Confidence is an interesting topic to discuss. Some days it can be there, some days (like before job interviews), it can feel a little more shaky. Either way, confidence can often become more reliable when we feel it’s earned, such as when we have more experience or capability in an environment. As travel lovers, it’s important to recognize that our hobby and interest often helps us round ourselves off as people, allowing us many new experiences and connections that matter.
A question arises – does travel make you more confident? We believe it does. But if you’re looking to discover yourself and challenge yourself to explore more, to go out of your way to experience new things, and to absorb new cultures, understanding how this process works can be more than beneficial.
Let’s discuss, then, some of the virtues of travel and how they can feed back into becoming a more complete, rounded, and yes, confident individual.
The Admin & Logistics Of Travel
To travel well, you have to take care of yourself. This isn’t solely relegated to dealing with jet lag or delays to your flights, although that counts too. It’s about finding your way to areas you haven’t been before, to pack your belongings well, to deciding what you need in the first place. It’s about looking for value in an experience so you don’t have to pay through the nose for it, while also knowing what to flourish your spending on.
Managing yourself to this degree can help you become more confident because if you can handle yourself and your affairs in areas around the world, you feel so much easier doing it at home. That might include managing your affairs and belongings before a new job, or simply putting together an itinerary when you have limited time.
Absorbing Culture & Diversity
Anyone with a love for travel, food and music will have a hard time being xenophobic, even if others they have proximity to espouse that kind of ignorance. It also shows that people are so diverse and different that worrying about unique markers and if you fit in is never really a problem – somewhere out there, even in a new culture, people can be exactly like you.
This might help you feel much more confident in yourself if you’re a little different, for example, heading back to your ethnic roots can help you celebrate your culture, or your wavy 2B hair, or your traditions passed down from your family. Travel grants a love for the people around you, and that should extend to yourself.
Building Social Skills
As a bonus to that previous point, it’s amazing how having language barriers or feeling dropped in a new culture helps you become better able to navigate challenging social situations. Laughing along with your taxi driver from the airport as you describe the world, understanding mannerisms in a new culture (like taking off your shoes at the front door, perhaps), and being able to learn phrases and small words whenever you head somewhere new, all of this can be a fantastic insight into life.
Who knows, perhaps you may have to deal with an international client back at your job, and thanks to your travel experience you can appreciate some of the norms and customs from there. This isn’t to say that every social experience you have will be golden and beautiful, that’s not the case for anyone, but you will at least feel more confident and contributive when you’ve had that experience in new cultures and countries.
Travel Helps You Appreciate Your Home Space
When you travel, you get to see how different areas of the earth are the “central point” that some people look out for, which also inspires their viewpoint and interests going forward. Understanding that can be an important step, because it also allows you to look at your own surroundings with a sense of awe and a fresher outlook.
This might result in an enduring appreciation for your culture, its dietary and culinary traditions, its celebrations and festivities, and everything you have taken for granted so far. Confidence comes when we give ourselves the respect we’re due just for being a living, thinking person, and when you stop dismissing your own vantage point that naturally improves your own sense of wellbeing, which results in that kind of surety.
With this advice, you’re certain to improve your confidence through travel, or travel so well your confidence improves. If you’re looking to challenge yourself, learn new skills, and understand people, heading on your next trip is hardly a bad idea.
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