Traveling across the globe, immersing yourself in diverse cultures, learning languages foreign to you and engaging with people who have inimitable backgrounds is an educational experience in and of itself.
Surrounding yourself with French speakers, for example, is the fast track to fluency. And assimilating with people in a city or village much unlike your own teaches you empathy for other people and ways of life.
So why do we place such an emphasis on formal education systems? Couldn’t you just quit school to travel the world instead?
There’s no denying the fact that school is important. It equips you with valuable life skills like discipline and work ethic, and having a degree opens a lot of doors in the job market.
But there’s a wealth of science that supports the notions that people who travel are more creative, open-minded and generally good.
That said, you don’t need to forgo your academics to go anywhere.
Besides, if you do quit and realize you don’t like traveling or that you only want to travel for a short while before pursuing another career down the line, you won’t have that degree to support you. Likewise, a lot of jobs abroad might even require you to have a degree or to be working toward one.
You can travel the world in tandem with your academic education—you just need to know how to go about it.
Nice piece and great ideas. I’ve just moved to Greece to starting learning my second language (first is English) and it’s a wonderful experience to immerse yourself in a new culture. It’s also the best way to learn a language – even a hard one!
Nice!! You have really shared us a great experience and thoughts. I wonder how you can go to so many places and survive with knowing their local language. Traveling is fun but you have to plan it really well to conquer your mission.
I don’t think you need a plan at all! I never have one 😉
Then you must be really talented guy 😉 definitely would love to be like you and travel around the world.
Cool article , amazing