How Travel Expands Perspective
I wish everyone could experience the magic of exploring countries beyond their own. To witness different viewpoints, sometimes radically different from your own. To walk in someone else’s shoes. I’m fortunate to have lived in around 24 countries, some for short visits, others for months. Each taught me something about myself.
When I first traveled, before the ubiquity of social media and smartphones, navigating unfamiliar situations required real effort. I couldn’t just look things up or use a translator app. I had to learn enough of the language to get by.
More than recent travels, those early experiences taught me how much I love my home and family. There were tears in the beginning, but eventually, I adapted. Travel showed me that most people are kind and willing to help. It also taught me to be cautious, that not everyone is nice. I saw how different cultures lived, what was important to them, and how it compared to my own upbringing. I learned to make friends with strangers, to be a good guest, and to rely on myself when alone.
Returning home always brought a new perspective. A fresh way of looking at the world, new approaches to problems, and the realization that people everywhere are fundamentally the same. They love their families, want to give and receive love, work hard, and try their best. We have more in common than not.
My travels have been mostly in Europe, East Asia, and South America, so vast areas remain unexplored. Perhaps more countries would reveal further nuances. Cultures that suppress women’s voices, for example, don’t appeal to me. However, I know that even when I disagree with someone’s way of life, we are still fundamentally similar. It’s just that some places struggle to ask for or receive connection without the use of power or coercion.
The stories we tell, through myths and folklore, may seem different on the surface – elves, vampires, dragons. But the underlying lessons are universal. The human condition is universal. Contemporary fiction, fantasy, from any country, shares these same themes: the yearning to be understood, the search for love, the question of life’s purpose.
Travel allowed me to see this before the internet made connection easier. But even with online resources, nothing beats experiencing a country in person. Walking the cobbled streets of a village, visiting a historical palace, feeling the weight of history in the air. A picture is worth a thousand words, but a touch evokes a million emotions.
Music may sound different, with varied instruments and regional beats. But that’s just the surface. The rhythms reflect the history of the place, but the lyrics, worldwide, share common themes: love, acceptance, kindness, meaning, dreams.
There’s beauty in realizing that the world is vast yet small. We are tiny cogs in Earth’s history, yet our individual experiences are profound, at least to us, and leave a legacy.
I hope my legacy will be positive. I may not achieve global fame, but that doesn’t diminish my life’s meaning. I matter because I matter to those who love me. I matter because I love myself. I want to experience all that life offers, and though it’s sometimes harsh, I know there’s more than this moment. Life ebbs and flows, and realizing that we are all just humans, searching for the same things, brings a deeper connection to the world that I might not have found without travel.
Travel has made me who I am today. All my experiences, collectively, have helped me see fear, sadness, and anger as results of lacking what we all want: love, acceptance, and happiness. It’s an oversimplification, but that’s the point. We overcomplicate things too much. Let’s go back to the basics.
What formative experience have you had in an unfamiliar place that allowed you to see things from a new perspective?
