

Happy people aren't necessarily born that way, they work at it and have learned tricks and habits that help them stay happy their entire lives. Here are a list of 12 habits of happy people that you can apply while travelling the world to make your travels happier, more enjoyable experiences.
1. Be Considerate
Happy people accept others for who they are as well as where they are in life. Respect them for who they are. Do not try to change another person. Try to brighten the day of everyone you come into contact with, by opening doors, letting them go in front of you in line, and by doing the little things that are insignificant and non-time consuming.
While traveling, it is important to be considerate. As we are foreigners in another's land, it's important to be considerate of cultural differences and do our best to be ambassadors of our own country by being considerate.
2. Learn Continuously - Be Adventurous
Try new and daring things that has sparked your interest, such as dancing, skiing, surfing or skydiving. Learning something new, actually stimulates the brain, and creates new neural networks. Excitement = Happiness Boredom =Depression.
This is one of the main reasons for travel. Do something you have never done before. Eat something you never have eaten before. Visit somewhere you have never been before. The adventure of travel creates excitement in our lives and makes us happy.
3. Creative Problem Solving
Don't wallow in self-pity. As soon as you face a challenge get busy finding a solution and be creative and innovative in how you solve it. If we continue doing the same things every time something happens, the outcome will be the same. Change it up. Happy people don't let the setbacks affect their mood, instead they see each new obstacle as an opportunity to make a positive change. Learn to trust your gut instincts, they are almost always right.
While traveling, creative problem solving is a daily occurrence. From how to get somewhere, to communication with the locals in without knowing their language, travel requires creative problem solving to make the best of a less than optimal situation. We become happier people by knowing that we can solve problems that arise.
4. Happy People Laugh
Don't take yourself or life too seriously. Happy people can find humor in just about any situation. Laugh at yourself, no one is perfect. When appropriate laugh and make light of the circumstances. (Naturally there are times that you should be serious as it would be improper to laugh.)
While traveling, it is important to laugh at yourself. Laugh with friends you meet along the way and make memories of the travels you experience. Even laugh (silently) at the absolutely bizarre things you see while traveling to foreign countries.
5. Forgive
Holding a grudge will hurt no one but you. Forgive others for your own peace of mind. When you make a mistake, own up to it, learn from it and FORGIVE yourself. By harboring negative feelings, no matter how insignificant, we damage our own mind and soul.
Forgiveness is an important lesson to learn while traveling. Learn to not hold a grudge to a culture, or people who may have been discourteous to you at one time or another. You will make mistakes while traveling, and it's important to forgive yourself for the mistakes you make.
6. Invest in Relationships
Always make sure your loved ones know you love them even in times of conflict. Nurture and grow your relationships with your family and friends by making the time to spend with them. Don't break your promises to them. By creating relationships with others on any level, we learn more about ourselves.
While traveling, you will make amazing life long friends! Invest in these relationships. Spend time with other travelers, listen and learn from them. The locals of a country can be lifelong friends as well, and will teach you about yourself and show you another perspective they might have to help you develop your own perspective.
7. Keep Your Word
Honesty is the best policy. Every action and decision you make should be based on honesty. Be honest with yourself and with your loved ones. Lies and secrets get bottled up inside like a poison that will lead happy people to unhappiness.
While traveling, be honest with yourself and keep your word with others. Many times you think that saying something that isn't true is better than hurting someone's feelings. All Cultures in the world value honesty and keeping your word as admirable and honorable.
8. Mediate
Meditation gives your very active brain a rest. When it's rested you will have more energy and function at a higher level. Types of meditation include yoga, hypnosis, relaxation tapes, affirmations, visualization or just sitting incomplete silence. Find something you enjoy and make the time to practice daily.
Traveling can be hectic and at times you will need to just be alone. Meditation and relaxation is a great way to process the lessons learned while traveling and connecting to yourself. It can be overwhelming traveling and you need to be centered at times to keep traveling enjoyable.
9. Mind Your Own Business
Concentrate on creating your life the way you want it. Take care of you and your family. Happy people don't get overly concerned with what other people are doing or saying. Don't get caught up with gossip or name calling. Don't judge. Everyone has a right to live their own life the way they want to, including you.
It's best while traveling to mind your own business. Cultural differences can make us at times want to "butt in" or "right something" we feel is wrong. Many times the cultural differences between our own beliefs and others in a foreign country, are opposites.

10. Self Confidence
Don't try to be someone who you're not. After all no one likes a phony. Determine who you are in the inside, your own personal likes and dislikes. Be confident in who you are. Do the best you can and don't second guess yourself.
I see this a lot from other foreigners who are trying to be something they are not. Be yourself, learn to be self-confident in who you are. Traveling will teach you this lesson and give you the confidence that you can accomplish more than you dreamed. Traveling is in essence a confidence builder!
11. Take Responsibility
Happy people know and understand that they are 100% responsible for their life. They take responsibility for their moods, attitude, thoughts, feelings, actions and words. They are the first to admit when they've made a mistake.
While traveling you have to take responsibility for the decisions you make. There is no one to blame but yourself. You realize that you can make mistakes and overall, things turn out ok. Taking responsibility for your actions while traveling becomes a regular thing.
12. Give Up Control
Accept what cannot be changed. Happy people don't waste energy on circumstances beyond their control. Accept your limitations as a human being. Determine how you can take control by creating the outcome you desire, rather than waiting to respond. Realize that the reality of a situation is that you do not have the ability to control a situation.It's only the perception of that situation that you can control.
Learning to go with the flow while traveling and rolling with the punches is imperative. You need to understand, that things won't always work out in your favor. Plans will fall through. People will swindle you and misguide you. You have little control over these things and giving up control can be the most important lesson to learn while traveling.
Change In Perspective
We have learned to become happier by implementing these habits in our own lives. We have learned these habits through travel and have implemented them daily even when not traveling The opposite is also true, we can learn these habits and implement them into our travel experiences. There are valuable lessons to be learned while traveling. Yes, it's great to visit places, eat food, not work, and play around all day, however this is generally for the tourist and vacationer. A traveler is different. A traveler explores places, tries strange foods, and works at changing and growing who they are as people. By implementing these habits, we become better travelers and in effect better, happier people.
2 thoughts on “12 Habits Of Happy People And How To Apply Them While Traveling”
Great reminder of the things we can do every day to stay on the positive side of things. I find I’m happiest when I’m out exploring, whether it’s my own town or new places.
Absolutely!! Glad you are happy! Life is entirely too short to be anything but!