How travel makes you smarter, sexier and more productive

My friend Amira (a fellow Laurier graduate) posted a great article on her twitter account entitled... "How travel makes you smarter, sexier and more productive". Obviously I had to check it out.

The article discusses the four ways travel can help improve your life...
1. Travel makes you younger
2. Travel makes you smarter
3. Travel makes you more productive
4. Travel makes you sexier

After reading it I took a moment to reflect on my own travel experiences so far and wanted to give my personal thoughts for each of the 4 points brought up in the article.

#1. Travel makes you younger
For me, and especially in Latin America, the life style here is different, it's less stressful and more easy going then the "hustle and bustle" of the North American culture. Here things get done, when they get done. Yes, you might have "deadlines" but they are more guidelines than anything. With this change in pace of culture and lifestyle I find myself more relaxed and less stressed. And we all know that being less stressed and more relaxed slows down the aging process, or something along those lines.

#2. Travel makes you smarter
Travelling around the world is one giant learning experience. As an individual you have the opportunity to learn so much while you are abroad whether it's about countries, culture, people, food, customs, current issues, languages.... the list is endless. I think that is one aspect of travelling I love so much, because everyday there is something new to learn,whether its about the country youre in or even about yourself. Expand your mind, learn new things, evolve yourself.

#3. Travel makes you more productive
When youre abroad you want to make the most of your time, whether it's to check out as many different places as possible or just taking advantage of each experience that is presented to you while travelling. Currently in Colombia, Im trying to use each long weekend (basically 1 a month) as an opportunity to travel to other major cities within in the country. I want to learn as much as I can about Colombia, its people, and culture. I also want to explore the country to see how much it has changed from its period of violence 10-20 yrs ago. It´s going to help change my perceptions about Colombia as well as the perceptions of my friends and family. From a professional productivity standpoint, in my job, Im trying to take advantage of as much as I can, in order to learn as much as I can (once again everyday is a learning experience). Whether this is expanding my technical business vocabulary in Spanish, or taking advantage of oppportunities to work on various projects, both will help to expand my professional experiences while abroad.

#4. Travel makes you sexier
In the article it mentioned that travel makes you sexier because once you come home you will have some incredible stories that are perfect conversation pieces or topics for first dates. Personally, I agree, after travelling your world view changes, you have experienced somethings people will never have the opportunity to experience, so why not share? Not to mention, coming back and being able to speak another language is of course sexy. ;)

To check out the full article, click the link here: http://inside-digital.blog.lonelyplanet.com/2011/06/17/how-travel-makes-you-smarter-sexier-and-more-productive/