Be Present When You Travel

When you travel, do you ever find yourself sticking with what’s safe? You do the things that are familiar, avoiding anything risky. You see the place, but you do not experience it.

To experience a place, you have to be present. You have to be active. Being present demands you put aside your self, embrace local culture, and see humanity. It’s harder but is worthwhile.

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As you wander throughout the distant lands
Be free and open to embrace the new
See with an open heart and outstretched hands
To receive the place and take in the view

Being present when you travel is to put your self aside. While you are the one that sees and experiences everything, recognize your perspective is not the only one. Be willing to see through another lens.

Open to wonder
Let the magic of the place
Fill your heart and soul

One of the magical parts of travelling is exposure to what is different. Open to the place around you. Take up the mindset of a child, seeing everything for the first time. Fully embrace where you are.

An hour and a half from Chicago by train is the little town of Woodstock, Illinois. I am there for a retreat to think and lay out the foundations for my project, the Bright Army. The town may be small, but the experience is full of wonder. I pay attention to each meal and the people I eat with. I notice the details at the bed and breakfast I stay at. Among the familiar, I treasure the unfamiliar.

You do not travel
To spread your culture around
You’re there to listen

Remember as you travel that you are not the native. You are the guest. And what a privilege that is. You get to experience someone else’s culture. You get to witness the beauty of another’s country, city, or neighborhood. But with that comes a responsibility.

You have the responsibility to listen. See and understand a place. Strive to imagine the area through the eyes of someone who lives there. Seek to look at the world through their lens.

Building houses in southern Sudan offers many opportunities for listening. I share meals with the people working with me. They tell stories of their home country and families. They are the experts on the area, and I pay attention to what they say. Through them I understand their culture.

Don’t spend all your time
Doing, doing and doing
Take some time to watch

When travelling, there are sites to see and things to do. It’s easy to spend all your time doing. Be sure to spend some time in stillness. Let the world go by you. Pay attention to the things you would otherwise miss.

For me, that is sitting in a cafe with a cup of coffee or a meal. I love to watch people go by. One of the highlights from my time in France, besides being with family, is an evening on my own in Cannes. I find a small cafe by the road side and sit for a few hours, taking in the sunset and the passing strangers. It is perfect.

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When in different places must you decide
To stay with what is safe in all you do
Or to in the other’s culture abide
I hope you’ll choose to go with option two

Being present when you travel is to embrace the local culture. Experience it fully. Be a part of it as deeply as possible. It may not be your own, but it is deserving of appreciation.

Find the fine flavors
Feast upon the local food
Feel culture inside

Local food shows more about a country than almost anything else. How it’s prepared, served, and eaten contains much of the culture. It can be tempting to stick with what is safe and familiar, but you would miss out. Besides the cultural experience, the food is almost always delicious.

In Mombasa, the coastal city of Kenya, a few friends and I stay in a cabin by the beach. For most of the meals, a chef prepares wonderful foods such as fresh fish and roasted goat. But those aren’t the dishes that stand out the most.

One day, we walk up the road from the cabin and find a small shack serving lunch. It is small and crowded. The offerings reflect the simple lifestyle of the people: beans, rice, and chapatis – a pan-fried bread. The food is fantastic. I cannot recall a plate of beans so good.

Read a book and see
What’s important to that place
So you can connect

Knowing something of the local history and culture can help you appreciate it more. Find a book from the library. Do research online. Such knowledge lets you understand more about the people and places you see.

I read Desmond Tutu’s book, No Future Without Forgiveness, as I travel to South Africa. It teaches me much of the country’s history and gives perspective to the trip. It adds depth to my view of the Archbishop himself, who I see leading the morning mass at St. George’s Cathedral.

You don’t need to be
All fluent in the language
But a few words help

Learning a language is difficult work. It takes time and effort. But you don’t need to be fluent to travel. Even knowing a few words shows respect to the culture you visit.

Besides showing honor, there are times where you may not find anyone that speaks your language. If you know how to say a few basic words, you can get the help you need.

While in Marseille, I take a walk down to a cafe for a cup of coffee. Normally, my wife, who knows perfect French, places the order, but this time I am alone. Using seventy percent of my French vocabulary, I ask for an espresso, pay, and say thank you. I may have gotten by without using French, but it would have been more difficult.

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It’s a danger to travel from your home
To pass from the safety behind your door
For you may find something yet unknown
A part of you not ever seen before

Being present when you travel is to see humanity. See it in the people around you. Let them reflect it back to you. See it in yourself.

Meet those around you
Talk and share with them to find
They are beautiful

Until you get to know someone of the local culture, nearly everything you know is from your perspective. Get to know the people that live there.

People are friendly. You can start conversations with the waiter at a restaurant, the clerk at the hotel, the lady selling goods at the market, and many others. Most often, they are more than happy to share what they love about their country.

As you interact, you’ll find people of other cultures are not so different than you. They have hopes and dreams. They strive to do the best with what they have. They are alive and beautiful. In them is humanity.

On my trip to Slovenia, I take a cab from the airport to the castle I would be staying at. On the way, the driver and I discuss culture, people, politics, family, and more. He advises me on places to see and things to do. He introduces me to his homeland.

As you walk a place
You see that its great beauty
Lies within you too

When you travel, you find something unexpected – something more than the place and culture you embrace. You find yourself. You find what’s great and noble within. For through that lens of your beauty, you see the beauty of the place.

Maybe you’ll see it in the watching of the setting sun. The beauty within you shines all around.

Maybe you’ll see it in an exchange of laughter with a new acquaintance. The joy within you bubbles to the surface.

Maybe you’ll see it in the help you receive from a stranger. The love within you overflows in gratitude.

When you leave a place
Do not become downhearted
For it goes with you

What you learn about yourself when travelling stays with you for the rest of your life. The experiences continue to live even though they are long past. They give a foundation for new growth.

South Africa teaches me of my heart for Africa. Sudan shows the beauty of the untold stories. In France, I discover what I value. Slovenia pushes me but to face the dragon.

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May you ever bear the traveler’s mindset
Be you at home or wandering far away
For then you’re as not likely to forget
Who you are that goes everywhere you stay

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Heart of Nakuru. I made this photo in Nakuru, Kenya.