Travel Broadens the Mind

Travel Broadens the Mind
“The world is a book and those who do not travel only read one page.” These words are as true now as when they were first uttered by the philosopher Augustine. Unlike reading, travelling broadens our minds in different ways. That means it lets us admire beautiful landscapes, encounter different people and experience different cultures. First, travel broadens our minds when we are enjoying the amazing sights. Take my travel in Chengdu as an example. Last year, before I went to Chengdu, I read some sights in the city on the travel magazines, but it didn’t impress me a lot. Nevertheless, after I visited the Wuhou Shrine, Dufu Thatched Cottage, the Broad and Narrow Alley and the Jinli Street, the beautiful scenery and profound cultural foundation gave me a deep impression. Therefore, whether it is the beautiful geological features of a new landscape, magnificent and ancient structures, or simply beautiful towns and cities, travel introduces us to diversity in this respect and gives us an altogether new view of creation and humanity. Besides, travel is a mind opener when we are communicating with other travelers. We can learn their lifestyles, stories and customs during our communication. We can exchange ideas on some subjects and share our experiences with them. And from such conversations, we can know different people’s different life, which can give us new insight into our own life. What’s more, our mind will be like a well to brim over with different kinds of thoughts and we can look at the issues from different angles.
What’s more, not only the marvelous scenery and interesting people but also the diversified cultures can open up our minds. For instance, my foreign literature teacher, Mrs. Jiang shared her travel experiences with us. She once traveled to North America, Europe and so on. She told us that travel enabled her to have first-hand experience of different cultures in different nations although she had to face lots of culture differences, such as the cooking culture, the folk custom and the mode of thinking. But, what she experienced did broaden her minds. Indeed, the diversified cultures opens up our mind to the world we live in, to a world different from our own, eliminating our ignorance and prejudices, and creates a more understanding and broad-minded person. In short, our minds can be broadened by traveling in many ways. By traveling, it enriches the mind by cultivating a positive and constructive thinking pattern in a person’s mindset. As the saying goes, “The wise man's home is the universe.” Thus, it is your chance to truly experience your world, and to read as many “pages” of its book as you can!