At Contiki we’ve always passionately believed that travel has the power to change our lives for the better, so we decided to put our money where our mouth is and set out to prove it. And now, after conducting a study with Columbia Business School psychologist, Adam Galinsky, and after speaking to hundreds of real Contiki travellers, we think we’ve got the data to back up our claims.
We posed the question: does travel make us better humans? Looking at data related to interests, passions, health and careers, we found that the answer to our question was a pretty resounding: yes.
Travel opens doors
Young adults have to deal with a lot of societal pressures: education, careers, getting on the property ladder, starting a family, even. Seeing the world might seem secondary to those conventional pursuits, but studies show that travelling and having a fulfilling education or career isn’t mutually exclusive. In fact, our data suggests that travelling globally is actually beneficial to Australians’ working lives.
Australian travellers (ie. Australians who travel globally), are 62% more likely to be satisfied with their employment opportunities than non-travellers. This may have something to do with the fact that travellers are 50% more likely to achieve goals that they set for themselves than non-travellers.
This makes sense for many reasons, and tallies with so many stories we’ve heard from our travellers. Travel opens our eyes to fresh ways of thinking and living, and is a great way to learn new skills while learning things about ourselves.
Travel opens your mind
According to our study, Australian travellers are 50% more likely to be comfortable with change, new environments and new people. You can’t put a price on these kinds of skills – they’re directly transferable to so many aspects of our lives. We’ve always believed that the really important moments in our lives are the ones that scare us a little, so it’s little wonder that Australian travellers are more satisfied with their careers, relationships and friendships, given that they’re more adaptable to change. In fact, Australian travellers are 33% more likely to feel excited about the future than non-travellers – but maybe that’s just because they have a trip to Spain booked this summer…
