How Travel Changes Us | Insights from Travel Expert Steve Smith

Why do we travel?

Do we travel to see some sights, check off a bucket list item, immerse ourselves into a new culture or glam up our social media feeds?

I was curious about this so I asked my friend, Steve Smith.

Steve is a travel expert and tour guide and has spent almost 40 years with the Rick Steves travel company. He’s the author of the France travel guides published by Rick Steves. They’ve sold more travel books than all travel books combined.

Steve spends a third of his time in France updating the guides and leading tours, and Steve also leads trips to Guatemala.

I took my curiosity to Steve and asked him why we travel, and why he has spent most of his life inspiring others to experience the world.

And the answer might not be in a destination, or in a travel book.

Steve speaks fondly of his friend, Rick Steves, the founder of Rick Steves’ Europe travel company.

They both speak of travel as a political act. Rick stated his goal is to get out of your comfort zone, increase your empathy with the other 96% of the world, and bring home the greatest of all souvenirs, a broader perspective.

In this episode, Steve answers the following questions:
- Why do we travel?
- Why is traveling important in life?
- How can we experience the world in a positive way?
- Why do I feel so alive when I travel?

My favorite quote from the episode: “But you can’t get that experience on your couch.”

What I know to be true about the episode: I was recently listening to the song “Rejoice” by U2 which part of the chorus is “I can’t change the world, but I can change the world in me.” This seems to be central to Steve’s superpower of Inspire to Experience.

What I learned from the episode: Aviation only accounts for 2% of greenhouse gases. I was surprised that number was that low, and Steve made me think differently about the opportunity costs of not travelling…plus still burning fossil fuels while staying home.

Resources mentioned in the episode:
-  Rick Steves’ Europe 
- Global Visionaries – youth leadership development organization 
- Steve's annual trip to Guatemala: Experience Guatemala
- Rick Steves’ Hope and Hunger show: 
- Book: “Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before” by Tony Horwitz

Keywords
#Travel #ConsciousTravel #Experience

Music in this episode by Ian Kastner.

"What Do You Know To Be True?" is a series of conversations where I speak with interesting people about their special talent or superhero power and the meaningful impact it has on others. The intention is to learn more about their experience with their superhero power, so that we can learn something about the special talent in each of us which allows us to connect more deeply with our purpose and achieve our potential.

For more info about the podcast or to check out more episodes, go to: https://whatdoyouknowtobetrue.com/

"What Do You Know To Be True?" is hosted by Roger Kastner, is a production of Three Blue Pens, and is recorded on the ancestral lands of the Duwamish and Suquamish people. To discover the ancestral lands of the indigenous people whose land you may be on, go to: https://native-land.ca/