To me travel is life, am very passionate about going to those small undiscovered places where you get to understand different perspectives…very different cultures. And with culture comes adapting onself to various changing situations happening around. I deeply believe that a hike or a trip would definitely help us grow as better professionals in the long run. Here’s how: TRAVEL (Team Spirit, Reach, Adaptability, Vision, Extend creative boundaries & Learning on your own) will help us professionally:

Team Spirit - A Better Team-member:

In my previous company I was in a 20-25 member team - we all used to be working with our own different verticals daily & we used to gather for a team meeting only once a week. After a few months we came to know that was not enough: there were frequent misunderstandings and as a team if was difficult to find that feeling of ‘s/he will back me up’ or any kind of team involvement. Our team leader understood the situation and soon decided taking us out for a weeknd trip. The whole team was divided into 5 small teams and each one had to present a travel plan – right from booking to sightseeing to the cost (each and every detail withing a week). The best travel plan from these was selected – and we made it. After that weekend when we returned on Monday we could see the change. Our daily interactions increased.. we started ‘looking out’ for each other. ‘backing up’ anyone when help was needed (without asking). Team spirit soars high when there is maximum involvement and what better way than a fun trip with our team.

Reach - Better and Increased Networking:

We have a lot of travel forums and like minded people coming up together and sharing views, ideas, tips. Our network increases, we get more platforms to share ideas, increase connections… and also get to dig into their 2 & 3 degree connections. This can be a great place for headhunting too – you never know when a third degree connection from your network will be looking for the next change. Or when a person with whom we shared a ride during that rafting trip might recommend us. Travel stories are great ice breakers as well as credibility establishers and in no time you get a wider reach.

Adaptability - Being receptive and adaptive to change:

While travelling we are outside our ‘comfort zone’ and when we get into any uneasy situations we tend to think ‘out of box’, adapt to that situation and come up with excellent ideas (ideas which never pop up sitting in an office chair..!) So now when we are back to office we tend to evolve our thinking and get better with problem solving. Decision making gets better – you can always bet that a person who manages to keep a straight head in between all the usual travel fare: managing train delays, coordinating different flight schedules, juggling international currencies and so on.. that kind of person can adapt to any challenging/ fluctuating situation at work.

Vision - Understanding what you want (both professionally & personally):

Someone who is a frequent traveler…. who has met a lot of people will be enlightened – they will know what they want in life. They will observe and make their own own inferences and so understand what they really want to be. Its like finding our purpose in life.

Extend creative boundaries:

In our daily routine life we don’t get the opportunity to expand our horizons… when we travel we get to see ‘both sides of the coin’. When you get stranded on a mountain hike and see a storm approaching that time it’s your creative side which pitches in and gets ‘out of textbook’ solutions. We get to be on our toes and challenge ourselves when we are out white water rafting – imagine applying that same thought in our daily work… it would work wonders.

Learning on your own:

One of the best quality that a frequent traveler has is – ‘Self Management’: s/he will always be more responsible and will have more respect for time. We learn how to do things on our own – it can be as simple as making hot noodles on reaching the summit after an arduous trek in the rains or pitching a tent or even charting a new path during a forest trail. We learn from our mistakes and get the courage to make new mistakes and take learning to the next level – we will never shy away from learning something new.