After a bit more than a month of traveling nonstop, I’ve learned a lot.  I’ve always loved traveling to new places.  Ever since my first trip outside of the U.S. at the age of twelve, getting out into the world has been something I’ve either been doing or dreaming about doing.  The current trip I’m on is pretty different than anything I’ve done before, though – largely because of the length of the trip (a full three months) and the number of places I’m going.

But one of the most important differences that makes this trip special to me is that while I’m going to many new places, and I’m taking in the sights and sounds and smells and tastes, I’m not doing this to be a tourist.  Sure, I’ve been able to see and participate in a number of tourist-type things while I’m out and about, but for the most part, my tourist experiences have been relatively accidental.  Instead, I’ve had specific people to see and things to learn when I’ve gone places.  Thus far, I have yet to visit a country in which I knew absolutely nobody going in.  Several of these people I had never met face to face before, but we had at least exchanged e-mail messages or phone calls prior to my arrival.

These connections, along with the research aspects of my trip are helping me engage the cities and countries I’m visiting.  This is a significant thing for me, because a huge amount of my prior travels have been as a consumer – fly to a new place, rent a car, get a local guidebook that tells me all the places to see and activities to do, check into a hotel, find restaurants, and do all of the things a good tourist does.  At the end of the trip, pack up, and go back home without having talked to anyone in depth.  For most of the places I’ve been on past trips, I couldn’t tell you a single name of a person I met or spent time with while I was there.

This time around, I’m meeting people that live and work in the places I’m going.  I’m interviewing them (whether they know it or not), I’m digging below the surface of everyday life to see how the culture ticks and what it’s really like to live there.  I’m doing this very imperfectly, to be sure, but I guarantee you that when I return home at the end of this time, I’ll be able to rattle off the names of people I was with, because they’re important to me.   The way I’m experiencing these new places is through the people I’m talking to, not just through the viewfinder on my digital camera.

Now before I come off as idealistic and self-righteous here, allow me to state that I think it’s completely fine to be a tourist, and take a vacation in which you “consume” the locations you’re going to enjoy.  It’s totally o.k. to have fun and get away, and not engage anybody in relationship while you’re there.  Play is important.  I have been, and will continue to do “consuming” kinds of things on this trip.  I think I’m just appreciating how much more I’m noticing about cultures than I would have, how much more I’m enjoying certain quirks about cultures than I would have, and how much more I understand about the relationships between what a tourist sees and how those things got the way they are.

Think about that the next time you plan a trip – whether it’s for business or pleasure.  Think about whether you know anyone in the place you’re headed.  If you do, buy them dinner and listen to their reflections on the place they call home.  If you don’t, do what I did before I left for this trip – e-mail a ton of your friends, and ask if they have any friends in the place you’re headed, and buy those people dinner.  It may feel a little awkward at first, but your commonality in friends will help break the ice.  Plus, the tension will usually ease once you start quizzing them about their home city – people like talking about themselves/their opinions about their home.  Not only will this give you a new perspective on the place you’re visiting, more than likely, your new friends can tip you off to some of the best kept secrets about their city.  You don’t have to spend a whole week with them – it’s only dinner.