Ever just wanted to up sticks and leave it all behind for a life on the road? It might just be the best thing that you could do. While travel is a great way of broadening your horizons and experiencing cultures anew, it can also have a hugely positive effect on your psychological and, in turn, physical health. Feeling guilty when you travel for pleasure shouldn’t even come into it; by hopping off onto another adventure, you are lightening your psychological load and putting your health in a better position. Don’t believe that travel is a necessity? Here’s a few reasons why you might want to put it at the top of your priority list.
- LOWER HEALTH RISKS
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Active travel might just save your life. As well as opening your eyes to the wider world, the activity can also help to lower health risks against illnesses such as heart disease, breast cancer, diabetes and depression. By staying active and social, you lower your chances of developing degenerative diseases later in life and help to maintain good cognitive functioning over time. More travel leads to a healthier, happier you.
- BUILDS BRAIN RESILIENCE
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When you journey to a new place, your brain goes into overtime, taking in all of the new sights, sounds and smells on offer. The more often that your brain works in this way, the stronger and more resilient it will become, sharpening over time. Getting used to a new place is very much like solving a tricky problem; the more adept your brain becomes at performing the task, the more easily it will be able to do so in the future.
- BOOSTS YOUR WELLBEING
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Active travel can put you in a whole range of new social situations that can be hugely beneficial to your health. Meeting new people on the road or in different cities can help to boost your ability to interact and form lasting relationships with others, consequently boosting your happiness and psychological health. Better yet, frequent travel has been linked to an interest in learning, making you much more likely to maintain better brain function throughout your life. Good for your body and better for your brain, travel might just be the secret to lifelong health!
