Go places alone
If you want to expand your mind. The quickest way to do it is to go places far away from home. When you have the itch to explore. You need to scratch it. Especially while you're young.
I have always been fascinated by travel, and I've been fortunate enough to do a lot of it. As a child, I would constantly ask adults about the places they have been and what they were like. They would always share stories from a few trips, but then talk at length about the places they wished they'd gone, but didn't. Since then, I have been determined to travel without any regrets.
As you start traveling more, the wanderlust gets more intense. It starts to become difficult to find others that want to go on the same adventures as you do. I found this frustrating at the beginning of my travel arc. I felt like I was at the mercy of my friends. It finally hit me that I could just go to these places alone, whenever I wanted.
Traveling solo is a continuous flow experience. Especially if you do so in a foreign country where you don't speak the language. You are forced to be alert at all times. Everything is new and everything is interesting. When you are in these environments, your mind is expanding by the second. You are taking in completely new perspectives, sights and sounds of nature, ways of life, and cultures that stay with you forever. These experiences mold who you are.
The art of solo traveling has its ups and downs (which I have become addicted to). It forces you to either be comfortable being alone, or it forces you to be outgoing and make new friends. Some of the most magnetic people I have met have been on my travels. And there is a special bond that cannot be taken away from those relationships.
If you have an itch to explore. Book the flight and go. Don't wait or seek permission from anyone. Just go!