Traveling can teach a student many things. Traveling or studying abroad as a student may be perceived as a very expensive and time-consuming hobby. There is often a misconception that only rich students with a lot of time can travel. However, this is not true. Travel today has become fairly affordable, and many students can make time for traveling despite their busy and demanding schedules. Modern students choose to travel also because they recognize the importance of traveling and the multiple skills it can teach them. Students also like to travel because traveling makes them become more independent and mature faster. In this article, we shall list the key takeaways a student can get from traveling and discuss how they may help them succeed in their professional careers.
Things students can learn from traveling
There are many skills that a student can learn while they are traveling. Some of the key learnings for students include the points mentioned below:
- Students learn to manage their time:
When students travel, they will not have anyone to take care of them. They will have to be responsible for everything they do. Because of this, they will learn to prioritize, manage their time well, and more. As a student, if you would like to travel, you must learn to manage your time and outsource some work if you have to. You can hire a professional writer to write essays for you and reserve some extra time for traveling and going on a quick weekend getaway. This time management skill will later allow students to excel in their professional lives as well, as they will be able to manage multiple projects more easily.
- You will learn to make new friends:
When a student is traveling, especially if they are traveling solo, they will not have any companion to speak to or hang out with. Often, students can feel lonely on their travels. To combat their loneliness, they will have to step out of their comfort zones and talk to strangers and make new friends. This is an important skill to develop. Students who learn this skill at a young age will find it easier to speak and network with strangers in their professional journey. This will lead to greater success in their profession.
- Travel teaches you to be more flexible:
Many times, as a student, things may not go as planned when traveling. This could be because of unexpected changes in timings, weather, political conditions, or any other factor. As a traveler, you will have to find different solutions to mitigate these problems and hurdles that come your way while traveling. You will have to do this all on your own. You will also learn how to adapt to different schedules on the go. All these skills will help you grow into someone who can adapt to changes and think on their feet. This will really aid students’ professional progress.
- Traveling will force you to budget and stick to it:
Most of the time, students who travel do so with a limited amount of money. They cannot afford to go over their budget. As a result, students must carefully plan and budget for their food, stay experiences, and more. During the course of this activity, they will automatically learn to handle money more efficiently. This skill will help them professionally if they aspire to go into any career in the finance domain. Students can also use these skills as project managers or leaders to prevent their teams from exceeding the allocated budget. A student’s budget may include expenses on food, accommodation, academic needs such as paper writing, and transportation, which can include the translation of travel documents. Students travelling to a foreign country often need to translate their documents and papers needed for education. For instance, if they travel to Asian countries, they may need Japanese translation services. This way, students can be sure that their papers can be submitted to authorities without risking mistakes in translation.
Concluding Thoughts
Students undoubtedly stand to learn much from traveling. The skills they gain can be easily extrapolated and contextualized to be relevant across industries. As the world is growing more competitive every day, we hope that this article shows students how they can cultivate a few skills and thinking styles so that it will help them position themselves better than the rest of their competitors. This will help them succeed in their lives.
About the Author – Charlotte Banks
Charlotte Banks is a student counselor. She works with university students and helps them figure out their careers, goals, and aspirations. She also guides them on how to create a portfolio for themselves. Charlotte often conducted skill-building workshops for students that will help them succeed in their jobs. In her free time, she also works as a freelance writer and publishes her work on an online blog.