Trending Now: Dropping Everything to Travel the World
With the popularity of tiny homes, backpacking, global trekking and general urge to ‘live more,’ wanderlust is at an all-time high. Many millennials are forging their own paths in life, leaving Corporate America and risking it all to find true experiences and make greater connections.
“Rerouting life by way of airplane, train and car is clearly a rising trend, with youth interested in learning, getting in touch with other cultures, using travel as a source of career development, and, found to be the most important motivation, meeting local people,” says self-proclaimed wanderer Kaylen Ralph in The Riveter.
A Desire to Create Change
Many of the people who drop everything to travel the world have an innate desire to create lasting global change. Christine Gilbert, maker of the documentary The Wireless Generation, explains that transitioning to this lifestyle isn’t about hating your current job or position in life, it’s much more about what comes next. The hope to change yourself through changes to your external surroundings is palpable. And during your personal transformation, how can you become greater prepared to change the world in return?
The Experience Economy
According to a Barkley US report, millennials have a sense of adventurousness never seen in generations previously. Seventy-five percent of millennials state they want to travel abroad as much as possible, compared to only 52 percent of non-millennials, and 70 percent of millennials are enticed by the idea of visiting every continent in their lifetime and consider it a major goal and achievement, as compared to only 48 percent of non-millennials. Millennials are much more into buying experiences than buying things. The site IfOnly.com is a solid example of this. The site sells access to incredible experiences with top talent—from swimming with Great Whites at Guadalupe Island in Mexico to an overnight dogsled expedition with Iditarod legend DeeDee Jonrowe.
Community-oriented
One of the best parts of traveling the globe is learning about endless communities different than your own, becoming part of them even if only for a short period of time. At the same time, travelers become welcomed members of the global travel community. Couchsurfing, for example, is as much about becoming part of a community as it is getting a free night’s stay on a stranger’s sofa. It’s a truly social experience and brings people of all walks of life together through common interest. The organization’s values are as state.
“We envision a world where everyone can explore and create meaningful connections with the people and places they encounter. Building meaningful connections across cultures enables us to respond to diversity with curiosity, appreciation and respect. The appreciation of diversity spends tolerance and creates a global community.”
Calgarians Issa and Nita Breibish rented their home to a family from the Netherlands through a corporate leasing company before setting out on a two-and-a-half-year motorcycle tour.
Though they’d planned their first few months in detail, their concerns about such an ambitious trip soon melted away once they found themselves in transit.
“All that stuff you stress about when you’re planning a trip like this, it all makes sense on the road,” says Issa. “Once you’re moving, it all works out.”
The length of their journey allowed them to stay in areas longer than most tourists, which meant locals were of more interest to them than attractions like art or architecture. “We get more excited about meeting people who want to share their perspective [of their city] with you,” says Issa. Interacting with natives, he says, provided a deeper sense of appreciation for a region, revealing parts of it they could never have found on their own.
The widespread adoption and availability of the Internet across the world has opened up colossal opportunity for greater meaningful connections with communities near and far. But social media platforms of today aren’t set up to make these connections easy and purposeful. GetAssist was created specifically to help grow your community connection and help you get more network out of your social network. Whether you’re looking to stay in touch with friends and family during your travels, or meet new friends who share your same interests, GetAssist is the place for you. Join today to see what we’re all about!
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