Yes, visiting interesting places and buying souvenirs are fun things to do during international trips. But as I see it, the friendships that I have built during each trip bring me more joy!
- Social skills are paramount.
Because I stopped drinking, now I don’t need alcohol to help me relax anymore. I proactively hone my social skills whenever there is an opportunity.
When I travel, I always attend social events to meet more people. Better still, when most people need alcohol in order to be more talkative, I’m already more talkative without alcohol in a social environment.
As I don’t drink alcohol, I go to the dance floor more often so as to enjoy the benefits of the social event. Most people need to get drunk and then they can dance, but I don’t. Dancing helps me to feel more expressive in my body.
Interestingly, most friends who have added tremendous value to my life are people that I met during international trips.
For example, I met Ashley at a party during an overseas trip. He is a very competent ghostwriter with high-profile clients. Because I’m a blogger, we connected with each other really well. Now we are good friends. More specifically, Ashley has become my mentor. He is the person who introduced ghost-writing to me, and recently I have landed a VIP client because of his help.
- The opposite of loneliness is connection.
Loneliness is the secret pandemic in our society these days. Indeed, no one is socially allowed to say “I feel lonely” in modern society. But it’s extremely common.
When I travel, I always travel alone. I do this not because I can’t find anyone to travel with me, but because I really want to meet new people – and this can be done more easily when I travel alone.
Although my social skills are excellent and I can meet a lot of new people, it doesn’t mean I have to be with other people in order to feel good. Honestly, the opposite of loneliness is not being with someone else; it’s connection. This can be connection with a person, nature or new/creative ideas.
That’s why whenever I visit a country, I connect with the local culture – the food, the language, etc. This beautiful connection makes every international trip more satisfying and rewarding.
“How do you have more fun when you travel?”
