Finally, when traveling it’s important to go beyond how you look in photos and spend time looking within, pondering how these places and experiences shape your understanding and change who you are as a person. Rome taught me that it’s more important to learn about a few pieces in a museum deeply than to look at every artifact for only a few seconds. Capri taught me that even extremely touristed places have quiet corners to connect with history and local people – if you choose to seek them. Pompeii taught me that human nature hasn’t changed much over the past 2,000 years and that societies must work hard to distribute their wealth fairly. And Sardinia taught me that respecting a place and its traditions is more important than talking and posting about it later.
So, on your next trip – whether it’s halfway across the world or just to another city in your state – please take a lot of beautiful pictures to share with your friends and to fondly look back on later. But after you’ve taken your pictures, please put your camera down and ask yourself how you can connect more deeply with the place you’re in. How can you uncover its history, connect with its people, and truly, deeply learn from it? If you do that, you’ll still have your two-dimensional photos, but you’ll also leave with a three-dimensional experience – and become a more well-rounded person in the process.
