Travel Often: I Said Often, Not Far
Lessons From Being on the Road
I recently took two trips that looked very different on paper.
One was a three-and-a-half-hour drive to Austin.
The other was a six-hour flight to Cartagena.
Both lasted five days.
What surprised me wasn’t how different they were—but how similar the lessons turned out to be.
That’s why I’ve changed how I think about travel:
Travel often. I didn’t say far.
Why Travel Changes How You Think
In familiar environments, your brain runs on memory.
Your surroundings don’t change, so your mind doesn’t need to process much. It recalls patterns instead of actively perceiving what’s happening around you.
Travel breaks that loop.
When you’re in a new environment—new streets, languages, social cues—your brain is forced to process reality in real time. That’s why travel can feel mentally exhausting even when you’re not doing much.
Your brain is working differently.
That difference matters.
New Environments Reveal Hidden Signals
When your brain is no longer on autopilot, subtle things surface.
Tension in your shoulders.
Short, shallow breathing.
Discomfort during a conversation you can’t quite explain.
These are not random.
They’re physical signals tied to underlying beliefs, fears, and assumptions you don’t normally notice. As Friedrich Nietzsche argued in different ways, the mind is remarkably good at hiding its own structure from itself.
New environments disrupt that concealment.
You get brief glimpses of how you actually interpret the world.
Why Journaling Becomes Critical When You Travel
Those moments don’t last long.
Your mind is fast. It rationalizes immediately:
- “That wasn’t important.”
- “I’m overthinking.”
- “It’s nothing.”
This is why journaling during travel matters.
Writing slows thinking down.
It externalizes thoughts.
It prevents your mind from smoothing over contradictions too quickly.
Without writing, insight disappears before you can examine it.
What the People I Met Taught Me
Another lesson came from the people I met in both places.
Many were intelligent, educated, and accomplished—but that wasn’t what stood out.
What stood out was openness.
People who traveled often didn’t assume depth existed only in their own field. They recognized that other domains—other cultures, other work, other lives—had depth too.
They listened carefully.
They asked genuine questions.
They weren’t threatened by what they didn’t know.
That’s the difference between being instructed and being educated.
Travel Doesn’t Automatically Make You Wiser
Here’s the uncomfortable part.
Some people travel constantly and become more closed, not more open.
Travel only creates value if you let it challenge your worldview. Otherwise, it becomes consumption instead of growth.
Movement alone isn’t enough.
Reflection is the multiplier.
The Real Lesson
Travel doesn’t have to be far.
It has to be different.
Different environments.
Different people.
Different social rules.
When that happens, your mind works differently—and you gain access to parts of your thinking that stay hidden at home.
If you pay attention, and if you write things down, travel becomes less about escape and more about self-understanding.
FAQs
Why is traveling often more important than traveling far?
Because frequent exposure to unfamiliar environments keeps the brain in an active learning mode, while distance alone doesn’t guarantee insight.
How does travel affect the brain?
Travel forces real-time perception instead of memory recall, increasing cognitive effort, awareness, and emotional sensitivity.
Can short trips really lead to personal growth?
Yes. Even short trips can disrupt habitual thinking if the environment and social context are meaningfully different.
Why do emotions surface more when traveling?
New environments reduce mental automation, allowing underlying emotional and belief-based reactions to surface.
How can I get more value out of travel?
Pay attention to physical signals, journal consistently, and stay curious instead of defensive when faced with difference.
If this way of thinking resonates—connecting experience, psychology, systems, and execution—I work with founders and operators who want clearer thinking and better decisions. Reach out [email protected]
This piece connects to broader themes around meaning, reflection, and systems of thought. You can explore related ideas here:
https://gabebautista.com/essays/meaning/
