Being a freelance software developer and also running small businesses on the side, I get to traveller a lot around Europe. Recently, while I was on the plane to London I thought to myself, gee, travelling really makes me more productive and happy. Why? Because of the variety. It gives me more energy than I had before working a 9-5 job in the office…
Before we dive into exploring the upsides of being a modern nomad, or a global citizen, if you will. Let me first warn you that it’s absolutely not for everybody. If you’re the kind of person who loves stability and comfort, this may not interest you, so you may want to stop reading this article now.
However, if you’re interested in building a lifestyle similar to mine, you probably are looking for adventure and challenge. No matter whether it’s about your personal or your professional journey.
I’ve divided this article into two sections. The first being my personal experiences. Whereas, in the the second section, I will expand on how travelling has helped increase my work productivity level. Not only that, there are a lot of other benefits I am going to share with you. I know it sounds exciting! So let’s jump straight to the nitty-gritty.
Personal Upsides Of Travelling
On the personal note, there are a number of benefits to travelling, such as: getting variety in life, meeting new and exciting people, being more grateful, open-minded and focused.
Let’s start with variety, one of the basic human needs. We all need some variety in life, aren’t we? I like to think of it as “the spice of life”. Why variety is so important? Because of habitation. To understand habituation process, it’s vital to understand the law of familiarity, which says that “the more I spend time with and get to know anything, and the more something becomes just a normal part of life – the less I am excited about it or the less I am to give it the attention it deserves”. It applies to all parts of our lives without exception.
Being a small boy I was very shy (at least I perceived myself like that). I had troubles getting to talk to strangers. However, over time, I worked on this problem and travelling became the perfect sandbox to always meet new and exciting people. When I travel I’m bound to form new relationships. Of course, some of the people I meet will stay friends for the rest of my life. Yet, some of them you I’ll want to forget the minute I stop interacting with them.
All the successful people I’ve been learning from are grateful. I think that gratefulness is the number one ingredient to leading a very fulfilled life. The more I move around different countries, the more I appreciate what people collectively have been able to accomplish. I mean, just look around and realise how lucky we are to live in the current era.
The last two are focus and open-mindedness. In order to travel a lot and create your dream lifestyle, you need to become really focused. It takes a lot of work to schedule your days, weeks and months – constantly finding yourself somewhere else. Travelling teaches you organisation, moreover, it teaches you being open-minded. Every country on this planet has its own culture, language and specific behaviours. Very quickly, I taught myself how to adjust to current events, like a baby that unconditionally absorbs different views, opinions and information. I had to. Actually no, I wanted to. Because in the end, I don’t think it’s important who is right. I think it’s more important to make people feel good.
Professional Productivity Increase
Beside many personal gains regarding travelling, there are also professional reasons why it can tremendously increase your capacity to do more.
Remember, I’m writing based on my own experiences and circumstances. You may want to compare what is your current lifestyle and make adjustments as every one of us is a completely different entity. Therefore, it’s certain our outcome will differ.
My whole work setup is based mostly around my MacBook Pro and my iPhone (yes, I became an Apple fan). As a software developer, there’s a lot of leverage to work remotely and meet with clients globally. However, if you’re not a software developer, and you’ve never been planning to become one. Rest assured, nothing is lost. Fortunately, we live in the wonderful time where technology makes our life easier. It’s just a matter of educating yourself how to utilise it to your advantage.
So professionally, as you move around, you learn how to communicate better. You really start communicating in many different languages (that’s the part I’m extremely excited about as a polyglot), become more resilient, expand your professional network around the world, and learn how the businesses operate in different countries.
Now, I’ve increased my professional productivity level, because I can always read on the airplane. I love the feeling of being in the air and knowing I have nobody calling me or sending me emails. I fully use this time for work and education.
Conclusion
There are certainly more benefits to travelling, whether it’s personally or professionally. I don’t want to make this article too long. Hence, I’m going to stop here and as I get more experience travelling. I will either update this post or write another one. So stay tuned and all the best on your next journey!