When was the last time you felt alive? We mean really alive, baby. When was the last time you felt that your soul was on fire and you were finally living your best life. Let’s be honest, it probably wasn’t on the 7.44 to Paddington, that’s for sure.

We’ll go first. The last time we felt truly alive was our first trip out of the U.K post Covid. It wasn’t exactly a once in a lifetime trip, just a weekend away to the south coast, but our little jaunt to the sea did more for our morale than any amount of inspirational quotes

In this day of complicated paperwork (Do I need a PCR? Am I triple vaccinated? What in God’s name is a Fit to Fly?) it seemed that travelling for any reason other than necessity was off the cards - and even then the rules were pretty sketchy. But here we are, on the cusp of a new normal and yes, it looks like trips for the sake of travelling are back. 

There is no doubt that school is where you go to learn how to read and write, Uni is next and then more years are spent studying for a master’s for some. But the school of life is where it’s really at. The school of life teaches us that if you want enriching experiences, then travel provides one of the most meaningful lessons of them all. Travel is about experiencing the situation first-hand. It’s the primary experience that makes it worthwhile, not the Insta-perfect picture on your feed or someone else’s travel stories (although we are big fans of those too).

Travel teaches us many things. We love that feeling of being slightly out of your comfort zone that travelling brings. Whether we travel to familiar places or far-flung shores, there are always new experiences to be had, new foods to try, new people to meet. Try using your pigeon Spanish in Puerto Rico. Pop over to New Caledonia for a bit of je ne sais quoi. Go to Italy and wave your hands around to see if they grasp your meaning. Communicate and connect with whatever means you have and do you know what? We guarantee you will make yourself understood. And if that’s not beautiful, then we don’t know what is. 

Imbibing in other cultures brings a greater understanding of the world we live in. Have you ever been to Guangzhou in China and seen people eating cockroaches? Have you drunk snake wine in Vietnam? Even if that’s not to your personal taste (ours neither, don’t worry), these types of experiences still give you a new perspective on how other people live. Maybe those guys find it completely weird that we would purposely curdle milk, call it cheese and gobble it up with gusto. Share the experiences, double the joy. 

If lockdown taught us anything, it’s that life is worth living. The secure, humdrum way of life that we fall into isn’t always the best solution. Yes, it’s safe, but OMG, who wants to live in the Truman Show? Get out there - book the ticket, explore the world, and open your mind. Beauty is everywhere, if only we have the eyes to see it.