People travel for different reasons. If someone asks you why you travel, what will you say? Some people travel to get away from the tediousness of their daily lives. They don’t care where they go or what they do, as long as they have a change of scenery. Others travel to pamper themselves – probably something that they do not have the luxury of doing on a daily basis.

Have you ever thought of traveling to challenge yourself to get out of your comfort zone? To be honest with you, I have always belonged to the first two groups I described above. When I travel, I want to stay at the most comfortable hotel I can afford. I want to do things that I am not “afraid” of doing. I stay away from anything that might keep me away from my comforts.

Then I tried traveling with different sets of friends. Suffice it to say that I am experiencing a paradigm shift.

During my past few trips, I had some new experiences that I probably wouldn’t have even considered before.

1. I stayed at a backpacker’s hotel. (Well, it was still not a “real” hostel, but it was interesting.)
2. I walked around a strange city to discover it. (No cabs for a while.)
3. I stayed at a camp site. (I didn’t sleep in a tent, but the room didn’t have its own bathroom!)
4. I went on a trek – to a volcano’s crater, no less!
5. I took a bus back to the city alone. (Well, with my friend, but not with the person I am used to traveling with.)

In the next few months, I already have a rough sketch of what I am going to do as I discover more places. I am going to push myself to leave that comfort zone. Little by little, I get to see the world with a different set of eyes. I challenge you to do the same!