What Travel Has Taught Me

‘Life is a series of experiences, each one of which makes us bigger, even though sometimes it is hard to realize this. For the world was built to develop character, and we must learn that the setbacks and grieves which we endure help us in our marching onward.’ – Henry Ford.

Whilst on my most recent trip on the Trans-Siberian railway, I spent three weeks in Russia. I had some serious misconceptions about Russia before I arrived in the country. I worried more than I’d like to admit about crossing the border between Mongolia and Russia, having heard / read some horror stories about the tough border guards and problems that arose if documentation wasn’t meticulously in order. I saw a lot of Western media reports about Russia, most of them disparaging. And how could I miss the Ukraine / Russia dispute that is ongoing?

But do you know what? I was completely wrong about Russia. Sure, the country has its problems and I don’t doubt that it has its difficult international relations and some pretty atrocious things have happened that probably get covered up or reported with a very one-sided bias by our media. But. And there is a big ‘but’ here. Everyone that we encountered (with one exception) was kind, friendly, welcoming and helpful. We couldn’t fault a single Russian (with that one exception) on how they treated us. People went out of their way to make sure we reached our accommodation safely, ate well, went on good trips and didn’t get lost. And all this while we spoke no Russian and many of them spoke no English. And do you know what? The border crossing was absolutely fine too. I never needed to have worried.

This brings me onto the first really huge important life lesson that travel has taught me. Travel has shown me that people are inherently good.

When I’ve been struggling in a new country, people tended to want to help. If I’ve been destitute, people have shown me huge generosity and kindness. When I’ve gotten lost, people have gone out of their way to show me where to go (even when we don’t speak each other’s language and must resort to gestures and a lot of pointing). If I’ve been hungry, people have fed me, or at least pointed me in the direction of a good place to get food. I’ve generally only ever encountered people who have wanted to make me feel welcome and secure and happy in the country they call home, just as I hope that they feel welcome and secure and happy in my country when they pay a visit.

So I’ve learnt that what goes around comes around. I now always try to help the lost person find their way home. I’ve bought someone a coffee just because. I try to pay it forward. I smile more at people. Yes, even in London, where people do find a smile from a stranger a bit odd! Do you know what? I’ve been surprised by how many actually do smile back. Yes, even in London… It all sounds very sappy, but travel has shown me and led me to truly believe that humans are inherently good.

It can be hard to remember that when it seems that a day can’t go by without another story in the headlines, telling of bloody violence and hatred somewhere in the world. It can seem like human beings do inherently hate one another. But it’s worth remembering that people are often guilty of having misconceptions of others. I’m guilty of it myself. We all have internal bias that are exacerbated by what we hear in the news and influenced by what others around us think and believe. No one is immune.

This leads me neatly into the second really huge important life lesson that travel has taught me. Travel has taught me to always look beyond the media.

Don’t rely on your daily newspaper for all of your worldly understanding. Don’t just watch the BBC News at Ten and then head off to bed. Look outside the box. That isn’t the whole truth you’re seeing or hearing. There’s more to that story than meets the eye.

Until I travelled, I never fully appreciated this. Now that I have done some travelling, I fully understand the importance of looking beyond what the media wants us to see and believe and to delve deeper to get the full story, from every angle possible.

Now, I read travel books written by people that have been to the country and have spent time learning the history. I try to read from about four different national newspapers (across the political and ridiculousness spectrum). I do watch the news on the BBC (is it only me that finds the intro music a tad exciting and adrenaline inducing?!) but I also try and catch up on Al-Jazeera from time to time as well. I read blogs, I investigate, I seek out new information so that I can try and get a fully informed view. No, of course I don’t do that for every single news story that comes out, but I do try to ensure my general world view remains rounded and not based on one or two media outlets.

And whilst travel makes me choose to take a more rounded view of the world, it also hasn’t often left me with a choice when it comes to finding out who I really am either. My third really huge important life lesson travel has taught me? It’s this – travel has made me more aware of who I am – warts and all!

I’ve learnt a lot about my character through travel. The thing is, travel gives ample opportunity and space to think. So I do. I’m an over-thinker anyway so give me an opportunity and I’ll be quick to think some more! And my thinking quite often turns to reflection and quite often, I reflect on myself. My life, my personality, my situations, my pathway and where I’m heading, what I want from the world and what I think I can offer the world.

So, thanks to the space and time that travelling provides me, I have been able to open my eyes and discover my limitations, my weaknesses, my strengths, the good about me, the bad about me and the downright ugly parts of me too. Not only that, but I’ve really tried to accept all those facets of me too. I want to improve on the less desirable characteristics and promote the good parts about me. I want to become a generally nicer, better person and to give something back to the people in my life.

I’ve learnt more about my ambitions too, although the courage I need to achieve my ambitions is still escaping me. Travelling makes me braver and more confident, so hopefully in time this confidence will become so deeply ingrained that I’ll no longer fear my ambitions and I’ll stop putting them off. Oh, and maybe I should be a bit more proactive. I’ve proven to myself time and again, through travel and the experience I’ve had, that I am more determined to achieve than I used to think. So I like to think that achieving my ambitions is a matter of when, rather than if.

Those are three pretty massive life lessons. I’ve learnt a couple of less profound things too – like the fact that travel makes me fitter (although not necessarily healthier). The mere act of not sitting at a desk for eight hours a day instantly makes me fitter when I’m travelling. The fact that I then do activities I wouldn’t normally do, such as horse riding, kayaking, hiking up mountains, walking endlessly around cities, swimming and snorkelling, all adds up to equate to me being generally fitter when I travel.

I love that I can feel my clothes getting a bit looser and I can climb a hill without getting ridiculously out of breath because I’ve been exercising more without even trying. It’s fun to exercise when that means walking around a new city, or snorkelling over coral reefs, or kayaking through turquoise blue water beneath bright sunshine. It doesn’t feel like exercise then. It feels like FUN!

Travel doesn’t make me necessarily healthier though. My diet always suffers when I’m on the road. I eat fewer meals but I eat fewer greens too. My fruit and veg quota takes a serious nosedive. I drink less water and more alcohol. My pizza intake doubles. But hey. I guess it all balances out, right?! Now that I’m back in a settled routine for the time being, my healthy food intake as skyrocketed, but my fitness has gone down again. I suppose one day I’ll find a happy medium?

And the second slightly less profound but certainly still important lesson from travel? Well, I’ve finally learnt the value of money. I never used to be very good with money. I used to fritter away every penny of my monthly pay cheque on goodness knows what, and I’d never have anything to show for it at the end. Travelling has given my money a purpose and made me realise the value of having a savings account that isn’t empty all the time.

I don’t mean that my savings all go towards travelling (although, that’s a lie, because lately that’s all I’ve spent my savings on!). But I do find it so much easier to save nowadays, knowing that the money I put aside each month is going to be put to good use eventually. And I’ve learnt that there is satisfaction to be had watching a pile of cash grow and grow.

Now that I know that money is better spent on making memories than material items, I’m happier to save it up and go without for longer – whereas before I thought I could have it all, the clothes, the nights out and the holidays. Now, I’d much prefer to forego a new top or a new outfit in favour of putting the cash towards a cheeky weekend away or a day out somewhere. And the best thing? Whereas I used to get so guilty spending money, but I’d go and spend it anyway, now I feel much more in control and stronger about telling myself ‘no’. The guilt is gone!

I would like to point out that I have spent weeks working on this post. It’s been quite a difficult one to write – getting the right balance and finding the right words to explain myself. I’ve spent weeks editing this piece of writing – re-wording it, erasing entire paragraphs and re-writing them, stressing over how I come over and generally messing about with it to ensure I’m happy with what I’m saying. I’m still not 100% certain about everything I’ve written but the time has come to press ‘publish’.

What has travel taught you? Has it made you see the world differently to how you used to perceive it? Let me know your thoughts, I’d love to hear them!

NB: I’ll end with a quick announcement. I have my next trip lined up *drum roll please!* I’m off to Berlin for a long weekend in the middle of October to spend some quality time with L and C and experience everything that Germany’s capital has to offer. I can’t wait!