Why am I so Passionate about Travel?

Last month I did a collaboration with Tourradar where I along with three other female travellers shared our travels and tips with our followers and Tourradar. 

Tourradar's blog post only included snippets of the full article I wrote for them on why I like to travel so I thought I would post it here. Looking forward to hearing from you on why you love to travel!

“Toronto. Communications, Politics and Travel.” That’s me summed up in my instagram bio. My account is a carefully curated collection of my life filled with selfies, loved ones, poems and an overwhelming number of photos of myself admiring a beautiful landscape. But more than that, it is a carefully curated reminder of all the memories I have created across the world that have contributed to who I am.  

Hello, my name is Mahreen. I am a 25 year old Communications Advisor to a Cabinet Minister and the President of the Premier of Ontario’s local political association. I have a slight obsession with fitness and travelling is one of the most important things to me.

I feel very lucky to have seen and experienced the things I have in my quarter century of existence. For me, travel is a gift and one that I want to share with everyone, especially young women. When done right, it is one of the most valuable things you could do to experience growth and an overall improvement in one’s well being.

I wish I could say that I came to this realization years ago, but this “epiphany of mine” has actually been quite recent. In my very early 20s, I use to travel as a way to escape and recharge. Throughout University I was juggling between multiple jobs, school and extracurriculars. I then transitioned to working full-time (more than 40 hours on average) and part-time school.

I looked forward to my August and December trips. Though I returned to a lot of destinations, I was able to get away, dance and tan before I had to return to reality. What I didn’t realize at the time was that I was literally trying to escape my reality. It was my way of avoiding the fact that I had a near decade long relationship I knew for years I had to end. If you were to ask my friends to define me in a couple of words five years ago, they would say something to the tune of kind and hardworking.

It wasn’t until I left to study abroad in Paris that I began to truly understand and value the gift of travelling and exploring. I was 23 and in this new city known for its large number of expats where I was no longer defined by my job title or the people I was associated with. People knew me for who I was in the present in the way I chose to present myself.

I found my interactions with people had changed, I had open and candid conversations with complete strangers. I learned about how people around the world lived and what they values the most. This in turn helped shape my ever-changing perspective on life. It allowed me to re-define what it means to lead a fulfilling life and it subsequently contributed to an improved quality of life.

Admittedly, this was not overnight. And yes you can still grow and change at home as well but travel can be a catalyst for change.

When you travel, there is so much that is unfamiliar from the people to your surroundings. You are forced outside of your comfort zone. You encounter problems that you may not be able to immediately find the solution to. Your ability to problem solve improves and you in turn grow to be more resilient. Through every conversation, every trial and tribulation, you learn a series of lessons that ultimately change and help you define yourself as a person.

I find that every time I return home from a trip, I have grown so much yet everything at home for the most part remains unchanged. You share stories and photos of your travels but photos cannot explain the sheer beauty of the places you've been and the way it made you feel. I often find it hard to adjust back to routine and my growth feels stagnated.

Five years later, when I ask my friends to describe me and I hear words such as “strong and inspiring” it is an affirmation of the growth I have experienced. So I encourage you to travel, be uncomfortable, and embrace change because it’s a beautiful thing.  

Mahreen Dasoo. Instagram: @mahreendasoo