8 Benefits of Travelling in Your Own Country
Have you ever considered travelling within your own country? Look closer to home, you don’t have to travel far to satisfy your wanderlust.
Local travel is all the rage these days, and for good reason – it’s a win-win situation for both travellers and the communities they visit!
Keep on reading to discover why you should pack your bags and visit the city closest to you ASAP!
What is Travelling In Your Own Country Called?
Travelling within your own country is called domestic tourism. When you travel locally, you visit different regions or destinations within the same country.
Domestic travel can include anything from weekend getaways to extended road trips, and can involve a wide range of activities such as sightseeing, cultural experiences, outdoor adventures, and more
8 Benefits of Travelling in Your Own Country
1. You Can Have More Spontaneous Trips
The best thing about travelling locally, is that you get to pack your bags and go on an adventure without proper planning, making travelling less stressful. It will also be easier to travel with family, friends or with a partner.
You won’t have to worry about learning the language or transportation routes, because you most likely already know them!
Plus, you might even have some friends in different cities within the country that you can reconnect with.
2. You Can Save Time and Money
If you live in a small country, travelling from one city to another might take you less than a couple of hours, making travelling easier for those who have a busy schedule.
Travelling locally gives you the choice to go on day trips and make your way back home by late evening.
As for saving money, if you work and earn locally (or if you work and get paid in a stronger currency), you get to save on transportation and accommodation expenses, especially if you take public transport and have family and friends to stay with.
3. You Build Confidence To Travel Abroad
We have to start somewhere, right?
As a brewing adventurer, whenever I think about travelling abroad or in my own country, I encourage myself to choose domestic travel first. I believe it allows me to test the waters, before diving into something unfamiliar.
I am sure that overtime, travelling locally will make me more independent, courageous and confident to travel abroad.
4. You Support Local Economy
I studied tourism economics during my university days and vividly remember my professor encouraging us to travel locally as it has a positive multiplier effect towards the economy.
For every meal you purchase from a local restaurant, you impact thousands of lives. You are creating demand for the goods they can supply, helping create new employment opportunities and keeping people’s jobs alive.
Plus, when domestic travel thrives, it helps with developing other areas of the economy that are interconnected, such as infrastructure and transportation.
5. You See Your Country From A Fresh Perspective
Domestic travels can often help you see your country through a different lens. For example, being someone who has lived on an island all her life, I never really got to experience the city life.
Whenever I visited Kuala Lumpur, I would find it fascinating, the busy streets, huge shopping centres, and skyscrapers left me in awe.
And when I visited Langkawi, I felt the contrary – it was peaceful. Staying in a rainforest chalet was an experience like never before, immersing myself in the tropics was relaxing. I also enjoyed the cool water and refreshing waves while sea bathing at the beach (Andaman Sea).
Different cities give you different experiences, and oftentimes, we don’t have to travel abroad to get these experiences.
Our home country might have everything we look for, all we have to do is trust in travelling locally.
6. You Learn More About Your Country History and Heritage
Have you ever took a history class in school and thought to yourself, “I hope I get to visit that place one day.”
Why not?
Our home country has a lot of history, with war, independence, migration of different ethnic groups to our country, there’s a lot of heritage waiting to be explore.
This was especially true for me, I’ve always seen the famous A’ Famosa Fort in Melaka within the pages of my school textbooks since I was a child and never once visited it.
At age 25, I finally did visit the fort! And for some reason, it felt satisfying. I cannot wait to make a second trip to Melaka, the first-ever city founded in Malaysia and the most important trading port during the 16th-century in Southeast Asia.
7. You Can Slow Travel
Travelling constantly from one place to another can cause travel burnout. But when you travel domestically, this can be easily avoided by choosing to stay in location for a longer period of time.
Besides, travelling within your country rather than exploring another nation for long periods of time is way more affordable!
You can take a week or more to explore a city. Taking your sweet time to explore the culture and chat with locals.
Travelling slowly in your country also means to travel intentionally, making it a more memorable and satisfying experience.
8. You Are Helping The Environment
By travelling locally, you’re travelling slowly, and indirectly, you’re travelling sustainably.
By travelling locally, you can help preserve natural resources such as water, energy, You also reduce carbon emissions by commuting shorter distances, which can result in lower carbon emissions and a smaller environmental footprint.
Wrap Up: Benefits of Travelling Locally
Which benefit sticked out to you? Either way, be sure to travel within your own nation, there’s a lot to discover at home too!