Travel & Wellness: The World is my Classroom
In my last post, I made the scientifically unproven claim that travel is good for our mental acuity. So far no budding Einstein has refuted my claim – a hypothesis based on my own experiences traveling and seeing new sights. I believe in the importance of learning beyond our traditional schooling and challenging ourselves intellectually. This mental “exercise” as I have said — and which has of yet gone unchallenged — is what strengthens the brain and keeps memory and visual-spatial functions sharp.
Activities such as playing a musical instrument, solving crossword puzzles, and visiting museums are all great for keeping your mind active. And, of course, traveling is a fantastic way to learn about new cultures, discover new interests, and pick up interesting trivia that will make you the star of any dinner party. Here are some factoids I picked up in my travels and which, to my amazement, have stuck with me (to be fair some are from recent travels but others go back over 30 years to family vacations close to home):
Did you know…
- It took Michelangelo four years to complete the fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel?
- There are approximately 1,000 different species of butterflies in Costa Rica?
- Mount Aconcagua is the highest peak in both the Western and Southern Hemispheres (and North Face brand of cold weather gear named a woman’s jacket after this hard-to-spell and say mountain… go figure the reasoning of marketers)?
- Easter Island, the place with the weird statues immortalized by the phrase “Dumb Dumb want gum gum” is off the coast of Chile, and is over 2,000 miles from the nearest population center, (Tahiti and Chile), making it one of the most isolated places on Earth?
- Nineteen people were hanged and one person was pressed to death during the Salem Witch trials in 1692? (o.k., I admit I had to look up the year but I remembered the number of poor victims from a visit to Salem, Massachusetts at age 12!).
- Salzburg, Austria, is the setting for scenes from the movie “The Sound of Music” in addition to being the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart?
As Roman dramatist, philosopher, and politician Seneca said, “Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind.” There is truly no limit to the education you can get traveling the world.
Melissa McKee, Public Relations Specialist & Travel Writer Collette Vacationsposted by Melissa McKee
Collette Vacations
Tags: Chile, Family Travel, South America, Traveling Well
