5 Lessons Traveling The World Taught Me
None of them are "poor people are so happy"
Last January, I shipped out to Nepal to join the Peace Corps. It was a landmark for me, the 20th country I’d been to. Over the past six years, I’ve hopped planes to as many places as I could, sleeping in hostels, motorcycling across mountains, and jumping out of planes. I’ve danced under a street lamp with a stranger in Paris, eating Ramen in Tokyo, and taken salsa lessons in Medellin.
“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.”
-Oliver Wendell Holmes
There is nothing so good for the soul as getting out of your comfort zone and into the world. Here are five lessons I’ve taken from my trips abroad.
1. The News Is Full of Crap
I’ve been to several places that the news told me were dangerous. Cali and Buenaventura, Colombia. Juarez, Mexico. Sihanoukville, Cambodia. Not once have I been robbed, injured, or taken advantage of. Have I had to exercise caution? Yes. Were there times I felt unsafe? Certainly.
By exercising common sense and making sure not to stray from my things, I’ve been able to mitigate potential problems.
There is nowhere on Earth that’s all bad. If you believe the news, certain countries are occupied exclusively by militant guerillas, waiting to slit your throat the second you cross the border.
This is not true.
The world is simply full of people. People who want the same things you do. They want to take their families on vacation. They want to go back and forth to work without incident. To live and not cause harm to others.
Don’t let the media rob you of what could be the most beautiful experience of your life.
“No danger seems to me so great as knowing I left a mystery behind me through fear”
-Reepicheep The Mouse, The Voyage of The Dawn Treader.
2. You Do Things a Certain Way Because of Culture and Coincidence, Not Because Your Way is Right
There are a few human crimes we can all agree are morally wrong. Past that, there is no right or wrong way to be human. There are only cultural experiments, working out to greater or lesser degrees over time.
We love identity and individualism in the West. We have self-improvement books, life coaches, and all manner of self-centered success literature forming a multibillion-dollar industry.
This is not the case in many Eastern countries I’ve been to, yet they plug along without exploding. All of life is a grand experiment, and your culture’s mad scientist way of living is not more appropriate than another culture’s.
3. You Are Stronger Than You Ever Thought Possible
When I had lived in Australia for six months, I experienced the hard “thud” that comes from realizing that you can’t actually run away from your problems.
I hit this wall thousands of miles from home, without my normal support system, and I was forced to confront the fact that I was my own common denominator.
When you’re out of your comfort zone and distraction wears off, all you have left is yourself. You sink or swim, learn to be enough, or perish. It’s the most wonderful feeling in the world when you make it through.
4. Friends Lurk Around Every Corner
When I first started traveling, I went to Europe alone. I was terrified that I would be lonely. That worry proved ridiculous from the moment I lined up for my flight to Dublin.
The man I sat next to on the flight bought me breakfast and found me a hostel. I met a Canadian there, then we met an American in the next hostel, and the next day our little family grew to include a Swiss man. We traveled together for a whole week.
From the moment I stayed in my first backpacker's hostel, I was surrounded by friends and lovers. Are you looking for an international perspective? Look no further than your average hostel. There are drinking games, card games, Pub crawls, excellent conversations, and wonderful people galore.
5. Leaving is The Hardest Part. The Rest Takes Care of Itself
When I first started traveling, I had just gone through a breakup. We had planned a trip together, and after we broke up, I didn’t want to go alone.
My father took me out for ice cream, helped me realize that I would regret not going far more than I ever would regret going, and gave me the number of a travel agent.
From the moment I lined up for my flight at the airport, the river of life took care of me. I made friends in the boarding line to Dublin. I made more friends on the plane, one of whom bought me breakfast and found me my first-ever hostel.
Sometimes, you have to assemble the parachute on the way down.
Now Imma’ plug some journals :)
I’m getting better about journaling at home, but I’ve always journaled when I’m out traveling the world. I have pages and pages of journals filled with revelations, ideas, and realizations that I’ve had while traveling. Every time I open them, I’m brought right back to the things I’ve seen and the wonderful people I’ve met abroad.
There is nothing more precious to me than my travel journals. If my house were to burn down tomorrow, they would be the first thing I’d save. Baron Fig was kind enough to donate one of their Confidant notebooks before I left for Nepal, and it became my favorite journal the second my pen touched the paper. They’re durable, the paper quality is insane, and the last pages are tearable, for making origami on a long train ride or perhaps for exchanging contact info with a cute local when you’re on an adventure.
If you’re planning a trip post-COVID, the Baron Fig starter kit will cover all your bases, protecting your thoughts and ideas from the elements.
Make sure you invest in a journal if you’re going traveling. It doesn’t have to be one that I recommend, but I promise you that it’ll be the greatest decision you’ve ever made for your own self-discovery.