What have been some of the most meaningful travel experiences you’ve had, and how has it changed your perspective on the world?

11 comments

1. Traveling has been one of the most meaningful experiences of my life. It has opened my eyes to new cultures and ways of life, and has made me more aware of the world around me. I now have a deeper appreciation for the diversity of people and places and an increased understanding of the interconnectedness of the world.

2. I’ve had some incredible travel experiences that have changed my perspective on the world. One of the most meaningful was a trip to India, which showed me the beauty of a culture and way of life that was completely different from my own. It opened my eyes to the diversity of the world and made me realize how much we have to learn from each other.

3. Germany. Concentration camps, the wall, the buildings people hid in.

4. I love just being somewhere different and seeing how big the world is. It reminds me that I can be in a bubble sometimes, and there’s so much more out there. People live differently; their “everyday” is different from mine. Getting a better understanding of how people grew up and lived also makes me think about how that shapes their perspective on the world (and mine).

   Going solo is fun for me because I have freedom over the itinerary and I do grow from the challenges of having to manage all that on my own. I often find I’m more capable than I realize. But going with company is fun too, and it’s nice to pass the reins over now and then, and share some fun memories.

5. I traveled to India during college with a group of friends, it changed my whole outlook on other countries

   We were constantly sexually harassed by EVERYONE, our Taxi driver made gross remarks, the hotel staff asked us questions about our breasts, even the police sexually harassed us asking if we wanted to be “strip searched” and laughing about it, we had people forcing themselves next to us to take selfies, we were groped everywhere we went

   And they just saw this as normal, people treated us like absolute shit there like it was the norm, even Indian women just allowed themselves to be sexually harassed and assaulted without saying anything

   We left when we spoke with an Indian waitress about the harassment females get and she said “No no, don’t say anything, they will beat you if you do”

   It made me feel grateful that I didn’t live somewhere like that.

6. Personally Iceland it really awakened me to what different societies can be like

7. Context: i was a female solo traveler from Europe with a backpack. I remember taking the Greyhound to Houston TX. My friend who lives there warned me about the area where i arrive with my bus, so i made sure that i could get myself an uber. I was outside, waiting for my uber to arrive. It was a rough area, and I think I kinda stood out. But everyone who talked to me tried to make sure i had a ride or at least some way to get away from that station. It taught me that rough areas don’t have to be all bad and that there are also people who look out for you because of it.

8. I once went to Cali alone (a friend canceled on me) I went everywhere by myself. It got me comfortable being alone. I made a bar tender friend on Coronado island who took me out to dinner and we partied with his friends. I ate Cuban food for the first time, had the most amazing breakfast tacos and saw the sunrise and sunset on the beach. It was perfect!

9. I’m only 22, so I haven’t gotten a chance much to travel yet, but I went to Alabama for a job interview. Quick trip, 3 days, but it was the first time I really traveled completely by myself. I’m already an independent person but not knowing anyone, and meeting new people, at the time I was single so I didn’t have to answer really to anyone… I squeezed in visiting acouple places like the space center. Wow it was so freeing. It changed me. I loved it. Can’t wait to travel more although traveling alone as a woman can be scary.

10. In my early twenties I traveled on my own around Italy. The men in my family were worried sick that something would happen but all the women encouraged me. So I spent a month traveling and it was amazing. No one ever harmed me, any misadventures were the fault of my misunderstandings and I learned so many things. I look back on those days fondly and sometimes feel like I’m the only parent who can’t wait til her daughter explores the world.

11. Fresh out of college I traveled to Europe. First abroad trip for me, I grew up in a country that at the time didn’t had a big immigrant population that spoke a different language or looked that dissimilar from our own (not a Caucasian country, just very entrenched and we all look similar more or less).

    First stop on my trip was Madrid, which culturally and language wise wasn’t that different from my country. All good.

    Then I went to London. I remember vividly walking around downtown, maybe Piccadilly or somewhere crowded, and suddenly realizing I was hearing a lot of different languages spoken. Or English but different accents. And everyone looked different. That was the first moment I fully comprehended how big the world was out there, how much I hadn’t seen.

    Through that trip I saw a lot more things that further confirmed this: so many different types of food in Camden from all over the world, the art and history in Italy, the way people lived in Paris. I grew up in a country so far away from the world and always dreamed of seeing it, but I didn’t realize how incredible it would feel to actually be out there living it.

    I haven’t stopped traveling since then.