Back in the day, travelling was all about ticking things off your bucket list. It was a race to visit all the monuments: the Eiffel Tower, Times Square, the Colosseum. Seeing the sights was the only thing that mattered. The idea of travelling for the sake of meeting people seemed far-fetched; who had time to spend months away properly experiencing new cultures and getting to know the locals? However, our new hyper-connected digital world has changed that. Now that we can see the wonders of the world at the click of a button, have people started searching for something deeper when they travel?
The accessibility of the internet has slightly dimmed the novelty of famous monuments. It’s still jaw-dropping to stand in front of the iconic Eiffel Tower, but you’re less likely to spend your whole holiday marvelling at it when you’ve already seen a million videos of it online. Before, the only way to see the view from the top of the Eiffel Tower or find out what kind of food they served at the Michelin-star restaurant on the second floor was to go and experience it yourself. Now, you can search both these things up online, so the idea of waiting hours for entry or climbing the 674 steps to the second floor doesn’t seem worth the hassle.
Instead, people find it more fulfilling to experience the things you can’t see online: walking around the square, watching people go about their daily lives, and seeing how life actually is in different cities. People have started chasing experiences instead of chasing monuments, bringing a more people-oriented approach to travelling.
When you travel, you start to notice the differences and similarities that exist around the world. I remember once standing in front of the Berlin Wall, amazed at how the city’s history isn’t tucked away or hidden; it’s instead embedded into everyday life, forever telling the stories of its people. It felt so different from what I’d grown up around. I couldn’t help but think that the people here must be shaped by this in ways I could never relate to. That’s when I realised the real point of travelling: to learn about the people and the stories.Â
Despite the differences, you can always find a piece of home in people as you travel. I laughed while waiting for a late German train, finding familiarity in the fact that train schedules don’t seem to be sacred anywhere. I felt a quiet comfort when I walked past a university and my phone connected to Eduroam, reminding me that people’s daily lives overlap more than we expect. When you stop and pay attention, even the smallest things seem to hold meaning. In this process, you start recognising pieces of yourself in the unfamiliar, learning the most about yourself from the people around you.Â
The people you meet while travelling often become the heart of the journey. You’ll get recommendations of places to visit, of course, but what stays with you are the stories you get to hear. I remember sitting on the edge of my seat listening to the life stories of people I’d met just hours prior. My favourite conversation was with an American master’s student who’d spent the past few years living in Kyrgyzstan. Hearing her speak made me realise how many paths there are in life, and how there are so many different ways to find happiness. It’s moments like these that make you realise that the best part of travelling is meeting people you’d never have crossed paths with otherwise.
In the end, the stories that have stayed with me from travelling are the ones where I’m sitting around a table with strangers, swapping stories and learning about each other’s lives. It’s in those quiet moments where you somehow seem to learn the most about yourself. Travelling lets you connect to people in ways you’d never expect, allowing you to discover yourself while you learn about the place around you. So, the map to travelling seems to be found in the people you meet along the way, who end up giving you directions to much more than just the sights in the city.Â