The Worth of Travel

(Image Credit: traveldk.com)

I'm finally back from my business trip. My flight was cancelled early last week and the next available flight was for two days later. When I returned, I found that my car had been towed! Unfortunately, I'd used up all my discretionary income during my trip. Now I have to borrow money. Was the trip worth it? I don't know.

From a business standpoint, I've been able to represent my company well and demonstrate that I am capabale of completing long-term assignments and being able to travel for extended periods. This assignment prepares me for travel assignments abroad, which I am eager to accept. Part of what I want to do with my career is venture into the forays of international business and communications. What a delight it would be to represent my company in Europe, China, Egypt, or even Canada! I remain open to new experiences that will move me forward.

From a financial standpoint, this trip shows I have some work to do. I will need to develop several means of saving money and develop a nest of income specifically for business trips and another for emergencies. I would also do well to begin saving for my own vacations. Of course, the trick is not in deciding how to save, but in determining how you're going to save when you have thousands of dollars of debt to eliminate. That is yet another challenge, one not as easily accomplished by reading alone. Learning about savings and investments is an endeavor that requires lots of energy and time to do right. And by right, I mean profitably.

From the standpoint of getting through this challenge, I can say that I have indeed been able to learn more about my world. Travel allows one to see up close how other people live. It's good now and then to step back from a book and actually go about the business of learning up close. While away, I spent a lot of time talking to cab drivers. Many of them are from different countries. I spoke to one man from Bulgaria, another from Israel, and still another from Pakistan. It's amazing how much one can learn about other cultures in just a 10- to 15-minute cab ride. I also learned a bit from taking chartered tours of the area and of sites nearby.

Would it stand to reason that if I approached my own surroundings like a tourist that I could learn just as much?

The verdict on how useful this trip was to me is still out. I've had a lot of great experiences, and I learned a lot. But it's the financial sacrifice I made that's really getting to me. That, of course, is one of the tacit laws of education: You have to be willing to invest today, whether it be time or money, to realize huge returns in the future.