/biz/ - Business & Finance

Travelling to travel is shallow and dumb. You will be nothing but a tourist and have mundane and unfulfilling experiences.

Travelling with purpose will give you all sorts of insights into the world and yourself. It's a small change in mindset that makes a massive difference. For me, I fly to a location and then make my way in whatever direction I feel like, using whatever transportation is available, with no itinerary and no idea what I'll be doing the next day. As I go I sketch the scenery, take pictures (sparingly), and do my best to interact with the locals, learning at least the basic polite formalities in the local language.

When you have no real plan, life rushes in and fills up that space with all sorts of adventures you couldn't have foreseen. It's like you create a need and life fills it. Just by being there you make interesting things happen. The people around you become more interesting when they see that you're truly open to whatever happens. Without that sketchbook though, half the time I'd be sitting around wondering what the fuck to do with myself. You have to committed to some sort of goal, have some self-contained reason for being there.