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4 Reasons to discover a new city | The benefits of travelling

Tourists walking in Montreal, Quebec in the Summer, 2013 (Dario Ayala / THE GAZETTE)

While thousands of people visit new places each day, only a few of these travellers can say they’ve truly discovered a newcity. Discovering, by definition, requires someone to see and learn about something new or difficult to find. Of courseyou’ve seen all the tourist attractions and tasted all the must-have food, but how many cities can you say you’ve everreally discovered? If the answer isn’t many, then you’ve unfortunately missed out. New cities means new experiences, andwith that comes the rare opportunity to learn, develop, and enrich your life.

If you’re not sure about moving or travelling this year, here are four reasons to discover a new city:

Meeting New People

When travelling to a new city, you may choose to keep your head down and ride solo for your entire stay. But, of course,you’ll be denying yourself one of the easiest opportunities to meet new people. Though putting yourself out there tostrangers can seem daunting to many, you never know when you’ll run into your next best friend, significant other, or evena business contact. Ultimately, these people will have far more experience in a city that can be so alien to you. There’ssomething to be gained from each of these new connections, be it a lasting relationship, advice on living in the city orsimple tips for the best restaurants in town.

Exposure to New Cultures

Discovering new cultures will go hand-in-hand with discovering a new city, where you will encounter people with differentways of life, values and habits than your own. This is your chance to both see and learn about the world from a differentperspective, and to open your mind to new ideas and customs. Being a more cultured and knowledgeable individual willnever hurt you in the long run, and can only help in your future business and personal relationships with people from allover the world.

Learning Experience

One of the main benefits of travelling abroad is coming home with a wealth of knowledge that you didn’t have before youleft. While facing new cultures and meeting new people, you’ll undoubtedly walk away from the experience having learnedsomething new. To truly discover a new city will be to absorb as much as you can from what’s around you. The people, theculture and the city itself will serve to teach you new information, new life skills, and much more. With the unfamiliarity of anew city comes the need to learn, and to learn quickly, but to come out of the experience feeling more enriched will make itall worthwhile in the end.

Personal Development

Of course, the one thing you may end up learning the most about when travelling to a new city is yourself. Entering a newenvironment forces you to adapt to your surroundings, and in the process, you’re likely to become considerably more self-aware. Away from your family and friends, there is no better time to embrace your independence; trying to figure out a newplace all on your own will inadvertently help you to figure out yourself.

If you’re travelling to Canada and want to live here, check out our Neighborhood Finder to help you find the bestarea for you!

Photo courtesy of Dario Ayala for The Gazette