Why travel the country you’re living in?

We want to travel the world, visit as many continents as possible, touch base in as many countries as possible and explore as many cities as possible. Every time we book a flight we get a rush of excitement as we look forward to leaving the countries we live in for a new and unfamiliar part of the world.

Whilst we rush to get away,  we don’t always take notice of the wonders that we have on our doorstep. Anyone else guilty of this?

Since moving abroad I have met several people who have seen far more of the UK than I have. And by this, I don’t mean the places I was taken to as a child, or the cities I spent less than 24 hours in as part of a road trip and a night out to visit uni friends. I mean places in the UK that I, as an adult, have chosen to familiarise myself with. I think it’s because we know these places are so easily accessible and we can go there anytime, so there’s no rush. Ever.

Whilst living in Germany, I have really made an effort to re-familiarise myself with the cities I had already been to and visit as many new places as possible. I love learning more about the culture and history of the country I relocated to and there’s no better time to do it. It’s funny because I rarely do this back home in England. I guess that although I am a settled expat, I still have that ‘being abroad’ feeling but I have loved every moment and if I ever move back, would like to try the same in the UK too.

Munich, Berlin, Heidelberg and Cologne are just a few of the places I’ve stopped off at. It’s a shame it took moving abroad to make me realise that it would be good to do this in my home country too, but I’m starting to see the benefits already:

1. You can learn more about your country’s culture and history
2. It helps you put your own country into perspective when you’re abroad
3. There are no 100ml liquid restrictions on trains
4. Car journeys are often cheaper than flying
5. There’s so much of your own home that you’ve never seen before

Why not try it!?