Wherever you go, there you are.

At first I just found that line funny, but the more I've traveled, the truer I've found it to be. A change in scenery can be immensely helpful in many ways, but you'll still relate to the world in fundamentally the same way once you're somewhere else.

I love that line, and it captures the nub of something deep about how we do and don't evolve through new experiences.

I do think we underestimate how much impact travel and exposure to other cultures can have, we don't feel "transformed", I like to think of it a bit like having a child, before you do so, it's possible to be completely clueless about a whole bunch of stuff, afterwards, you're still the same person, but there are hundreds of ideas and topics that you are aware of and understand to some level that you didn't before. What's more, you can tell quickly whether another person has similar knowledge. Something like growing older and (hopefully) wiser, but accelerated and pushed in new directions.

I was in my 20's at the height of the travel bubble running around hostels and such and.. yeah. So many people "looking for themselves" but if you step back and look, it's just hedonism which will never make you happy long term. Partying with other young people who share some parts of your world view and lounging around beautiful places is really really fun for a while, but it's hardly a recipe for a meaningful life. I did certainly gain a lot from those experiences but I also am glad I didn't spend the next 10 years doing the same thing. My current version of it is to move somewhere for 5+ years - really shows you how shallowly you understand anything about a different country while traveling.

Aye, same. No "regurts" as the bad tattoo says, and glad I did it, but the main takeaway for me was "the grass is greener...". Taught me to appreciate what we have and what we don't.

And I guess we all need to learn that lesson eventually. I just wish I learned that in, say, Los Angeles or Denver or something, and not in a place that gave me bedbugs.

I suppose it depends on where you’re starting from. I started traveling at the end of 2019, and I’m still doing it. I’ve matured in all sorts of ways. For me, there was a lot I didn’t like about my life before I left. The problems that were local I left behind, and the problems that followed me I worked on.

Its exploration and finding things you didn't expect that leave an impression on you. The common story is because it happened to people not looking for it.

If you go looking for things to leave an impression on you, it probably wont happen.

You’re in the company of people that comfortably go to Croatia Yacht Week, Ibiza opening parties, Cannes Film Festival etc. Not just wage workers taking an aimless break to say they travelled, or college students on their gap year.