The TOP LINE
Being well-traveled is about developing a humble, accepting personality, not adding more accomplishments to your feed.
Here’s the thing about traveling well: it’s not really about you.
To clarify, being well-traveled isn’t about your travel accomplishments. It’s not about the things that you have gotten to do, like the number of places visited, cultures seen, beers drank, museums checked into, beaches jumped on, epiphanies reached, etc. Being well-traveled means understanding your small place in a larger world. It’s knowing how to observe first, before acting. Its thinking about another person before yourself.
Let’s break apart some conceptions about travel. Traveling doesn’t mean you have to be uncomfortable. Traveling doesn’t mean you have to come back with a life changing story. Traveling doesn’t mean you have to “Do These Things Before You Die”. Traveling isn’t about telling other people what they definitely have to check out because it was soooooo cool when you did it back when you studied abroad.
You know what being well traveled looks like? It’s the people who don’t immediately get up when the plane has reached its gate. It’s the people who walk into a place, take a deep breath as they look around, and then take their camera out. It’s the people who talk to the check-in desk person at ask “what is life like here?” before asking “where should we go?” Chances are, you don’t notice someone who is well-traveled…because they’re usually trying to get out of your way.
The thoughts shared on this site likely reiterate a few things some good travelers already know. There may be some advice you can also find in many other articles, all vying to make you hungry with wanderlust. There are some concepts that not everyone will agree on. But there are ideas that you can’t find in a filtered Instagram post. There are stories that will be unique, with a time, place, and people that define only a single point in the universe.
Overall, this blog isn’t about how to be a better traveler. It’s about seeing, learning, and authentically interacting with other people.
Well Traveled 