The Health Benefits of Travel

Why do we travel? Well, I could give you a 100 reasons to travel, but I’ll stick to one big reason for this post — it’s good for your health. Yup, there are now studies that prove a myriad of health benefits that are associated with traveling. If you think about it logically, it makes complete sense. When you’re on holiday, with a change of pace and scenery, you’re supposed to temporarily vacate your mind of the struggles and challenges of your life at home.

One of the best ways to relax, refresh, and recharge is to take a trip somewhere. Anywhere. It doesn’t have to be thousands of miles away. It can even be in your hometown. The whole point is to relieve ourselves from the humdrum realities of daily life. And now, in the midst of the chaos of the hectic shopping season and holidays, it’s even more important to think about our well-being and the wellness of our loved ones.

Though I travel a lot for work, sometimes I need a break from that kind of travel and need a proper vacation that involves sunshine, massages, endless joy, and the art of doing nothing. And I find resorts are the best places for that often times as they offer packages that bundle together many of the relaxing activities, taking away the headache of the legwork when the primary goal of the vacation is delicious idleness. For example, the current Pick Your Package promotion by Marriott Resorts offers just that. And I love that they have properties in destinations that offer more than just the beautiful luxury properties, because as a personal preference, after the novelty of complete and utter relaxation wears off (which is pretty quickly for me!), I love delving into the cultural aspects of the destination and exploring the local areas.

Without further ado, let me get on with a few health benefits of traveling (there’s hundreds!) and why you should head out of town to your favorite resort this holiday season…

1) REJUVENATE YOUR MIND | Travel can help with your mental health. Traveling facilitates the change of thoughts — you walk new paths, eat different food, hear exotic languages, etc. These changes can help to free you from habitual routines that zap the energy out of life.

2) TAKE CARE OF YOUR OWN WELL-BEING | Travel allows you to do things for yourself. When you travel, you do things you love, see places you want to visit, pamper yourself with little delights, buy things you fancy — all things that you may neglect to do while at home but can make the world of difference on how you feel.

3) DISCONNECT YOUR DIGITAL LIFE | Travel helps you to recharge by disconnecting your digital life. Your overworked gadgets, not to mention fingers, need a break too! If your morning routine includes tackling a full inbox and partaking in many scheduled conference calls, replace it with enjoying a cup of coffee without distractions and taking a leisure morning stroll with your partner on the beach.

I like to think of traveling as a stepping stone to the realization of one of the most essential goals of life: to maximize happiness.