Here’s Why Travel Can Help You Become Wealthy

I’ve Learned A Few Things Recently

Over the past 6 months as I traveled around the world, starting in Australia and making my way through Southeast Asia and through many countries across Europe, I was exposed to a lot of different cultures, ideas and experiences. It was a great way to see the world in a slow, thoughtful manner, and really take the time to experience each country in a way differently than you could during any 1-2 week vacation.

One of the most important things that I learned throughout my travels was actually something that I could apply really well to my life once I returned back home and then continued my path to financial independence and building wealth.

Throughout our travels, there were many times that we had to sleep in beds that were extremely uncomfortable, without air conditioning and use a shower that was probably 50% saltwater. It wasn’t a glamorous experience, but when we were on a budget and traveling to small islands throughout Asia, we didn’t always have a choice.

 

 

Digging up and setting heavy wood pavers in the 95 jungle degree heat in Chiang Mai, Thailand. It wasn’t always glamorous…

 

There were also a few times when we would sit down at a restaurant that didn’t have an English menu, none of the staff spoke English and we spoke zero Vietnamese. However, we ended up getting through the experience without stress and enjoyed a fabulous meal of local, Vietnamese cuisine.

 

Spending 5 hours a day trimming grass on the side of hill in Tuscany, Italy. Also not glamorous…

 

Basically, there were a lot of instances where we had to rough it and go without normal comforts to be able to stick to our allotted budget for the trip. During the entire month of July, for example, I only spent about $1,000 on all living expenses in Thailand. To say we weren’t traveling in luxury would be an understatement.

Also, we had to test our patience and empathy while dealing with unfamiliar cultures and people who didn’t speak our language. We had to really develop our communication skills to interact with people who were different than ourselves. This was a great lesson in patience, quick-thinking and the ability to adapt to new situations.

All of these experiences, which may not have been great at the time, have turned out to be some of the best lessons I learned during our travels.

 

Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable

To sum up the most important lessons that I learned from travel into a single statement, it would be that we “got comfortable with being uncomfortable”. Whether it be the heat, cold, uncomfortable beds, communication issues, lack of showers and clean clothes, not being able to spend money as we pleased and questionable methods of transport, we got through it all, and it made us stronger as a result.

 

Traveling on crowded and smelly train car up the coast of Vietnam

 

Travel, not vacation, teaches us to get comfortable with being uncomfortable, and these lessons can be applied to all areas of our lives once we return home.

 

The ability to tolerate being uncomfortable might just be one of the most important life skills that we can learn. How could this change your life? Here are a few uncomfortable situations, that if you could tolerate them, could change your life:

• Quitting a job you hate to pursue a more meaningful career
• Living on little money as you start and build a business
• Leaving a toxic relationship
• Going to the gym to lift weights 3 days per week
• Quit eating sugar and processed foods, and only eating a whole food, natural diet

 

These are only a few life-changing scenarios and habits that require us to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

So, how does this translate into personal finances?

 

It Might Just Make You Wealthy

A common theme among people who reach financial independence (a.k.a no longer needing to work for a living) and build significant amounts of wealth is that at some point they had to go through experiences that were very uncomfortable.

Think of all of the people that you know that are wealthy. Think of how they went about making their money. Whether it be through a job, running their own business or investing money to build assets.

Here are a few of the uncomfortable situations that we could go through to build wealth:

• Working long hours at a job instead of spending time with your family and friends
• Making endless amounts of sales calls to people who tell you “no” or don’t call back, all of which are necessary to get a “yes”
• Having to live on almost no money because all of your income is tied up into building your business
• Investing money into real estate or stocks instead of spending it as you please
• Spending your nights and weekends outside of your job working on your rental properties or online business

 

And these are just to name a few. If we are truly invested into a job, business or investment, there are so many little inconveniences that we must live through on a daily basis in order to build wealth. However, in the end, all of these uncomfortable situations are what lead to a life of wealth and freedom from financial worry.

Travel can teach us to learn to be adaptable, quick-thinking and develop our perseverance to keep going even when things get unpleasant. Most importantly it can help us become comfortable with being uncomfortable, and that just might make you rich….

So, do you need some discomfort in life to help make you a stronger person?

 

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NYPFGuy