Travelling involves new situations, new cultures and new experiences, all of which can help us to grow. In this article, courtesy of Dr Charlotte Russell, clinical psychologist, we share how travel can help with personal growth and provide tips on how to grow from travelling. Challenging ourselves doesn’t always feel good, but it’s how we can stretch ourselves and grow as a person. Here are three ways that travel can help with personal growth.
” . . . grow as a person . . . “
The Ability to Succeed
When we put ourselves in situations that are new and challenging this can help to build confidence. A positive belief about our ability to deal with new and challenging situations and to achieve goals is about having a ‘can do’ attitude.
Foreign travel certainly provides opportunities for building self-confidence; we are almost always dealing with different situations, languages and cultures as we navigate around the world. Importantly, self-confidence can be important for our ability to tackle challenges and resilience. In a recent study, it was shown that those who travelled more, actually performed better at work, and one of the reasons for this was increased self-confidence.
” . . . ability to tackle challenges and resililience . . . “
The best advice for building confidence when you travel is to stretch yourself. Aim for situations that feel a little bit uncomfortable rather than stretching yourself too far.
Gaining perspective – the world out there
Travel can also help us to put life’s challenges into perspective. A gentleman who had post trauma symptoms following a terrible accident and injury, explained that he put himself in the ‘here and now’ when a difficult memory tried to take hold. He explained that this helped him to focus on the old oak trees in the park nearby, and to remind himself that they were there before he was born and would be there for many years after he was gone. Not only did this help him to reconnect with the here and now, it helped him to appreciate that the world is much bigger than him, and that provided him with a helpful sense of perspective.
“…they were there before he was born and would be there for many years after he was gone…“
Gaining perspective – appreciating different viewpoints
It’s well known and appreciated that interacting with other people can help us to appreciate different perspectives. Travel, especially longer trips where we immerse ourselves in another culture are great ways to really understand different cultural perspectives and ways of viewing the world.
“…appreciete different perspectives …”
Experiences that increase our ability to appreciate the perspective of others can supercharge our personal growth. These abilities lead to better problem solving, interpersonal interactions and the ability to work collaboratively with others. It’s yet another way that travel can make us better at life!
Taking time to learn about other cultures and customs is the best way to help yourself to understand different perspectives. This can involve hiring a local guide and chatting to local people while you are travelling.
“The The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.“ – Mercel Proust. T
Take Yourself out of Your Comfort Zone
Travelling is one of the most marvellous ways of taking yourself out of your comfort zone and into the exciting unknown. This gives you opportunities to explore new places, cultures, languages, foods and ways of being. Learning from travelling can be immense. However, leaving the unfamiliar environment of your own home can mean experiencing the discomfort of the new and unfamiliar. It could make you feel less confident, less self-assured, less assertive, less capable or even outright anxious. Unexpected challenges when travelling may force you to think on the spot, change your plans and cause anxiety and fear. It’s perfectly okay to feel this way and many people do, the fear is a normal state of nervous excitement that comes with trying something new, which can afford personal growth.
Try to speak to yourself compassionately. Remind yourself gently that although travelling is exciting and broadens horizons, you, just like everyone else, will inevitably face some challenges and problems. You may experience discomfort or even conflict but embracing the challenge and pushing against your limits may truly help you improve and develop yourself.
“…concentrate on the present and stop comparing yourself…“
And if you ever feel stuck or fed up, that’s ok, we all feel this way from time to time. Revisit your values and remind yourself why you are doing this. Think of all the reasons why you travel and what you have gained from your travels. It’s a great motivator! You can also play a game of turning a negative into a positive, find something good even in the most miserable situation! Also keep your eyes on ‘the prize’, knowledge, personal growth, improved problem solving, confidence in self, adaptability, network building or perhaps even a business opportunity and much more.
Focusing on your values, benefits and rewards is often a strong motivator to continue. But if you’ve reached your limits, it’s also important to honour your boundaries. It’s ok to say I’ve had enough, learned enough, experienced enough and now I can go back to the safety and comfort of my home. Travelling requires us to constantly step out of our comfort zone; visit new places, and embrace new cultures, this helps to contribute towards a growth mind-set.
“. . . keep your eyes on ‘the prize’ . . .”
Broaden Your Cultural Awareness Empathy
Understanding and participating in local traditions can broaden your cultural awareness and empathy. Engaging with local cultures provides insight into different ways of life and helps break down cultural barriers. Even attempting to speak a new language can improve your communication skills and show respect to locals. If communication causes some nerves perhaps explore communication through body language and learning to express yourself without words.
Traveling often involves overcoming unexpected obstacles, which can improve your problem-solving abilities and resilience. It offers opportunities to look at problems from a different perspective and assess resources to help you solve concerns. Being in new environments teaches flexibility and adaptability, essential skills in both personal and professional life. Learning to cope with the unknown builds mental strength and a more open-minded approach to life.
“. . . learning to cope with the unknown builds strength . . .”
Travel encourages you to live in the moment and fully experience your surroundings. Take time to observe and appreciate the details of your travel experiences, which can enhance mindfulness in your daily life. Try to continue this practice when you return. By actively engaging in these practices, you can maximize the personal growth opportunities that traveling offers.
“. . . live in the moment . . .”
Travel can bring a wide range of benefits to our personal growth including problem solving, confidence, ability to appreciate different perspectives and adaptability. Given all of these benefits, it can help to have a way of reflecting on your experience and process of learning.
Tell us in the comments, if Travel has helped with your personal growth.
Research indicates that entrepreneurs, who don’t travel internationally, say one of the obstacles seems to be the lack of a passport when a perfect opportunity presents itself. That’s no excuse! Get your passport and start planning, but know that you don’t become a globetrotter overnight.
Immerse yourself in culture and diversity
You can easily immerse yourself in culture and diversity without traveling too far from home. Cultural and business norms, cuisine and language all take wonderful turns at home if you keep an eye out for them. But, great delights also await you once you cross borders.
International travel, even when it’s close to home, forces you into the unknown, away from the many comforts we take for granted – language, food, clothing, religion, and familiar customs to name a few. Successful entrepreneurs thrive under pressure and excel while outside of their comfort zone. Many seek the thrill of the unknown and the way it expands their horizons.
‘. . . successful entrepreneurs thrive under pressure and excel outside of their comfort zonevibrant and significant part of contemporary culinary arts. . .’
Every entrepreneurs need to know there are ways that traveling internationally can change your understanding of yourself, your life and your business.
You can do more with less
When traveling for long periods of time, you have to pack light and work with the bare essentials, buying certain items when you arrive at your destination. Living out of a few pieces of luggage requires learning to make do with what you have on hand. Many times, something you need isn’t readily available like it always is at home. Picking up too many items along the way to make up for this can easily become a burden and a collection of too much junk.
This rings true in business as well. Many new entrepreneurs lack access to all the resources they could ever want or need in their start-up. When this happens to you, it is essential to continuously evaluate whether you’re maximizing the output of the resources you have.
Naturally, you’ll tend to grab onto any additional resources that become available, possibly skipping the time to consider their value. Not assessing what value you are placing on which items or parts of your business can cause quite the burden, as those extra items add up and slow you down. A key to early success for many businesses is to review the available resources, learn to keep the ones you can manage, maximize their productivity, and leave available room to utilize new resources as your business evolves. Letting go of the excess may seem hard, but it is well worth it in the long run.
‘…leave available room to utilize new resources as your business evolves…’
Cultural Empathy
Many people happily go about their days in a state of ‘sameness’ but that quickly changes once you travel abroad. Dozens of languages and incredibly diverse backgrounds are the ‘norm’ throughout much of the world. Feeling like an outsider in the international melting pot for the first time can be overwhelming, but well worth the discomfort.
Imagine growing up in a small town where even a ‘people-person’ realizes that it’s easy to get along with people when you grow up together, watch the same TV shows and shop at the same stores. But it’s quite different when every person you meet has almost nothing in common with you, they think you are strange, and no one has more than a rudimentary understanding of the English language.
This forces you to adapt quickly, you listen more than you talk, use hand signals and do whatever it takes to find effective ways to communicate. This mode of communication, levels the playing field and is a binding between cultures, in a way you will not otherwise experience.
‘…do whatever it takes to effectively communicate…’
Putting yourself into a situation where you’re suddenly a minority requires empathy and patience from those you are working with, and an incredible amount of humility on your part.
When international travel takes you to a place where common sense isn’t so common, you’re forced to find unique ways to communicate and achieve your goals. The same applies to being an entrepreneur, when building your business, you will inevitably find yourself in foreign situations. Acknowledging and learning from the approach different cultures bring to personal and business endeavours is a valuable experience.
‘…find unique ways to communicate and achieve your goals…’
Altering Your Definition of Success
Many consider themselves successful once they’ve expanded their bank accounts and accumulated expensive material possessions. However, the definition of success is incredibly varied. The Maasai people of East Africa see lion hunting as a sign of bravery and personal achievement, while Buddhists from India say that it is better to travel well than to arrive. The real definition of success is more about your mind-set, ultimately, success is defined by each of us individually. Your success in business doesn’t have to define your success in life. A nine to five job doesn’t have to be the norm. Millennials, in particular, have embraced this thought process as they’ve taken advantage of the opportunities offered by the digital economy.
‘…success is defined by each of us individually…’
France has even gone so far as to ban email correspondence outside of work hours. Traveling or working abroad allows you to experience and appreciate how distinct cultures and people define and celebrate success and more importantly, how they react to failure.
The reality is that the possibility of failure is ever present. You can’t allow the fear of failure to hold you back. It is one of the top reasons that many businesses don’t succeed. Never dwell on the past or spend too much time planning the future. Concentrate on the present and stop comparing yourself to others. It may be ‘mind expanding’ to accept that failure is not an option but a certainty, and never let it define you or your success.
‘…concentrate on the present and stop comparing yourself…’
If you’re looking at entrepreneurship as your ticket to easy money and a lifestyle of flashy cars and photos of the cash you see on Instagram, think again. A tornado of skill, ability, passion, hustle, perseverance, and a lot of luck go into developing a successful business long-term.Define your own success and bring it all together. Treat failure as a stepping stone to your next achievement instead of a step backward. It won’t be easy, but treating yourself as a work in progress is the way to grow.
‘…treat yourself as a work in progress…’
Tell us in the comments, how you as an entrepreneur, thrive on international travel?
Fusion cuisine is an exciting approach to cooking that combines essentials from different cooking traditions to create inventive and tantalizing dishes. Driven by adventurous chefs and home cooks who are keen to experiment with diverse ingredients and techniques, the popularity of fusion food has soared.
This trend embraces using alternative flours like almond, rice, and chickpea in traditional recipes, to blending global flavours in a single dish. The use of gluten-free flours, such as coconut and buckwheat caters to dietary preferences while adding unique textures and flavours. Fusion cuisine broadens the palate and reflects the dynamic interconnected world we live in, making it a vibrant and significant part of contemporary culinary arts. Fusion foods celebrates creativity and adaptability, making it a dynamic and exciting culinary trend.
‘. . . a vibrant and significant part of contemporary culinary arts. . .’
Origins of Fusion Cuisine
Early Influences
Fusion cuisine is not new, it has ancient roots. Historical trade routes like the Silk Road, facilitated the exchange of spices, grains, and ingredients between diverse cultures. Early chefs experimented with these new elements, integrating rice flour, wheat flour, and alternative flours into their recipes, creating dishes that blend flavours from different areas. This early fusion cuisine laid the foundation for today’s culinary innovations.
‘…blend flavours from different areas…’
Modern Beginnings
Modern fusion cuisine gained prominence as global travel and immigration increased. Chefs began to explore beyond traditional boundaries, incorporating ingredients such as almond flour and gluten-free flours like coconut flour and buckwheat flour into their dishes. This period saw the birth of iconic fusion foods, like California rolls and Tex-Mex, where traditional methods were enhanced with alternative flours and ingredients, creating unique culinary experiences that appealed to broader audiences.
‘… creating unique culinary experiences…’
Cultural Exchanges
Cultural exchanges have always been at the heart of fusion cuisine. As people from different backgrounds came together, they shared their culinary traditions. This involved substituting traditional ingredients with all-purpose flour substitutes or incorporating nut flours to add a rich flavour and texture to dishes. The result saw an exciting culinary landscape where bread recipes include chickpea flour or where pastry flour replaced with fresh milled flour for a unique twist. These cultural exchanges diversified our palates and pushed the boundaries of what is possible in the culinary world.
‘… different backgrounds shared culinary traditions…’
Popular Types of Fusion Cuisine
Tex-Mex
Cajun
Cajun cuisine, originally from Louisiana, blends French, African, and American influences. It’s renowned for its robust, spicy flavours and ingredients like rice flour and wheat flours for thickening sauces and creating baked goods. Dishes such as jambalaya and gumbo often incorporate alternative flours like almond and coconut flour to enhance texture and flavour. The use of all-purpose flour substitutes helps create the unique, hearty quality of Cajun dishes, which are perfect for a rich, comforting meal.
‘… jambalaya and gumbo …’
French-Vietnamese
French-Vietnamese fusion cuisine combines delicate flavours and refined techniques. Bánh mì sandwiches, made with baguettes using high-protein bread flour, is a popular example. This cuisine frequently uses rice flour and gluten-free flour to create light, airy textures in dishes like pho and spring rolls. The fusion of French baking techniques with Vietnamese ingredients results in a exceptional and sophisticated culinary experience.
” . . . pho and spring rolls . . . “
Indo-Chinese
Indo-Chinese cuisine blends Indian spices with Chinese cooking methods, resulting in bold, flavourful dishes. Common ingredients include whole wheat flour and chickpea flour mixed with traditional Chinese sauces. Dishes like Hakka noodles and Manchurian often use gluten-free flours and almond flour for added texture. This fusion cuisine is known for its spicy, tangy flavours, making it a favourite among those who enjoy vibrant, exciting meals.
” . . . Hakka noodles and Manchurian . . . “
American Sushi
American Sushi is an innovative twist on traditional Japanese sushi, incorporating ingredients like cream cheese, avocado, and even barbecue sauce. Sushi rolls may use rice flour or almond flour in their preparation to achieve different textures. The use of alternative flours such as gluten-free flour caters to diverse dietary preferences, making sushi accessible to a wider audience. This fusion cuisine showcases the creativity of American chefs in reinventing classic Japanese dishes with a contemporary flair.
Fusion cuisine continues to evolve, with chefs pushing the boundaries of traditional cooking to create innovative dishes that reflect a blend of cultural influences. A current trend is the use of alternative flours like chickpea, cassava and oat flour to cater to dietary preferences that and unique textures to dishes. For instance, gluten-free baked goods made with rice flour and brown rice flour are becoming increasingly popular.
Another trend is incorporating elements from various global cuisines into everyday recipes. Examples include using garbanzo bean flour to thicken sauces in Indian-Mexican fusion dishes or combining white rice flour with traditional wheat flours in Asian-European pastries. The use of soft wheat and hard wheat blends in bread recipes highlights the versatility and adaptability of fusion cooking. Trending fusion dishes include Korean tacos, which combine the flavours of Korean barbecue with Mexican street food, and sushi burritos, which wrap sushi ingredients in a handheld format. Other examples are Mediterranean-inspired ramen, using whole wheat noodles and chickpea flour-based broths, and Indian pizza, featuring naan bread crusts topped with curry spices. These dishes exemplify how fusion cuisine transforms familiar foods into exciting new culinary experiences.
Fusion cuisine represents the exciting future of culinary arts, where creativity knows no bounds. By blending ingredients and techniques from various culinary traditions, chefs and home cooks create innovative and delectable dishes that tantalize the taste buds. Remember, the key to fusion cuisine lies in balancing flavours, textures, and techniques to create harmonious and delightful dishes. Whether you’re a professional chef or a passionate home cook, fusion cuisine offers a vibrant and dynamic way to celebrate the world’s diverse culinary heritage.
Tell us about your Fusion Food and Culinary Trends in the comments!
