30 Lessons That Traveling Has Taught Me

One day I started thinking about how unbelievably valuable travel has been for the quality of my life and just how many lessons I've learned because of it.  This is by no means an exhaustive list, but here are 30 lessons that traveling has taught me. Some are serious, some are silly, but all have had their own unique impact on my understanding of the beautiful, colorful world we live in!

1.   Living abroad can make even the most independent person completely dependent on others.

2.   Sometimes you just have to let go of your pride (especially if you’re someone who’s usually independent) and ask for help.

3.  No matter where you are or what culture you find yourself in, people need each other.

4.  When it comes to what people think of us, we tend to care less about what people from other cultures think than we do about people from our own culture. This can be both positive and negative.

5.  The honesty and imitative behavior of children tends to be a reflection of the values a society teaches to its members. 

6.  We all think people of ‘races’ other than our own ‘all look the same’…until we spend time living among them. 

7.  Traveling can shatter your materialistic desires. Less is more. Plus you come to realize how people with far less than you are far happier. 

8.  There are wonderful people everywhere. And there are people that suck everywhere. 

9.   Drinking milk in other parts of the world makes you realize the milk in the US doesn’t actually taste like milk.

10.   People everywhere really do want the same things: to be happy, to be healthy, and to be loved.

11.  Being in another country frees your spirit from the chains of conformity and social expectations, and you may find yourself doing things you never imagined you would do at home.

12.  Stereotypes of immigrants may exist for some slightly legitimate reason, but they are largely disproven once one visits the immigrant’s home country.

13.  Traveling makes you realize just how much you take for granted.

14.  Being in a place where you don’t know the language at all actually pushes you to be more extroverted; it’s the only way you’ll be able to get things done.

15.  Travel forces you to admit that ‘reality’ is simply one perspective. 

16.  You cannot truly understand how irresponsible your neglect of foreigners in your own country is until YOU become the foreigner in another country.

17.  A Lonely Planet guide book is NO substitute for talking to a traveler who has ‘been there, done that.’

18.  Traveling in non-Western countries makes it hard to ignore the unearned privileges of being white, which is a necessary lesson in humility. 

19.  Language barriers force you to connect with people beyond words, and often these connections can prove to be more powerful than those with people you can speak to. 

20.  Traveling forces you to question everything you’ve ever believed, and begins to shape new beliefs within you.

21.  Poor language skills may make individuals seem unintelligent, naïve, innocent; this is usually not the case.

22.  Non-Western peoples do not need to be ‘saved’ from their misery; they usually know more about joy than you may ever know.

23.  Picking your nose in public is perfectly acceptable in many parts of the world. 

24.  What they say is true; traveling and tourism really aren’t the same, even though there’s a bit of both involved in each.

25.  Travel mishaps provide excellent lessons in learning to go with the flow and accepting things you cannot change.

26.  Spontaneity and "I'll figure it out when I get there" can lead to the best traveling experiences, but sometimes this really does need to be balanced with planning (I've learned this the hard way).

27.  Taking part in another culture's traditions can make you realize that all the things you find so 'exciting' about home are actually quite boring.

28. Sometimes the real reason we leave home is, oddly enough, to escape ourselves. And traveling, oddly enough, makes this possible.

29.  While traveling may make you nostalgic for certain kinds of foods, hot showers, proper toilets, etc, the only things really missing when you're on the road are the people you wish you could share your adventure with.

30.  Traveling will completely alter you: your perceptions, your identity, your life.