 2021, which is sensational news for everyone who works in the industry or just suffers from a chronic case of wanderlust. It's often tempting to focus exclusively on the fun side of travel, but it turns out that seeing the world is also beneficial for your well-being, too. Click through the slideshow to discover all the many positives of traveling.

Setting out on an adventure gets both the blood and adrenaline pumping, immediately shaking you out of your normal routine. More often than not, you'll also be upping your physical activity level while away, too. That's because getting to know a new city almost always requires a healthy amount of walking, and there's no better way to get exercise than exploring. And even if you're spending most of your time lounging by the pool at a sumptuous all-inclusive resort or on the beach, swimming and other daytime activities are destined to get your heart rate moving more than sitting in front of a computer.

It may seem obvious, but it bears reiterating: you can watch as many travel-themed movies and read as many wanderlust-inducing books as you want, but you'll never truly know until you go. Setting foot in a new place is the surest way to learn about it, expanding your understanding of the world and making you a, well, smarter person. The same goes for the people who live in the places you visit.

If you want to know how bad of a place the world is, watch the news or scroll your neverending news feed. Want to know how good it is? Go out and see it. No matter where you go in the world-even in places that have picked up a "bad reputation"-the overwhelming majority of people there are just trying to live their best life and be happy, just like you. Meeting them will innoculate you from believing misconceptions about the rest of the world, and you'll return from your trip wiser and more well-informed.

No, you aren't imagining it: exploring new places has been proven to raise happiness levels in those that partake. This is a result of a study that tracked and analyzed people who filled their day with new "travel"-style experiences. The happiness doesn't only just happen during and after a trip, as one study has even shown that just the act of planning and anticipating a trip leads to an uptick in positive vibes.

A benefit of sky-high happiness? Lower levels of depression. Yes, a Swedish study has shown a link between travel and reduced rates of depression, which could have huge repercussions for mental health and its role in the travel sphere.

So it turns out that visiting new places and eating new things can provide your gut with a diversity of new bacterias which can, in turn, lead you to be healthier and more resistant to infections and illness in the future. As if you needed another reason to dive into the local food and drink.

Spoiler alert: people in other cities and countries don't live their lives the exact same way that you do. Traveling constantly reminds you of this fact and will force you to consider other ways of doing things, thus opening up your personal perspective when you return home.

Experiencing other countries and cultures can help you become a better citizen back home. When abroad, you are exposed to different ideas and ways of doing things, and you can bring the best of those ideas back with you and then adapt them to home.

From furious scans of the departure sign at the airport to grappling with a map to get your bearing in a new city, traveling keeps our brains agile. You might be on vacation, but your brain will have to work in order to deal with all the sights, smells and sounds of a new place, and you'll be sharper for it.

As soon as you get on that plane or drive past the city limits, you get carte blanche to come up with a new spin on your personality. Sometimes, it can be as small of a change as being more outgoing, but sometimes it can be as dramatic as truly coming out of our shell and acting like a different person. In the process, we learn lots about ourselves, and often the travel versions of ourselves become an inspiration for change back home.

While this slideshow is most certainly all about the benefits of leaving home, one strange benefit is that it also helps you truly appreciate where it is you come from. In fact, the comforting feeling of coming back home and sleeping in your own bed is the last magical chapter of any trip. The bottom line is that experiencing other places can help you see your home in a most positive light.

According to a Global Commission on Aging and Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, in partnership with the U.S. Travel Association study, drops in stress levels can happen as quickly as a day or two. Think of travel as taking the lid off and letting steam out, and we all could use that from time to time.

The same study found that both men and women who vacationed often had better heart health than those who didn't. The study showed that women who only vacationed once every six years had a higher risk of a heart attack than those who took an annual trip. In men, not taking an annual vacation increased your chances of death in general and from suffering from fatal heart disease. Bottom line: don't leave those vacation days on the shelf; it could end up coming back to haunt you.

Ever wondered why "lightbulb idea" moments tend to come to you while daydreaming at a stoplight or while you are standing in the shower? it's because you tend to be in a relaxed state in these moments, and travel is absolutely full of them. It's the reason why many people report feeling more creative and alive while traveling.

Travel has an unmatched ability to crystalize memories and etch them into our hearts forever. Think of some of your most cherished memories, odds are a few of them took place while on vacation. The bond we share with those we travel with becomes a special, unbreakable one.