Thanksgiving is a time when we can remember to be thankful for a great many things. One of those is the gift of travel, which in itself puts many other things front and center that we can be thankful for.
Travel as a Reminder of the World’s Beauty
Whether it’s a trip of fifty miles or thousands of miles to a faraway country, it is always possible to be thankful for the beauty we see when we travel. Always try to spend some time exploring even if it’s business travel. A hike, walk, drive or bike ride will always provide more beauty experiences than just the view from the airplane window.
Travel Reveals History’s different Perspectives
It’s easy to have a narrow view of the world as well as your own back yard when you just rely on your local history and geography lessons. Be thankful for the insights that travel provides in terms of seeing the world from the perspective of the people that live there. When you take a look back at where you came from, you almost always get a new perspective on your own history that helps to make you a better, more rounded human being.
Travel and Freedom
The freedom to travel is one that we often take for granted, but this holiday season, be thankful that you have the freedom to travel where you will as well as the means to get there. When you travel abroad, you may find yourself in a place where very few people have the same level of freedom to go where they please or the means to get there if they could.
Being Thankful for Time
Not only is travel a gift in itself, but time to travel and what we learn about time when we travel is a reason for thanks. Travel provides countless opportunities to pause and take a breath to savor a moment if we choose, it also makes us more thankful for the loved ones and friends that we too seldom see and the ones that we left behind. This helps us be thankful for the time that we get with them and try to enjoy it to the fullest.
Travel Makes Us Thankful for People
Travel helps us be thankful for people. Not just those that we know, but those with which we have brief encounters. There is nothing like travel to help you remember what positive human interaction is all about if you take the time to notice. From a random person that shares a cab and the friendly conversation waiting at an airport to the unspoken communication that can happen between people that don’t speak the same language yet see their commonalities. These are opportunities to be thankful for travel as well as our lives in general.