As young people, we are encouraged to travel why we still have the chance. Adults gush about the amazing memories they made during their backpacking trip through Europe, or their tour of Japan. Despite all the traveling horrors—long plane journeys with wailing babies, high expenses, mosquitoes, hotel food—society hypes travel to be a life-changing experience and encourages us to pack our bags, leaving us with a vague sense that we need to see the world, but no clear reason why.

So why do we need to travel? How does staring at a pyramid enrich our lives?

Primarily, travel reanimates a life too settled into routine. It gets us out of our comfort zone, granting us an opportunity to explore parts of ourselves that we neglect to use in everyday life. When we visit someplace new, we have to flounder a little bit. Maybe that involves struggling a country’s native language or learning to navigate unfamiliar streets. A new challenge refreshes us, especially since people generally want to travel when they’re feeling stressed or lost in their everyday lives. Travel restores a sense of adventure, an exhilarating controlled chaos.

Travel also inspires thinking on a deeper level. Especially when journeying to another country, new places make us consider home in a new light. We realize how different continents almost seem like different planets, but similar characteristics bind them. We ask ourselves about westernization, politics, culture, and different countries’ perception of each other. In our normal lives, we gravitate towards people who share common interests and opinions. By visiting other parts of the world, we surround ourselves with ideas different from our own, forcing us to reexamine our beliefs. Even though we might not reach a conclusion, we become more aware and open-minded.

Of course, the main reason we travel is to enjoy ourselves. We fill most of our time with school work that leaves us drained by the end of the day. Those who push school trips on us are right: We’re young, we work hard, we deserve some fun. Relaxation matters just as much as good effort. Trips combine work and play in the best ways; Costa Rica offers a chance to snorkel and practice Spanish at the same time.

So yes, take every opportunity to see the world. Stare at the pyramids, trek through mountains. Explore, have fun, and savor every minute of it, so that in twenty years, you can tell your kids about your crazy adventures in Guam and push the travel guide into their hands.