“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” -Gustave Flaubert

Though I am still young (even though sometimes twenty-five feels ancient when I interact with teenagers), I have traveled quite a bit and have experienced so many things that have changed me as a human. From the good, the bad, the ugly, and everything in between, exploring the world has challenged me and urged me to think in different perspectives when it comes to nearly any topic. In fact, travel has taught me so many wisdoms throughout the years that I wanted a running page on my website dedicated to everything I learn while traveling. So, below are a few things I have learned and what trip(s) I learned them on.

Travel Taught Me That!

1. We’re all a lot more alike than we are different.
   • Ecuador, 2018: My first trip outside of the United States! Granted, it was to visit my family but I learned so much about myself and the world that I thought I knew. This trip truly changed my life. I met so many people that grew up so differently than I had, including a young family in the coastal jungle who had only a few dollars to their name (I talk more about this family in my Ecuador post), and yet we were able to bond and laugh and dance together as humans.
2. Don’t believe everything you hear or see online.
   • Ecuador, 2018: Unfortunately, everyone has their own prejudices about the world around themselves. Sometimes, you can even have prejudices about yourself and your own family. Before I went to Ecuador for the first time, I infamously asked my dad if there were houses there. Embarrassing, I know. Even though my father was born there, I still had my own preconceived ideas about the country based on things I had seen online (it also didn’t help that the only pictures and books my grandmother ever showed me about the country growing up consisted of the wild animals in the Amazon jungle and the only stories I heard were from my grandfather talking about the hand-sized spiders and snake he sat on thinking it was a tree log). It is best to experience things for yourself before you make a judgment on a place (except for the Amazonian anacondas–I’ll take my grandfather’s word for that one).
3. People aren’t thinking about you the way you are thinking about you.
   • Hawaii, 2017: This trip deserves a redo, which I will thankfully be doing in 2026. As a 17 year old, I was severely anxious and depressed and unfortunately was way too insecure and in my head about every little thing. Hawaii is absolutely beautiful and breathtaking. However, most of my trip was tainted by my anxious thoughts tearing myself down. I thought everyone was looking at me and my “flaws” all the time to the point where I only got into the water one time…in Hawaii! Looking back at that trip and the pictures makes me quite sad to see how much of a beautiful young woman I was becoming and couldn’t see that for myself to enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. What I know now is that literally no one remembers me from that trip except for my parents. No one passing by me remembers me in a good or bad way! I spent an afternoon sitting on the beach in my clothes watching my parents in the ocean because I was so concerned about people that didn’t even know me. Just jump in! Who cares?!
4. Whatever we have in life, whether it is a lot or a little, is a blessing.
   • Ecuador, 2018 & 2023: I will reference Ecuador a lot when it comes to lessons I have learned because, like previously stated, it changed my life. I will never forget driving up the mountains watching kids walk up the side with backpacks on and getting to the top to see a small, one-room schoolhouse that looked fifty years old. That was the year, 2018, I graduated from my nice, big high school that fit three thousand students and had an indoor football field that I complained about having to go to every day. Everything is a blessing. Everything is a gift. You are not owed anything in life.
5. Be present.
   • North Carolina coast, around 2005: It was sometime around when I was five years old that I remember my father taking me to the beach and walking up and down with me picking seashells. I have always been an emotional person, but even as a five year old I somehow knew to be present in that moment and never forget being with my dad just enjoying the beach. It was around that same year that I would almost lose my dad in Iraq. Always cherish each moment you are given, especially when you are taking in a new place with a loved one.