20 Ways Traveling Can Help You Get Over Your Ex

Going through a breakup isn't easy for anyone. You might've been convinced you were going to spend the rest of your life with your significant other, only to find out your relationship wasn't built to last. Whether you were the one who decided to walk away or it was your partner who chose to end things, breakups are incredibly painful. It takes time to heal when you're going through such an intense and emotional transition in life. 

Some of these transitions can be blissful and fun, like getting a new job, discovering a pregnancy, or moving to a new city. The life transition of a breakup doesn't come with many enjoyable perks, unfortunately. The good news is you don't need to stay hunkered down in one place to fight back against low vibrational feelings while moving on from heartbreak after a breakup. You have the freedom to travel to different places that interest and excite you as a form of nurturing yourself and speeding along your healing process.

If you're stuck in the same apartment, in the same bedroom, in the same bed where you spent an ample amount of time with your ex, it's going to be difficult for you to move on. Going to all the same places in your local area where you spent time with your ex, including coffee shops, bookstores, and fitness centers, probably won't help you very much, either. For these reasons, switching up your environment is a fabulous way to help you start successfully moving along in your healing process. 

When brand-new visuals and gorgeous scenic views surround you, there's no way you'll be reminded of things you used to do with your ex. Uprooting yourself to beautiful new environments will flood your mind with hopeful thoughts about your present life and future. It's easy to dwell on the past when everything around you dredges up negative emotions about things that occurred with your past love. Traveling to places you never visited with your ex allows you to enjoy new environments in a way that doesn't incorporate them whatsoever.

Choosing to travel with a friend or two after going through a breakup gives you the opportunity to cultivate friendships that mean the world to you. A lot of people get lost in their relationships by distancing themselves from platonic friends and getting too wrapped up in their romantic connections. Even if this isn't something you did intentionally, it's possible that your friends were placed on the back burner throughout the duration of your relationship. 

Now that you're single, it's the best time to reconnect with friends who still care about you. Inviting your bestie to join you on your travels pushes you both into the perfect position to bond as you take on new challenges and immerse yourself in new locations together. 

While there are ways you can stay safe while traveling solo, statistically, it's safer to embark on adventurous journeys with at least one friend in tow. If you're able to plan a lovely trip with one of your friends (or with an entire group), there's no doubt that your friendship bonds will strengthen. Receiving emotional support from friends while going through something as traumatic as a breakup is also vital.

Looking for anything that might distract you from the heartache of a breakup is pretty common for newly single individuals. Fortunately, building an itinerary for a vacation can be incredibly time-consuming — in a good way. If distracting yourself from relationship woes to plan out the most intricate and memorable vacation sounds good to you, then you're in luck. Building an itinerary filled to the brim with fun things to do during your travels will take some dedication, effort, and focus. 

There's no time to mope around about what your ex-partner did to you while figuring out which restaurants you want to dine at in Italy. Rehashing all the ways your ex-partner had let you down is a waste of time when you need to be narrowing down which beaches to try snorkeling in Hawaii. You don't have to worry about opinions from an ex-partner who'd possibly turn down activities you find exciting. Since you're single now, it's up to you to build a blissful itinerary filled with things you find entertaining and pleasurable.

There are many precautions to take if you opt for solo travel. It's safer to travel with a friend, a romantic partner, or a group of adventurers if you're going somewhere new. When you're freshly single, though, solo travel is often the easiest thing to do since you don't have to deal with anyone else's schedule or availability. As a solo traveler, the only person you need to worry about is yourself. This allows you to be a bit selfish with how you do things, which is actually a good thing in this case. 

As a solo traveler, you don't have to listen to anyone else's opinions about where to go, which excursions to try, which foods to eat, which hotels to stay in, or anything else. Everything you do will be completely up to you and your personal preferences. This is excellent news for people who were once wrapped up in relationships with controlling partners who loved dominating various plans. Now, it's up to you to do things your way and meet your own needs as a solo traveler.

Depending on what kind of partner you were dating, it's possible your relationship felt somewhat like a burden throughout its duration. Being held back by a partner who didn't want to see you spread your wings is more common than you might realize. Insecure individuals don't understand the importance of elevating in life. These people often end up holding their partners back in toxic relationships. As soon as you're able to break free from these types of relationships, you become filled with a true sense of freedom. 

That freedom is amplified when you take yourself on an adventure through travel following your breakup. Your partner might not have been on the same page with you about leaving your comfort zones and trying new things. Now, you don't have to be held back by their limiting beliefs in any capacity. There's so much freedom in knowing that you can pack your bag, hop on a plane, and go wherever you want without a partner trying to stop you.

There's no getting around the fact that your confidence and self-esteem will undeniably rise as you travel to new places following your breakup. Traveling to new places allows you to recognize the things you're good at, build positive relationships with others, be kinder to yourself than usual, and learn how to be a bit more assertive. It also allows you to challenge yourself in a way you wouldn't if you were stuck at home in familiarity. 

When you combine all of these wonderful aspects, your confidence and self-esteem begin to rise in a significant way. You might not have realized what a brilliant problem solver you were until navigating foreign lands without reliable GPS. You might not have noticed what a social butterfly you were until planting yourself in a new place surrounded by strangers for the first time ever. As you learn new things about yourself through your travels, your confidence and self-esteem will shoot through the roof.

Your communication skills will undoubtedly strengthen while traveling to new places after a breakup. Adults who struggle with communication often aren't aware that their lack of solid communication skills is a massive issue impacting their relationships and friendships. Being the type of person who shuts down and freezes your loved ones out whenever you're upset isn't a healthy tactic. Giving other people the silent treatment is also pretty toxic. 

Blowing up at others who upset you with vulgar words and a raised tone of voice is another form of emotionally poisonous behavior. When you're traveling to new places after becoming single, you can't fall silent or yell at people when you're upset about something. It's up to you to maintain your composure and communicate with others in a way that will benefit you so you can get from point A to point B safely. Even if your communication skills have been weak in the past, traveling to new places will force your communication skills to grow stronger.

As cozy as your comfort zone might be, you'll be forced to abandon it while traveling to get over your ex. There's nothing wrong with lounging in your comfort zone if you don't care about self-growth or self-development. If it sounds appealing to expand beyond the psychological state of mind that's been tricking you into feeling safe in familiarity, traveling after a breakup is certainly the way to go. 

Your comfort zone will tell you to curl up in a ball on your bed with a pile of snacks and some reality TV shows to binge-watch. It might even tell you that it's totally fine to respond to text messages and phone calls from your ex, even though you're trying to move on with your life. Your comfort zone is certainly filled with some familiar and easy-going habits to lean on. That doesn't mean it's the route you should take, though. Traveling somewhere new forces you to abandon your comfort zone as you proceed in your healing process.

Instead of wasting time thinking about memories with your ex, traveling to new places gives you the chance to shift your focus to many new things. You'll be focused on new foods, views, and experiences around every corner. Ordering the same repetitive meals to be delivered to your doorstep at home while trying to heal from a breakup isn't going to free your mind from memories of your ex. If you decide to fly to India, for example, your plates will be covered in chicken tikka masala, kebabs, samosas, Hakka noodles, and naan. 

Glancing outside your bedroom window to see the same old parking lot probably isn't going to excite you in the same way the lush greenery and stunning horizons in Thailand would. Completing the same daily to-do list isn't going to bring you the same level of joy as an outdoorsy hike through the breathtaking national parks of Ireland. Each new experience you take for yourself distances you from the time you spent with your ex.

Spiritual individuals know all about the Law of Detachment. When you detach yourself from the outcomes of what you want to manifest in your life, it allows your manifestations to come to you faster and more smoothly. In other words, the Law of Detachment teaches you to stop trying to control the ins and outs of everything. Instead, you embrace uncertainty, step into the unknown, and surrender yourself to the possibilities. 

When you think about traveling somewhere you've never been before, the Law of Detachment automatically comes into play. There's no way you'll have true certainty about the places you're going since you've never been to any them. Instead of approaching that notion with a sense of fear and hesitation, it's completely fine to fill yourself with anticipation and excitement for what's around the corner. Once you master the art of detachment, you'll experience greater peacefulness in all areas of life. This is a massive benefit for people going through devastating breakups.

Navigating new places will give you the chance to improve your sense of direction. When you live in the same area for an extended amount of time, figuring out how to get to grocery stores, work meetings, and friends' houses becomes second nature. You often don't even need to pull out your phone for GPS to get around when you're familiar with your surrounding area. 

The familiarity of knowing how to navigate your local city goes out the window when you travel to a brand-new place. You're suddenly forced to hone in on your navigational skills so you don't get lost entirely. Since your top priority is to enjoy your travels without getting lost or stranded anywhere, focusing on clues and hints that help you find your way naturally becomes easier to do. This is great news for people who don't consider themselves super savvy with following or understanding directions and those who once relied on their former partners for these types of things.

Whether you're someone who prioritizes fitness and nutrition or not, knowing that you have vacation plans scheduled ahead is an easy way to gain some motivation to hit the gym. You're supposed to be frolicking around in a bikini on tropical beaches in a few short months, which means the inspiration to go on those beloved hot girl walks or pop into a few Pilates classes might get a little stronger. 

Plus, exercise is known to improve your mental health by reducing depression and anxiety, raising your self-esteem, and improving your cognitive functions. Hitting the gym, linking up with a personal trainer, signing up for some dance classes, or even getting outside in nature for a hike or two will benefit you greatly for a multitude of reasons. Your planned vacation will most likely light a fire under you to get moving, but you'll also notice how physical exercise enhances your mental health.

Whether your ex-partner was someone who enjoyed spoiling you or they left much to be desired in that department, now is your chance to spoil yourself while traveling to new places as a single person. If you're fresh out of a relationship with someone who would constantly dote on you all the time, it's your job to start doting on yourself in that same exact way. Conversely, if the person you previously dated would never go out of their way to pamper you, now is the perfect time to start pampering yourself in the way you always wished they would. 

This means that when you're traveling, you might consider splurging on first-class airplane seating, upscale hotel stays, top-of-the-line excursions, and more. Before leaving for your trip, you might even go on a shopping spree to purchase brand-new bikinis, sundresses, accessories, and more. You can have as much fun spoiling yourself as you'd like, depending on your budget. After all, single people don't have to worry about how their spending would impact their relationship!

It's possible you'll be able to pick up a second language while traveling, depending on how long your travel plans are in motion. If you decide to spend one short week in Paris, it's unlikely that you'll learn any new words aside from your favorite menu items, where the bathroom is, and how to greet others. If you end up spending several weeks or months in Paris, though, you'll probably absorb a lot more of the language than you would've guessed. 

Extended periods of travel are easily possible for remote workers who decide to temporarily relocate somewhere else after a breakup. Working remotely means you can go wherever you want as long as you're getting your job done and meeting your quotas. The longer you spend time submerged in a new place surrounded by people speaking foreign languages, the easier it will be for you to start picking up on some of the words they're saying.

Whether you've decided to explore the world as a solo traveler or have a couple of besties in tow, you may have a chance to meet a tribe of new friends in the destinations you visit. If you take the leap and plan a trip to an island like Barbados — where the locals are considered to be "warm, friendly, and polite," according to Travellers Worldwide — you'll notice how easy it is to cross paths with strangers who are friendly enough to make you feel like you're right at home. 

You might ask for tips about beaches with the clearest waters, fruit stands with the sweetest products, and restaurants with the lowest prices. Striking up conversations with locals on an island like Barbados will give you the chance to cultivate some long-lasting friendships with people you would've never had an opportunity to interact with before. This is the case for places widely recognized for welcoming locals who embrace tourists with open arms.

Traveling to new places after a breakup is the perfect time to fully embrace your adventurous side. Whether you were stuck in a relationship with a controlling partner or dated someone super easy-going and chill, now is your chance to be more adventurous than you ever would've been before. Controlling partners get in your way when it comes to living your best life because they want to manipulate your actions from the beginning of your day until you go to sleep at night. 

Partners who are super easy-going and chill don't necessarily get in your way when it comes to being adventurous, but they don't always encourage you to leave your comfort zone or push the boundaries of self-growth. You don't have to worry about any of those issues as a single person. Instead, you get to embrace your adventurous side by going out of your way to create personal memories that will last forever.

You might not be the type of person who wants to create a busy itinerary jam-packed with tons of activities and excursions every single day of your vacation. You might be the tourist who simply wants to relax and unwind from the stresses of your day-to-day life back home by reading a summer romance novel at the beach or merely catching a tan. If this is the case, traveling after a breakup is the perfect time to relax and unwind away from the rat race. 

Hopefully, you're able to take time off work and spend several days decompressing from all of the tension you're facing. When any romantic relationship ends, it can create a sense of anxiety within you as you start worrying about what's to come in the future. Thoughts about whether or not you'll ever be able to find love again might even overwhelm you. Traveling somewhere new where you can bask in the joy of peace and tranquility will serve as an escape from those thoughts.

If you've ever seen the movie "Eat Pray Love" starring Julia Roberts, then you already know what it means to have your own personal "Eat Pray Love moment." The 2010 movie was based on a true story and book written by an American journalist named Elizabeth Gilbert. Gilbert's life was seemingly perfect from an outsider's perspective: She had a successful career and a devoted husband. Unfortunately, she didn't feel happy or peaceful about her circumstances. She decided to initiate a divorce to embark on a journey of self-discovery across three different countries within one year. 

Gilbert's plan was to focus on enjoying foods in Italy, spirituality in India, and the balance of love in Indonesia. Ultimately, she ended up falling in love with a Brazilian businessman named José Nunez while in Bali. Their marriage ended in divorce about ten years later, but she still put herself out there in an attempt to experience true love once again following her unfulfilling first marriage. Traveling the world after becoming single might open the door for you to experience the magical moments Gilbert had for herself.

Relocating to a brand-new location might not have ever crossed your mind. When you travel to new places after going through a breakup, it becomes possible for you to fall in love with beautiful destinations that make you feel more at home than anywhere else. Before you decide to relocate somewhere new, your mindset is an important factor to consider. This shouldn't be something you're doing in order to run away from your problems. 

If you're fully aware that moving somewhere new wouldn't be your way of avoiding the problems of your past, then the idea of relocating to whatever place you've fallen in love with during your travels is a superb idea. When you travel to new destinations, you get a chance to observe other cultures and ways of life. It's possible you might be drawn in by the level of happiness you see in other populations compared to people surrounding you where you currently live.

Depending on how far along you are in your healing journey, it's possible that your heart is open to the concept of love. Finding the person you're supposed to spend the rest of your life with might not feel like the easiest thing to do in the place where you currently live. Traveling to new places means interacting with many people you wouldn't normally cross paths with. 

For these reasons, the chances of meeting your soulmate increase with each new place you travel to. If you're not ready for a new relationship, you don't have to put yourself out there in any way that would attract attention from others. If you are ready for a new relationship after your breakup, though, meeting your soulmate while traveling to all the beautiful destinations you've always dreamed of could be the next chapter in the fairytale story of your life — and you would never have met them if you didn't take that plunge.