Most people vacation for two weeks per year. But going somewhere for more than a month can bring numerous benefits.
In this travel guide, we explore these more deeply. By the end, you’ll be considering long-term travel instead of just going for just a few days.
Appreciating Home More
When you go somewhere for a couple of weeks, it feels amazing. But when you go for more than a month, it makes you appreciate home more. You suddenly start to notice the differences between where you are now and what your life was like before you made the move.
What’s interesting about this process is that it helps you appreciate both places at once. You learn more about the place you are now and how it contrasts with home, and the little things that make home such a great place to be.
Create Lasting Memories
Staying somewhere for more than a few days also helps you create lasting memories. You’re much more likely to get in touch with your travel destination if you can see it in multiple contexts.
For example, going to Greece for eight months shows you what the country is like in the depths of winter (a time that most people don’t usually go). You can also forge deeper relationships with locals, another way to enjoy the location and everything it has to offer.
Environmental Benefits
There are also curious environmental benefits from long-term travel. You’re not constantly moving around all the time. Instead, you’re sticking to one location, cutting down on your carbon footprint. Remaining in a single city eliminates the need to take constant flights (which is something you generate on world tours, etc.)
What’s more, you can engage more fully in sustainable tourism at your destination. You can go to local businesses and change the brands you use, researching those that protect the local environment.
Improved Wellbeing
Another plus of staying somewhere for a month is the health and wellness benefits. When you take long flights and keep moving between time zones, it can take its toll on your body. You’re constantly off-kilter and don’t quite feel yourself whenever you arrive somewhere.
But when you take a full month or more, you have plenty of time to adjust and settle into a rhythm. You’re reducing the risk of feeling burnt out and even slowing the ageing process.
Furthermore, you have opportunities to settle into life locally. You can join a gym if you want. You can also spend time shopping for groceries that you can cook at home instead of rushing from one sightseeing location to another.
Cheaper Accommodation
Staying in a hotel short-term is notoriously expensive. But when you book for a whole month or more, the price can come down significantly. For example, instead of booking into a room, you could look at modern studio apartments in Cleveland Ohio. These often have superior daily rates, making long-term travel significantly more affordable than it would be otherwise.
Rates can be ever better if you decide to go somewhere less well-known and a little off the beaten track. You can often save so much that going for a month essentially costs the same as going for a week or two.
Personal Growth
What about personal growth? That’s actually another reason why it pays to travel long-term. When you go to a new culture, you get a bunch of different perspectives you never imagined. And needing to deal with these boosts your adaptability and forces your brain to adjust to the new environment. You can’t take it easy or operate on auto-pilot. You need to be agile.
You’ll find that when you spend a lot of time abroad, you pick up new skills. These come in various forms, including knowing which services to use, speaking the local language, and getting used to meeting people for the first time. Then, when you get home, you can apply these skills to your regular life, changing it for good.
Find Hidden Gems
Another bonus of long-term travel is it gives you more opportunities to find hidden gems. You’re much more likely to uncover places regular tourists hardly ever go to.
Off-the-radar spots are usually only known to locals. But that’s the sort of thing you can find when you make connections with the people on the ground and they can show you where to go.
What’s nice about this approach is that it makes your travel experiences feel unique. While some foreigners might have been to the same spots, it’s rare.
Reducing Stress
Trying to get everything done in a couple of weeks is always stressful for travellers. You know you have limited time so you never really feel like you can enjoy the experience for what it is. That changes, though, when you go traveling long-term. You can massively reduce the amount of tension you experience, allowing your mind to form stronger memories and deeper connections with your surroundings.
For example, you can sleep in with your partner if you want. You can also go exploring at a leisurely pace of your choosing. You could even go to classes and generally enjoy the experience of being in a new location.
This leads to a more relaxing experience. You feel rejuvenated when you get home, when you approach vacations like this, not exhausted.
Deeper Cultural Immersion
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, you get deeper cultural immersion when you travel long-term. You don’t have the option of just staying in the hotel and going to the buffet the whole time. You have to get out and explore your surroundings. The tourist hotspots might take up a few days, but beyond that, your time is your own.
For example, you could seek out community events or go to cooking classes for making local dishes. The more you get involved, the more people you’ll get to know, and the more you’ll learn about their lifestyles.
So there you have it: some of the reasons why it’s totally worth travelling for a month or more.
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