Can Travel Really Heal A Broken Heart?

We’ve all seen the romantic comedies that feature the brokenhearted woman who takes a trip abroad and is magically not-so-broken thirty minutes into the movie.  No matter how bad the heartache is, a vacation across the globe to somewhere beautiful is sure to heal you and help you find love again, right?  That’s what happens in the movies, therefore it must be real.  So then you follow suit.  You book yourself a fancy vacation or a ticket to the farthest place away from home.  

Should you really expect to heal your scorned broken heart simply through a trip far away?  Isn’t that a tall order and something that takes time?  Who’
s to say the road is going to lead you to the next “love of your life” like they show you in the movies?  It’s not something you can count on, so why do we all buy into this sentiment so wholeheartedly?  

I wanted to test the theory, so about a year ago I took all this to the extreme.   

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After (another) failed relationship and what I felt was a “burn out” at work, I got rid of everything and left home in California with a one-way ticket and bag that was way too full.  I had a purpose of self-preservation and reinvention.  I had never even traveled internationally and here I was booking a one-way ticket to Europe without any expected return date.  “I could be Kate Winslet or Julia Roberts, I just know it.  I can heal too.  And watch out Javier Bardem, I’m coming for you.” I thought as I boarded the plane.  

Upon my departure, I was broken hearted, overweight, mentally and emotionally drained, and hanging on to a tiny glimmer of hope.  Hope that the road would lead me to all that I so desperately needed.  Hope that I could heal my broken heart and move on.  What I found was something much deeper.  

Through traveling I was forced to fend for myself, problem solve and self-navigate.  I was kept busy with constant exploring or moving around.  I was distracted from my issues by the hundreds of new people I met.  New experiences took my breath away and showed me what life is all about.  My energy was taken up completely everyday by the present.  I had no time to look back and revisit the pain of the past.  Without even knowing it, I was moving on by the second.  I was growing by the minute.  And I was evolving every day.  Soon, I became a completely new version of myself.  A healed, confident and wiser version. 

My travel journey had less to do with my broken heart, and more to do with my entire being.  Through day to day wandering and exploring I fell in love with the whole world- forget falling in love with a new man.  Seeing new places and experiencing different cultures awakened my desire to live passionately again.  Every day showed me a hundred reasons why life is beautiful and I started looking forward to life again.  I became a true optimist and a more peaceful person.  I stopped feeling sorry for myself and started being grateful.  I became someone I’d actually enjoy being around (a totally new concept for me).  

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Traveling was more than I ever bargained for, and in the absolute best way.   

I left to heal my heart, and instead I healed my soul.

So the answer is yes. Travel CAN heal a broken heart, but be prepared for so much more than that.  Travel will change you forever- and you may just forget your heart was ever broken in the first place.