The world is full of incredible things to do and to see. Who among us doesn’t want to see the world when we’re younger? The problem is, once you’re old enough to have the money, you don’t have the time, or there’s something else keeping you from traveling. If you’re sitting at home, daydreaming about getting out and experiencing the world, here are a few ways you can try.
1Travel
Perhaps the first and most obvious way to get to know the world is to travel it. You can see a lot by backpacking into the mountains or taking New England cruises around the coast. If you want to see the world, the best way is by getting out and seeing it. Don’t just pass by, either. Visit a place and stay there, long enough to get to know the locals. Find the best restaurants and meet the friendly shopkeepers. Passing through a lot of places is a good way to see a lot and learn nothing at all. Take the time to get to know a place before you move on to the next one.
2Read and Watch
Travel isn’t always possible, either because it’s too expensive or too time-consuming or even too dangerous. Don’t let that close your horizons. Physically going to a place is great, but you don’t have to miss out just because you can’t travel right now. Reading is just as effective at broadening your horizons. You can read all kinds of books about different places, but if you really want to know about a place, step away from the travel guides and read books written by the locals. That will teach you more about a place than any guidebook or map. That will teach you about the people, about their values and morals. Words can capture the spirit of a place.
3Try the Food
The other way to really get a sense of a place is by eating the cuisine. Food is central to cultural practices. If you really want to understand people, you should taste their food. In this day and age, especially in urban areas, you can sample dozens of different cuisines, sometimes without even leaving your home. As a pro tip, remember that if you want genuine flavors, ask people who are native to that area.
4Learn the Language
Another wonderful way to learn more about a culture is by learning the language. There are many apps and free courses to learn a new language, and doing so will teach you a lot about what that culture values and what they consider less important. Learning a new language, much like travel and any other way of learning more about the world, is a great way to exercise your brain and broaden your horizons. It can be an incredibly valuable skill as well, even if you don’t travel to that country, knowing another language is a useful skill to put on a resume.
5Meet People
The world is full of amazing sights and incredible wildlife, but what really opens your mind and expands your horizons is forging new connections, not just with a place, but with the people who live there. The great news is that thanks to the internet, you don’t have to leave your house to meet new people. You can easily talk to people all over the world and make new friends in a dozen different time zones. If you really want to push yourself, to get out of your shell and make yourself see things from a different point of view, you need to meet people who were raised outside your bubble.
Getting to know the world broadens your horizons and your mind. It’s good for the soul to see new things, meet new people and discover new ways of living. Even if you can’t get out and physically see the world because you don’t have the time or the money (or because non-essential travel is banned for safety reasons) there are plenty of ways to get to know the world.
