Soon you may be contemplating New Year’s resolutions, and along with desires to read more, learn a language, or stop smoking, finding time to travel will definitely be on people’s minds.

But, of all possible resolutions, travel is often the easiest to ignore or postpone.

After all, we can’t imagine the beauty and wonder of places or people that we can’t imagine—they’re all ‘unknown unknowns’. Things we don’t know, we just don’t know.

That’s precisely why, of all resolutions, travel may be the most important thing to push oneself to do. Without imagination, the mind grays—the same way the body ages quicker without exercise. And, the best way to fuel imagination is to load up on new sights, strange smells, fascinating cultures, distant lands, and different people.

Giving in to the desire to see the world can supercharge your life. A new book: On the Face of It: A Traveler On His World—is just in time for the New Year. It explores the extraordinary benefits and unique results of traveling to a strange place. Here’s a few excerpts:

Not everyone can create great beauty and wonder in their lives. Not everyone has the belief that they can manifest something entirely unique. But these folks can still find a corner of the world that interests them, and go have an experience that is singular in history. Out of it they could draw any inspiration, joy, or valuable lesson they need or want, using it as fuel for a creative fire in any furnace, whether entrepreneurial or artistic.

If an unfamiliar place keeps the brain alert, what other effects could it have on the traveler’s cognition? Could it make aromas stronger? Could it make colors brighter and music sweeter? Are memories sharper when formed around unfamiliar places, people, and things? 

If one waits for exactly the right time in their life to put a months’ worth of clothes into a backpack and jet off to another continent, there’s a distinct possibility that the singular moment, as they imagine it in their dreams, will never arrive for them. Herein lies the counseling set forth in this book. 

Dreams tend to be born among the clouds and made reality in the dirt, that is to say that high-minded ideas will, like the clouds, remain forever out of reach unless the dreamer realizes that by putting their hands on something solid, they can build whatever dream they want. So it goes with travel; any kind of travel.

Don’t wait to give yourself the most meaningful gift of all: Just do it!