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Focus only on your own growth.
GapYear is a time for growth and happiness.
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I am living my youth anew.
Goethe, the master of German literatureis something he said while traveling in Italy. At that time, Goethetripis said to have been bored with everything before he set off. His work was not going well, and his relationship with his wife had become strained. In the midst of all this complexity, what Goethe chose wastravelHe had long dreamed of Italy's art and atmosphere since childhood and wanted to see them in person and recharge, so he set off for Italy at dawn.
From the day I set foot in Rome, I have been living days of true renewal.
I think this suggests that Goethe had already achieved the purpose of his journey. Through his three-year trip to Italy, his previous ideas and creative standards were transformed, and after returning to Germany he is said to have written Xenia, Iphigenia in Tauris, Egmont, Torquato Tasso, and Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship.
Travel is, above all, like a great and rigorous discipline. - Camus -
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Today what I want to talk about is'the benefits and positive effects of travel'.
These days, travel has become an essential leisure activity for modern people and has become closely integrated into our lives. It has established itself as a leisure pursuit enjoyed by people of various age groups. Still, many people do not yet understand why we travel!
Like this person!
If we summarize the points the questioner is asking, they are as follows.
1. In Japan, people tend to hold back what they want to do in order to live debt-free.
2. Koreans tend to do what they want even if it means going into debt.
3. I'm curious why Koreans travel to Europe. Does life change after they return?
4. Or is it just to escape reality?
5. I don't understand what overseas travel means to people who are not financially well-off.
This piece is by no means trying to say, 'This person's opinion is absolutely wrong!!! Travel is absolutely good!!!'Rather, this article about travel was written with the thought, 'Travel has these charms and effects, so read this and reconsider!' Please keep that in mind as you read.
Did you know? The original etymology of the word 'travel' did not carry the feelings of happiness, excitement, or joy that the word conveys today.TravelLet's look at the English word 'travel'. The word 'travel' means 'to travel', and it derives from the Latin...TravailIt is said to be derived from 'Travail'. 'Travail' is a word that contains meanings such as 'pain, hardship, toil'. Why was travel, which is happy and exciting now, a word associated with pain and suffering in the past?
The reason lies in means of transportation.
Before transportation developed, traveling was tantamount to an ordeal. Roads were not properly maintained and there were no means of transport, so simply going far away was a hardship. There was also the danger of attacks by wild animals or robbers, and you never knew when something serious might happen.
Therefore, the current concept of travel is relatively recent. In the late 19th century, the invention of the train, the development of transportation, and the establishment of capitalism gave rise to the concept of leisure, and gradually the idea of travel was redefined from pain and hardship to enjoyment and self-improvement.
However, even when travel meant pain and hardship, there were people who spoke about travel positively. Here are two representative examples. First,Saint Augustinesaid,He who has not traveled has read only one page of the book of the world.he left those words, and Seneca, who was the tutor of Emperor Nero in Roman times,Senecaalso said,"Travel and change of place impart vigor to the mind."he left those words.
Why did Augustine and Seneca speak positively about travel at a time when travel itself was pain, suffering, and ordeal?
The reason is The experiences travel providesIt lies in that. As Saint Augustine put it, if you compare the world to a book, the experiences and events that occur where I live amount to only a single page. There are many different lives and cultures in this world, and knowing only the place where you were born is insufficient because the world is vast. Doesn't that sound right? This idea seems connected to the proverb below.
Only those who have traveled to many places are wise.- Icelandic proverb -
In other words, it's a proverb that expresses in one sentence the idea that you must travel to many places to learn about more cultures and ways of life, and that what you learn is assimilated into wisdom for your life. The reason I'm saying this is Travel is an activity connected to self-improvementThat's what I mean.
Travel allows you to see things completely different from what you previously saw, and these things are absorbed into you and have the positive effect of broadening your thinking. Broader thinking means you know more ways to solve problems and can dream bigger. In fact, many people who take a gap year to set their career and life direction spend that gap year traveling around the world.Through travel—by encountering the world's diverse cultures and values and widening the range of experience and thought—people craft their own gap year.That's it.
A person travels the world in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.- G. Moore -
As seen in Goethe's travel writings and in Seneca's words, the second benefit of travel is rechargingOne of the most common problems modern people face is burnout syndrome. Burnout is mainly caused by social factors such as long working hours compared to short rest periods and high-intensity labor. It refers to a condition in which someone who was enthusiastically immersed in work experiences extreme physical and mental exhaustion and becomes apathetic.
This phenomenon doesn't only affect office workers; busy university students are included as well. Koreans, who often feel a compulsion to work hard at everything, experience this especially often. When you fall into this situation—or right before you do—travel is a way to address it.
A basic condition of travel is that you leave your everyday life and move to another region. In other words, it's an act of leaving your familiar living area. Leaving your living area doesn't just feel like a physical move; it also means leaving behind your mental worries.
For example, when we attend school or work, various practical concerns and advice from people around us follow. From comments like, "You're graduating next year—what do you want to do?" to private worries such as "What will I do next year?" or "Do I have to keep doing this job?", we live in a society with much social pressure that follows naturally even if we try not to think about it. In fact, among OECD countries, we rank third in working hours and record one of the lowest numbers of vacation days.
However, when you go on a trip, your way of life inevitably becomes completely different from before, so it's an activity that allows you to completely set aside these worries and advice for a while. One of travel's major advantages is that it offers a full recharge that is different from simply forgetting for a while with alcohol, cafés, or games.You can spend a gap year that gifts your life a pause by taking complete rest during travel.
So if you heal and travel and return from a gap year, will the problems you had before be resolved? No. Those worries and problems remain. But what changes is your attitude toward them. Before the trip you might have ignored them with an "I don’t know" attitude, but now you can come back having gained the strength to face them head-on.
Travel is always a matter of courage, not money.- Paulo Coelho -
LastlyThe advantage of travel is that you can learn about yourself.This can be understood with an example. Suppose we are living our everyday lives. We would be focusing on school, assignments, studying English, or preparing for certifications, and within that context there is a qualitative difference between worrying "What do I like?" and asking "What do I like?" while traveling in an environment where you don't have to care about anything and can do what your instincts truly want to do.
Because in everyday life you don't have time to fully focus on yourself. You're busy preparing for a group presentation tomorrow, busy with upcoming exams, busy drinking with friends — in such circumstances it's impossible to think about yourself. Both in terms of time and environment.
However, if while traveling you meet people without any burdens, broaden your thinking through new cultures, and see yourself finding and doing what you instinctively want to do, then you can truly and objectively see what you like and what gives you joy in life.
Therefore, travelers have more time to reflect on themselves, and thanks to the broader thinking gained through travel, they have the advantage of being able to contemplate more.This is also true. I believe this is one of the biggest advantages of travel and the reason why people spend gap years traveling to find themselves.
Travel is about meeting other cultures and people, and ultimately meeting yourself.- Han Bi-ya -
Now it's the last part! So you want to travel but have no money? That's right. It can be the most realistic constraint and disadvantage of travel. However, as introduced in the previous series, travel doesn't always require money. Barter travel can be one option, and traveling with no money can be another. Even if you're a bit short on cash, you can still travel. You just need more courage for that kind of trip.
So this winter break, instead of going to an English academy just because you feel you should be doing something, consider spending a gap year...a trip where you can reflect on yourself and recharge.How about taking such a trip? Surely this trip will become a major milestone in the course of your life!
Recommended trips for those who want to pursue self-development through travel.
1. Travel where you can meet diverse people.
If you take a trip where you can meet people — one of the elements that can stimulate you a lot during travel — you can fully absorb the advantages I've mentioned. Accept different ideas from people of various countries and, within those countries, people with various occupations, then combine the accepted ideas and cultures with your existing mindset to achieve greater self-development! People you meet while traveling tend to be open because travel is free in nature. If you start the conversation, they will surely talk to you — each will tell their own story!
No matter how much I had interacted with foreigners in Korea, experiencing it abroad is different. Of course, it is also different from a simple trip with friends. This cross-country trip across the United States made me realize how vast the world is and helped my thinking develop. Being able to travel not from the perspective of 'foreigners' but as friends who came from different places to travel together becomes a memory I will carry for a lifetime. After taking a gap year, I gained the space and certainty to think about and understand things. So even in job preparation, where I had hesitated because of uncertainty, I regained confidence as I found self-assurance.
- Min-yong Lee, Gapper — participant in the "Special U.S. Cross-Country Trip with Young People from Around the World" gap year project
2. Long-term stay in one place
Stay in one place for an extended period and enjoy the 'leisure' you may have forgotten, savoring some time alone. Staying in a different environment will surely provide new inspiration and give you time to reflect entirely for yourself.
What I liked about taking a gap year was that I could spend the full 30 days entirely for myself. I could enjoy, think, and feel many things freely without being disturbed by anyone.
- Na-young Kim, GapperHello! A month living in Paris, FranceGap Year project participant
Tips for travelers who want to learn from their trips
1)Don't book a tight schedule.
Travel is meant to be enjoyed, not treated like a competition to see everything.
2) If you're traveling to multiple cities, don't book accommodation in advance (except during peak season or festivals).
Once your accommodation is fixed, your schedule tends to be fixed too! The charm of a destination and the people you meet there might change your plans. Keep your itinerary flexible.
3) Try staying in a guesthouse at least once.
Guesthouses are traveler spaces where you can meet and mingle with people from various nationalities.
For me, travel was another form of learning. Of course, it was a 'school on the road' different from what you learn at school. It was a new way of learning felt with my feet, my eyes, and my heart.
I was deeply interested in exploring what kinds of daily lives so many people my age, working in various fields, actually lead and what values and cultures they live by.
-Gapper Lee Mi-kyung (Selected as the 62nd of Korea Gap Year’s 100 Gap Yearers)