To broaden the mind is to travel

The main argument of this blog post is that there is no need to physically travel anywhere in order to broaden your mind, or to “find yourself”. Those things can and should be done internally and, once you begin doing them, you should find that you have already travelled further than you could ever have imagined, all without moving a single step.

I’ll start with “finding yourself”, because that’s the least sensible idea. Broadening the mind has something going for it, so I’ll get to that later.

I assume that finding yourself is either learning about yourself, or learning to accept yourself. Both of these are important things to do; it’s just travel to far-flung destinations as the means that I want to question. To learn about yourself, the last thing you want to do is try to run away from yourself, and that is what travel so often amounts to. You need to confront yourself head on, with no distractions. The same goes for self-acceptance; you need to see yourself clearly to begin accepting what you see.

If you can’t find yourself alone in a quiet room, then the problem is not with your location, but with you. It’s a problem we all have at some point; many of us have it through most of our lives. We want to know ourselves, but we fear to. Self-reflection is hard, but it is the only way to ever truly find out who you are, and come to terms with what you find. Learn to meditate. It’s cheaper than flying halfway round the world, and it has a much lower carbon footprint.

Ok, that’s glib. I think there’s a lot of truth to it, but it leaves some things out. What if you want to find out who you are by seeing how you respond to new experiences? If you want unfamiliar situations, then sure, go to new places and meet new people, but most of us can do that by travelling less than 10 miles. Take up a new hobby; walk until you hit somewhere you don’t recognise then start exploring; ask a friend or acquaintance out for a drink and talk until dawn. All of these things are richer ways of exploring who you are than trying to rack up more air miles than whichever of your friends posts the most spiritually enlightened and deep travel photos in your Facebook feed.

Which brings me to broadening the mind. You might be able to learn to know and accept yourself without moving anywhere, but can you learn to know and accept other people in all their variety? I think you can, but it isn't as obvious because you are right there wherever you are, and other people are not.

For one thing the people you already know, and nearby people you could potentially meet, are almost certainly more varied than you have ever realised. Take the time to really talk to them and find out. Real learning comes from depth of communication, and that takes time, not a flying visit, brushing past a culture and gawping at it for a bit, then considering yourself to have come away enlightened.

Having said that, I think we do have an immense amount to learn from more distant cultures about ways a good life can be lived. Other people would balk at the things we take for granted, and in turn take for granted things that we find downright bizarre. Sometimes noting this can teach us ways to be better, or even just different. But all we really need in order to do this in most cases is the information about how they live and what they think. In an age where communication across the globe takes literally next to no time, and diverse reading material is freely available, there is usually no need to travel in order to learn. More than that, I think doing so does harm.

The most obvious harm it does is to the environment, because travel takes fuel and energy. Unnecessary air travel is morally dubious at best. Less obviously, it also does harm to our image of what a broad minded person is. We come to almost define it as being someone who has travelled. This is wrong in both directions – plenty of people have travelled to many exotic places and accrued no wisdom at all, and also plenty of people have barely left the town in which they were born and yet are tolerant, well educated, interested and interesting. We shouldn't judge someone by the number of stamps in their passport; it doesn't represent either breadth or depth of thinking or understanding of the world. A culture that thinks otherwise is one which pushes young people in particular into taking environmentally damaging and sometimes personally dangerous journeys to distant locations, purely for social acceptance. Gap year photos are easier and more gratifying to show off than being well-read and thoughtful.

What can we teach our young people instead? That people are complex and diverse. Talk properly to those you know, and you will learn this. That there are different ways of doing things that are just as valid as the ways we do them. Read widely and keep your eyes open as you move through daily life, and you will learn this. That you are a part of a wider world and that brings with it certain responsibilities. Watch the news, and you will learn this. That knowing and accepting yourself, without closing off opportunities for change in your life is of vital importance for your well-being. Reflect and meditate, and you will learn this.

The most enriching and satisfying journeys begin with a deep breath, a gentle unfolding of the mind, and the realisation that the only place to find yourself is right here.