Here at Klook, we believe that a world filled with travel, is a world filled with well-rounded, considerate and more importantly, happier people.
Happier in the sense of a more balanced perspective on what’s really important in the world, and in the sense of being more curious and interested in the world around them.
This might sound idealistic, but we’re a bunch of dreamers and in short, we believe that travel is AMAZING for supporting positive mental health.
Seriously - we’ve done loads of super smart sciencey stuff to prove it!
Oh, and just to be clear, when we say ‘travel’ is amazing for mental health, we don’t just mean the once-in-a-decade, long-haul trip to the other side of the world type travel; I mean, it can include this, but a road-trip to a new hiking spot an hour or two down the road can do just as much to broaden your perspective and brighten your outlook!
So to get things off on an even foot, let’s start by taking the stigma out of the word ‘travel’ and just say that we believe that travel includes anything that involves you leaving your usual space and usual routine.
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The team here at Klook believe that one of the most positive and uplifting aspects of travel is the connections we get to make when we meet new people in these new places we travel to.
That’s because when we think about our happiest travel memories, nearly all of them involve other people! Whether it’s the family we travelled with, friends we made while we were there (often over a very enthusiastic game of table football!), or even a random-er who just happened to be in the right place at the right time, places make travelling memorable, but people make travelling magical.
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So, to mark Mental Health Awareness day, we wanted to share some of our most magical travel memories from our years of adventures, and the impact they had on us and our travels...
Vaida
📍 Langkawi, Malaysia
“When me and my (now) fiancé were travelling in Malaysia (Langkawi), our bike ran out of fuel. We were pushing the bike back to the place we were staying (it was just a few hundred meters away) when a couple of local restaurant owners saw us and invited us to come in. They wanted to help us and before we knew it two of them got on their own bike, drove to the gas station that was a few kilometres away and came back with a bottle full of fuel for us.
They filled up our tank and just when we thought they were going to charge us an arm and a leg, they said “it’s on the house”. We insisted on paying but they refused to take money from us. We just couldn’t believe the generosity of the Malaysian people - definitely one of the best moments from our travels and almost 3 years later we still remember that day and those people! They really helped us out!”
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Janet
📍 Paris, France
“In 2008, when I was visiting Paris for a few days, my friend and I got majorly lost late in the evening and somehow ended up in the suburbs of Paris miles away from our B&B. I was a poor student studying in Europe so didn't have a mobile phone on me, let alone a smart phone. Just as I was about to break into tears a stranger (Marti) asked if we were OK and if we needed help. He ended up letting us use his computer to track down and contact our lovely B&B hostess who was actually in tears when we called her because she was so worried that we hadn't turned up at the B&B. In the end she drove out to come collect us, saving the day! I'm eternally grateful to her and Marti who didn't have to worry about us or stop and ask if we were OK, but they did and they took the time to help out wide-eyed tourists who clearly couldn't differentiate between Paris Metro and the RER. Merci, Marti.”
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Violeta
📍 Hiroshima, Japan
“It was literally my first day in Japan. I was exiting the train station in Hiroshima. I’d taken an overnight ferry from South Korea into Shimonoseki and then train from there into Hiroshima. I was so excited to start exploring!
At the train station’s exit, I saw a map of the city and just went to double check that I was headed for the right exit. Before I knew it, a guy approached me and asked - in English - if he could help. So I asked him if I was headed the right way to get to my hotel. He looked on the map and said ‘yes’ and straight away said that he was headed in that direction too and could walk with me if I didn’t mind. In the 10 minutes it took to walk there, we chatted and he shared some ideas of things to do in Hiroshima. He said that he was on his lunch break and his home was on the way but when I got to my hotel, he turned and walked back the way we’d come so I was pretty sure he went out of his way to make sure I made it to my hotel safely 🙂”
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Kristina
📍 Jodhpur, India
“While traveling in India, we booked a bus from Jodhpur to Udaipur (6.5 hour journey) starting at 6:00am. We arrived at the ‘bus stop’ (i.e. a giant traffic circle with about 20 buses coming and going every 5 minutes) a bit early just to be sure we didn't miss it.
On this particular corner where we thought our bus was supposed to stop was also the waiting place for tons of tuk tuks. We tried getting in touch with the bus company a bunch of times, and after about 45 min past the original departure time, a tuk tuk driver asked what bus company we'd booked with and offered to call them. He calls the phone number, no answer, calls another number and immediately gets through to somebody. He gets off the phone and tells us the bus has been cancelled. He makes a couple other phone calls and after what seemed like ages of stress and anxiety running through me, he tells us that there is one more bus leaving in 10 minutes and the station is about 5 minutes away.
Immediately, we were surrounded by about 5 other tuk tuk drivers offering their service to drive us there for 200 rupees, 175 rupees, 150 rupees... The gentleman helping us waves them away and says it's not far and he will take us there for 50 rupees (or some really cheap price and obviously not a rip off). We arrive at the station, he runs in, and comes back out saying there are 2 seats left on the bus. He arranges everything for us with the bus company, we pay for our bus tickets, and we are taking off minutes later.
All my stress and worries about being stranded in this chaotic, foreign place, losing more money for missing already paid for accommodations, and all the fun plans we had on our itinerary was just left in the dust. I couldn't have been happier for that tuk tuk driver and so thankful for the kindness, honesty, and generosity that he showed us.”
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Gareth
📍 Munich, Germany
“During a long weekend in Munich, my friends and I found ourselves on our last day. We’d been for a couple of steins before the airport and had heard about a pub we should check out before we left. So there we are, 5 dishevelled delinquents (potentially still the wrong side of sober from the night before (and the night before that)) bewilderedly gawking about in Marienplatz and arguing with ourselves (in English) about which direction to take. Out of the blue, a German girl – probably 19 or 20 years old – approaches us out of a sea of people and asks us in perfect English whether we are OK and “do we need any help finding somewhere?”. We were a bit taken aback at first, but after we told her where we were looking for, she explained where it was, and then walked us pretty much to the doorstep to make sure we didn’t get lost any further.
Now, this might not sound like much – there were no lives saved, there were no oversized cheques exchanged in front of red-ribbons, but this was just one example of how warm the welcome we were offered while we were there was. And it meant we got to visit the pub and enjoy some fresh baked pretzels before the flight home. It was simple but a memorable act of kindness that stayed with me these 8 years after.”
And when you look at these stories, what brings them together? Kindness.
Consideration for, and kindness towards others. That’s the stuff that makes travel magical, and it’s also the thing that we can all bring to our day-to-day to help the people we see in our daily routine. Because we believe that positive mental health starts with kindness. To yourself, to others, and to the world around us.
So to try and help with this, we’ve pulled together a top tips list of how us Klookers manage our own mental health, but we’d love to hear from you too; about your most magical travel stories and how the kindness of others has had a positive impact on your experience...
