Overseas trips aren’t flights of fancy

MUCH can be said of the value of travel.

It is a worthwhile venture that presents the challenges and successes of foreign communities; seemingly makes your own problems fade into insignificance; makes you appreciate home and sharpens your focus when you return.

During the last 12 months I’ve been extremely grateful to travel to America twice, and England, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Croatia on a recent trip.

While travelling through the latter three countries I found myself out of my comfort zone, taken aback by culture differences and often stumped by a lack of English-speaking people.

A lot can be learnt from nonverbal communication and observation.

If you venture far enough travel puts you outside your comfort zone. That’s where I found myself in Portugal recently while exploring caves along the coast in Lagos.

Panic set in for my mate, who can’t swim, as we battled the biting waves of the ice-cold Atlantic Sea paddleboarding between caves. But the experience taught me to remain calm even in the most tense of situations. Likewise I had to remain calm while my mate was driving at upwards of 200km/h on a German autobahn. I learnt I don’t do well when other people are behind the wheel. Having dinner in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin was also an awe-inspiring moment. It was fascinating to think the Nazis marched through it to celebrate Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in 1933. And that French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte and his Grand Army also paraded triumphantly beneath the arches of the gate after occupying Berlin in 1806.

I met many Aussies and one theory on why we travel so much was this: If we draw our lineage far enough back we’re all foreigners in this land.

Some say people travel to escape reality but I’d say you should travel so reality doesn’t escape you.

I came home with a few extra kilos in my luggage and truth be told probably a few on my waist too.

But when I got that first piece of Vegemite toast in my hand I was content.

Not only to be home but for all the experiences I’d been open to during my trip.

If there’s one piece of advice I can offer, it would be this: travel often and travel broadly, it will change your perspective on the world.