Dare to step out of your comfort zone

It’s easy to stay inside your comfort zone. It’s warm, safe and cozy in there.

But if you never step out of that zone, you’ll never know about all the cool things waiting outside.

Language learning might not be in your comfort zone – but if you like to travel and would like to get the most out of your time abroad, I would definitely recommend it.

I’ve also been to countries where I don’t speak or even understand the language at all. It might have been an okay trip, I might have managed all situations somehow, but the experience has still lacked something. It’s kind of like having traveled to an exotic country and barely stepping out of the hotel, or eating all your meals at a certain multinational hamburger restaurant that shall not be named.

Not that there’s anything wrong with communicating with your hands, swimming in the hotel pool or eating hamburgers. It’s just that you do miss out on a lot.

In contrast, when I’m in a Spanish-speaking country, I love understanding what people are saying around me. I can walk down the street and hear people shouting out at each other or calling each other cute nicknames.

The way Spanish people – or any other people – talk speaks volumes about how they think, act and treat each other. It speaks about how they see the world and their lives, what is important and what isn’t.

So I’m asking you: please don’t stick to the hamburgers and the hotel pool. Dare to step out, wander down a side street, taste the octopus and buy tickets to a flamenco concert.

I’m pretty sure you won’t regret it.

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