This mandate from Ancient Greece suggests there are benefits to developing an identity; advantages that are clear when we consider that the research evidence on the identity achievement status shows it is associated with greater well-being, personal growth, self-acceptance, optimism, more successful resolution of later stages in Erikson's theory, reduced anxiety, etc.

And there are many paths that may lead to introspection, such as journalling, researching careers, learning about different religions, and so on. But one approach to identity exploration that is often overlooked, and certainly relevant to this time of year, is travel? Travel? Yep. That's right.

We become much more aware of our values, skills, limitations, and dormant interests, i.e., the "I-plan-on-checking-that-out-someday-when-I-have-time" when we are no longer roped in by the routines of everyday life. But how to slip away, especially when time and/or money may be in short supply?

Well, we can all at least take a walk in a different neighborhood and observe how others are spending their time -- and how we might do so too. The key to travel as a means of self-exploration is not necessarily an exotic destination, but what we learn along the journey, whether it be considering a new career idea after overhearing people talk about the business they want to start while we are sitting in that local coffee shop we hadn't gotten around to visiting until now, or how differently we view ourselves while we are sitting on that beach in a foreign country; a destination to which we did not arrive without navigating our way through the local language, currency, social customs.