Spend The Night With The Locals
Over the last few years, I’ve spent a lot of time in airports. There’s something I love about airports—maybe it’s the promise of adventure, or the $15 coffee, or the fact that security always, always, always pulls me out of line to search me and I end up having to frantically rush to make it to the gate in time.
My favorite thing about airports though? They’re just connecting you to the real destination.
Over the past few years, I’ve been able to explore Alaska (where I hung out with at least 57 bald eagles and learned a traditional native dance), Colombia (where I tasted guinea pig and was only slightly ashamed to say I liked it), Honduras (where I met lifelong friends who I now call brothers) and England (where I surfed off the coast in freezing waters in a slightly-too-tight wetsuit).
Recently, realizing that I haven’t booked—or even planned—my next trip, I hit the internet to soothe my wandering heart and came across this man: Dave Hakkens, who’s realized that our community is global and we have a responsibility to learn from and care for the world. He travels around the world to collect and share stories to share on his site, StoryHopper.com.
This is the story I watched:
Traveling and staying with the locals? Might not seem like the ideal holiday, but it’s one of the best ways to open your mind, learn a few things and see what the world is really up to. I would have missed out on meeting some incredibly unique people if I hadn’t embraced traveling with the people who actually live there. There’s a kind of exploration and insight that isn’t possible without it. It’s not enough to just go to Cancun for a week. That might not spark a creative revolution that solves your latest challenge—but going to Cancun and living with a fisherman for a week might.
According to a 2015 study by Adam Galinsky at Columbia Business School, “Foreign experiences increase both cognitive flexibility and depth and integrativeness of thought, the ability to make deep connections between disparate forms.”
We’re a part of a global community. Whether or not we speak the same language (or use toilet paper) we share values that stretch across the world. Our experiences are more similar that you think and you may be surprised by how inspiring the outside world can be.
So get outta Dodge. Go for the bald eagles and the guinea pig.
Go for the ensuing blog post that’s waiting when you return.
Go to feed your creativity.