How can travel help us surmount our fears, forge our identities, and change our worldviews? Here's an exhaustive compilation of 28 short but powerful TEDx Talks from around the planet, purposed to motivate us to get out of our comfort zone, pushing us off the beaten track and inspiring us to travel to destinations... hidden deep within ourselves.
If Tony can make it, we surely can make it too. An inspirational talk that demonstrates how any imagined difficulty can be overcome regardless of the complexities of life.
Jared is convinced that there should not be such thing as a "once in a lifetime trip". His talk will prove you how travel should be more frequent in our lives without having to become an expensive luxury. He's been running Thrifty Traveler for a few years, a website focused on giving tips to find flight deals using credit card points, airline miles and smart money-saving strategies.
Learn the value of travel from someone who has been spending 4 months a year for the last 30 years living out of a suitcase in the most remote countries. As Rick says, "fear is only for people who don't get out very much!"
Luis has spent over the past 20 years working with brands in the adventure-travel industries, while inspiring and enabling others to have transformative travel experiences. As he puts it, travel can be a force for good.
Meet Robin: global adventurer, travel writer, international producer and TV personality. Robin recorded every single step of his year of traveling and living dangerously and while doing so, invented a new form of digital journalism.
Did you know that more people have traveled to space than to all 196 sovereign nations and less than 20 of those are women? In this talk, 21-years old Lexie shares her stories from around the world to inspire others to follow their dreams no matter age or gender.
Similar to Lexie, Cassie De Pecol is one of the very few women to have visited all 196 sovereign countries. She also holds a World Guiness record for being the fastest human and woman to accomplish this journey in only 1 year and 193 days.
Traveling too quickly can however shorten your local experience and limit your understanding of the various new environments you are exposing yourself to. Nick has a brilliant story to tell you about how a slowly-paced 2,500-mile walk took him on a long journey across Europe.
Hugely popular "Tom from Croatia" has great advice to give, after traveling the world for years with almost no money. You can also visit his blog here.
Hacking Travel: the art of traveling at incredible low-cost. Bryce shares further tips on cutting costs while traveling. You can also follow his latest articles directly through his blog at 10xtravel.com.
Need more tips on traveling with no money? Learn how Belgian composer and songwriter, Edouard Jacqim became independent from money for 21 days, in order to become dependent on the people he met while traveling. What if you could turn the fear of approaching strangers and your fear of being rejected in your favor?
Still not confident you can travel without spending money? Learn from Simon, an Italian "nomadic traveler", music artist and red-cross volunteer, in his tale on how he spent no money while traveling from Turin to Portugal for 3 months back in 2011. You can visit his travel blog (in Italian) at www.viaggiareconlentezza.com.
Tyler has incredible experience helping people improve their health and work while suggesting them ideas for adventure-filled lifestyles. In this talk, he explains how adventure makes your brain smarter, your character stronger, and your ideas more attractive.
Talking of feeling smart. Travel also gives us a brand new opportunity to rethink how we impact nature and how we can best conserve the environment. Kristin Weiss, a coastal management and peacebuilding researcher invites us to (re)evaluate our relationship with the places we visit.
This short talk by the co-founder of AFAR.com (travel magazine and guide), let's us meditate on the transformation power of traveling. The more we travel, the more we learn, the less we fear the world around us and the more we can help others face and even overcome their fears.
Looking to change the world while taking a vacation? In this talk, Shannon explains how choosing a better vacation destination can change the world for good. He's a promoter of the power of travel done right by helping us bring peace and economic value to those who need it the most.
What if 3 little questions would suffice to pinpoint a way for anyone to stay in the traveler's mindset and live a life full of adventures? Learn why, according to Ginger, travel is not just exploring other countries.
Hear from Niharika how the kind of learning you receive while on the road can change your life's perspective and narrative.
Why should others enjoy your company, if you cannot enjoy it yourself? In this talk, Christian explores the types of challenges we face... precisely when we face ourselves.
How does the life of a travel influencer look like? What are the key success factors to become successful as travel influencers? How do you monetize your adventures? Hear from Belgian travel influencers Camille and Jean (@backpackdiariez).
At GeaSaga.com, I'm currently focused on onboarding new avid travelers from around the world with a passion for writing. If you want to get started with your own travel blog while travelling, please get in touch with me here.
Who does not want to get paid to indefinitely wonder around the world and take stunning photos? Award-winning travel and editorial photographer Susan Seubert has photographed more than 30 feature stories for National Geographic Traveler, and has a few tips to share.
One of the fundamental components of travel is purpose, and nothing more than volunteering can help you accomplish that better. In this short talk, Daniela explains how she spent six years living in Cambodia, founding a set of youth-focused development education travel companies. You can visit her blog at lessonsilearned.org.
Siddhartha has had the chance to visit countless countries, and the accounts of his voyages are innumerable and quite addictive. His message is one: shuffling between work and travel is a real possibility.
In this talk, Gulha talks about her experiences traveling around the world while introspectively focusing on becoming aware of the distinction between given and chosen identities, and how it can change your personality.
We occasionally become aware of how our decisions impact our actions, but how often do we become aware of how our actions impact our decision-making process? Believe it or not, there is a strong link between the effectiveness of your choices and the way you travel. Kamayani focuses on the benefits of solo-traveling by sharing her own experiences.
Travelling can open your eyes and heart to the compassion and generosity of the human spirit, and awake you to a different world...within you.
Here is Phil's version of "stop everything you do, and go travel now!" His incredible decade-long adventure is a rare path to get inspiration from.
Learn from Nina how to reshape your travel mindset, and how connecting with other people along the way redefines your life's path.
If you're looking for further travel inspiration, make sure you visit and bookmark the "Talks for the thoughtful traveler" TED Page, with a curated collection of inspiring official talks that will help you think differently about the places you visit and the people you meet.
If you were just looking for a visual reminder of what solo-traveling can feel like, check out this mash-up video I created for my 15 months trip across the world.
Which Tedx Talks did you like the most? Why? Let me know by leaving a comment in the section here-below.
