Last week I wrote about a bunch of reasons why some people should NOT travel.

International travel, in particular, requires fortitude, patience, flexibility and open-mindedness. Plus, an innate curiosity about “others.” There’s no question that some people are better off staying home.

This week I’ll counter those arguments … and share a multitude of reasons why travel – and especially international travel – is the greatest thing in the world!

Travel blows your mind! When you leave the confines of your “normal” environment, your eyes become a little wider, your senses are heightened and your outlook on what you left behind can shift. As Arthur Frommer wrote, “After all, why endure the fatigue of transportation, and its associated burdens, just to reach a replica of familiar surroundings?”

Travel keeps you young!  When you’ve got something on calendar – something to look forward to – something to plan and prepare for, well . . . it’s obvious that you have a different motivation to get up in the morning than you would otherwise have. And the perspective, the smiles and the friendships that result from travel . . . there’s nothing better for one’s spirit than that!

Travel provides a lifetime of memories and stories to share!  Oh, the stories you’ll share about the things you saw and the experiences you enjoyed!

Travel provides unforgettable moments that literally take your breath away!

I’ll never forget my first sighting of the Tyne Church which overlooks the Old Town Square in Prague. I was attending a conference/site inspection in the dead of winter. They housed us at a suburban hotel, and a few of us took a bus into the heart of town after dinner. It was dark, snowy and empty. We walked along a side street that opened up onto the square where the church was beautifully illuminated with its black spires, topped with gold balls that appeared to float in the sky. I stopped dead in my tracks and did one of those sudden intakes of breath that I’ll always remember. You know the quote: “Remember that life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”

Travel provides fantastic opportunities to meet amazing people!

Both fellow travelers and the locals. Even though I tend to hibernate on flights with headphones and magazines, I’ve been privileged to meet some wonderful seat-mates who are friends to this day. (I’ll be sharing those stories in a future blog.) And then, of course, there are the locals you meet!

Travel provides opportunities to try things you might otherwise never dare to do! When I went to New Zealand the first time, I had absolutely no interest in bungy jumping. I was not that crazy. No friggin’ way I was going to strap a giant rubber band around my ankles and dive – willingly – into an abyss. NO WAY!

Except that when I got to Queenstown, and watched the frozen, fearful bungy jumpers come back up from their death dive with huge smiles and boundless enthusiasm, I reconsidered. It was an infectious vibe. Was I scared? Absolutely. Was it fun? Absolutely. Would I do it again? Yes, I’ve done it two more times since then!

Travel reveals nature that doesn’t happen at home! There’s lots of amazing nature here at home, but you’ve got to travel to see some things that are unique in all the world. Fjords, wildlife, mountains, icebergs (see them before they’re gone!), the equator, jungles, Great Barrier Reef, the Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis (southern hemisphere), the Big Five, the limestone karsts of Cappadocia, thousand-year-old olive trees, and the thrill of scratching the chin of a gray whale calf that his 40-ton mama has pushed toward your little boat!

History that didn’t happen here! Our country is so young by comparison. You can read about places that are 3,000 years old and look at pictures … but nothing compares to being there. It’s awe-inspiring to see the Colosseum in Pula, Croatia (better preserved and not as visited as it’s more famous Roman cousin). Or Karnak Temple on the Nile, where pharaohs outdid each other for 1,500 years, adding magnificent obelisks, columns, sphinxes, and statues to the site, which is big enough to fit nine St. Peter’s Basilicas! (can’t find my photos of Egypt … but they wouldn’t do it justice anyway!)

Food that doesn’t happen here! Nobody would disagree that pasta just tastes better in Italy. Don’t know why, but it just does. And I still recall the Duck Salad at a little restaurant near Franz Josef Glacier on the South Island of New Zealand. Or the fresh-baked bread dotted with rock salt at a winery in the Barossa Valley in Australia. Or the Cao Lau Noodles or Banh Mi sandwich or other street food in Hoi An, Vietnam. (I’m hungry!)  Oh – and I can’t forget Murphy’s Ice Cream at the end of the Dingle Peninsula in Ireland!

Travel provides Synchronicity and Surprises!  Those precious, unplanned surprises you couldn’t have expected, like a couple of delightful memories I have from Myanmar: a young monk reading Little Red Riding Hood in a library, and an elaborate ceremony to celebrate the little boy who will be entering the monkhood. And all the careful planning in the world cannot prepare you for everything that you’ll encounter: getting lost, missing your train or flight, getting bumped from a hotel. But the sense of accomplishment when you resolve whatever went awry – “I did it! I’m alive! I figured it out!” – is priceless. And these always are the most oft-repeated stories when you get back home.

Travel can transform your life!

It did mine, when I took advantage of an improbable opportunity to go to southeast Asia just after college and had a life-defining eight months that changed the direction of my career when I got home. (Update: I am now CEO and “creative queen” of a highly successful travel company … in case you didn’t know!) My step-daughter Erica did a semester abroad in Budapest which changed her limited world view as a conservative Orange County coed. (Update: Erica is now pursuing her PhD in historical geography at the University of Sussex in the U.K.) My step-daughter Ashley, who traveled with me to Vietnam in January of 2014, made a secret promise to herself on the final day of that journey. Contemplating the lifestyle she had left behind ten days before, she vowed to change her ways when she got home. (Update: Ashley has been sober for more than 2 1/2 years!)

I could go on and on and on . . . but you get the picture!

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Comments? Care to reveal your favorite travel experience: funny, unexpected, transformational? Please share!