I have been devoting some time and space here on MMW to my family’s experience of living in Germany in 2019. I’ve shared my impressions on exercise and diet as well as a what we loved and won’t miss. At this point in the game, I think you will have gotten the picture that living in Germany was bomb. But, travel is awesome too, and we took some equally bomb side trips.

Travel is such a boon for mental health and wellness. It doesn’t matter where you prefer to go or what you like to see. The experiences that travel provides create so many mental and emotional wellness benefits. Travel gives us a much needed opportunity to relax. Our brains can only work on work for so long before they get bogged down and need some recovery. Going somewhere different allows us to have that “head space.”

Travel also exposes us to things outside of our usual. When we are going somewhere more regional, or our trip is solely relaxation based, then often the simple break from our usual is what is important. Again, rest and relaxation are clutch. If we are going somewhere further, then we have the chance to step further outside of our comfort zones.

The further out we can go, the better. The exposure to different people, different viewpoints, different ways of doing things and, if you go far enough, different culture all help us to grow as humans. Our mental health benefits from seeing that our way isn’t necessarily the “right” way. Huge nerd that I am, I also love a good museum or other learning experience, which certainly benefits mental health in more traditional ways.

Germany is about as awesome a landing pad for Europe as you can get. It is centrally located, boasts three major airports (Frankfurt, Berlin, and Munich), one coastal port (Hamburg), and super easy access to rail travel. I will admit that during our planning phase I went a little over the top with ideas to trek all over the continent.

But the realities of having a three year old with us caused me to quickly re-think some of our destinations. London was going to be too far and too much of a hassle. Paris would have been a lot of museums and is expensive. Venice would have required a flight. So, working with the idea of toddler friendly spots and activities coupled with rail only travel, I made a list of places that would be feasible. Hamburg, Copenhagen, Munich, Berlin, Cologne, Amsterdam, and Prague all made the cut.

And we got most of them checked off, too. If we had gotten started a bit sooner and I had been a bit slicker, we would have seen everything. As it is, Prague is the only one we completely missed. Amsterdam became Groningen so we could visit the Netherlands quickly. (Don’t worry, they are both on the list for next time.)

I could go on and on and list everything that we saw in those amazing cities, but I’d just be bragging. Travel offers different experiences for each of us. My family and I went on all the same trips. We saw all of the same sights (save one that my husband missed because it wasn’t appropriate for our toddler). But we have different ideas about what our best experiences were. Or which made the most impact.

For my husband it was probably Munich and Neuschwanstein Castle. He is from an area where there is a strong link to Bavarian culture and he had always wanted to see the castle. For my son, it was probably the Round Tower, Viking ships and Planetarium in Copenhagen. What can I say, a big giant ship and lots of spears captured his imagination. I loved Berlin and the wide range of history that was encompassed there. And the fact that they embraced it all, good and bad.

My point is that these are experiences we could not have had in the States. We have never had a monarchy, so it isn’t possible to tour a castle. World War II happened in Europe so even if you have grandparents or great-grandparents who lived it, the experience of it is different when you can see it up close. You can talk about how fun a biergarten would be, but experiencing it first hand is unique.

Seeing things live and in person changes us. From a mental standpoint, it changes your perspective on things. It hopefully makes you a more aware and informed individual. You can’t see the DDR Museum and not learn something about history. It is tough to go to a Planetarium inspired by Tycho Brahe and not see the universe in a different way. It is hard to see buildings that are older than the country I was born in, and not have an appreciation for the time and people who built them.

And if you are really lucky, the perspective also helps you become a more empathetic person. You are meeting people with different experiences and backgrounds, and learning about others in that way gives us the ability to see other viewpoints. When a three year old tells you while walking through the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe that he feels funny and closed in, that is a soul defining moment. It certainly wasn’t the only one we had, either.

So go, travel. If you don’t have the means or time for a “big ticket” trip, that’s okay. Just get out of your day to day, your comfort zone. And stop and appreciate it.

Until next time, be well friends.