"Why wonder?" This is the explanation a friend of mine gave to her family when asked why she felt the need to travel. It appears many who have not chosen the path of wander do not find any bit of wonder in travel. Explaining to them why a two-week trip is preferable to a down payment on car is almost assuredly a lost cause. To some the tangible will always trump the intangible, things will always be held higher than experiences or ideas. I say this out of observation, not condescension. The world takes all kinds. Without the promise of material gain our world would be a much different place, for better or for worse. But in the end, our world, though comprised of things, is ruled by ideas.

On the surface the pursuit of personal stimuli may be construed as a selfish motivation for adventure, and veritably it is so. But then again, what action is not? Man is driven to act by his self-interest or his self-enjoyment (including the enjoyment felt by helping others), and most deeds can be characterized as one or the other. The secret is to meld the two, for actions which create optimal experiences are those that are both enjoyable and in our self-interest.

Travel is such an activity for me; a hybrid of personal growth and personal enjoyment. The enjoyment is simple to see, new places, new faces, no responsibilities, breaking the binds of our commonplace drudgery. While the experience of travel is great conversation fodder upon the return home, the friendships gained along the way, though short-lived (generally measured in days or hours) often become the most memorable of it all. On the other hand the personal growth component of travel – minute geographic and operational knowledge gains aside – is much more difficult to adequately describe. The encounter of novel things. Opening of the mind. Accepting the cultural relativism that pervades our world. All true, but all fall short of the justice it deserves. Broadly defined, these are extrinsic benefits; they change the way we see the world. However, for me the greatest benefit of travel is intrinsic; it changes the way I see myself. It is not a static self, either, but an always changing one. To know yourself at one moment is not to know yourself at any other. For this reason we must constantly be engaged in self discovery, continually searching for ourselves.

Travel, as I see it, is really about leaving your comfort zone. The pain and the fear are invaluable. The destination of your travels only matter so much in the level of comfort you forgo. Distance, especially in today's world of jet planes, truly bears no matter in the travel experience. For most of us Americans a Hilton in Abu Dhabi is 'closer' than the colonias of Southern Arizona or the ghettos of Chicago. As we enter an uncomfortable place, our fears are laid bare in front of our eyes. Most of our lives are lived afraid of things we cannot comprehend, but in such travel situations these fears become inherently evident, and only then can we begin to overcome them. We always retreat at first, return to the safety of our hotel, of our friends, or of the nearest white, English speaking soul. But over time, our barriers drop and we come to enjoy what was once uncomfortable, which leads us to the next new challenge. It is a positive feedback loop, travel begets more travel, growth more growth, and all the while we can monitor our thoughts and our feelings.

For me travel has always presented the most pure, the most genuine opportunity to look inside my mind. Strip away the routine of everyday life and immediately your thoughts become deeper, more meaningful. Out in the world there are millions of faces going a million directions. It would seem an easy place to lose oneself, but rather, it is the ideal place to find what or who you actually are. In the company of two people your similarities matter, but among two million your differences are all that you have, and this is how you find them, this is how you find what makes you unique. We are all unique, not in the sense of superiority, but in the sense of identity. On the road, in the moment, none of us are superior, and nor are our experiences, while on the other hand our reactions to these experiences do differ greatly and ultimately determine who we are.