What Travel Has Taught Me About Myself

Growing up under Arizona's vast, sunburned skies, I thought I knew myself pretty well. But it turns out there’s nothing like a wrong-way subway ride in New York City or getting sunburned on a cloudy Portland afternoon to make you question every assumption about who you really are. It’s funny – you think travel is about seeing new places, but more often than not, it’s about seeing yourself, unfiltered, in situations you’d never experience at home. Spoiler alert: the reflection can be humbling, hilarious, and oh-so-necessary.

1. Your Comfort Zone Is a Mirage – and That’s Okay

Before moving to Vermont for college, my “comfort zone” was a mix of mesas, family dinners, and the familiar hum of tradish Navajo hymns sung at sunrise. When I first stepped off the plane in New England, I felt like an extra in a Hallmark movie – except instead of romantic wonder, I was paralyzed by culture shock and sub-freezing temperatures.

But here’s the thing: comfort zones are just illusions we cling to. The moment I leaned into the odd little moments – warming my first maple creemee with my breath, hearing “wicked” used as a positive adjective in casual conversation – I began to grow. Travel will cozy up to your boundaries, poke them a bit, and then gleefully bulldoze them like a toddler with a sandcastle. Let it.

Takeaway: Your comfort zone isn’t the safe haven you think it is. Treat it like a suggestion, not a rule, whenever you head somewhere new.

2. You’re Not as Low-Maintenance as You Think

I once packed for a week-long research trip to Santa Fe with nothing more than a carry-on, a tube of ChapStick, and the certainty that I’m a “go-with-the-flow” kind of gal. By morning two, I’d developed full Main Character Syndrome, breaking down in tears because I couldn’t find cold brew coffee. Keep in mind, this is coming from someone who grew up 45 miles from the nearest Starbucks.

Travel doesn’t just expose your quirks; it magnifies them. That’s not a bad thing, by the way. Recognizing – and humbling yourself before – these little truths about yourself is the secret sauce of personal growth. Think of it as the messy work before a glow-up montage.

Takeaway: You are allowed to discover that you need a comfy neck pillow, a regular caffeine fix, or even full Wi-Fi bars to feel human. You’re not high-maintenance; you’re human.

3. Awkwardness Is Universal (and Weirdly Endearing)

There was the time I fumbled through ordering tacos in Spanish in a bustling New Mexican taquería (spoiler: I accidentally ordered six). Or when I confidently used “hella” in a Portland coffeeshop to fit in, only for them to know immediately I was a transplant.

But here’s the good news: awkwardness is the common denominator of global humanity. Whether you’re bumbling through a new language, staring too long at a train map in Tokyo, or calling your Vermont roommate “honey” out of Navajo habit, people are surprisingly forgiving. In fact, those cringey moments are often the ones that help us connect – even when you’re 2,000 miles from home.

Takeaway: Embrace the awkward blitz. The less you resist it, the more it turns into a bridge between you and the people around you.

4. You’ll Surprise Yourself (if You Let Yourself)

I didn’t grow up hiking. Sure, I’d climbed plenty of desert rocks and wandered dirt trails with cousins, but I wouldn’t call it hiking in the way people in Portland mean it – you know, with actual boots and a sense of direction.

Yet when I hiked the Cascade Range one summer, lugging snacks, water, and a bruised ego from trying to pronounce “Willamette,” I found strength I didn’t expect. Travel has this sneaky way of tapping into parts of you even you didn’t know existed. When pushed, you’ll adapt. When faced with a challenge, you’ll rise. When someone hands you kombucha in a mason jar and calls it a “healing tonic,” you’ll drink it. (Even if it tastes like a mistake.)

Takeaway: You are so much more capable than you think. But you’ll never know your limits if you stay where life is easy and predictable.

5. “Home” Isn’t a Place – It’s a Feeling

I usually tell people I live between a small town in the Southwest and Portland, but if I’m being honest, home isn't tied to dust-drenched pueblos or Portland’s rooftop gardens. Home, I’ve learned, isn’t about ZIP codes or even four walls. It’s the sense of belonging you carry with you – whether it’s a hug from your cousins on the rez or the warm laugh of a stranger sharing directions in a city you’re just starting to understand.

Travel taught me that home is what you weave: into friendships, moments of connection, rituals, and even a favorite playlist you blast on every long car ride.

Takeaway: Travel doesn’t replace “home” – it gives you the tools to create it, anywhere and everywhere.

6. Laughter Really Is the Universal Icebreaker

Getting hopelessly lost in Barcelona and sharing a laugh with a local who only spoke Catalan. Playing charades with an elderly woman at a Durango gas station to ask where the bathrooms were. Laughing at myself when my Portland friend served me vegan mac and cheese, and I whispered, scandalized, “What is nutritional yeast?”

These little moments taught me what Navajo teachings have known forever: humor is healing. It connects, soothes, clarifies, and rebuilds. It’s what transforms a cringey experience into a golden memory.

Takeaway: Lighten up. Whether you’re traveling or staying put, laughter translates when nothing else does.

Closing Thoughts: The Journey Is You

Every plane ticket, bus ride, and road trip I’ve taken left me with a patchwork quilt of lessons: resilience, humility, and the radical idea that “home” is never static. But the biggest takeaway? You are your wildest, weirdest adventure.

So pack your bag (or don’t; I see you, chronic over-packers), get a little lost, fumble your words, trip over cultural differences, and laugh through it all. Because the more you seek the world, the more you’ll see exactly who you are. And trust me—she’s worth knowing.