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Traveling abroad can be a huge challenge but, at the same time, it is also a life-changing experience. It forces students to open their minds to different personalities and cultures.
There are many essays written by students that went through this experience, and as they explain it when you start your journey and say goodbye to your family and lifelong friends, you venture into a completely new world. Many of those essays about friends also talk about how friendships are being tested in adversity.
And since traveling can be stressful, that is also helping test the strength of the relationship. You can also meet travelers or backpacking friends from different countries, learn about where they are from and their different beliefs, and you may even learn to speak a different language.
Many of the people you can meet through travel will show up in your life for a different reason: to accompany you in a new hostel, show you a new city, boost your confidence, etc.
And through that experience, you will learn to appreciate those people and the time shared with them until you need to say goodbye and move on to a new place or group. However, some of those people you meet will stick with you forever.
Why College is the Best Time to Travel and Make Friends
- You have fewer things around you that hold you back — as a college student, it is the first time you leave your childhood home and experience life on your own. And you don’t have a family to look after, so you have the freedom to do whatever you want and go wherever you wish.
- It is a big plus in your resume — suppose that you apply for a job, and another person has the same qualifications for the job and has the same skills. In this case, your experience from traveling the world will take you a step ahead of them.
- You will be culturally sensitive — international trading plays a big part in modern business. And traveling with friends will help you learn how to approach people from different cultures. For example, you will know that Latin American clients would love the idea of physical contact and that for Middle Eastern clients, that would be taboo.
Those are just some of the reasons. Of course, there are many more such as developing as a person, making new friendships, visiting some of the best places in the world, getting the chance to learn new cultures, etc.
4 Reasons Why Traveling Makes Strong and Lifelong Friendships
They Get to Know You and Appreciate You Better
When you travel, you will feel free from your past, your old habits, the memories, and the expectations of what you should be back at home. And as you embark on the unknown, you will have the freedom to build a life that reflects who you are now.
So, the people you meet on your traveling journey will get to know you for who you really are, and the friends you will make will actually like you for your present self.
You Conquer the Unconquerable Together
Regardless of how it may look, traveling is not easy at all. You will be forced to navigate in the unknown and say yes to things you haven’t done before. People create natural bonds with people who have similar goals or with whom they share special moments.
So, whatever you choose or need to do on your journey, you will have to do it with people around you. And those moments will resonate with both of you forever, creating strong friendships.
They Will Always Be There For You
The students who choose to travel usually share the same eagerness to try new things and a lust for life. So, it is most likely that you will also share the same curiosity. Those types of friendships will continue to be the most exciting throughout your life.
And you will continue to have amazing adventures with each other that you couldn’t even imagine with your friends from home.
The Best Moments in Your Life Will Also Include Them
There is nothing more satisfying than completing your bucket list, and those are the moments that you will remember forever as the best ones in your life. Every time you think about them, you’ll always have a big smile on your face.
And of course, those moments are tied with the people you shared them with, as the saying goes, friends that travel together, stay together.
Even after returning from such trips, you will have those golden memories for the rest of your life. And as many students who traveled abroad state in their essay samples: the friends who travel with you will become some of the greatest friends that you could ever ask for.
