What is the wisest investment you can make in your life? And in the lives of your family?

And because I'm talking about an investment today, not so much an investment in terms of telling you the latest stocks you need to buy or this company you need to go invest in.

No, no, no.

I'm not getting involved in anything like that.

I'm actually talking about something much bigger, something much deeper, something much more impactful on your life and the life of your family.

And that investment is travel.

Because there is one thing that I have learned in my life, and that is the power of a vacation.

When we think of a vacation, we immediately think of the fun aspect of it, the getaway, the excitement.

We get to go somewhere, travel, do something new.

And that is the thrill of traveling, the thrill of taking a vacation.

But in actuality, it's got a much deeper meaning behind it.

And that is why I truly believe that the wisest investment you can make in your life and in the life of your family is in travel.

Why do I feel like this?

Well, because I was blessed to spend my childhood traveling a lot.

And I got to do a lot of really awesome things on those trips, whether it was snow skiing up in Snowshoe, West Virginia, or down snorkeling in the Florida Keys, or if it was out camping in the woods with my dad in the middle of nowhere, riding dirt bikes, or whether it was out hunting, whatever it was, it was experiences that shaped me into the person that I am today.

And here's why it matters so much.

Because none of us ever know what tomorrow is going to bring.

For myself, as a child, I got to do all these incredible things, travel to all these really cool places, I believe, because God knew what was going to happen.

And that was a month after my 17th birthday, I would become blind.

Now, what I didn't realize though is that by me losing my eyesight, I would actually get to start traveling in a whole new way, by seeing this world in a whole new way.

And it's not that I see this world any worse than I did before.

I just see it differently now.

Because I see the world through all of my senses rather than just through my eyes.

And that is where I'm going to kick off today's topic of making you realize all the various reasons why the wisest investment you can make is in travel.

Because the reasons are numerous.

And like I said, it's gonna leave an impact not only just on you, but on the life of your family.

Because everybody is impacted when we travel.

And I'm ready to dive in and have you convinced that wow, this guy knows what he's talking about.

Have you ever heard the saying a family that travels together stays together?

Well, it's the truth.

There's something really magical that happens when we step outside, we step into the unknown, we get uncomfortable, and we do it with those we love.

Because when we're out traveling the world, especially when we start talking about going overseas to other countries, we have to lean on the people we are with in ways that we just don't do when we are at home.

When none of us know the language of those we are surrounded by, we're all looking at each other, hoping that somebody knows what's going on.

And it just builds this trust while at the same time having this really just unique and amazing experience together as a family.

And this is true no matter what your family dynamic is.

Whether it's just you and your spouse, or if you're a single parent and your kids, or you know, if you're a couple and five kids, however, whatever, whatever the family dynamic is, I'm telling you, it doesn't matter.

It's gonna be an experience that will bring you guys closer together.

And that even when you return home, I think you'll find a difference.

So remember, a family that travels together, they stay together.

Another aspect to why I feel travel is such a wise investment is self-help.

Do you realize how much money people spend on self-help?

Whether that's books, that's coaching, whatever it is, everybody is seeking help and being the best version of themselves.

And I should know because as a life coach, I work with people on various aspects of their life all the time.

And maybe I'm not doing the best job for marketing my coaching business, but I'll tell you a little secret.

You want to do some self-help, get out and travel, experience the world, whether that's with others or just setting off on a solo trip.

That's where you experience true life.

And when you get to really understand who you are and where you fit into the world, that's the ultimate way of doing a little self-help while giving yourself a little self-love.

I think it comes back to the saying that we travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.

And I feel like that lends its hand to this whole topic I'm talking about of self-help, of self-love.

And so if you want to discover a deeper version of yourself, get out there and experience the world.

It's gonna be better than any book or podcast.

Yes, I'm even now dissing, I've dissed my coaching business and now I'm dissing podcasts.

I'm just trying to tell you, traveling is truly life-changing.

My third point, to prove my point about the wise investment that travel is, is gonna apply to you if you are a leader.

A leader either on the field or in the workplace.

If you have a group of people who turn to you for direction, then oh my goodness, traveling is probably the most amazing opportunity for you to become a better leader.

Are you left going, this guy's out of his mind?

What's he talking about?

Well, let me ask you this.

Have you ever traveled with a group of people, whether that's uh your your family, your spouse, your children, or even just a group of friends, and you try to be the one who's leading the way?

Yeah, it's not the easiest task.

Think of all those discussions that happen of, well, where are we going to eat?

Well, we want to do this today, we want to do that today, and you're left to be the middleman, the one trying to organize everyone.

Or what about you having to be the negotiator?

Because you have your kids fighting over who gets the window seat on the airplane.

Now you're having to be the middleman there as well.

There's all these different aspects of traveling that lend their hand to helping a leader be a better leader, especially when we're talking about going to new countries where you don't know the language, it's all new to you, and yet you're having to be the one to step up because you're leading the way and you're taking care of those who you're traveling with.

Now, you tell me, what better training to be a good leader can you find than that?

I guarantee you're going to be returning home and just totally crushing it the next time you step on the field or return to work.

My last and final point is the fact that travel makes us better citizens, it makes us better people because traveling opens our minds in ways that we just can't get by watching a TV show.

But here's the secret: when you go on a trip, and you know, it doesn't have to be some exotic trip, somewhere overseas to a new country.

It can even just be to a different town, a different state, a different area, somewhere new.

The secret is that you don't just travel, but instead you let yourself be fully immersed in the destination.

So, what does that mean?

What that means is not just going to the chain restaurants, the same places that you eat at when you're at home.

That also means being sure that you're talking to people, you're being friendly, because there is so much for us to learn by being open to experience new things.

So I encourage you, wherever it is that you travel to next, make a point to fully immerse yourself in that destination.

Ask the locals, hey, where do you recommend I eat at?

Talk to people, be friendly, get to understand what life is like for them, especially when we're talking about traveling to other countries.

I mean, my goodness, talk about an eye-opening experience it is to learn how different cultures live and do life.

And what that does for you is makes you a better person.

Because I believe that if everybody traveled more, saw more things, got to truly just be open to the experiences and friendly with people and get to not talk but listen, this world would be such a better place because we would all be so much more understanding.

And when we hear about things on the news happening around the world, we wouldn't be stuck in this mindset of, oh, well, you know, I'm sorry for them, but you know, that's on the other side of the world, something that doesn't pertain to me.

Well, instead, if you've just traveled there and you took the time to make relationships and see those people that no matter how far apart we may be on this globe, we're all still people.

And like I said, I believe that it will just make our communities that we live in much better places if all of us could travel, immerse ourselves in a destination, and be sure that we bring back what we've learned and spread it and spread the love, the love of the world.

Because despite what it sometimes feels like, this world is about love.

It's about people making connections.

And that's what travel allows you to do.

Now, I want to end this episode today with one final tip in regards to travel.

And that is if you are ready to set off on a vacation, a fully immersive travel experience, please do yourself a favor and consider booking with a travel agent.

I should know because I owned my own travel agency for seven years.

And I saw the people who I was able to help, who I was able to be their guide.

And even though I'm no longer a travel agent, I still fully support the use of travel agents, and I do for you as well.

If you would like a recommendation for a travel agent, please be sure to reach out to me.

You can send me a DM on Instagram at thelowdown with Kevin Lowe.

Same deal on Facebook at the Lowdown with Kevin Lowe.

Or if you're not into that, you can always just visit the podcast website, which is simply thelowdown with Kevin Lowe.com, and you can find contact information for me there.

After being a travel agent for seven years, I've made some amazing connections in the travel industry and have many great friends who I would highly recommend based on the type of vacation you're looking to have.

So, anyways, I'll end with this.

It's so important for you to remember to just keep living and enjoying life like it was meant to be.