It should come as no surprise that we feel an increased amount of happiness when we buy something we’ve always wanted, or when we’re travelling. That’s something that has been proven! But the feeling of happiness that we get from buying “something” eventually fades, whereas the feeling and memory of a trip lasts a much longer period of time. This is one of the reasons I decide to spend money on travelling to new locations, over buying “things”.

Personally I used to be reluctant when it came to travelling to new destinations, I used to feel that everything I needed was within a pre-defined radius I’d set myself, and I was right to a point. But, there was so much more to learn and explore in this world over just what I was used to.

So I hope this post can encourage just one person to go out on that trip they’ve always wanted to, because it will not be a “waste of money” as I was often told. You’ll gain a lot more in return than what you’re spending!

What's The Reason Behind The Title Of This Post

I titled this post “Why I Decide To Travel Over Buying Things”, so it’s only right that I define “things” for you, let me explain.

Now, I’m not saying you should be living without the items you need to get buy and live a comfortable life. What I define as “things”, are items we buy just for the sake of buying when there’s no real need, or we don’t really want it.

If you have a hobby, or collect the item you’re going to buy by all means buy it, we all need fulfilment in life, but when you start buying “things” just for that temporary moment of joy, that’s where you’re essentially wasting money. A lot of us think we don’t do this, but in fact we do. We’ve all seen hoarders, don’t become one!

Personally, I’ve adopted a minimalist sort of lifestyle, I still have all the luxuries and items I need, but no more. This saves a huge amount of money, some of which can be invested into travelling.

There are a lot of people who would love to travel that little bit more, by having a real look at your expenditure and seeing where you can cut back on this unnecessary expense, you could potentially afford it. Of course, the younger you are the easier it is, so do it while you can.

Isn't Travelling Expensive?

This travelling thing doesn’t have to be expensive, that’s just a myth. Okay, it will cost, and depending on where you go the cost can differ hugely, but it’s no way expensive as it used to be.

Thanks to sites such as AirBnB it makes the world a lot more local, and accessible! I’ve personally used the site a handful of times, with a positive experience.

Now if flying is out of your budget, there’s always the option to travel within your own country. If you live in the USA, there’s so much to explore within each state. I did Route 66 earlier this year, and I was amazed at how each state had its own feel to it.

I live in the UK, and travelling within Europe is not expensive at all. If you spend £50-£100 on a weekend out every weekend, or every other weekend, why not scale that back to save some funds to spend. 90% of people can scale there expenses back to be able to afford travel if that’s what they really want!

Do You Need A Certain Lifestyle To Allow Travelling?

I’m fortunate that my lifestyle allows flexibility, hence being able to travel pretty much whenever I want. Of course, not always far and exotic locations, but there’s so much to see and explore within a 2 hour train journey of London. For example, I’m heading to Belgium tomorrow on the Eurostar. It takes two hours to get there - that’s quick, and a return ticket is inexpensive.

Now like I said, I’m fortunate to have that flexibility in my lifestyle, some don’t. The only piece of advise I can provide here is to plan. There’s always some period that you can get away, even if it’s just for a few weeks. It could be those few weeks that change your perspective, or give you the inspiration for a new project you want to pursue.

Why I Feel Travelling Is A Must

Now to sum up I’d say travelling to places you’ve never been before is a must. Like I mentioned at the start, I used to be pretty reluctant, I wasn’t one of these world travellers you see posting amazing images all over social media, and I wasn’t interested in being one (still not!).

But what I am interested in doing is travelling to different locations, to not only experience the place, the people and in general the environment. But to also open my mind to new possibilities, because the best ideas for my projects have come from new experiences, not buying “things”.

If we want to make this post “businessesy”, the ROI on travelling to a new place is fantastic! You’ll gain a lot more than you invest, personally and professionally.

So I hope you can take away a little something from this post about travelling to new places, and if you’ve been on the border line of doing it for a while, I hope this post can encourage you to do it.