I’ve couchsurfed in many countries, depended on the generosity of locals to get me on my way, and have been saved by the kindness of people I considered new friends. Travel has taught me that we are not our governments; We can help one another on a human level without endorsing the border between us. Travel teaches us to be children again and see the world through brand new eyes. It tells us to celebrate our distinctions and to acknowledge our sameness. It encourages us to imagine, the way John Lennon asked us to, if the world could live as one.
If I had one piece of advice, for the young, the old, and the stuck, it is to drop it all, lock it up, and take a trip to somewhere you’ve never been. You won’t regret it.
Anything that we do or try or experience gives us a better idea of who we are. In photography, a common idiom reveals that when I’m photographing you, I’m not taking an image of you, I’m really taking an image of myself. In other words, the way in which I’ve chosen to represent you in a frame says more about me as the artist and documentarian than of you. There are a few times in my life where I’ve been confronted, or rather, introduced, to who I am, and never more patently than when I’m traveling.
"Travel far enough, you meet yourself."
— David Mitchell (*from the novel Cloud Atlas)
It should go without saying that traveling makes us better humans. New sights and flavors and sounds are enriching to one’s personal life experience, for starters. Beyond that, travel dares us to be brave, to step outside our comfy routines and try things we never thought we’d encounter. It teaches us to trust strangers, as well as our own instincts. We get to re-learn how to make friends, and how to share, and how to be generous.
