There’s a common saying that ‘you’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with.’ This is often used to talk about the importance of our environment and the people we’re around. If we’re around a certain group of people, we’re prone to think the way we think.
Traveling is a chance to break from that, to leave our echo chambers and communities. Even if just for a few days, we can expose ourselves to new customs, cultures, and ways of thinking.
And you’ll only do this if you dig deep on what you want to do while you travel, which often requires tossing aside the conventional wisdom.
Photo Credit Element5 Digital
Here are three frameworks to consider how to make your next adventure a deep journey on the path of personal development.
1) Curate an Itinerary Suited Uniquely to You
I’ve never been one for cookie-cutter mass-tourism types of vacations. I travel to places because there’s something unique in it for me: A language I want to improve on, a culture I want to understand more, some deep interest that makes that trip specifically appealing.
Wherever you’re going, and whatever you’re going there for, there’s a comfort in following a guidebook and in visiting popular sites. This isn’t to say you shouldn’t visit those places.
However, you should also ask yourself, what do I really want to do? What do I really want to see? How can I push myself to do that?
By asking these questions, and doing some research, you may find the hidden gems of wherever you go. If you ask me about my favorite places in Paris, I can give you some good recommendations, but those were places that uniquely spoke to me.
Your ideal Paris experience, undoubtedly, would involve different experiences, and if you followed my map of Paris, you probably wouldn’t love it as much as I did, because you’re not me. This is true even if you choose the same place. In reality you should also choose your travel destination with that in mind.