Travelling. Is it Worth it?

Last night I was talking to one of my best friends. We were discussing financial opportunities (as students we can discuss them but not really have them). My friend wanted to buy a brand-new iPhone (yes, with those horrible cameras). I was suggesting her to spend this money on traveling. It could cover seeing the Eiffel Tower for 3 days, going around Brandenburg Gate for 5 days or at least swimming in the Mediterranean Sea for 7 days. But she said that she wanted to see where her money goes. So, who is right?

First of all, I think that if you spend money on travelling, you see where it goes. It goes in yourself. There are experiencing new things, seeing new people, tasting new food. All of these things form your personality. It opens up new horizons, helps to understand how the world works, makes you an outgoing person. All these words sound like motivational training. It’s true but it sounds "paperish" and somewhere far far away.

The thing is that if you don’t try it on your own, you’ll never understand it. You’ll never understand how beautiful Venice is in the rain, how mysterious Prague is at night, how amazing Paris is at sunset. I’ll never forget my first cup of Italian cappuccino, my first glance at Elysian Fields, my first Couchsurfing friend (Couchsurfing is a service where you can stay anywhere in the world for free. Yes, traveling is not only for rich people).

My point is that talking about how amazing traveling is can go for hours. But the real feeling of it will come after the first time you really travel. Of course, there are a lot of complications including financial ones, but everything is possible if you want it. There are many lifehacks on how to travel cheap. For example, taking a flight from Finland is much cheaper than from St. Petersburg. And going to Lappeenranta (Finland), for example, is faster and cheaper than going to most cities in Russia. Also, there are services like Couchsurfing, where you can stay for free and make friends.

Anyway, if you’re choosing a new phone right now because the old one is not the best anymore, try to search for tickets to anywhere. Maybe you always wanted to see the Red Light District in Amsterdam (it's absolutely worth seeing) or backpacking at Tibidabo (just like Joey from "Friends"). Life is happening now. And if not now, then when?