One of the gifts of travel is the confidence boost you receive from navigating a place, language, culture or situation that is foreign in every sense of the word. It is nearly impossible to return from a challenging journey unchanged and unaffected. Though you may not notice the growth or maturity in your socio-emotional intelligence, the people around you will.

This "traveler's glow" as I like to call it, is a magnet for the opposite (or same!) sex. If your love life is lagging, your sex drive is sagging and your ego is dragging: hit the road! There are thousands of people out there waiting to charm your pants off (literally and figuratively). This article talks in generalities about what makes people attractive. I've got my own ideas, with a twist of course!

Six Ways That Travel Makes You More Attractive:

1. Your confidence grows. Knowing that you can get through a layover in Istanbul, or navigate the extremes of India, will boost your confidence in other areas of your life.

2. Knowledge is sexy. You know the difference between Puerto Rico and Puerto Escondido, you know Desmond Tutu from Nelson Mandela. It is impossible to travel and not become more aware of the world around you, and people will always want you at their dinner parties.

3. You've got skills! Whether it's a cooking class in Oaxaca, or an Art History course in Florence, strike out and learn something new. You never know when your talent for juggling, wine-pairing or knife-throwing might get you some loving!

4. Your communication skills improve. You have to depend on other people to help you find lodging, trust restaurants to serve you clean, healthy food and drink, make new friends and companions to stave off boredom or loneliness. These skills will follow you long after you've hung up your Tevas and put your enormous backpack in storage.

5. Adventurous spirits are attractive. Everyone loves someone that can make them laugh or get their adrenaline pumping. Whether you're encouraging some cutie to shark dive off the coast of Cape Town or stroll through the vineyards of Bordeaux, travel offers the opportunity to check off some of those things on your life's "must do" list.

6. You can order beer in three languages. Pints, steins, or mugs, enough said.

Filed under: Learning