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“And I think to myself, what a wonderful world!” – Louis Armstrong
Since I started touring for my job, I have literally travelled the globe, visiting 83 countries across six continents – experiencing places from Alaska and Hawaii, to French Polynesia, China, India, Russia, Korea and Africa.
I’ve cruised on all five oceans, the black sea, the Chilean and Norwegian fjords and the Amazon River.
I’ve crossed the Panama canal multiple times; walked the Great Wall of China; swum with dolphins in Mexico; visited the NASA space center in Florida; dived with sharks in the Caribbean sea; rode the dunes of Dubai and Namibia deserts; climbed the rock of Gibraltar; visited the pyramids on a camel in Egypt; bobsledded through the rainforest of Jamaica; swum in the dead sea in Israel; rode a gondola in Venice; experienced a carnival in Brazil; and so many more things. I’ve realized that there are so many benefits to travelling – I am constantly re-creating myself because of it.
Travel helps you to expand your overall personal knowledge and wisdom. Since I started exploring the world, my knowledge in geography has grown substantially. While travelling, you become interested in where you are; you want to know which cities, rivers, oceans and mountains are surrounding you. I have now learned more geography from my travels than from books or school!
You learn a lot about history while discovering new sites. When you travel, you obviously want to learn more about the past of the people you meet and cities you visit. It’s so enriching! You may find out that historical facts you learned in school do not always match the local accounts of history – that certainly creates some very interesting conversations.
Travelling also encourages you to practice and perfect foreign languages. Everybody knows that the best way to master a language is to visit a foreign country and speak with the locals. No book can teach you as well as being immersed in a language. If you don’t speak the language of the country you are visiting, make an effort to learn a few basic words. Locals always appreciate it and often they will make an extra effort to communicate with you.
Be a traveller, not a tourist. Be curious, try new things. Meet new people and find out how they live, eat and cook. Learn from them wherever you go.
New people will push you to open your mind to other perspectives, ways of living and cultures, making you a more tolerant person.
Meeting them will help you to improve your social skills and make it easier to build new friendships.
Travel is also a great way to create memories and stories to share. My family is always eager to hear my new adventures when I am back home. Fill your life with adventures, not things. Have more stories to tell than stuff to show! After all, the best stories are found between the pages of a passport!
It’s better to see something once than hear about it a thousand times. While travelling, I’ve learned that some of the facts you hear about the world end up being false. Explore, make your own judgment and point of view, not the one’s you are told about on TV! You may hear, “Mexico is dangerous, be careful!” but I’ve been there hundreds of times, nothing has ever happened to me! Tour and make your own opinion about life, places and cities, go and see it for yourself.
I found that one of the best methods to visit a new city is to just get lost in it! Drop the map, wander around and just take turns whenever you feel like it. This way, you will better understand the spirit and mood of the place.
Travelling a lot has made me more flexible and adaptable to change which assists me a lot in my everyday tasks. When you take a journey, so many unexpected things can happen and you have to learn to be very flexible.
As a guest entertainer on a cruise ship, I have flown hundreds of flights per year to join ships around the world. I’ve found that airports are among the best places to practice patience. Travel via airports involve a lot of lines and waiting, from check-in and security to customs and passport control. Airports are unpredictable: your flight may be delayed or you might miss it entirely leading to rebooking transfers and hotels. Your luggage may get lost or you might be surprised when nobody comes to pick you up…the list goes on! I remember my show luggage with all my aerial equipment once got lost; I finally got it back 4 months later!
It’s very rare that a trip goes as planned but when it does, it makes me happy! But the need for patience is a great skill that you learn to develop while travelling.
Travelling is an amazing stress reliever; you can put aside daily responsibilities and throw away schedules, giving you time to refocus on yourself, relax and focus on rejuvenation. Having time and opportunity to get fresh air and sunshine is highly beneficial for overall health. It’s also an excellent opportunity to catch up on sleep and feel rested.
Travel makes you appreciate what you have back home. In particular, when you visit poor areas, you become so much more grateful for what you have. You may stop taking things like running water or electricity for granted. Personally, some situations I have seen in some poor countries really hurt me in a sense because I wasn’t sure how I could assist the people in need. I remember driving 45 minutes from the airport to the port of Mumbai, India and seeing a “carpet” of people sleeping on the side of the road the whole way; thousand of bodies lying there. I felt useless.
In my mind, food and travel are one, I cannot separate them. Discovering new tastes, spices, flavors, meals and drinks is really interesting. Eating dishes where they originated, made with local fresh ingredients – it can’t get any better than that. For me, it’s the best part of travelling!
Here are a few examples from my personal experience of food in various countries/cities:
I still have one I’d like to add to my list – sushi in Japan!
Once you have eaten food in its home country, you realize that it doesn’t taste right in any other countries. A pizza in the USA is never as good as in Italy and a paella in France can never rival the dish found in Spain.
It drives me mad to see tourists drinking coffee at Starbucks when they are in Colombia! Or eating McDonald’s in Italy! Why did they fly all the way around the world?
I have only travelled intensively for 15 years so far but I can tell you that the more trips I take, the more I realize how much more there is to discover. Our planet is so small compared to the universe but at the same time, it is so big. There is so much to explore, experience and visit. I urge you to plan a voyage right now, before you run out of time, travel as much, as fast, and as far as you can because life isn’t meant to be lived in one place. Don’t wait until you are too old, live so you can say, “I’m glad I did” instead of “I wish I had”. The world is such an amazing place and has so much to offer. Get on a plane, a train, or a boat – it doesn’t matter which method you choose as long as you are travelling.
Travel is the only thing you can buy that makes you richer. It’s an investment and a journey that you treat yourself with. It’s worth any price. Don’t wait! Pack and go!
Bon Voyage!
Also by Laetitia:
8 Morning Habits To Work Into Your Daily Routine
Performance: 6 Tips To Deal With Muscle Pain
Laetitia Bouffard started ballet at age 3. At age 9, she was selected out of hundreds of candidates to attend the Paris Opera Ballet School. Laetitia studied there for 5 years and then completed 2 years at the Conservatoire national supérieur musique et danse in Lyon where she graduated with a Diploma of Dance & and Choreography. Laetitia has performed with Europa-Danse in Paris, National Ballet of Nancy (France), National Baltic Opera in Gdansk (Poland) and won the "Grand Prix" at International Ballet Competition in Caen (France). After many years of ballet, Laetitia decided it was time to take her career to another level, adding ground and aerial acrobatics to her skills. Laetitia learned acrobatic lifts, aerial silks, aerial hoop, aerial straps, net and web. She won Bronze medals at Worldwide Festival du Cirque de Demain in Paris and at the Wuqiao International Circus Festival in China. Laetitia has performed on TV in Norway, Turkey, Canada, France, Italy, Poland and China. She has performed at special events for clients such as Porsche, Audi, British Airways, Volvo, Volkswagen and Dom Perignon. Her shows include appearances at Palazzo Mannheim Germany, Calgary Stampede Canada, Krystallpalast Germany, Benidorm Palace Spain, Europa-Park Germany, Crazy Palace Germany, Alexander Kunz Theater Germany, GOP Munich Germany and on many Cruise Lines around the world. She is also a Registered Yoga Teacher by Yoga Alliance USA and a Personal Fitness Trainer recognized by Europe Active Association. Laetitia credits a huge part of her success to dedication, discipline, commitment, relationships, yoga, proper nutrition, trust and travel, elements she focuses on and practices in her daily life.
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