{"id":4507,"date":"2013-05-01T07:26:04","date_gmt":"2013-05-01T13:26:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldwanderlusting.com\/?p=4507"},"modified":"2014-04-14T12:27:54","modified_gmt":"2014-04-14T18:27:54","slug":"stop-taking-prozac-and-start-traveling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldwanderlusting.com\/?p=4507","title":{"rendered":"Stop Taking Prozac and Start Traveling: 5 Reasons Why Travelers aren’t Depressed"},"content":{"rendered":"

The daily grind of life is rough. \u00a0Even with a great job that you really enjoy, it still sucks. \u00a0I’m convinced that the monotony of life is a strong reason for some kinds of depression. \u00a0It takes hold of every one of us. \u00a0The best way to cure your depression isn’t to take a pill a day – try taking a trip instead.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

One of our readers just mentioned that they retired at 47 and has been taking at least four big international trips a year since then. \u00a0Not all of us are fortunate enough to be independently wealthy at any age. \u00a0For that reason you’ve got us. \u00a0We’ll show you how to travel the world for free.<\/strong> \u00a0The bottom line is that you need to start traveling.<\/p>\n

Here are 5 big reasons why travelers aren’t depressed:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0Get Humbled.\u00a0Traveling will humble you.<\/h2>\n
\"Haitian<\/a>

Tent City in Port-au-Prince<\/p><\/div>\n

Even when you feel like your life is in the toilet because your dog died, you just got diagnosed with diabetes, or you just wrecked your car, you could always find someone who is deeper in the spiral than you. \u00a0Spending more time outside of your small sphere of influence will quickly reveal this.<\/p>\n

If you don’t believe me, then I could purchase you a one way ticket to Haiti and introduce you to some people who disagree. \u00a0Heck. \u00a0You don’t even have to go to Haiti to find these people. \u00a0You might find them in New York, or even Salt Lake City. \u00a0The moment you leave your regular life and start looking around at other people you’ll quickly realize just how good you have it.<\/p>\n

Traveling provides you opportunities to look at your situation and remind you that life isn’t so bad after all. \u00a0Put the Prozac down and back away from the counter.<\/p>\n

2. Travel to Get Some Sunshine in the Winter<\/h2>\n

You know that I’m writing this as I see snowflakes falling to the ground and STICKING on April 30th. \u00a0AARRRGGHH. \u00a0When you live in a place like Idaho, where the winters last 9 months out of the blasted year, it is healthy to get out of town and see some sun. \u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
\"Traveling<\/a>

Max enjoying the sunshine<\/p><\/div>\n

There is nothing like breaking away from the long winters to soak up some rays. \u00a0You know what kind of winter that I’m talking about. \u00a0The one where you don’t leave the house except when absolutely necessary because there isn’t any more food in the pantry. Your skin looks like that of Edward Cullen and you don’t dare go outside. \u00a0Lather up the sunscreen because your pale skin won’t be ready for the full blast of rays you’ll be getting, but your mind surely will love you for it.<\/p>\n

In January we took a trip to Panama to enjoy the scenery, visit some historical sites, visit the Embera tribe<\/a>, and soak up some rays. \u00a0It was so refreshing to feel the warmth of the sun. \u00a0Our winter was in full swing with blizzards in Idaho, but it felt good knowing that I was enjoying the warmth. \u00a0It is good for your heart, soul, and mind. \u00a0So start planning today and book a trip for next winter to get into the sun and away from the medication.<\/p>\n

\u00a03. Travel Creates Happy Memories that Last<\/h2>\n
\"travel<\/a>

Shae and I in 2009 Enjoying the Cambodian Temples<\/p><\/div>\n

I’ll never forget skateboarding across Barcelona with two of my best buddies in 2001. \u00a0We spent hours riding the streets and exploring the city. \u00a0How do you ever forget an experience like this? \u00a0Try this one on for size: \u00a0My wife and I spent three weeks touring across Southeast Asia before we had any children. \u00a0We visited temples, had massages, ate some amazing food, and met delightful people. \u00a0Just try to forget something like that. \u00a0I dare you. \u00a0Ain’t gonna happen.<\/p>\n

When you reflect upon wonderful times in your life, it helps you to remember that life is a good thing. \u00a0We need more of this. \u00a0It’s easy to focus on the right now, and how bad things are hurting now, but reflecting back on wonderful memories will help to ease the pain. \u00a0Obviously it doesn’t remove it completely, but at least starts the healing process.<\/p>\n

{PAUSE right here and SUBSCRIBE<\/a> to WorldWanderlusting – 3 emails a week to daydream of travel and then make it happen}<\/em><\/p>\n

4. Travel Gives you Something to Look Forward to<\/h2>\n

Maybe some people are different, but I can’t imagine that those people would actually be reading a blog like this, so I’m going to assume that you’re all similar to me. \u00a0I’m convinced that planning a trip can make you happier.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Romeo<\/a>

Us at Juliet’s Balcony in Verona, Italy<\/p><\/div>\n

When I was looking into visiting castles on my European vacation last year I stumbled upon a video from Rick Steves that talked about the most well preserved medieval castle that he had ever visited<\/a>. \u00a0It sparked a thought in my mind, and I knew that I had to visit this location. \u00a0I checked out videos at the library to learn about the places that I’d be seeing. \u00a0My wife and I watched documentaries on Netflix about the building of Venice. \u00a0All this stuff was fascinating to me. \u00a0I was having a blast as I looked into the fun things that I’d be doing on the trip.<\/p>\n

We found out that Verona had a balcony that “belonged to Juliet.” \u00a0Of course we stopped there, and of course my wife slapped me when I rubbed the statue’s breast (which was supposed to be for good luck).<\/p>\n

John, a member of our army of WorldWanderlusters, is spending two weeks exploring Italy with his wife RIGHT NOW. \u00a0This kid was intense with his research. \u00a0He became enthralled with the trip and did exactly as I had done on my trip. \u00a0It is all paying off now because his trip is going to be more memorable knowing that he’s prepared himself for the events of his vacation.<\/p>\n

5. Travel Puts the Daily Grind to a Halt<\/h2>\n

Are you kidding me? \u00a0America gets the lowest amount of vacation<\/a> than any other nation on Earth. \u00a0We are basically slaves to our jobs. \u00a0Heck. \u00a0I’m even self-employed and I’m still a slave to myself.<\/span><\/p>\n

People are more efficient when they get a break from time to time. \u00a0Imagine the last time you attended a work meeting that lasted all day. \u00a0Did they give you any breaks? What if they would have allowed no breaks, but slammed 10 hours of straight meetings in your face? \u00a0Everyone would be asleep from boredom after 2 hours. \u00a0People need breaks.<\/p>\n

Life works the same way. \u00a0If you work everyday and never get a break, you’ll be less productive.<\/span> <\/strong>\u00a0It’s time to put the daily grind to a halt and sharpen the saw. \u00a0Tell your boss that you need more time off and less pay. \u00a0After all, what good does more pay do for you if you don’t even enjoy your life now?<\/p>\n

Pull out the sharpening stone by taking a break and traveling more. \u00a0Leaving the daily routine, even if it is for short breaks, will be worth its weight in gold.<\/p>\n

Please Note: This post was not meant to offend anyone who suffers from depression or other mental illness. I realize that medication is the only thing that helps some people to cope with their depression. \u00a0While traveling might not completely cure anyone, I’m convinced that it will help everyone.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Enhanced<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The daily grind of life is rough. \u00a0Even with a great job that you really enjoy, it still sucks. \u00a0I’m convinced that the monotony of life is a strong reason for some kinds of depression. \u00a0It takes hold of every … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[472,915,619],"tags":[918,1208,433,625,1210,402,1604,1603,1209,833,1602,80,834],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldwanderlusting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4507"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldwanderlusting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldwanderlusting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldwanderlusting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldwanderlusting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worldwanderlusting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4507\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldwanderlusting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldwanderlusting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldwanderlusting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}