Well traveled labels – true or not?
Escape the ordinary
Travel forces you to do the unexpected and break out of patterns. Many live in a secure bubble rarely traveling out of a 25 miles radius from their home. There’s nothing wrong with that but even venturing to the other side of your city, county, state can be transformative. Figuring out what train to take in Tokyo when all the signage is in Kangi can leave you feeling triumphant and strong. I live within a half hour drive from the Tijuana, Mexico border and after I walked across, took a taxi and arrived at my dental appointment solo then returned home without incident I felt triumphant and intrepid.
Transform relationships
Travel will change you, at least internally. No one wants to to be the blowhard bragging about their latest jet setting adventure. However, the deeper realizations and encounters will leave an impression. Those back home may not be able to identify it but they’ll know.
After decades of living away from my parents – who had been very strict with my freedoms as their first born girl – I became their neighbor during the last years of their lives. We renewed our love aside from duty to connect more authentically with who we’d become. Our roles shifted as they could see how capable without threatening our bonds. The last time I saw my mother she happily lent me a big suitcase for yet another overseas trip. I’ll never forget her wry smile as she looked off from her condo landing after waving goodbye. She died suddenly from a massive heart attack the night I was flying home from South America. I like to think that we passed in the heavens and I was grateful to be home to help family and friends in the aftermath.
Travel with a sibling, a loved one or friend and you’ll get to know each other in new ways. Begin by taking short trip with a new travel buddy. See how it goes and if positive, repeat. You get to know them more intimately for the better or the worse. While my family took regular road trips across country to visit grandparents most every summer, my sister and I hadn’t traveled together until we took a weekend away to Sacramento by train with our toddler sons in tow. It was great fun but better yet was a weekend getaway in Palm Springs on our own. We hiked, swam, and promised to find ways to travel together again. Since then we’ve crisscrossed New Orleans parishes by foot, drove across West Texas, and will soon take off together for Japan.
Conversely, it doesn’t always work out well. I’ve been on trips with companions who ended up having very different values than I do. There was no way of experiencing that beforehand. I entered the arrangement without expectations and loved the opportunity to see parts of the world that I wouldn’t have otherwise.
Break stereotypes about yourself and other cultures
You can’t be who you were comfortably at home when you’re on the road. You may identify as a school teacher, mother, banker, fisherman but who are you far from all those familiar environments where no one knows you? There’s no fall back position unless you choose to stay in your favorite hotel chain, eat at familiar franchise restaurants or take big cruise trips where everything is done to keep you comfortable. There’s a time and place for all those options. Get out and do something new. I really pushed myself last year. Even with a bit of vertigo I ended up on the other side of fear after ziplining off a mountain in upstate New York.
Little things can leave the deepest impressions
I delight in remembering how two French friends would purse their lips and blow out to punctuate their comments. In Sri Lanka there’s a small head wiggle that speaks volumes. In Japan the short nod or bow of acknowledgement, the offering of a business card with both hands, is unlike anywhere else. These memories make me smile, bringing me closer to each of those cultures.
It’s far too easy to see distant people through the narrow lens of news outlets, film or social media. Traces of understanding grow from face to face interactions. While reading books, fiction and non about destinations help, only living in another country, slow traveling for months or marrying into a foreign culture can really give deep understandings of another culture.

A well traveled friend, Cat Lin of For Two Please enjoying maple syrup in coffee in Northern Quebec Province
Eat!
Nothing immerses you in a new country that eating new foods and savoring authentic versions where they evolved. I thought I knew fish tacos after growing up in Southern California but still remember being entranced by the woman patting tortillas flat with her hands and roasting them on a street in Rosarito, in Baja Mexico. Biting into a fresh filled street taco opens up another world entirely.
Food is the universal language. Sitting with a local family, watching them cook, finding new fruits and vegetables in local markets yields revelations. Bring curry home from India, buy Tajine spice in Tijuana, share a sourdough starter from Alaska – the memories refresh with every aroma. Life is richer with every bite.
Become more comfortable with change
The world is changing like it or not. Flexibility is a cultured talent and world travelers have to adapt constantly. It becomes a new skill, a muscle – soon you’re like a bamboo reed flexing in the wind, strong from movement. The well traveled know that letting go of plans and expectations can lead to even better outcomes.
I once took a float plane to the remote Alaskan village of Tenakee for a long weekend. We’d rented a cabin near the dock but brought no supplies, planning to eat in the local cafe and enjoy the hot springs. Then we discovered the shops and the lone cafe shuttered for the holiday weekend. Fuming, I tramped down to the bath house for the lady’s hour not knowing how I was going to get through the next few days. I recognized two girls from Juneau. They were talking about what to do with all the food they’d brought since several friends didn’t arrive on the last flight. I summoned the courage to introduce myself and explained our predicament. Soon we walked with them through the forest to a beautiful beach cabin. A weekend of feasts with new friends unfolded.
Come home grateful
I once told an acquaintance that I live in gratitude and they asked “Where is that?!”
To travel is a privilege. For the fortunate, coming and going at will can become a habit and hubris can sprout ugly entitlement. It doesn’t have to be that way if you work to stay present and respectful. Not everyone wants to travel, to strike out into the unknown and not everyone can. But travel can make a difference in others lives providing livelihoods in service, and the creation of jobs. Finding ways to connect with locals and not just foreign investor backed businesses bring welcome support in communities impacted by tourism. As the world strains to adjust to changes travel will have to adapt. The challenge of our age is making it work both for visitors and destinations.
Accept the consequences
There are repercussions that linger long past the remnants of jet lag. One ‘problem’ with travel is that once happily home you’ll already be thinking about the next trip.
As my partner and I flew away from the island of Sulewesi after an intensely beautiful week diving with incredible underwater creatures and making new friends, we looked out the window at the receding islands below. “I want to spend more time in this part of the world,” I murmured and he whispered back, “I do too.” We haven’t returned yet. It may happen or not but the world is full of so many treasures that I’ve stopped making bucket lists. There’s peace and acceptance in that.
The well traveled are story tellers
There is a future where fossil fuels will run out, be banned, or limited to the very rich. The days of jumping on an airplane, owning a car that to drive at will, or seeing exotic ports from the deck of a giant cruise ship may end in our lifetime. What will be our legacy? Will travel continue?
The stories you share about the world will remain. Perhaps we can create something good out of our travels – compassion, tolerance, patience and gratitude. That will never rely on resources other than the willingness to share and others to listen.
Learning by example
My aunt Fawnee is in her mid nineties and still as sharp as a woman half her age. I love nothing more than hearing her stories about living in Thailand after World War II, how she learned to shoot a gun for protection when the soldiers were away, how she played Mahjong with the other officer’s wives and would observe surgeries on the base to learn medical terms. Eventually she became a professional medical secretary. She never imagined that life after a childhood in Minnesota’s Rust Belt. She didn’t plan on being well traveled but continues to enthrall and inspire all who know her. I hope to live long enough to follow her lead.
I am bookmarking this article. It’s so very well articulated. Getting rid of cultural stereotypes – absolutely. And eating the foods offered in a different culture
A thoughtful, well written piece about a subject that sometimes comes to mind. I am enormously grateful that my father modeled wanderlust by taking us to live in Mexico for a year when I was 9 and to live in England for a year when I was 15. He was a public school teacher, but he found ways to make travel part of his and our lives. My parents didn’t bat an eye when I told them I was going to study in Colombia when I was 19. Then, as you explained, life happens. Fortunately, my life has had a place for travel and I happened (second time’s the charm) to partner up with someone who enjoys it with me. We spawned a digital nomad —surprise— who has put down roots in Mexico City.
How fortunate you were to live in a foreign country while still young! Aren’t we lucky to have travel partners? My 23 year old son has traveled but unfortunately not much on his own. We’ll see.
I am bookmarking this article. It’s so very well articulated. Getting rid of cultural stereotypes – absolutely. And eating the foods offered in a different culture – always. As we always told our kids, be participants on the planet, not just spectators. Love the article.
Love that: be participants on the planet and not just spectators. Thank you, Lori.
Too often I just assume that everyone knows why travel is such a life affirming and expanding endeavor. Often for me, it’s just a vague sense of wellness rather than an intellectual exercise. Thanks for putting all those feelings into words.
Thank you, Tom. It was a bit scary to be so transparent about my journey to the present through the lens of travel. I have always admired your intrepid travels.
What a thought provoking post Elaine. We travelled full time for 2 years living a nomadic lifestyle. In many ways this experienced transformed us, yet (in other ways) , we believe we are the same same. Even so, we acknowledge relationships have changed, we have changed, as we enjoy more travel adventures. Indeed, we believe we have escaped the ordinary too a degree. And, we strive to be insightful – to break stereotypes about ourselves and others.
Thank you for the thoughtful comment, Estelle. I’d love to attempt traveling for a year but I’m waiting for my husband to be in a position to join me first!
Words of wisdom to live by. It’s amazing in this day and age and how globalized the world is that some of us are still stuck with narrow minds. I think travel will give most people a good dose of humility (though not for everyone). Still, it would great to see how the other half lives and if only more of us (especially Americans) experienced other cultures through travel, the world would be a better place.
Thank you, Adonis, for the thoughtful response. I so wish more Americans would immerse themselves in other cultures. It’s transformative.
This is quite the travel analysis and I relate so much with so many things you describe here. I love when you say “Flexibility is a cultured talent“. It’s so true! You have to adapt with so many things when you travel, even with the changes you go through. Also, couldn’t agree more with being grateful when you return from a trip. I feel it every single time.
Merci, Marlene. I’m glad the post resonates.
Elaine, these are all great benefits of being well-traveled. Another one is traveling to spend more time with family and growing those relationships, too. I also feel gratitude at the ability to travel. It is such a blessing to see and experience different cultures, the warmth of so many people, and beautiful landscapes. We live in an amazing world!
You are so right about travel to spend time with family and I have, do often. It’s not an exhaustive list!
I love this article Elaine. It resonated with me on so many levels. There are so many threads that weave together to make travel important – learning the intricacies of ourselves, the dynamics of our families, and the culture of others. Great article – will share!
Thanks, Hannah, you are a travel pro and I so appreciate your comments. Thank you also for sharing.
This is a fantastic list. It’s always nice to return home and share your experiences with friends and family about the big wide world out there. And hopfully act as an inspiration for them! Food is definitely one of my favorite reasons to travel. There’s nothing better than finding a new favorite local dish and trying it out all over the country. Thanks for sharing!
So glad you enjoyed the list, Stevo. I’m a fellow foodie and so enjoy looking for good local culinary adventures.
A very thoughtful and therefore inspiring read – made me re-think my own motivation for travelling….and the benefits which are many. With your mindset, I wish you many more positive results coming from exploring the world <3
So grateful for the sweet comment, Renata. I do work to stay positive. It’s so amazing to have a life in travel, isn’t it?
Travel does change one, in many spoken (or written) and unspoken ways. For me, travel gives me a new perspective and I feel honored and grateful to live a life that gives me so much richness. On a personal level, by being outside my comfort zone in so many countries, my confidence has increased exponentially and this has ripple effects in all parts of my life. Travel is magical and the rewards are beyond what we can imagine. Great thought-provoking article, Elaine.
Thank you, Rosemary. Yes, you’re so right about the ripple effect through the different aspects of your life. I appreciate your comment.
I agree that travel can be beneficially transformative and that constant travel isn’t really sustainable for most of us. Like you, I love picking up the little mannerisms that can capture people from a certain area, and the food that can be experienced along the way. I also agree that you cannot really know a friendship until you travel — you can be best of friends in the office, but if you have wildly different approaches to life, it will come out immediately in your approach to travel.
You’ve got so many of my points yourself. Travel is bound to be full of surprises – both good and not so. The point is to keep opening up to life and moving!
As we got older, we travelled more and more. Part of this really had to be to escape the ordinary. The challenges of navigating new and foreign environments adds new skills every time. I am lucky that my hubby and I travel well together. In my younger days, I found one or two travelling companions that I certainly could not travel with again. I think that the well traveled definitely have so many tales to tell. Unfortunately most people really don’t seem to want to hear about it. A good reflective post. Thanks.
Thanks, Linda. We live and learn if we’re lucky. I love trying out new cultures and navigations with my partner. We look forward to lots more travel.
I am so glad I learnt most of these in my early days of travels otherwise I would be a right total asshole right now. I always go to new places and meet new people with an open mind, it makes the travels much more pleasant and take away better experiences.
I can’t imagine you being difficult, Danik! But then we are world travelers from other sides of the planet.