For those of us with a wanderlust heart, we have all the excuses to travel and to “escape” our everyday life. But what about those who aren’t as ready? May be you have little time, limited finances, physical immobility or your own un-opened mind?

Traveling for me is a form of expansion. You get to learn where your place is in the world, seeing different ways of life and how others perspectives are just as right as yours but done differently. What you would call “SAME SAME but DIFFERENT”.

I never seize to be amazed by the beauty of our planet and the never-ending ways to learn from meeting people, eating new foods and seeing new destinations.

Here are my 5 reasons why you should travel:

1. Expand your mind

When we live life repetitively, our mind starts to shrink. We start to think we KNOW IT ALL or THIS IS HOW IT IS when we are living in a 1 in billions perspective. We do not know it all and we have so more to see and learn.

Seeing the standard of living so high in California made me realize that many people are living in a state of “golden handcuffs”. They have high paying jobs, doing the 9-5 but has no freedom. Imagine the life of the poor?

Realizing this aspect made me feel very lucky to be a entreprenuer and able to control my time.

2. Realize how small you are

How do you feel when you look out this window? I felt at awe at the beauty.

It’s desert and totally different from the tropical landscape of Thailand. I was thinking on how I will not be able to thrive here and that it’s a tough terrane. Dangerous even…and nothing similar to the lush greens of Phuket.

I love the views from airplanes because you get to see the larger world and that everything is just a small dot. We are a small part of the whole but we can make issues into such big problems. We must learn to love our Mother Earth that sustains us.

3. Build Connections

We are better together. Better when in harmony and more fulfilled with life when our relationships are good.

I took the money, time and effort to see my cousin and brother in California, my parents in Ohio and my other brother in Chicago and it was amazing to get closer to them. Distance kept us apart but it only takes a few minutes to rekindle and build the connections.

Seeing my nephews for the 1st time, knowing my brothers are healthy and doing well makes me feel very happy. And the connections built over a meal at their home is priceless as we share our lives, our plans for the future and our common problems which brought us closer.

4. Explore the flavors!

Food Food Food – is what I live for and visiting my parents meant a full stomach ALL THE TIME! I ate all the food from my childhood (Chinese) because my dad is an amazing professional Chef and we ate out at our favorite places that had good memories from the past.

Visiting my Japanese Sensei and having her feed me her home-cooking was also a great pleasure as I realized that I graduated 20 years ago from Uni! Her love for her students is felt and that’s why re-connecting over a meal is the best way to explore the flavors as well as catch up on our lives.

Warm and fuzzies in the heart and stomach! What more can you ask for right? 😀

5. It’s FUN!

Life is to be enjoyed and yes making the right choices is not always easy – but listening to your heart and following the love is always right! Remember not to take life too seriously, have fun, see new things, meet new people and have a great time! If you can’t do it physically, go to Google Earth to explore the world!

Sending you all peace and love,